i saw the crescent, you saw the whole of the moon [ acheron + black swan ]

[memokeeper]

i spoke about wings, you just flew

(continued from here)

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[memokeeper]

After her brief sojourn in the inbetween place, Black Swan properly starts diving into Penacony, and the Golden Hour.

She meets the Trailblazer, and a strange stowaway whose mind burns like fire but wistfully dreams of newly sprouted life, and the crew of the Express. All of them are fascinating in their own way, especially the crystalline ice shards of March 7th's memories, and Himeko's guarded, golden-gilded thoughts. They share in the revelation that Penacony's dreamscapes are sinking into the primordial memoria, and share in a wish to save it. She guides the Trailblazer through a hidden dream, tailing Firefly, and she'll admit to some mild surprise about Acheron's presence.

She's certain, now more than ever, that Acheron is responsible for the demise of Duke Inferno. Black Swan is glad, though. As much as she revels in unique and powerful memories, she would not have wanted to witness the Land of Dreams descending into such nightmares as Duke Inferno could bring. But why is she here, now? That's a mystery that Black Swan cannot yet divine the answer to.

The memory of Acheron's kiss still lingers in the warmth on Black Swan's lips.

Together, they witness Firefly's spiritual death at the hands of the meme monster of the dream, and as her trail ends with a Stellaron hunter, Black Swan whisks the Trailblazer out of there to meet with Aventurine. It's a little unethical of her to manipulate events so, but she's sure Acheron will be fine.

Later, she gets dragged through a series of mysteries by Sparkle, the Masked Fool. And while Sparkle is delightfully amusing in her own way, Black Swan is rather more fixated on somebody else.

Acheron. The centerpiece of this unfolding play.

She spends half a day following the Ranger as a figure in a painting, graffiti on the wall, a dancing mote of electricity. And the following night, Acheron happens to be passing by an elegant building with a gala inside, and Black Swan simply can't resist. She manifests, allowing herself to be visible to anybody nearby, and waits outside the ball, an elegant figure shrouded in the light emanating from the gilded open door. Acheron notices her, and Black Swan smiles.

"Care for another dance, darling?" she invites, offering a hand. She doesn't know the extent of Acheron's memories, if she remembers Black Swan at all, or only bits and pieces. It doesn't matter. The emotions will still be there.