middleofsomewhere | The Will to Fight: Conclusion

The Will to Fight: Conclusion

The battles rage loud and ferocious at the gates of the city and off in the ruined wastelands of Erda, and on the walls a struggle of a different kind occurs. The team who stayed behind at the towers are small but determined as they move stoically across the walls to right the stones that have become misaligned, even as their friends battle not too far away.

The city begins to hum. It's a quiet hum, not loud enough to be heard out where the others are fighting but it vibrates even through stone. The recovering monks assure them that it is done, the wards are back up and no demon will be able to enter the city.

Eventually the battle is won, all three battles. The demons fought back and killed, a major blow to their gate system that will keep them back for hopefully a long time. Those waiting in the caverns return to the city and by the time they get there the illusions are gone. Everyone can see the world for what it really is.

But despite the ruins of their world the people are relieved, the adrenaline of the fight coursing through their veins and the mood is one of hope. They will build again, their people will survive.

All Voidtreckers please return to the Voidtrecker Express. Departure will be in a few hours

It has landed not too far from the city, cloaked to make it unnoticeable to the citizens, for all the good that does. No one has been particularly subtle this last week. People can begin regrouping, packing up the camp and getting any wounded not already healed to the train.

However roughly half an hour later another message appears on their SCA.

Passenger Persephone has requested we remain on system System #86525656412355 for an additional day to further assist the people of Erda. The Voidtrecker Express will depart on the morning of Day Fifteen of the month of Kazoo.

The train remains where it is, so the voidtreckers can use its facilities. There is definitely a lot that can be done to assist those of this world and the citizens will welcome any helping hands.

After an extra day they finally depart, returning to the void once more.

(OOC Note: Once the wards are up any characters who are demonic in nature will not be able to enter the city either!)

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"And each world has different rules... it makes it complicated." He shook his head, letting out an annoyed breath. "Doctors are still important. Who's going to heal the healer if they go down? What if we're in a place where magic doesn't work? What if spells don't account for some things like bad reactions to a spell? There's lots of reasons we're still going to need non-magical healing."

"I can make an instrument appear, but I'm shitty at playing... anything. It feels like I have dumb fingers." Dexterous he might be, but he couldn't magically make himself good at playing.

Though in the case of 'serenading' Jack, that was a benefit.

It vibrated softly as it was placed in Vexen's lap, Anan just smiled softly at them, shaking her head fondly.

"Yes. This world's on my scouting route so it's one I know quite well. I was sent to investigate some weird readings we were getting. The world seemed to be in distress and then it wasn't. When I got here the Shining City was, like you saw. It's not been that splendid in a long time, longer than I've been scouting here."

"Yes, I got trapped in the illusion here."

She frowned, "Or rather, I should say I was forced under the illusion here."

Chiff beeped a few times in rapid succession.

"I... um. I wear the prosthetic pretty much all the time. I could have it on in water, it's magical so it doesn't really rust, but Ichigo told me I should try to soak thd stump. I... he's right, I just..."

He closed his eyes, trying to push the images of Home out of his mind. "My friends are fine with it. But I've been places where something like is... not treated well."

It's been a bit of a strange journey over to the train. It was a bit of a rush to try and be there for Taiki as quickly as possible, even rushing to shower and get clean so they could actually hang around him without making a potentially bad state even worse - but then there's also the fact that Inigo definitely asked people about Olivia on the way over to the train, and no one had seen her.

And now here, on the train, Inigo recognizes his mother's name in gold, unable to not at least even check for a second. He tries to shove any and all feelings down about it though, instead doing his best to smile as he enters the quiet room with Tidus, having brought along some water and something light to eat for their friend.

Inigo decided to carry the things, so he's leaving it up to Tidus to actually check up on Taiki first.

"That's all me," she confirms, proud. "The offices of Dread Spider Fashions, established... er, whatever year this is. Only a few people have been here longer than me!"

Which would be a terrifying thought, if her last world wasn't so broken. Nope, she's happy to be here. "So what's not human about you?"

"Oh miss spider, you look like you're feeling better!"

He had been thinking of her, as well as everyone else who had been fighting in that chaos, glad to see that she's doing well after it all as he enters and pulls a blanket up. Adjusting a couple tails to offer as a pillow for her as well, he doesn't have snacks to offer but fluff makes up for it, right?

"Can't get into the city?"

The land pulses with a new life, breathing with the green that Persephone grants it. The higgledies fill it, just as they sense in the goddess the nature she imbues, that she spreads forth. Sunshine helps to give spring strength, while water flocks out with its tiny legs over the fields made, the future with it. Their print smaller than that what the goddess brings to this land suffered, but what is a little more indulgence? To the spread of healing dew they leave, squeak as they dance delightfully, offering protection to the hard word gained.

And Tidus, there isn't much he can do than watch - watch in awe, the way that even the air changes as flora wafts up, nature returning to lands deprived. But when Persephone rocks, starts to collapse, he's close enough just to grab her as her knees buckle down. One of the sunshine higgldies squeak and fall down her back but grab a hold, while the other clings to her hair.

"H-hey!"

They sing softly to her, even the one that nearly fell; a soft warmth like the sun peeking through the clouds, a slow soothing comfort that comes from blue skies. Tidus keeps an arm around her waist, over the front of her shoulders, lending her his frame to keep steady with.

"Persephone..." He wants to speak, to say something, but the words are slow to come. All her worrying and desperation, now coming to this moment.

"You did it," he offers at last. "It's-- beautiful."

It's an inadequate word, but encompasses what he sees: The hope, the beauty and life.

Forced under?

[You’ve got her attention now.]

If you don’t mind me asking, what do you mean by forced under?

bro bro, bro. Bro. Bro!! Sometimes it happens, okay bro!! Sometimes you premature spill your load!! It happens bro!!

That is to say, Tidus manages to rest the side of the barrow's handle against a wall, a sheepish laugh as he comes over to join Prompto. Ugh, look at all these nails-

"You too! Didn't get too friendly with those demons, did ya? Just friendly enough?"

Hah- while it's good to see the other guy looking well (as well as most of them currently out and about), he's not surprised to see him up and about either. He was good to work with back on Red Team.

"Hellspawn, eh..." She can see it, but... People sure like calling other people 'spawn', huh? It's true in her case, 'mother' being a huge, evil spider that would eat them in a second, but it's not like they know that.

"That sucks. Though I don't think these guys really know what hell is, y'know? You'd probably just get, er, Hotstep. Flamesole..."

If he doesn't think it's weird, she won't! Thanks for the pillow! She sinks against his tails with no expression at all, even if internally she's making and discarding plans to replicate this softness for her lair. So fluffy..!

Or maybe he won't miss a few...

Nah, probably shouldn't risk it. In the name of inter-team peace. She sighs.

"Yep, turns out I'm demon-flavoured. Want a snack?"

"...Jack," Kaiba fills in automatically. "I hear he's entering the tournament. But he's a self-obsessed idiot, so I'm sure we can crush him."

But there's more on Ken's mind than that. "But that's later. For now...just don't rush it, we should have a few weeks before things heat up again."

"Turns out their filters are pretty bad," she agrees, turning the page. His appearance gets a grand total of six eyes looking him up and down. It would have been two, but she's digging the snake look. Creepy, but also kinda cool. He'd make the internet shit bricks, for sure...

Another page turns, since the other four eyes are still trained on it. "But that's their problem! Guess we'll just have to be the bigger demons and live it up out here."

"And I didn't even get around to the undead fellas, which can also be done with Eldritch magic I gathered but I don't think Krugarr was big on whatever that involved."

At least the utter disparity and strangeness that happened made him less nostalgic for the Lem than usual. He really needed to find a place with a team again now that no one here was judging him. Sure, not many people knew why they should. He was damn lucky Soldat found out and chose to remain his friend.

Kept a little bit of that particular heartache at bay, even if it did nothing to keep the voices in his head from scolding him.

"Alright, so. If you ain't matter, then what exactly has happened to all of this-" He gestures up and down at Vexen. "Honestly someone was a real dick to you if they made you somethin' that can't enter this city but still needs food an' coffee."

It was easy to get the food, Persephone on the train herself to make pasta, tomato and basil, hot and safe for Taiki to eat. Actually getting washed up and changed, not fretting about being clean enough, about how Taiki will be when they find him -- it leaves Tidus anxious, exhausted mentally after the fighting despite the healing, but refusing it acknowledgement.

He grabs magazines and books along the way from the library, art supplies, whatever that might off-set boredom, not leave Taiki to just his own thoughts. All pocketed away inside his arms for now, leaving his hands free as he quietly opens the door - not wanting to startle Taiki with a knock, but even with the attempt at silence, it doesn't work very well. There's the squeak of two higgledies, one blue and white, down by the side of the seating that Taiki's taken for a bed.

He brings out his cabin blanket swiped out, the only one he's sure to be clean, and folds it up, setting it on the floor as he sits close to the farthest wall to give Inigo room. And if he sees Taiki stirring as he brings out more bits and pieces - an artbook, his folded art case that he shares with others, a book on animals - Tidus will slow and look at him, offering a small smile.

"Hey."

"That sucks." Poor guy! Well, they've been through a lot in there, but even so, that's pretty rude. "Come on in, then. Pull up a blanket. Tell me about it."

Tidus comes back to the train almost as quickly as Merwen does, ...and almost for the exact reasons as she. Though Tidus doesn't notice her the first time, rushing through the carriages after washing and heading closer to the front of the train, to see someone.

But he does on the way back, a splotch of colour larger than the flowers and fruits that grow around the car. He slows, surprised, wondering... and though there's that nag at him over her nude state, he pushes it down, concern taking him most of all:

"Hey," he speaks up first, to draw her attention. "Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

The floating's new. She watches it for a moment, then gestures him further into the tent.

"Modern comforts for the modern demon. You know how it is. Kyaa, a monster, get it away... and so on."

Victory! And a shower.

She has the common decency to wait for as many other people to engage in showers before she does. But once they're done, she takes one of her own. Puts on her discordant mix of purple polo shirt and orange hoodie. Heads out of the train with pigtails still wet. Which leaves some unhappy trails of water in the halls all the way out.

She's out on the dirt before a tired realization hits her. "Oh, right."

Then she wrings her pigtails out, one be one, fluffs them up with the puffiness of an angry cat, and shudders the rest of the water onto the ground. "I'm so tired I'm forgetting stuff. Well that's embarrassing."

Catching Up

Entrapta is no good at doing the 'rebuilding' thing, but she's decent at the 'redesigning' thing. She has her journal out, walking around, finding places where structural damage needs to be repaired on their own time. The city truly is a mess, hardly 'Shining' at this point. But still, most people are alive and can go home.

Between those structural scribbles, irrigation recommendations, and a few puzzles to reccomend to the Tower monks just for funsies, she's feeling pretty good. And if she sees someone she knows? They'll find a purple vent goblin of a woman coming towards them with a happy "Hi!" Even the ones she only recognizes after hearing their voices thanks to the SCA.

"I'm glad you're okay! Unless you were murdered, then I'm glad you're okay now!"

"You know, I keep thinking that it's the ICPs doing it but that makes me wonder how they're doing it in the Quiet Car, unless the train really thinks we're being quiet in there. Honestly more of us use it for science than we use it for quiet, I think. Oh, by the way, I'll probably need that second crate of robot parts soon because I'm almost ready to finish up that project."

She's got the blueprint down and she was just reminded because she'd been doing so much of the work in there.

"Well, considering dying is inconvenient let's do our best to keep it that way. But don't tell anyone I said this? Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do... A lot of people like you, though, so you dying ends up being inconvenient for their productivity. They start worrying and then they get paranoid and they try to keep an eye on you rather than on mission goals so just... y'know... be careful."

The worst part is that it's not a veiled attempt to say she's worried. She genuinely means it as she says it. She's chased way too many aggressive robots out of delighted curiosity to intend otherwise.

"To be honest, I think the dragon probably helped."

He is never letting that go. That damned weird-ass fight with all its water and the girl dropping guns out her skirt and the spider lady nearly going belly up from getting worn out.

She had basically fell asleep the moment they returned to camp after the battle, not caring that she hadn't quite made it to a tent. She slept through the train announcement and the second, so it was perhaps a good job that they were staying another day, or that could have gotten awkward.

But since then she's woken up and did her best to be helpful as the world bursts back into life around them.

She spots Mami and approaches. She feels a bit bad for going separately to her bond friend this time, but Mami was strong and capable.

"Hello Mami."

Edited 2021-03-28 13:43 (UTC)

Tidus isn't good at much than collecting the rubble, shifting it to spots where it'll be less in the way, sorted out for what's useful or junk. Repair jobs? What's that, though he tries it in a few places, but others more efficient at the work take over from him before long.

So it's while shifting a load of stone and some chunks of wood beams that Entrapta finds Tidus in her cheery way. A small "Huh?" when she first speaks up, but he shifts his attention better on her, righting the wheelbarrow -- and a memory clicks with him. Something he has to do.

"Uhh- yeah!" --well, right after he fumbles over that weird way of expressing relief. "You went with Orange, right? You do whatever it was in those towers?"

One would assume yes. But that one isn't Tidus, and properly remembers exactly what Orange went in the towers for other than to get caught in traps and something about monks, at this precise second.

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The Will to Fight: Conclusion

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a; persephone deserving points

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Entrapta | OTA

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seeking green

catching up