The Will to Fight: Conclusion

[voidtreckermods]

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!)

Comments

[knifewithnoname]

[She gets closer, eyeing that cow. She is very much a city child and cows, she didn't know what to expect there. It better not kick her, it seems docile enough.]

I do be doing alright. [Lightly, as if everything had gone without a hitch.] What about you?

[irrationally]

Oh, just about the same.

[ And since the girl doesn't really look like she's hurt or anything, Alice chooses to just believe the airy tone the younger girl says that with. It's not as if she hasn't seen her fight before, after all - despite her age, she's plenty capable. And also jaded enough to not feel bad after fighting. ]

I'm just not looking forward to being shoved into a cramped train along with everyone else again. [ Especially not after having had some space to herself whenever she needed it here. ]

[knifewithnoname]

[She nodded. This mission had been stupid. Not the most stupid mission they'd been on. But it had been hard work.]

Yes, especially if we will be getting more people soon.

[New platforms always came a few days after the end of a mission.] At least we do be having some time to be stretching our legs while Persephone do be making the world be growing again.

[irrationally]

Not long enough, if you'd ask me. [ After all, the amount of days they spend on the train greatly outnumber the days they spend on other places - to not even start about the times they're still practically stuck in a small space, like that one mission on the space station.

Not that Alice doesn't appreciate just being able to sit here instead, without having tons of people walk past her constantly. ]

But speaking of stretching our legs.. What have you been doing ever since the battles ended?

[ The girl doesn't exactly strike Alice as a 'helping rebuild' type, after all. ]

[knifewithnoname]

I did be sleeping and then I did be eating and then I did be helping to be taking down the camp.

[She's not against helping out, if asked. But also she finds no real desire to help people.]

Did you just be talking to the cow?

[irrationally]

[ She hums. ]

Mostly. [ Alice has also been wandering around the city, but felt no real desire to talk to the townspeople. Hence how she ended up in the most quiet place she could find. ]

It's going to be truly noisy again once we all board the train once more. It's nice and quiet here. Peaceful.

[knifewithnoname]

Yes, it do be being peaceful. [She wrinkled her nose slightly.]

Did you be fighting at the gates? They did be saying there did be a machine to be smashing the walls.

[irrationally]

Yes, only god knows where they manages to get such contraptions from.

[ Probably from 'pain-in-the-ass-land', that's where, Alice figures. ]

I'm still not sure why they were so desperate to try and take over this city. It's not even as if there's anything special about it.

[knifewithnoname]

Maybe they did just be wanting to be killing everything. [That's a motive she can understand. Chaos, destruction.

Makes her feel a bit guilty for stopping it, but honestly she has treaded so far from the path of her god that she fears there is no return for her. She scowls.]

They did just be wanting to be smashing it up.

[irrationally]

[ See, Alice catches onto that nuance too. Just slightly - not nearly as far as the girl herself is thinking about it - but just enough to be curious about it all the same.

She pats the bundle of hay she's sitting on, as if to tell the other girl to come sit down next to her. Might as well get comfortable while talking like this, huh. ]

And how do you feel about that? What the demons were doing.

[ Since if Alice has learned anything, it's that this girl's feelings about these sort of things are Complicated. Or at least not as straightforward as 'stop the bad guys'. ]

[knifewithnoname]

[She sits on the hay bale where Alice pats and scowls again. What did she feel about that? She doesn't know. Feelings are stupid and she's not sure what her feelings on stupid demons were.]

I do no be knowing. They did be killing all the humans, but I do be thinking the humans did be doing a good job at killing them back. So why do we be being on the human side? Because they did nearly be losing?

[Dangerous questions maybe, but this is Alice. So it is maybe alright.]

[irrationally]

That's a good question.

[ She'll acknowledge that. That's how it works with kids after all, right? You have to show positive reinforcement for when they say or do good things? And Alice thinks that questioning the status quo is a very important skill to have, no matter your age. ]

I'm not sure anyone would have a direct answer for that. Perhaps it is exactly that, because they were on the losing side. Perhaps it is because the demons were the aggressive side, and were invading someone else's land. But it's not exactly as if they were.. [ Her voice trails off, before meaningfully emphasizing ] eloquent enough to share their motivations with us.

[knifewithnoname]

[She beamed slightly, it was a good question. She thought it was anyways and she was glad Alice agreed.]

Yes and we did no really be asking them. We did just be killing them.

[Which was fine. That was the job.] I do be wondering if people would be being so happy if we did be being on the demons side. If the train had been telling us to be helping them wipe out the humans.

[Not really the trains style honestly. But...]

[irrationally]

Oh, some people would be happy regardless.

[ There's no doubt about that in Alice's mind. Some people on the train are rather.. unique. There's at least one guy who was totally okay with killing a child. Would those people mind having to wipe out humans? ]

But I do think others would throw a bit more of a fuss. [ Alice wonders which side of that she'd fall on. It'd depend on the nature of the humans in question, she supposes, since she hasn't had much trouble murdering bad humans before.. ] Perhaps one day the train will throw us into a regular war that has humans on both sides of the conflict.

[ The space mission didn't count, okay, that one was weird. Alice is thinking a more normal ground war. ]

[knifewithnoname]

[She wouldn't care herself. She was used to killing what she was told to. But it was interesting that some others would be happy no matter what side they were on.]

Maybe. It would be being interesting I do be thinking.

[Then again, if it was a world like hers. It was one thing to fight against actual monsters and demons. But if she was put on the side of 'good' and told to fight regular 'evil' humans. Could she do that?]

[irrationally]

[ Alice sucks in a breath.

But when she releases it, it's as a laugh. ]

You just want to see people arguing, don't you? [ Or, well, even if that isn't what the girl was going for, it sure is what those words sound like. Enough so to amuse Alice. ]

[knifewithnoname]

No. [She pulled a face.]

Maybe. But no if they did be going all stupid about it.

[irrationally]

I have a faint idea what you often think the arguments on the train are like.

[ Judging by that face. It leans towards 'usually dumb', doesn't it. ]

And.. hm, well, I suppose you aren't exactly wrong about that. [ Alice has heard her fair share of really dumb arguments too. Especially over the ICPs. ]

[knifewithnoname]

[Always very dumb. She's not wrong at all. She sighed.]

So it probably do be being good that we do just be killing monsters.