middleofsomewhere | 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!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Spring had been incredible.

Ryo had had some idea of what Persephone was capable of, but that had been nothing compared to the actual event. Watching verdant power roll across previously dead land, transforming it into something lush and fruitful, and feeling the rush of life not in his Sense but on his skin, filling every breath he took with an energy he hadn't felt since they'd landed on this world...

There are days Ryo forgets just how powerful Thanatos and Zagreus and Persephone truly are. There are days he forgets that he walks in the company of gods.

He will never forget this.

He stays back as she finishes, lingering long enough to make sure she's okay before heading back to the train himself. He does what work he can - in medical, and in the kitchen - and it's a good while, even after the train's departure, before he takes some time for himself to rest. The spa sounds good, he thinks, though his Sense tells him fairly quickly on approach that Persephone is in there.

It's a while longer before he actually enters, carrying a cup of tea made from herbs from his world. It's heavily spiced, nearly bitter, and meant to help with soreness and fatigue, though he has no idea whether it'll work on a god, especially if that fatigue is from using too much divine energy. He sets the tea near the strawberries, where she can reach but far enough back to prevent it from falling in. "Here. This should help." He hopes.

He'd still need to change before he enters the pool, but he's not about to assume she wants company, either.

Persephone almost closes her eyes again but spots the cup in his hand. Sitting up in a trial and a half, who wants to do that when you can lounge and everything vaguely aches? But soon, he sets the cup down and she carefully picks it up, holding it to her chest in the water. It does manage to be warmer than the pools.

"Thank you, you didn't have to." She blows on it uncertainly, the smell is like nothing she's had but she's game for it. She makes a little face, it's really almost too bitter to swallow, but she drinks it anyways, like a good patient. Or at least she assumes it's healing in some form. Something this bitter can only be medicinal.

"We did take off already, right?" She thought she felt the lurch but honestly, water throws things off a lot. "I've kind of been dozing in and out."

"I know, but...I thought it would help." Please, please work on gods from other worlds. "It's from my world, and it's good for soreness and exhaustion." The bone-deep kind of exhaustion that most mages run into at one point or another - getting laid out from using too much magic too quickly.

"A little while ago, yes." And then, because he doesn't know if gods can drown and he does not want to find out, "Please don't sleep in water - at least, not alone."

He's a healer. Looking after his friends never really ends for him.

"I'm not so far gone that I'd fall in."

There are still occasional faces as she sips, but she tries to keep them to a minimum. Eventually you get used to the taste. Or your taste buds go numb, it is one or other. Persephone squints up at him.

"Are you okay? I know I ran myself pretty dry here at the end but you were also doing a lot over the week."

"Still. I'd rather not find out if gods can drown." Please humor him, Persephone. It's a legitimate concern. Probably.

"I'm alright. I'm just...tired." He'd run himself straight into exhaustion more than once this mission. It had been worth it every time - it was always worth it to see teammates alive and well, and to prevent what taken Soldat from happening to anyone else - but it had also taken its toll. On top of that, he knows he's not at his steadiest - homesickness had hit hard more than once, and he can't afford to be distracted by it - not when he has people to take care of. The mission may be over, but he still has work to do. "And I have a lot to think about."

...gods damn it all, just because it was true doesn't mean he should have said it.

Persephone sets the mug on the ledge and peers over it up at him. He certainly looks exhausted. Everyone stepped up for her, she can step up for him. Patting the ledge, she gives him her patented wide eye imploring look.

"Sit. Or you can get in, if you want to relax. Either way, you need to get off your feet."

He's not expecting the doe eyes, and it throws him. People turn those on Orion or Endon - never on him.

But...it's a direct invitation, and he is tired.

He gives her a small smile - "Let me change first. I'll be back in a minute." - before finding a pair of orange swim trunks and heading out the door. He'll be back soon enough - hopefully she'll still be awake when he returns.

Depending on how loud the soundtrack in the spa is playing, they might hear some familiar voices chatting in the hallway.

"The only time I've been in there was when I was trying to escape and nearly fell into the water for my trouble." Thanatos still sounds very sleepy.

The door to the spa will open to show Thanatos and Zagreus. Yep, Death still looks dead tired.

There's a familiar laugh that soon becomes a familiar shock of fluffy dark hair crowned in flame-laurels as Zagreus steps into the car behind Thanatos. "I can just picture you now, floating everywhere and leaving trails of water in your wake," he teases, immediately moving to pull off his shirt before he registers the shock of pink in one of the pools. "Oh! Hey Sephe."

... and now he's feeling oddly shy about just casually getting undressed in front of his not-mom. His cheeks begin to turn pink as he tugs his shirt - still filthy with ash, by the way - back over his chest.

Persephone has the cup of tea to her lips, figuring that finishing it quickly will be an easier experience than dragging out the bitterness for an hour. And then the door opens and she's stuck trying very hard not to make an awful face at them. She really hopes they don't take it personally.

"Hiello" Persephone blinks at them. Give her a second to take in the idea of Than trailing water like a cat. And then another second to notice Zagreus acting like she cares about shirtless. She waves her hand, leaning back into the water, "Don't stand on ceremony on my account. I'm only wearing a suit because people get all weird if you don't." She pauses, "I'll close my eyes if that helps?"

She leans her head back on the edge, eyes firmly closed. See, nothing weird. There is a little weird fumbling for a strawberry without tipping the whole bowl in the spa.

The Will to Fight: Conclusion

B, with a bit of A, and also GOD PILE

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