middleofsomewhere | Under the Sea: Conclusion and aftermath

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Under the Sea: Conclusion and aftermath

Ritual

The jellyfish is no more and as red team take stock of their injuries, or collapse from exhaustion the lights zip around them, singing their song of joy. They gather around the light that had been inside the jellyfish and now that it has been released it is obvious this light is different. Stronger. They surround it and the song gets even louder as they begin to move towards the plinth.

In the caverns where the purple and orange team are there is a stillness. For those in orange team still in the cavern they can only hope that the instructions they gave out had been followed. Luckily for them they have been, Purple team have done a remarkable job of defeating the crabs and cleaning the temple. The priests gather around the shell on the alter, arms linked together in prayer as they seek to re-sanctify their temple. As their prayer begins they will invite the voidtreckers to join them, though no one is forced into taking part in the ritual. They suggest that they use their strange wrist jewellery to open communication with their friends in Bui.

The monster on the beach is defeated and though the fight is still raging against the crabs, a beacon has been built and lit. The islanders who are not fighting gather around it, linking arms, drawing any voidtreckers who don't object to joining them into the circle.

The song begins hesitantly, almost as if everyone has forgotten the words and only half remembers the tune. The SCA translates, the prayer is simple, a blessing on the land and its people, deliverance from the darkness and hope for the future.

The light from the jellyfish reaches the plinth and is set upon it. The song heightens and the light shoots upwards, blinding in its brilliance.

Through the dark storm clouds a light streams towards the island, most of it towards the beacon on the island though there is a break away light that goes towards the train, where some of orange team have set up a second beacon. It swirls around those on the train roof, singing a song of happiness and bounces back towards the island.

The light reaches the main beacon and hits it with a strength that lights up the whole sky. The light splits more solidly into two and speeds off over the ocean. Light pours into the underground caverns, not caring about the ocean and rock in the way, the light pools into the shells, the caverns glow warmly.

Outside the storm calms, clouds roll back, the sun shines. The sea stills. The wind stops. The sun is rising, a beautiful dawn. Any monsters left scuttle away, vanishing into the ocean, away from Bui.

Those with any powers that they couldn't reach before find them returned in a rush. Those who can sense life find this world teeming with it. A song that dances between every plant and creature.

Some of red may have evacuated to the train but those who stayed to see the ritual through, the world around them seems to melt away and they find themselves back next to the rock pools. Among their number there are some confused looking islanders who intrinsically draw closer to those who helped free the lights.

Orange and Purple

Down underwater there's noise and a babble of voices as the citizens of Bui wake up. There's a shimmering around the city now, like a shield though they can pass through easily. Parents scramble to locate their children and all check on loved ones and friends.

The familiar voice of train announcements is heard through Orange team's SCAs. Orange return to the VoidTrecker Express. Once everyone is on board it flies low over the ocean, skimming the waves.

In the underwater temple the priests finish sealing the ritual and then it is time to begin the return trek. There are no monsters this time and after a few hours, as they emerge onto the first of the sandbanks they will find the VoidTrecker Express is waiting for them.

Red and Blue

The monsters gone, those of the island gather everyone from the rock pools and for a few hours everyone sleeps.

At about noon the islanders begin to stir, begin putting things to rights. Wood is moved from the strategic points to more communal campfires on the beach. Any dead monsters that haven't been gathered for food have been washed out to sea, disappeared into the depths. They begin to prepare food and won't turn away any helpers. Though those who have been fighting are encouraged to rest.

The islanders bring blankets and start to gather. Everyone is exhausted but the children, in the way of children find the energy to play in the sea and the sand.

Beach Day

Early afternoon the train lands on the beach and everyone gets a holographic message to their SCA.

Mission successful. Well done Voidtreckers. Enjoy the rest of your day. You will find suitable clothing in the dressing room. A new recipe has been added to the kitchen information points.

The dressing room is indeed open once more, this time it holds swimsuits of every style, shorts, t shirts, wraps and beach skirts. Sun hats and sunglasses can also be found. It's a bit of a mush mash but they should be able to cobble together something other than their uniform wet suits.

Time to laze around on the beach or for those who still have energy swim or play. A few hours later a ripple across the water brings some of those from Bui and they swim or lounge on rocks to talk.

Food and stories

Food is cooked and shared, the islanders will happily try the voidtreckers' offerings and share their own. As the sun begins to set they gather around the fires. Stories and songs are shared and there's even some dancing for the brave.

Voidtreckers can choose whether to sleep in their own beds or spend one last night on the island before the train flies off into the sunrise and into the void.

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Alice is.. not quite on either the train or the beach, really. She's in that awkward middle zone where it looks like she doesn't quite feel like sitting on the train by herself, but also doesn't really feel like heading out to the beach either. She's instead sitting near the train, still in full purple train clothes (although no longer in that wetsuit, thank god!) rather than any swimsuit. She's even managed to find some shade, considering her pale skin looks like it would probably burn instantly at the faintest ray of sun.

She doesn't particularly look like she's looking for company (does Alice ever look like that?), hence the surprise on her face when there's just.. suddenly Sven. Yes, she does at least remember him from that day on the platform. Which is why the surprise doesn't turn into immediate annoyance at having to face a social situation a moment later. Instead she seems rather calm, though still perhaps a tad confused.

"I should be asking you that. Wasn't this your first mission?"

Sven laughed. "Well..." He began, inviting himself to a seat that put him technically next to Alice, albeit leaving a respectful gap between herself and him. He sat with his knees up, his forearms balanced across them and his fingers linked as he looked out over the view.

"My first mission as a bona fide Voidrecker, sure. But, I'm used to this sort of escapade-! This was what I did before coming here, you know, even if it was on a more...'local' scale. You go to a town, you find out from some villagers that they're having some kind of drama with their gods, you go fix it."

Of course, his tired eyes, tangled hair, and generally sluggish aura betray that's not the entire story. "That...doesn't mean it was easy," he admitted, turning his face toward Alice and making an expression that's someplace between grin and grimace. "...I mean, fuck me, really. Trust that my first job would be on a world that blocks magic. Bet I made just a stellar first impression on my teammates."

Truthfully it hadn't been that bad. He'd still been able to fight, he'd still been able to keep Lightning and 47 protected in the last leg of their battle against the jellyfish. That didn't mean it wasn't frustrating as all hell that he'd fought himself to the brink struggling with the holy weapon that normally felt like an extension of his being itself. He didn't blame the Petals of Nil, but he couldn't help berating himself for not...doing better. Somehow.

Edited 2020-05-22 20:00 (UTC)

There's no protest when he seats himself. Maybe exactly because there is that respectful gap - and also just partially since Alice didn't really mind Sven's company the other time they spoke. So no need to immediately shun said company now, unless he happens to say something extremely dumb or annoying out of the blue.

Thankfully he doesn't. She quietly listens to him, her expression fairly devoid of emotion, but she does let out a thoughtful hum after the last thing he says.

"It's probably not as severe as you think. I'm not sure if you've noticed yet, but quite a lot of people in this place tend to be too forgiving." Which is a weird, weird experience after coming from a place as filled up with shitty people as London, but Alice is slowly trying to come to terms with it by just accepting it as an objective fact and shoving her own feelings about it aside. "I am fairly sure most of them haven't had their opinion of you lowered at all by whatever may have transpired during the mission."

She's trying to present it like she's just talking about facts tone-wise, but.. it's really hard to deny that the words themselves, when you ignore the tone she's putting up on purpose, sound like she's trying to at least somewhat comfort him all the same, huh.

It does sound like that, doesn't it? Alice was a strange one for sure. That was no off-putting thing to Sven, for the reasons they'd discussed the first time they met. But through all the ways her experiences had shaped her, Alice seemed like a good person. Sven huffed softly at her oddly positive cynicism and shook his head with a smile.

"Forgiveness might not be such a bad trait, least of all in a group of people we have to share a relatively small living space with. Especially when we're relying on them to cover our asses later."

He watched their fellow Voidtreckers milling about the beach, chatting with the islanders and helping ferry wood. That must be for the bonfire later. "Don't think I'm letting you off the hook from talking about yourself," he tells Alice, slipping her a cheeky sideways look. "Are you planning on joining up with everyone down on the beach eventually, or are you planning to stick here and watch all night?"

Alice lets out a sigh the moment he starts about her again. She may not be one for dramatics, but it still sounds slightly exaggerated, like she wants to make sure he can hear that sigh and the terrible pain he is bringing her by making her talk about herself.

"I'm fine here." Though she could use a little company, but that problem has momentarily been solved by this conversation, at least. "I don't like loud things. Or the sun. Or all these people walking around as if we were all cavemen and have never heard of the concept of clothes."

Listen, she's from Victorian times! Alice may be cruder than most, but she still has some sensibilities. At least it explains why she's sitting here completely covered up, especially compared to all the people in swimwear.

Sven snorted with laughter. "Now you're just being a killjoy on purpose!"

He grinned extra wide to show her he's definitely just kidding. If Alice were anybody else, he'd probably cajole, coax or otherwise bother her until she agreed to come down to the beach with him, but somehow Alice gives off an aura like not only would it be like trying to talk a boulder back up a hill, but like it would ram you down extra fast just to get away from you. If she were truly happiest to stay up here then he supposed that was fine with him, and it wasn't like he was on a deadline to get himself to the beach (eager as he was to feel sand between his toes).

"Can I at least bring you a plate of food later? Wouldn't want to think of you having to choose between starving to death or setting foot into the sunlight and melting."

At the first thing he says Alice just pulls her shoulders up into a shrug. Like she's admitting that yes, that's true, but at the same time it's also very much a 'sorry not sorry' kind of deal. He may be joking, but she's very well aware that she's not exactly the most fun person around.

Maybe that's exactly why the other thing he says instead seems to draw surprise from her. It visibly shows up on her face. Sure, Sven didn't seem like a bad guy before, but Alice has learned to not count on people being kind for too long.

"You'd do that? Wouldn't you rather be out there enjoying yourself?" Hey, Alice, you know, him bringing you some food isn't going to take hours, you know. But it's mostly surprise at the kind gesture existing at all that brings forth those words.

It was hardly going to be an onerous task to bring Alice back a plate of food. Sven had been half-expecting Alice to turn down his offer, or otherwise that she'd just shrug and say sure, thanks. But she seemed so surprised by his offer that he couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, I wouldn't want to think of you wasting away up here! And hell, this is your party too, you know. Even if you've committed yourself to being a wall-flower, it'd be a shame if you couldn't enjoy yourself a little bit as well."

He lent and reached across the distance between them and lightly bumped Alice's upper arm with his knuckles. Like he was giving a friendly shoulder-punch to a ceramic ornament that might break or topple over if he hit even a little bit too hard. "And I do enjoy your company too, you know! If I think people are looking a little lonely then I'll go and see if I can find a way to perk them up, sure, but I'm not sitting here out of pity. I like talking to you."

"You're such a strange guy."

Is that really what you want to go for, Alice? Not.. you know "thanks", like a normal person? Apparently not.

But there's just so much of what he's saying that's so strange to Alice. It's behaviour she's never seen from anyone outside of this train. Like him admitting that he likes talking to her. Or that he talks to people who look lonely? What? Is that a thing people do? All she's ever witnessed back home is people being absolutely awful to one another.

.. yet she's still accepting that small knuckle-bump from him without protest, so it says something about her at least not thinking that his strangeness is a bad thing.

"Are you sure you didn't accidentally hit your head on the mission?"

"Oh, I most definitely, definitely did." He laughed. "But I got healed up pretty well, so you can trust that any and all of weirdness was already well ingrained."

He'd still consider wanting to spend time with Alice one of the comparatively normal things about him. Alice appeared to think herself very unpleasant to be around, which Sven couldn't relate to because frankly, he found her quite charming. Maybe she felt her experiences made her too difficult to comprehend...or maybe she'd just spent too long surrounded by people who didn't appreciate her. In any case, he wouldn't press the issue and risk spoiling her day.

"You never told me how things are with you. Did your leg of the mission go well? I guess it's obvious that everyone succeeded in the end, but I'm still curious how the other teams got on."

She lets out a sound. It mostly sounds like a sigh, but it's as if there's an amused edge to it that she's trying to not show too much, but slips out all the same. "I don't know if that answer makes it worse or better.."

But then the question is flipped back around to her. Guess she's not escaping it after all, huh. Although at least talking about how the mission went for her part of it is a lot easier still than talking about anything that actually involves her state of mind.

So after thinking about it for a moment, Alice just pulls A Face as if she's thinking of something particularly unpleasant.

"It went relatively well, but I would honestly prefer to never see a single crab again in my life." Trusting even someone as decent-seeming as Sven with her more vulnerable emotions is too terrifying, but anger and annoyance? Those are easy enugh to share. "They just kept coming! It's as if we were fighting every single crab in the whole sea."

Fortunately, Sven was more than enthusiastic to join in with dunking on the crabs. He jammed his tongue out like a school kid and glowered.

"Ugh, tell me about it! Cutting our way through that crustacean army just to reach the plinth where the jellyfish big-bad was hanging out took forever. It felt like we should have slaughtered every crab in the ocean, but once we were all gathered in one place hundreds of 'em kept piling in on us! It was madness!"

He slipped Alice a sly grin. "Honestly, eating them at the feast is going to feel a lot like karmic retribution. Tasty, delicious karma. You want a plate of juicy, karmic crab legs, or is the sight of claws going to make you see red and slap 'em out of my hands?"

"It's like I discover a new odd hobby of yours every single time we talk. This time it's apparently revenge eating."

It's said just dryly enough that it's probably obvious that it's a joke. After all, Alice is so bad at putting actual amusement into her tone that the dry deadpan is the only giveaway...

"But I suppose having some doesn't sound too bad. Perhaps we might even eat some together so you can prevent me from throwing my plate directly back into the sea." Yes, that's an invitation to hang out. Listen, when you suck at being direct about your feelings, this weird indirect way is clearly the only way to go about it.

"I'm a man of wide and varied interests," he replied lightly. He was used to Alice's sense of humour by now...she delivered everything so straight and seriously, Sven felt like he was always waiting on the end of the sentence for a surprise flick in the tail.

He felt he was beginning to get a handle on how Alice expressed her friendship--or if not quite friendship, invitations for amicable company--too. "I'd like nothing better," he said with a grin, being completely earnest. It was completely fine with him if Alice wanted to be coy--Sven would happily be direct enough for both of them.

"...Just do me a favour and if you decide you're going to throw the plate, throw the plate before I get too stuffed with crab. The last time I had to run on a full stomach I got the most terrible stitch in my side."

Honestly, the way he rolls along with everything she says so easily makes it so much easier to talk to him. Alice is a lot of things, but certainly not a social wunderkind. Not to mention she can be so rough around the edges. But all of that seems to glide right off Sven like water off a duck's back.

It's refreshing. It feels surprisingly easy. Maybe one day she'll actually manage to tell him she appreciates that. You know, once she gets over herself.

But for now, that last sentence just manages to get him a bit of A Look.

(It actually seems relatively amused by Alice standards for Looks. The corners of her lips are so close to tugging up. Almost there.)

"A stitch in your side? I didn't take you for such an old man. Should I be calling you Father William?"

Sven spluttered with pretend indignation.

"Mercy, please! I thought by leaving the church I'd escaped having to wind up with a dumb title like that. I'm only..."

Wait, how old was he again? He'd been 20 when he'd left the monastery. How many years had he been travelling? Five, six? Longer, maybe? He couldn't even count by the number of winters, he'd travelled so widely across his world that the seasons were no longer a useful tool by with to measure his time. You lost track when you were constantly moving and your only obligations were those to your god.

He brandished a warning finger at Alice. "If you say one word about me being so old I can't remember my age anymore, then so help me I'll...I'll stand out in the sunshine and eat all your crab in front of you."

At the very least Alice doesn't seem to think anything too strange about the fact he can't seem to recall how old he is.

Although it might just be since she's distracted. Since she's watching him, listening to everything he's saying, and.. somehow it makes the dam burst that was holding back Alice's full smile a moment ago. Maybe it's the odd relaxed atmosphere here at the beach, or the relief of the mission having ended well, or Sven being an oddly comfortable conversation partner-- but no matter what specifically causes it, after a moment of quiet staring Alice actually starts laughing.

Enough so that she even raises a hand to cover her mouth as she does so. It feels so weird. When was the last time she laughed like this?

"Oh, you should've seen your own face!" Even if it was pretend indignation, he does it so well. "You're making it sound so tempting."

Alice's laughter was so unexpected. The sound of the usually sardonic and serious young woman breaking into fits of giggles was enough to make Sven pause, if only for a second. A smile deeper than any other shone from his face and he forced down his own spasm of laughter.

"What's so funny?" He demanded, his voice strained from keeping his own mirth bottled in his gut while he grappled with his facial muscles, trying to wrestle the grin off of his lips and failing. "I'll do it, you know! I'll eat it all. I'll eat all your crab, right over there, and force you to get a sun tan if you don't want to go hungry."

Somehow the sight is even funnier when it's so obvious he's trying really hard not to laugh. But that makes it all the better. Maybe it's since Sven is so odd (in a good way, though!), but it really does almost feel like the way Wonderland did before it ended up all twisted. Just strange conversations with strange beings in strange places. Her favourite old pasttime.

"Please, do you really think I could get tan?" It's true that Alice looks so pale that one could mistake her for a corpse if she were to just lie down on the sand and not move.. "Don't you know the real reason I'm carrying around this parasol? If I were to go without, the sun would turn me into a pile of ash. Do you wish to be responsible for that?"

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Under the Sea: Conclusion and aftermath

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