15strangers | Isn't this where.....

Entry tags:

*round 6

Isn't this where.....

REUNITED AT LAST

[Living and dead have reunited. That is all well and good. However, all these trains and cars and starships mean nothing by themselves - many of you may be wondering precisely where they are headed, and the answer presents itself soon in the form of a yawning portal in the middle of space. Yawning, calm, so as not to be mistaken with the writhing and twitching of the wefts - it seems to belong, or at least to be accepted as a cosmic inevitability. And this is what all of the dubious spacecrafts sail into for now - it is just barely large enough for all of them to go in one at a time, and to come out on the other side of the wormhole.

That appears to be some kind of airspace. Those curious about the place they're going may want to open the stained glass windows of the trains to get a much better view of the scenery they're descending on. The landscapes are mostly gorgeous, looking from a distance as though they were painted with watercolors, although some may think it also looks a bit, well, haphazardly patched together. For the trains, there is a floating dock above the land that looks brand new, and an elevator to take down to the ground. All other ships can find an easy landing space in the meadow, like the weird UFOs they are. Nevertheless, there is a path to follow from there, leading to a castle in the distance. It is a path lined with wonderful flowers and trees... and also a chaotic smattering of other trees that don't look like they quite belong. Sheets of dry lasagna make up the bark of the spaghetti trees, their inexplicably cooked pasta hanging like a weeping willow as marinara drips from their meatball fruit. The smell is overpowering, but don't let that ruin the trip. "In fact, it would be better if you let it work up an appetite", the cheerful voice of 707 suggests as he leads the pack up the trail like a hyperactive boy scout leader.

Finally, the doors of the castle open up. The halls are full of doors, each glowing from within - some of you may recognize the names of your homes, and others may not. But going past them, there is an enormous arch that is named The Hall of the Beginning as indicated by the carvings on it. Inside is a table that will be familiar to one of the strangers. It is the table that the original 15 Titled met at the beginning of Nirn, and it's overflowing with a feast even more grandiose than the last time. All of the drinks and cuisine you've been missing for so long is here - from sugar-spiced coffee and bubble tea, delicious scones as good as an aunt's, ridiculously spicy takeout wok, popcorn, philly cheesesteaks and the most perfect star shaped peanut-butter-jelly sandwiches known to man, a big toblerone on a long silver platter, three types of ramen, beer, so many grapes, melon bread, something labeled "dead chicken" that is obviously just a regular roast chicken.... it definitely seems like there were too many cooks here, but cooks with their heart in the right place. Some other favorites of the strangers will also be among the chaos if they look hard enough, but certainly, somewhere, it was deemed that they should have a celebration feast.

But then, you are not strangers any more, are you? Everyone here is a familiar face now, and there are even more familiar faces waiting around the table. The ones who wrote the letter, 707, Halley, Maka, Alexis, and Cardia are already there coming and going, but occasionally many others will stumble through one of the many doors. People from the games who had not fallen to IT. People from home, people you love. What we have here is a nexus and a party all in one. Here, there will be as much time for goodbyes as you like - or, as the hall suggests, new beginnings.]

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[To the surprise of some people, Jun and Akko are never all that far apart. You might even find them holding hands, of all things.]

[But it's easy enough to catch Jun alone, trying to resist the urge to shovel down food as fast as he can. He hasn't been properly fed in over nine months, even though he didn't need to eat when he was dead. Or, maybe, he's just wandering outside on the grass.]

[It's been a long time since he's been able to breathe.]

[Arthur has eaten more than he should. Regrets will be had, but a little later. For now, at a quieter moment, he....needs to find Jun.]

Hey, Jun. [He understands the other boy better now, than he ever did before.]

[He looks up and wipes his face and smiles slightly.]

... Hey, Arthur. You did well.

Edited 2020-03-02 02:59 (UTC)

[Seems like a lot happened, for the dead side.]

Looks like you all did pretty good, too. [He saw you and Akko glued to one another.]

I. Uh. Yeah. Well, I'm not the only one.

[He heard you, Arthur. Hell, you were loud enough they probably could have heard you without the broadcast.]

[Seven big tags. Seven.]

Congratulations! ...Eheh, I was pretty loud, huh?

[Seven is the number seven is the number seven is the number seven i -]

Yeah. But you seem like you've always been loud.

Kind of! You seem like you've always been pretty quiet.

... You're not wrong. I always was more interested in studying than yelling about sports or girls or whatever the other boys were talking about in class.

You'd probably fit in pretty well at the Library, then...not that it's always quiet there. But usually because someone's research is going either really well or really bad.

Maybe? I'm going back with Akko to her world, since I can't... go home...

[Mm...]

....Yeah, I... I know.

[He knows what Jun went through, what he had to do. And he doesn't have any need to press for detail. He doesn't understand, not in full, but... Talking about it, just enough to tell Jun he knows, is enough.]

I never heard anything about her world, so.... I'm glad you have a plan.

['I know.' That gets him to look up, frowning and trying to figure out what's wrong. Is it just sympathy or -]

[Oh. Fuck. Arthur's power.]

[He flinches, trying to figure out how to ask.]

... Did you see it?

[Please answer no...]

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incendiarize - 2020-03-04 07:51 (UTC) - Expand

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icanhearscreams - 2020-03-05 03:40 (UTC) - Expand

I can't say I blame you for eating like that.

[King himself is eating as well. He's never been so happy to have fried chicken in his life...]

Remember to breath between bites!

I mean, it's been like nine months.

[But he sets the plate down.]

... You made it.

Then I especially can't blame you for it.

[He's about to take a bite, before Jun speaks, and he lets the arm fall a bit.]

Yeah. Somehow, I did.

... I just have to ask...

Why? I mean... I just want to understand why.

[Does he even have to explain what he's referring to?]

[...he doesn’t. That much is clear as the smile drops and he sets the plate on the table. He doesn’t look Jun in the eye as he speaks.]

Paranoia, I guess. I thought, if I didn’t do anything, one of those Kyuubey things...it’d go into my world. It’d try to make deals with people...deals with anyone. And they go after specific people-people in desperate situations, or don’t have the best judgement, or both. And...when the pups are so small, and this is the second time I just disappeared without a trace, and...I thought they’d be perfect for them.

It’s not an excuse. Not in the slightest. What I did was terrible, and it’s going to take forever for me to just forgive myself. But I was scared. My judgement wasn’t the best. And I didn’t want them to take my family.

If you hate me, I don’t blame you. I’ll leave you alone if you want me to.

... You were protecting people. People, and not just one person.

[Unlike him, unlike the one person who still gets under his skin so badly. His anger's faded a lot, but it's still sharp enough to hurt.]

That's what I got killed for, basically. The ability to erase one moment of tragedy from existence. And the man who killed me wanted to do it to help save his world.

[He doesn't sound mad in the slightest.]

I'm not saying you didn't do a shitty thing by murdering people, but you did it for non-shitty reasons. That's all I wanted to know. ... I just wanted to make sure you had actually non-selfish reasons.

[...so many people just...forgive him so easily...he just-]

It was selfish, though. I didn’t get any confirmation that they’d go after my family, let alone people I actually know. I didn’t even think about Ris or Mithos or anyone else from the train getting there and talking to them before the Kyuubeys got there. I didn’t even think...think about what would have to happen after. That...if I really wanted it to happen, a third person would have to die.

Even if someone else did something like it...at least he could say he it was for more than just a couple people. He knew what he was doing-he was sure of what he was doing. I just...did something stupid without even knowing what would really happen if I didn’t do it.

I’m grateful that you’re not holding it against me, but...I’m still not sure I deserve it.

[He just sighs and looks down at King. Just looks at the expression on the other's face and feels his chest rise and fall for a few breaths.]

I don't trust those things. I don't trust that they won't mess with whoever they can get their little paws near. Even if they didn't go after your family or people you knew, desperate people would've been taken advantage of.

I... can't say I didn't actually try to make a deal with one, but apparently dead people don't qualify.

[He raises his hand like he's about to move it near King and then just drops it.]

Sometimes to do things... you have to kill more than one person. I lost track of the number I killed individually.

[He's not sure what's worse, hearing that. Would it be the fact that he's killed people before, and a lot of them? Or the fact that the only reason Jun isn't a magical boy is because he was dead when he tried to make a deal? Either way, it gets a chill running down his spine.]

It still would’ve been hard, trying to live with it. Worse, since the other options were all good people. I knew they were all good people. And if you knew the people you killed were good people...I’m sorry. For everything life and your world has put you through. No one should have to go through that kind of thing. Even if they weren’t good people, I’m sorry you’ve had to go through so much.

[This isn’t even about him being a kid and doing this stuff-anyone having to go through it sounds like a horrible fate.]

I might know someone that could help, if you’re up for it. A therapy dog. He’d be able to believe everything that’s happened, after all the stuff in space London. And he’s probably gonna have a lot of patients, after all of this.

[Himself included.]

[He hesitates and sighs, running his hands through his hair. His voice is quiet as he speaks.]

... I watched thirteen battles before mine. Even omitting all of the details, I watched a version of Earth become doomed to destruction each time. I watched everyone in both contracts die before me. None of us were over fourteen.

[He lets that sink in for a moment before continuing.]

If we lost, our version of Earth would be destroyed. You won by killing the pilot. Two robots, forty-eight hours. One of the versions of Earth served as a battleground.

... But I was stupid and let the pilot escape, and he could have been anywhere on the planet.

S... so I had to kill everyone on the planet, one by one until I found him.

[He winces. He knows that logically, talking about it will help... but that doesn’t stop him from hearing the brief burst of voices screaming out in agony and terror.]

[Hearing it...even if he didn’t go through it himself, he has to wipe at his eyes to keep the tears from coming. It’s awful. Horrible. Worse than he could’ve imagined.

He’s not resisting any urge this time. He’s making himself taller and hugging Jun, trying to give him some form of comfort-any comfort. He’s earned it, after going through so much.

He doesn’t say anything. He’s not sure if words could really help at the moment. Hopefully this’ll be enough to do some bit of good.]

[He jerks back in surprise at suddenly large dog, but doesn't fight against the hug. It's strange, but he's gotten used to hugs a little bit more. But it's strange feeling it from someone who's warm and alive, with a heartbeat under his chest.]

[But stranger still is the... he doesn't believe in auras or crap like that, but there's a paternal feeling that he's entirely unused to. That sort of relationship had been tried from both of them, but it had never worked. This... this is weirdly comforting. He relaxes slightly, but then hiccups a bit like he's about to start crying. He sniffs and wipes at his face. No. Tears aren't okay.]