middleofsomewhere | Conclusion

Conclusion

Thank you.

For those inside the system the voices of the Great-Seasons ring out around them once the red mass has vanished and the blue plinth it was smothering is freed once more. They don't have all that much time to reflect on that before they find themselves waking up once more in their bodies around the tree trunks.

Or at least, around the tube that is the Great-Season they entered through. All illusions have vanished now, all that is left are pipes and metal.

The Great-Seasons allow them passage out from the centre, no sentries or pipes attack them this time. Everything seems to have been put to rights, the walls in the Autumn sector have stopped moving, there is no strange weather effects in the Summer Sector, no engineering problems in Winter and all the camaloid creatures in Spring are calm. Any Helpmates they come across are doing their jobs and no longer malfunctioning.

After a small amount of time, enough to check that all is well, their SCA's light up. All Passengers are to return to the Voidtrecker Express.

Considering the vast distances involved it is probably best that they use the evacuation function to return to the Luggage carriage.

Once all Voidtreckers have returned the train returns to the Void once more.

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"Apart from clearing out some sort of virus? Beats me."

That it hadn't been the source behind the shutting-down of powers made it a different kind of annoyance.

"You were all right in there, though? Didn't get pushed back out of the system in the middle of things, I mean."

Now that checking-in with the 'patients' is done, Nita can start to take stock of how her friends and family are doing.

"Losing access to wizardry in there... it took me off guard, that was for sure."

Nita's expression neutralizes; practically deflating into the chair, she sighs.

"After entering... I got cut off from my wizardry."

With Inigo, like few others on the train, she can be this honest.

"I- I've had it happen before, on missions even, but not so completely. ... I have to admit, it scared me. Managed to get back on my feet with some help, though; helped get through to that corrupted plinth and everything."

Pressing further back into the chair, she sighs again.

"Have you met Rich? He- he helped me the most, when I was struggling." Panicking, even.

What eternal winter? What war? Persephone once again feels out of her depth.

"First, thank you for the trust." She smiles, a little sad and thin, then clasps her hands on the table, "I don't... Okay I'm going to level with both of you. We do not really know what happens to our worlds while we're here. For a long time, we thought time didn't move at home, that we returned to the point we left whenever it decided to return us. I held onto that for a while, to stay sane, that I was just living out a long moment outside of time. Then we got to talk to the train and it claimed that's not true. But it gave us no reason to think to our worlds were destroyed without us. Especially for those more essential to it's workings." She nods to him.

[train]

And cue Thea almost crashing into Koumyou with quiver in hand. "Sorry! The landings never get easier." as a few arrows go flying mid tumble.

"It was weird, but it mostly tasted like bologna, so it was okay." Xander had eaten worse, after all. Much worse, in his time. Not that he had any plans to go into that into detail.

"I guess it'd make some kids be more inclined to eat it." Never mind he'd pulled a few stunts with making the bear talk while it'd been on the train, mostly to cut up and be silly. He paused for a moment. "Actually, I know it'd make some of the kids I knew back home inclined, so I guess that works out, huh?"

"Tidus?"

Inigo first says, sounding surprised, like he didn't see the question coming from Senku. Senku had said Tidus knew about the experiment too, but it didn't seem like Senku had asked Tidus to participate..

"No." Should Tidus have? Inigo would be covering for his bro if so, but he's pretty sure Tidus never agreed to anything, so it should be fine. Although now Inigo is just thinking of how awkward that moment back there got. "It seems that world was fine for anyone to take their SCA off on. I guess since they were building that place in a way that was meant for people to eventually live there.. I think?"

Look, it didn't seem very liveable for medieval boy over here, but his standards sure are different from most people's.

Lan Xichen is no Orpheus, but the music is sweet, if melancholy. He accepts the choice and finishes the melody, before unfolding and gliding a little closer, even without the flowing robes he is used to.

Not too close.

"Excuse me - it would be fair to ask. Would you like privacy, or company?"

There we are. The exact question Madoka thought was coming - well, either that, or the question about witches and their relationship to them. Both aren't fun to discuss, especially since Mami is already a magical girl. Since there's no longer any way back for her. And it's tempting to lie. Madoka thinks she may even be able to pull it off if she'd try really hard to sound convincing. And it might even be better - for Mami to be able to keep living blissfully, when there's nothing that can be changed about it anyway.

.. but it feels wrong. Madoka's always been taught to be a good girl. To not lie, even when it may be the better thing to do.

She bites her lower lip, going quiet - an answer in and of itself, though she doesn't leave it at that.

"Yes, your soul.. is in your Soul Gem. All magical girls' souls are.." But before her voice fully trails off, Madoka quickly shakes her head. She looks into the other girl's eyes, sounding more determined now.

She can't make the same mistakes she did with Sayaka, after all. Even now she recalls it so vividly, the other girl calling herself a zombie, tearing herself up over it.

"B-But that doesn't mean you're undead! Mami-san.. is still Mami-san, after all. It doesn't change anything about you!"

Clearly nothing embarrassing.

Although it is something surprising. Surprising enough to make Madoka stop trying to move through the crowd for a moment. Instead she freezes up as she feels the other's forehead move against her own, her cheeks heating up a tad.

"Ah.."

It's nice. And warm, and affectionate. And so her surprise slowly melts into a smile, not caring who else may be around at this point.

"O-Of course I am! I wouldn't let you worry about me, you know..!"

He sighed a little, slumping in on himself. "I don't know that I can." He frowned.

"No." He shook his head. "I have to."

"Oh no, I'm sorry!"

Even though Madoka is sure it must have happened to a lot of people - she only barely managed to dodge the creatures thanks to a spell someone else cast on her, after all! - it's still not fun to hear. Especially since she can figure out what a scorch mark must mean happened, considering what those creatures were oddly capable of..

"I think mama back home always had a way to deal with those." Madoka frowns as she thinks about it. "I think you were supposed to soak the marks in something, but I think I might have forgotten what it was.."

"Quite literally to."

It was why he figured he should at least improve on certain aspects while still keeping to what he believes in. Plus it would probably make his Pokemon friend happy. He thinks. He could never tell. Kubfu soon was able to be released from his ball as he was quick to turn to Yugi in an attempt to cheer him on.

"He's a big supporter of it, plus I figured I might as well train with him"

He nods - healers keep secrets as a matter of course, and Thanatos more than most likely needs that assurance.

The explanations - both of them - make everything so much worse. Thanatos' world has an eternal winter and a war, and death itself doesn't happen without him there? Gods, no wonder he was panicking so much about being trapped-

...again. Being trapped again. Is that how he knew that death wouldn't happen without him? Had his world already tested the theory?

And then Persephone confirms that time is moving on without them.

He has to stop for a moment at that and just breathe, and take that homesickness, and pack it away. He'll handle that later. For now, he...

...has nothing to say. It's a lot, and he can't think of anything to say that will help. Instead, he reaches across the table and gently lays his hand atop Thanatos's. It's not much, but hopefully it'll help, if only a little.

"I was just curious. I didn't think he would, this time." Senku commented with a bit of a hum. Tidus hadn't been asked, but he volunteered under certain criteria, and that criteria hadn't been met this mission. Roland might not like that, but it was Tidus' choice.

"I got that impression too. I would've taken samples but taking things was against some stupid law, not that I saw anything of interest anyway." He sighed. "Oh well, I'll have to rely on data I pick up then."

Ah...she thought so, but that doesn't make it any easier to hear. Mami bows her head, the gem darkening just a little...and that causes Rosetta to squeak in alarm and curl around her wrist.

"Kyubey never said anything...I thought it was just one of those crystals from magical girl stories, you know? But if all life comes from this, I'm not really alive."

A soft snort. "I was already doomed, but this...what will happen if the gem darkens completely?"

Seto greeted Kubfu with a nod, watching as Snapper trotted up to flick her tongue to say hello.

"Right. That's partly why I'm here too. Eva says I won't be ready to act as a real trainer until I'm better conditioned for battle. How did you want to train? The course with me, or sparring? Running? Target practice?"

Thanatos had it implied his first day that time moved without him. Even if he hadn't known, he would have assumed it would. Hearing Persephone confirm his suspicions doesn't bring him any comfort.

"I'm perfectly capable of ruining the world without the train's help. The train just makes it harder for it to end." Could anyone back home find him? They must know what's happening this time by day's end. Thanatos hopes that no one believes he would willingly throw the world into chaos.

Although, he had defied his duty in a major way... but that was for Zagreus! Just Zagreus!

He doesn't register Ryo's hand upon his as he continues, emotion staining every word. "People seem to think a lack of death means immortality, but it doesn't. They still get hurt. Still get diseased. Still need to eat. A lack of death just means those who should have passed from a mortal wound do not but still feel the pain. The sick lay in agony with no hope of a reprieve. Hunters can't hunt, and even if they catch animals, they can't turn them into food. Suddenly, more and more reach the point where they should be dying but can't because I'm trapped. I can't help them. Can't release them from their suffering. Can't do anything."

Thanatos pulls away from Ryo (when had he put his hand on his?) and rubs his wrists. He swears he can feel those shackles. Mort squeaks in alarm, but he can't hear him. "It just takes me being restrained. Chained up. Shoved in a chest." He motions on the table the shape of a box. It's far too small for a grown man to fit into. "That's all it takes in my world."

Death is shaking now. "And Zagreus is probably trapped in lava in Asphodel like the idiot he is. Unable to die and be revived in the House. Because there is no way he'd give up his search for his mother after finally meeting her for the first time. I'm supposed to be helping. I'm not--I-I'm not supposed to be torturing him!"

Edited 2021-01-29 20:34 (UTC)

Koumyou, please. Please. That's his spleen your pointy elbow is currently sticking into. Inigo is just trying to live over here. Sweet Naga, he's having flashbacks to the forced group evacuation all over again.

"M-Milord, if you could move your elbow just a little..."

Before, you know, he ends up with a bruise right there if this boney elbow pressure keeps up any longer.

"You can. I promise. I have trained people in observation and situational awareness." They tilt their head at him. They'll have to adjust their lessons for his deafness, but they're sure they can do that, especially if he can still smell. "I can help. If you want."

Okay--okay she has promised that she wouldn't hug him until he gave assent. She has. But there's little to do, little comfort she can bring when he spews the facts of his world, the horror he sees coming, the horror he saw once. She wants to hug him, but will he feel trapped by it? She hovers near him, literally, listening.

"Hey--hey!" She nudges Mort closer to him, hoping the mouse will ease what she cannot.

"Look, the train brought us here to help people. I--I'll ask Nita if we can ask the train if people are alright in your world, if death still passes. Maybe no time is passing on your world because you're not here or someone else is taking up the mantle of death. New gods are born all the time, taking up pieces of their parent's legacies, finding parts of their power their own. Hermes helps you gather souls to the Underworld in my world. I can't--I can't believe it would have us run around the multiverse helping people only to let your own world suffer!"

She puts a hand on his arm, gently, "And Zagreus--he doesn't...You're not torturing him. This is not in your control, none of this is or was in your control. No matter what happened to you."

Rich looks up in surprise when someone responds to him, sniffling. He shouldn't have been surprised to see Alice there... she was the type more concerned with manners.

He isn't bothered, but he does remind himself to be more polite around her, considering how shereacted to his attempt at flirting before. Better ask to do anything that could come off as inappropriate.

"Was fixing pipes. Some of them were partly underwater by the time we got to 'em, so I had to wade in p-pretty deep." Is he shivering now? Ugh, he's going to make himself so sick. "I thought I-I'd be fine, d-don't normally need to w-worry about that. B-Blood runs hot." That's not going to stop a cold, idiot.

It's at that admission that Inigo slowly lets go of his backhug hold on Nita. Instead he moves so he can properly see her - moving around her and to the side, getting down on one knee next to the seat she's sitting on and looking up at her from his current position.

There's still a smile on his face, though it's a bit softer now, trying to seem less overwhelming.

"I'm sorry. I know I can't quite imagine what it's like, considering I'm.." He makes a vague hand gesture. You know. He's just a regular guy with a sword, he has no idea what it's like to suddenly lose such an instrinsic part of yourself like Nita's wizardry. "But I know it must have been hard."

Especially if Nita, of all people, would admit like this that it scared her. She doesn't easily do that kind of thing.

Inigo reaches out, grabbing a gentle hold of Nita's hand, holding it between his own two hands.

"And I'm also sorry that I wasn't there when you needed me." Or at least needed someone. "Though I'm glad to hear you weren't all alone through it."

Nita raises a hand once Inigo settles himself in - landing it gently on his shoulder, trying to summon a smile.

"It was. But I've been through it before, so I know I'll be able to bounce back better next time. If there's a next time."

Which, sad to say, it's likely there will be.

Her other hand gets held by Inigo, and she lets the warmth of his hands sink in.

"... Me, too. But you weren't alone, either; you were helping people, and they needed your help too."

Just so Inigo doesn't forget that!

Sounds like a handler, all right. Not something they can really process properly right now, aside from unhappy dislike. (Handler. I know, Asset. Handler. Shut up, Asset.)

They finish off the first piece of toast and start on the second. "Sounds difficult," is what they say about it.

So has Soldat, frankly. They're not going to get into that. They're moderately sure that anything the train gives them will be safe for consumption and not horrible, so it was really just the shape that threw them. "And there are a lot of kids on this train." Which bothers them, in a distantly sad kind of way.

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Conclusion

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