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

[fivemilesdeep]

"They've been teaching me to cook." Far more than he'd initially known how to do, at least.

Thanatos's explanation makes sense - filling a gap when one appears - but it still leaves Ryo a bit uneasy. He'd only been near one of the battles, and that had been chaos enough; he'd heard the other ones were equally as bad, and Thanatos throwing himself in the middle of everything, knowing his powers wouldn't work, is... "I'm glad you made it back." Injured and exhausted, yes, but still alive. It could have been so much worse.

He is curious, though. "Did you feel it when the demons were killed too, or is it just...us?"

[controlsthedie]

"I felt Zagreus and Soldat's the strongest. Zagreus most of all, but that is nothing new. I could also tell when the demons died." Thanatos takes a moment to bite and chew his cookie to get rid of betrayal medicine tea taste. Mort squeaks at him, and a bit of his own cookie half is broken off for Mort to enjoy.

"They... there was so much death in general that they faded more into the background, though I was still aware on some level. I'm not entirely sure how to explain it to a mortal."

[fivemilesdeep]

Zagreus had died?

He can't keep the surprise off his face at that revelation, but Thanatos doesn't seem to be too worried, and Zagreus had definitely been there when the battles had ended. Is- is that how Thanatos had been helping Zagreus, back home? Keeping him alive when he shouldn't have been?

...that would make sense, actually, if Thanatos has power over death in his world. Zagreus is from his world, so why wouldn't he retain that same power over him?

Or he could be completely wrong, but he doesn't ask before the conversation continues. Ryo is probably the best mortal Thanatos could have tried to explain this to, because he's got a frame of reference. "So you have a Sense too - it's just attuned to death." Right?

[controlsthedie]

Zagreus had died three times, and Thanatos knotted back his thread three times. At the end of the mission, there wouldn't have been enough to tie together for a fourth time.

"Yes, I sense death. This world has been seeped in it, more than mine, which... I hadn't thought possible given how bad things are. I can also tell who has died before and if their soul is located somewhere else instead of within their body like normal." There are at least four different people who have their soul outside of their body. Only one of them had said so before he realized it.

[fivemilesdeep]

So Thanatos does have a Sense for death. It makes sense, given his role in his world, but it also sounds exhausting. His eyebrows raise at the mention of multiple deaths and misplaced souls. "Is that normal in your world?"

[controlsthedie]

"Not at all. Someone wouldn't doing their job if mortals were coming back to life or having their souls places where they shouldn't be. Death is inescapable."

Thanatos stifles a yawn and then seems embarrassed that he yawned in the first place.

"I tried to figure out what was going on when I first arrived, but there is no making sense of it all." He settled on thinking everyone else's Underworld is being managed very poorly for the sake of his head.

[fivemilesdeep]

He hides a smile at the yawn. Thanatos's exhaustion isn't funny, but the timing was perfect. "Everyone's world works differently, I guess," he says instead. "Which means it's not your responsibility." Even though Thanatos can sense them.

[controlsthedie]

"... Perhaps. But I took responsibility. Or tried to. For Soldat." He nibbles his cookie a bit more before putting the rest before Mort. Thanatos knows that the next time he looks at the mouse plush, the cookie will be all gone. "I don't know if it worked, but I didn't want to chance it."