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

[theimpatientone]

"I avoided the fighting as much as possible," she says. Honestly, she feels just as tired, if for a different reason. "I couldn't share in it."

Was... was he in one of the fights? He's a child, just a baby. He has no business being mixed up in things like that, and it honestly breaks Merwen's heart a little. "Were you fighting?"

[miseris_socios]

"Mm. Not everyone is a fighter."

Oh, great. She probably thinks he's not capable or something. "Yeah. I've done a lot of fighting over the past two years... more of it in the past few months."

[theimpatientone]

She winces. Fighting is already almost obscene to her, and the thought of someone so young getting involved isn't better by any means. "I have a daughter about your age," she says, in the direction of the ceiling. "Maybe a little older. It would grieve me greatly to know she was involved in fighting in that way. I'm sorry."

[miseris_socios]

"I'm eleven. ... If I didn't have to fight, I would. But the only way I can get food or keep myself safe is to fight monsters or steal from places when there's only a few people awake." He huffs and closes his eyes. "My group found me... four months ago? Five? I was on my own before that. I'm sure my mom wouldn't want me fighting either, but someone killed her in front of me. I spent that time trying to find him."

[theimpatientone]

"Ah, Flossa is a little older than you."

She shuts her eyes, too. "I'm sorry if I'm sharing grief with you. I'm sorry for your mother. I wish you hadn't found yourself on your own. I only grieve that you had this experience at all, that you had to grow up before your time."

cw: murder

[miseris_socios]

"... Yeah, well. I can't fix it. I tried fixing it, but the guy was dying anyway... he pushed himself in front of me to protect me from someone. Which makes no sense. He... I was trying to kill him."

[theimpatientone]

"We have a saying, where I'm from," she says. "The currents of the mind never meet one another. It's impossible to ever know what another soul is thinking." Merwen sighs a little. "But perhaps he shared regret."

[miseris_socios]

"... Maybe. But... but it was supposed to be me... but he was dying anyway... I didn't get a chance to avenge her. She deserved to be avenged..." Ken sniffles and rubs at his nose, trying to stop the tears building up.

[theimpatientone]

Opening her eyes, she turns towards him; her voice is very gentle. "And had you hastened his death, nothing would have changed. Your mother would still be gone in the shape you knew her, and his death would be on your hands, rather than on his own."

cw: suicide

[miseris_socios]

He turns away slightly, voice going quiet. "... I wouldn't have it on my hands for long. I didn't want anyone in his group to have to take revenge for him. So I was... going to do it for them."

[theimpatientone]

"And then we would not have shared meeting."

She's unshocked, her voice still gentle. He is so young for that, but she can't see much in the way of shame in it, only pain and grief. "I once stopped my heart, because I shared so much pain and grief that death seemed far kinder. Is that how you felt?"