003 | Dark and Personal

[notthislife]

Tell me someone has managed to find a hair dresser in this damn place.
Merde, I'll settle for a can of paint at this point.
It's an emergency.

Comments

[kingincognito]

Truly? That is my brother's age. The similarities continue... Though, that is where they end, in this instance. My brother is not secretly one hundred years old.

I assume the color of your hair changing is related...? You do not have to speak of it if you do not wish to, of course. I am only curious.

[notthislife]

Ah.
It seems I keep stumbling right into those sore spots, don't I?

But yes, you're right. The nature of my... existence, more or less guaranteed a splash of immortality and a strange appearance. Trust me, I'm doing better than some of the others I know.

[Here's looking at the Curator and the Paintress. At least he still has a face.]

[kingincognito]

No, please, do not apologize. My brother's memory is a comfort to me. I am not hurt by the similarities, merely fascinated by them.

This happened to others, then, and not just you?

[notthislife]

If you're sure.

But... yes. Everyone was impacted by the Fracture in their own ways. Not everyone has the longevity I do, mind you. Others found their lives upturned. Shattered.

And of course, the gommage.

[kingincognito]

... what is the gommage?

[notthislife]

Sometimes I forget, that not everyone is familiar.
It's complicated, but in the distance of the world we know, there is a place called the Monolith. There was a number painted upon it, and every year, the Paintress would erase the number and paint a new one. It was a countdown, you see. And anyone at that age or older would simply... fade away in a wash of roses.

[kingincognito]

Oh.

I'm so sorry. That sounds... awful. Blessedly peaceful, but still...

Has anyone found out a way to stop it? Surely after enough time, everyone would have fallen victim to it.

light suicide references

[notthislife]

[Verso stares at the words in front of him. He taps his pen against his temple for a long few moments, contemplating his answer.]

No. Every year, the day after the Gommage, an expedition is sent out. The hope is that they'll find a way to change their fate. The first expedition wasZzero, meant to save those still scattered in what we called the Fracture. We also researched what might have happened to cause the Fracture our world, let alone why the Paintress had appeared. She was always there, after all, crouched at the bottom of her Monolith.

At that point, no one knew what the numbers really meant. Not many people live to the age of 100, after all. It was easier to believe that they had fallen ill, gotten hurt, or simply tired of living in a broken world. So

Monolith year 84, however, saw a pair of twins disappear together, right as those numbers changed over. It was then that they knew our time was numbered. Since then, the Expeditions were named after the corresponding number. 84 was the first true expedition with the purpose of thwarting the Paintress.

This year was 33, to give you an idea of how long the people of Lumiere have been fighting for.