middleofsomewhere | So Familiar a Gleam: Finale

Entry tags:

So Familiar a Gleam: Finale

YOU R̴̨̬̗̞̺̖̣̱͌̋̅͊͒̃͘Ų̴̨̨̦͎̭̥̰͍̞͙̲̰̞̭̎̆̓͂́͒̑͌̆̉̕͝Î̶̲͖͙͍̮̮̯̭͘͝N̵̡̢̢̛̛͔̳̲͚̙͕̘̠̞̈͊̂̋̆ͅÉ̸͖̟̻̯̪̭͉̭͖̱̙̠̺͎̥̿D̸̥́͒̈́̔̓̅̋͛̉̀͒̇̚̚ MY WORLD

A TL;DR notes version of days/prompts: (click to show)

EVENT BASICS:

DAYS 8-9 (M11-M12):

Buildings had begun to disappear during days 7&8, facilities and even whole streets begin vanishing. There are signs of crumbling infrastructure everywhere they look.
In the early morning of Day 9 (M12), the cracks in the city - in this illusionary world - finally spread. The void sky above shines brightly in its colours. Chaos - also referred to as the Entity, or That Guy - is heard screaming of vengeance against the Voidtreckers, blaming all that has happened onto them. It shows what happened to the original Diagad: It was destroyed by blocky shapes in the sky that came down and destroyed it, while Chaos itself fell into the void.

There is also some light mind torture, as a treat, to really wake people up. Memories, visions of their past assail them. This is the sort of stuff the voidtreckers have been training against and it's a good time for them to put all that work to the test.
Anan's group then takes over any electrical device still left. She explains that they have a way to get the non voidtreckers (4th wall characters and npcs) home and also a way to temporarily seal the world. The entity takes offence at this and the screens smash. The entity appears as a cyclone of crackling colourful energy.
Illusionary creatures are sent around to find and attack Voidtreckers, but they're also going after 4th wallers/NPCS. There's also monsters from other worlds leaking through, real monsters. People will have to move around more carefully, as going out on the streets is dangerous.
However, there's word that buildings are disintegrating/disappearing farther out from the centre sector. People see where the city limits are as the illusion of there being more to the city has completely faded.
Their SCA's begin to work fully, including comms. Of course not everyone was wearing their SCA when they got pulled and the 4th wallers don't have one so it will be up to those who do to make sure everyone is kept in the loop.
The main tasks are as follows.

"YOU. YOU WISH TO RUIN MY WORLD. TO TEAR IT ASUNDER, BREAK AND CRUMBLE AND INCINERATE ITS EXISTENCE AGAIN. AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. I WATCHED IT. THE END OF DIAGAD, PURPLE SKIES, THE CHILDREN WHO LAUGHED IN JOY, THE SMILES I BROUGHT TO LIFE. THE REASON I WORKED AND WOKE AND WHAT KEPT ME GOING EACH AND EVERY DAY. MY EXISTENCE. MY BEING.

FALLING. FALLING. FALLING. I FELL AS IT CAME, BLACK TERROR WITH A HUNGER. HOW DID THE CHILDREN CRY? DID THEY SUFFER? I CAN HEAR THEM ALL, I CAN IMAGINE THEM. SEE IT. THE POSSIBILITIES, THE MAYBES, THE TRUTH. THE WORLD-- MY BEAUTIFUL DIAGAD, OH! THE VOID HAS BLESSED AND CURSED AND DAMNED AND DESTROYED AND BROUGHT TO ME A CHANCE TO SAVE IT THIS TIME, I WILL SAVE DIAGAD, I WILL HEAR THE CHILDREN LAUGH AGAIN, NO ONE WILL DESTROY MY CITY AGAIN. NO ONE, NO THING, IT WILL BE BEAUTIFUL AND SAVED AND IT WILL PROSPER FOREVER.

ALL WHO HARM US! ALL WHO STOP OUR RETURN! I WILL FIX WHAT HAS BEEN BROKEN. NEVER AGAIN SHALL YOU YOU VOIDTRECKERS HARM MY WORLD AGAIN. TWISTING AND RUINING OUR HOME NO MORE NO MORE I WILL END YOU."

The spiel comes in the early morning of Merriment 12, their ninth day on this strange world, though morning and night are indistinguishable now with the void-scarred sky burning above Jinnjar. Little exists of the sectors but the education and political district, and everyone has had to take shelter in its buildings, on cold tiled floors and with few blankets. There is no waking comfortable, feeling at ease. The city continues to crumble, and the citizens turned into the Entity's Heroes never quit their search and harassing of people who may be secret Voidtreckers, regardless of the ruinous world around them.

And then it speaks. The Entity's voices wakes everyone, enters into dreams, reality and the fake undefinable between one another. Scenes switch from one to another. A sky. Purple, serene and calm. A feeling of great contentment. But then come the shadows. Dark clouds filling the sky, blotting out that most perfect sky. A scream. No, a thousand screams. A world of screams echoes in every ear. A shadowed figure falling into the void. Pain erupts through the body, the mind, madness and grief suffocating every sense, every fibre of the being, and more attempts to fill and drown each and every person in Diagad. There is grief, there is love, there is despair. A longing and desperation that can never be fulfilled that cries out.

Once it's over, many have collapsed from the experience, and there are screams of those scared for their lives. Go out into the streets if you haven't already, and you will see the streets breaking, buildings being pulled like cubes, splitting people and trapping them. And there is a surge that hits people - Voidtreckers, others - with a brainwashing that makes them think of only one thing:

NO MORE. END. WE WILL END THE VOIDTRECKERS.

In amongst all of this chaos screens switch on. Any screens left working in buildings, on buildings, peoples phones. All show a young woman, a droid sat on her hair, metal legs curled around her head.

"Malin?"

A woman's voice. "Yes, go Anan. Now."

"LISTEN UP!" Anan isn't as loud as the booming voice echoing through the city, but she makes herself clear. "We need to evacuate and seal this world. It is falling apart." Stating the obvious, perhaps.

"We can temporarily seal it and we think there is a way to get the others back to their worlds. I know you Voidtreckers have had no training and this is advanced and really dangerous but everyone who is not a void traveller is in a lot of danger."

In truth, even the void travellers were in danger, but she doesn't want morale to be too low.

"Anyone willing to help meet me in the big park. You'll know it, it's the only park left!"

'HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU THWART ME. NO. NO. YOU DON'T. THIS IS MY CITY. MINE NOT YOURS. NOT YOURS TO DESTROY.' There's a huge crack as the sky itself seems to crack apart as colours twist and turn, a cyclone that forms at the edgez of the city, slowly beginning to devour it.

Over the camera Anan looks visibly shocked, terrified even, lost for words. An older man with reddish greying hair steps towards her, putting a big hand on her shoulder.

"Focus Anan. Voidtreckers. We do not ask it lightly. Please those that can, fight. Buy us time to set the seals. Buy time for those with no void craft to evacuate."

The screens flicker in colour before it cracks into static.

'NONE OF YOU WILL SURVIVE.'

A DISJOINTED REALITY

[ FALLING CITY. ] The city has been torn apart, fragments of roads, buildings and structures floating in a horrible mess. Friends and comrades split apart, some trapped in rooms that once had exits, or with no way out than to fall to nowhere. Pieces may stitch back together again at random, but with the same unpredictably, tear apart.

And if it couldn't get any worse, those core lights buzz around the environment, searching for individuals. They will do anything to hinder our heroes: turn into monsters from their minds, attempt to encase them inside illusions of their fears; even try to make them see pathways that don't exist, to make them fall into nothingness.

But for those who honed their resistances against illusions, this time may be different from the last. And with some experimenting, or just some lucky wishful thinking at the right time - some will find they can bend the illusions to do as they want, if just for a while. Stitch back together pathways so they can be crossed over, or make a weapon appear where it's needed.

It requires concentration, will be exhausting with too much use, but still - when isn't an axe or road on call handy?

[ HINDRANCE OR HELP. ] But it isn't only the core lights and environment they need to worry about. There are monsters coming out of the void - monsters they may recognise, monsters they may not. But unlike those of illusions, these are real, monsters - mechanical, ghostly, flesh and blood, something else entirely - slipping through from other worlds to rampage here.

There are also civilians, those who remain brainwashed, going after the Voidtreckers with powers of their own: telekinesis, pyromancy, superstrength and endurance, and so forth. Their skill levels vary, but the strongest of all are those who features have become twisted, chaotic. Streaks of colours dance under the skin, and they listen to no reason but their own. The entity - no their god, Chaos, is remaking the world. Remaking it the way it should have always been.

Strangely, but luckily, not everyone is harmful. Amongst those out there are a peculiar sight: a short hybrid between child and woodland-creature. They're keen to help, particularly anyone young or good of heart. They will help to lead them to safe shelters - the safe-houses made by Voidtreckers, the protected rooms all that are left. They may even interrupt the core lights from harming youngsters, knocking and shattering them, and then staying close to the youngster.

[ THE EVACUATION. ] For those who manage to make their way to the park, Anan is there, looking grim. One good thing though, as voidtreckers rush towards the entity or get ready to protect those helping evacuate this world- those with SCA's will see them burst into life, comms online.

The evacuation area needs protecting. Those acting as beacons aren't able to fight for themselves and the evacuation process is intense, slow and there are many many people in this city. The main entity is distracted but the monsters are drawn towards this gathering of people. Holding them back is vital to this plan working.

It's going to take everything the voidtreckers and their new friends have, to pull this plan off.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Ya'll really wanna try the 'friendship speech' method?" She couldn't say it was a big fan of it, considering that this abomination was now taunting her with the idea of her CHILDREN BEING STRANGLED. Sure, by now she knew it wasn't real, but boy that'd be a fun addition to her usual nightmares.

Still... nothing else seemed to work, and they'd been throwing everything at it but the kitchen sink. At the very least, maybe it would buy time until whatever Goku was building up was finished. Della sprung into action, hitting every tendril in sight, trying to keep them at bay.

"Yeah, seeing that hurts a whole lot, not gunna lie!" Della said as she swung. "Did it make you feel any better? Did it make YOUR PAIN any less? Even if you take down every single one of us, it's not going to bring back what you've lost! The biggest illusion you've made here is the one you gave yourself - you've deluded yourself into thinking you'll feel better by hurting everyone else!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Goku growled. That's it. That's all the energy he can gather. He might not be able to kill him with it, but he'll certainly try enough to hurt him. Throwing his hands down, the massive ball of energy will come down on top of Chaos before he turns Super Saiyan, using the force of the transformation to try and blow the tendril away.

"We could have talked this over, but you chose to fight; to manipulate; to control." Goku said, using his power to push the Spirit Bomb towards Chaos. "You talk about how we're evil and monsters, but deep down, you're the monster!"

He tries to fight against the tendril holding his sword hand. As he gets raised into the air, one sword disappears so that he can use that free hand to reach up and pull at the tendril around his neck. He doesn't want to be choked or hung to death if he can help it.

"You think you are the only one who has lost something? You want to take your anger out on something else I get it. Did enough of that myself. So I'm not going to judge you for that. But we have a job to do to stop you so you might as well accept that you might stop a few of us, but you won't stop the majority."

Xue Yang is not usually a team player but he knows he has to be in these situations.

Danny was a little distracted at the moment, and had completely missed all the speechmaking that had been going on. Probably for the best. Literally no one needed puns right now.

He'd been pouring all of his speed and flying ability into fighting against the wind, and this was not working.

He gets caught by surprise when the wind kicks up around him, losing focus enough to be forced a few feet closer to the cyclone. And finally decides that this is enough. He refused to end this fight by being eaten by a rainbow tornado.

Twisting around, he sets his feet as best as he can, inhales, and screams. It was a terrifying wail, that echoed and reverberated in the air, tinging the very sound waves green as they pounded against everything in front of him.

This was an attack that had brought down buildings and flipped cars when he'd used it before. He just hoped it was enough power to break free of the wind.

Oh.

How unexpected. Kiyoiri blinks briefly in shock, but there isn't much time before the cyclone makes itself apparent to her. Beckoning, bristling, swirling-

'You Know'. (Ah. Well, her message was received then.) 'Join with me.' (Is that what the cyclone is? Is this one person? One being? Idly her mind goes to people that had to be fought- all repeating, repeating...)

'Share your pain.'

There is one thing, helping to slow the pull- (as the prompt strikes at her, she can remember Nightingale's teachings, and the teachings of so many others. She swore not to cause an End. No more of that. No more. A Doctor doesn't bring Pain. If she shares anything it cannot be that-)

Two things- (Van Gogh has not quite changed focus, but her perogative is clear. Protect the 'Master'. Streaks of paint flash through the sky, but more importantly she activates the second of her skills- 'Het Gele Huis: The Yellow House'- while it's unlikely that it will have much effect on any defenses Chaos bears, it'll at least bolster Kiyoiri's own.)

Three- (The core of her soul, her Origin, was 'Opposition'. She refuses to spread pain. But....)

Kiyoiri walks forward. One step after the other, slowly toward the cyclone. It would be so easy, for someone to pull her back right now. She's one small girl, with no power of her own...except to take what's turned upon her, and try to change it, however slightly. "You already have so much pain," she murmurs as she walks. "What if I shared something else?"

(Everything was gone. The world erased, disappeared, reduced to nothing, but- If they forgot how to smile, how to be kind, if they let their pain overtake them, how could they bring everything back at all the same? If she must share anything, she wants to share how they Coped.)

It hurt.

It might not hurt as much for Demyx as it might for someone with a fully formed emotional centre, but it hurt all the same.

The world being destroyed and consumed by darkness didn't even phase him. He put his hand to his chest, but he's not one to linger here in this illusion. He leaned on the power of his amulet to help and summoned up his indifference.

Demyx stepped forward, pushing forward towards him. "So. What." He bit angrily. He could definitely be cold and callous when he wanted to be and he was going to pull that here.

"Your world ended? So did mine. You're never going to fix it." The only sign of his lingering discomfort was his hand on his chest. "Can't change the past. You can only go forward and none of us are going to let you drag us into your misery. We've all got our own. Stop messing with our heads to make yourself feel better." He fell into step next to Xue Yang, holding his sitar firmly in his free hand. There was a slight tremble with how hard he was holding onto it, gripping it to ground himself.

Edited (ugh tense issues) 2021-07-22 22:33 (UTC)

The instant he starts seeing that Spirit Bomb fly Vegeta drops playing bodyguard, a blast of ki out as a final push to get any lingering tendrils away from him before leaving Goku's side. He can take care of himself now. Instead he focuses on those with them, those that might be in trouble. Vegeta had spotted some during that game of defense, having wanted to go and get them but resisted in hopes the Spirit Bomb would do it's job and end this all. But now he's free of that responsibility, and he can see someone getting pulled in.

Dropping to the ground in an instant, he races forward and grabs up Kiyoiri in one arm, sweeping her back behind him as he brings his other hand up and lets out a ki blast in the direction of that cyclone. "Focus, here and now." He snaps out to Kiyoiri. "Whatever it's telling you is just lies."

The emotions hit and Sunset falls to her knees. The sobs leave before she can stop them, as it all hits, goes through her mind like an eternity and a moment. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts-

She was made for this.

She is breathing heavy, tears falling, and her form glowing as she pushes herself to her feet. It hurts, it feels like a heart attack, it feels like its tearing her apart-

Its an empty void. Rage and hurt and emptiness and she knew that. That feeling that had made her lose her mind to corruption, that made her want to hurt any and all who got in her way. That made her dominate and control others-

For her own fantasy.

"I'm still standing!" She shouts, voice tough and rough as she forces herself to be here, to help.

She remembers what came after. The light, the warmth, the promise that there was another way. She didn't have to be empty, she didn't have to hurt, she could have warmth in her life again.

"And you don't have to be special. You just. Have to accept a hand offered to you-" Like she was. When Twilight dragged her out of that pit. When her friends stood beside her when everyone hated her. When after losing everything over and over, there were still people who were willing to accept her.

Pain and all.

And she pushes back. Back along the connection into her mind. Sharing the warmth of her friends. Twilight's forgiveness, the understanding of another. The genorosity of Rarity after all she did. Fluttershy's kindness aftet fear. Applejack's gentle honesty after years of harsh lies. Rainbow Dash's loyalty after so much backstabbing. Pinkie Pie's laughter after so many tears.

Loki's belief in her, that he still trusts her after seeing her at her worst.

She pushes that warmth back, with the understanding of what its like to feel hollow, to have nothing, and to find something else to live for that didn't have to destroy.

"So please, just accept help!" Sunset shouted through tears and pain and a glow that would not leave her form, a warmth that bolstered her through pain, as she steps forward, hands extended.

Dairine suspected this Entity would not accept help. They were too proud, too lost in their own head. Perhaps it is this, or perhaps it is the searing pain coursing through her body that brings back a memory back into crystal clarity. Her Ordeal. As her battle with the Lone One grew longer, she had dragged It into a fierce confrontation, grabbing onto Its metaphysical presence within her mind. The screaming had been so loud, the pain, both hers and Its.

She can do this, she's done it before.

The memory grounds her through the pain. With a gasp, she breaks free, dwelling the urge to delve deeper. As valuable as these memories might be long term, she had more important matters at hand.

"Yeah, yeah. We're all doomed, entropy is running. Tell me something I haven't heard," she says sourly as Dairine gets back on her feet, hands tight around Spot. The laptop is still glowing intensely blue, an indication of spells in the works. "So why are you contributing to it rather than doing something about it?"

Loki snarls at the false Frigga's voice, eyes still closed. "Mother- the true one- would never support pulling innocents into this perversion of remembrance."

Once her voice fades, he opens his eyes, glaring at the battlefield. "Using her to cause someone else pain goes against everything she is. You can mimic, but you have no understanding. Of us or of what we want."

He gathers energy for another spell and addresses his fellow combatants.

"Everyone! This thing has nothing but illusions and lies! If you have trouble remembering that, I can help remind you. I will stop it from using your pasts to torment you."

Is Solar within reach? He'll try to reach for her with his free hand. If that contact, that trust, gives her magic any boost, he has to try. Even if he would rather destroy their enemy. This is her area of expertise, after all. And even if he can't help her turn the being, he can keep her from being pulled into its despair and hate.

Curufin is knocked down by the blast of energy from the entity, but he soon gets up. It is hard to defeat an Elf of the First Age of Arda. He rises, springs forward, and and starts slashing at the tendrils that are reaching for or already grasping the other combatants.

"YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO WHAT IS BEING SAID TO YOU," he shouts at the entity. "WE VOIDTRECKERS DID NOT DESTROY YOUR PLANET! YOU SHOULD OFFER US AN ALLIANCE IN ORDER TO KILL THOSE SHADOW BEINGS THAT ATE YOUR WORLD!"

Edited 2021-07-23 04:48 (UTC)

I NEVER DESTROYED. YOU DESTROYED. THIS MASTERPIECE. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN PERFECT YET HERE YOU ARE WITH YOUR SMASHING AND YOUR GRABBING. NO. NO MY MOTIVATION WAS LOVE. PEACE. A WORLD. FOR ME. FOR US ALL. YET YOU! YOU RUINED IT ALL. YOU ARE THE ONES WHO MAKE IT HURT. YOU HAVE BROUGHT ME NAUGHT BUT PAIN.

Everything happens quickly, the attacks all hit, exploding tendrils, distorting the mass of colours. Kiyoiri is grabbed by Vegeta and Danny helped by Zelgadis breaks away from the pull.

As Kiyoiri, Dairine and Sunset spoke, pushing their minds, their hope and care towards the entity tendrils came down, to wrap around their waists. Unlike before these weren't violent, more curious.

Can you help? CAN YOU REALLY? The landscape changes, now everyone is stood in a park, flickers of people wandering around. There is no sign of the tendrils, the cyclone, or colours at all. The sky changes, darkening as shapes begin to gather.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Edited 2021-07-23 05:04 (UTC)

“But, that’s just it - we had no intention on destroying anything.” Goku said. “We’re just warned of something happening and we came to investigate.”

“Your desire and intent is good but your actions are terrible. And the people you grabbed; do you think they want to be here? To be taken from their homes and lives to be put into these? You’re playing God and doing a really lousy job at it.”

At that, Goku turned to Vegeta. “I dunno if you felt that earlier, but it seems like Trunks got stronger… I’m impressed!”

Sunset feels Loki's hand in hers and she squeezes back. Her friends are in her heart, and her friend is here, and he believes in her. If there is something she can do, she will find it.

And if she fails, he will catch her. And that means all the world to her when she had once thought she could only be alone.

The tendril is then around her, a moment of fear, but there is no pain and she breathes. "They're listening, something is listening," she said.

Her hand stays with Loki, the other touches the tendril, gentle, careful, and she allows herself to show, flashes of solutions.

There are shadows and she offers solutions as she knows. Flashes of drones, communication, evacuation so the heavy hitters could defend.

A switch, telepaths, mentalists, psychics to learn.

Teleporters banding together.

An escape as spirits.

A switch to something of Equestria, ponies using magic and strength and air to defend their home.

Ponies made of crystal afraid and hurting, scars left on their minds from years of terror. Then a bright light, a crystal heart, an alicorn who gleams like a gem.

Sunset stands in front of her school, sees a girl suffering that all consuming emptiness and need for conttol, for understanding, that she knows so well, that is ripping reality apart around them. She knows the answer, she has to, or else everyone will die, their home destroyed, and the girl lost.

And she sees her friends, still fighting, helping as they always do, and she finally Understands why magic was acting up. A friend needed help. So she takes that strength, that magic in her friends, and lets it fill her. She fixed the tears in reality, saved the people, and finally convinced Twilight to take her hand, to escape that emptiness. To fill her with that same warmth her friends granted her.

"I could offer a dozen solutions. How to fight, defend, escape, reason. But right now, you're playing thd game of what ifs. What could you have done then to help. Surely there was something," she said aloud, pushed the words througn the connection. "And there may be more worlds to save from that same threat. It wouldn't be new, and there's always something to try....but that's not now."

Different memories, a story of time unraveling, until a single, desperately alone pony realizes she could choose to destroy every life in her despair, or let it go and be someone new. A torn spell, time returned.

Then Sunset filled with anger, rage, emptiness. She must be strong. She must be powerful. She must have control and maybe that will fill the emptiness. Maybe then she will be loved. She takes the minds of people, change their form....but inside, she doesn't change at all.

And once its done....so many look at her with only hatred. But a few do with forgiveness and she can endure. Live with correcting her mistake.

"You're whose now," she says, the care still there, the sincere want to help. And she digs further into the memories, because pain only comes from happiness and love and she wants to see Who This Is. Who is more then a memory.

Who can be saved Right Here, Right Now.

"I can offer so many possible solutions to save a world in danger...but right now, you're the one who needs saving. Let me see you. You're more then pain. You're love and care and there is a heart bleeds so much because it just wants something pure. You just need to open your eyes again, because I don't think you really want to hurt anyone. You just don't know what else to do. Let's figure it out together."

"AH-!"

Vegeta has her- easily, and Van Gogh follows in pursuit, form altered, voice nothing but laughing. For a few moments, she can't say anything. She's not going to fight against being pulled (he's pretty clearly going to win there), but-

Tendrils launch out even as they flee from the cyclone, but they don't even somewhat hurt. The very knowledge of that has her eyes water, and gently she places her hand upon it. Through their connection, Van Gogh understands- and activating her third skill, 'Soul of Water Channels', helps to give her Master the final push needed.

"...We can't change the past. I could say so many things- about how I would have tried to take everyone away, or even fight that thing in the sky." Van Gogh's power surges through her, as she offers what she can however. "...Maybe we can, find it- to stop it from happening again. ...What seems most important now though..."

She offers love. Comfort. Everything she can.

(They were alone, and hurting- but her friends hurt most. She, who had so little- compared to those who lost Everything, and still pressed on with her. So for each other, they offered kindness. For each other, they smiled, and shared jokes, and played. And when one cried they sat there quietly holding them, so they wouldn't be alone. Because even if they still didn't have the answers- even if it felt like what they were chasing couldn't even be seen, blocked by things claiming to be their enemy in its place, they would do it.

If they didn't try to find what took Everything....then, in the event Everything was truly gone, how could they possibly look them in the eye?)

Memories of how they coped, how they stayed sane, how they were able to still smile, still laugh- and the most recent one Kiyoiri has...

'It's a singularity formed by the memory of a deceased director; his work is undone. To help him pass on, we need to finish it for him.'

Making a movie, to help soothe the lamentations of one who poured their life into it.

Edited (oops the link) 2021-07-23 08:22 (UTC)

Vegeta's ready to keep fighting, a hand going up for those new tendrils making a grab for Kiyoiri, but... hesitates, sensing the change in the scene, of others trying to talk rather than battle. So for now, he waits. Cautious, ready to move and fight again, but waits to see what will happen. And ready to cut anyone free of those tendrils returned and got violent.

Before his shoulders slumps as he hears that shout to him from Goku, letting out a huff before barking back. "I'm aware!" Not the right time, Goku! Focus!

Della was about the smack down the tendrils that were wrapping around the waists of Kiyoiri, Dairine and Sunset but... hesitated. They didn't look like the strangling tightness of the illusions - holy baloney, was a impromptu therapy session what was needed all this time?

She wouldn't let go of her "weapon" just yet, just in case, but if it was time to Mom, she was all on board.

"Home isn't a place - home is people! The ones you love and the ones who love you back! That's why more than one place can be home! These are all good people here, the ones trying to hard to get their friends back, and to get people back to their loved ones! Even if I don't know all of them that well - I have faith in them! If you really want to find peace, to find happiness again, you have to stop looking back to the past! You need to take that first step forward to hope again!"

"It took me ten years to be with people I love - and I never gave up! If you can create such illusions, then you have to know our minds, and how stubborn we are! We don't back down! And we're not about to give up on you now!"

Loki moves closer to Solar, ready to protect. He gives the tendril around her waist a suspicious, warning look. He still hasn't released his latest disillusionment spell, holding it in reserve.

"If you hurt her at all, I will continue tearing apart your lies. I would suggest not creating more illusions meant to hurt us."

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Loki has been thinking about that since the entity said it. Mostly imagining the technical details behind permanent, interactive, touchable illusions that could cover an entire city; despite his anger at the situation, he had admired the skill. It truly was impressive. But he's also thinking of Aurora and the residents, if any of their worlds had been lost beyond restoration. Or the prisoners of the fae who had considered even that torment to be an improvement over their previous circumstances. How many of them would accept an offer to live in a recreation of Diagad? How many others were there out in the universes who would do the same?

He knows Solar can pick up on his thoughts, so he'll leave it to her to relay them to the entity.

"What would I do? I assume you mean if my world was destroy. Can actually answer that one considering last thing I recall was my world being taken over by darkness and never really got that back."

That was a slightly bitter pill to swallow and admit to honestly. He knew worlds worked in odd ways and no one really remembered that when people from his world came here, but to him it was something that was a fact.

More so after what he had just witness and that feeling of pain. He could tell that they needed help and this was his way of trying. By not at all using his weapon and instead raising his hands up slightly.

"What I have done is to continue walking. I made a promise to always keep walking till the day I die. To help and do my best to save everyone I can. To remember those I couldn't. That includes you."

Edited 2021-07-23 11:46 (UTC)

Dairine makes an instant squak sound as she is grabbed, mind racing over how the tendrals managed to get past her shield. Was it how she calibrated then to allow allies in? She'll have to look into it later.

She's holds back from swatting them away, even if she doesn't trust this. Maybe, just maybe, they are getting through to Chaos. Worse entities than then have been saved.

"In the moment? I'd do whatever I could to save them." Probably best to be honest with the highly powerful telepathic being when they'd in direct contact. "Sometimes it's not enough. Or it makes things worse."

Dairine knows all too well. Her mishandled rush to cure her mother by pure luck didn't have disastrous results... but it could have. In the end, Meets was only able to buy more time. While the pain was no longer as raw, it was still there.

"So you learn to move on, to find a new normal. Itdoes hurt, and often it's messy getting there. But you aren't doomed. All people living in entropy will go through the same struggle. You are not alone. You just have to move forward."

BUT I DID. I found a new normal. I found a place. I lost. I LOST EVERYTHING BUT THEN I FOUND. I FOUND A WORLD. ONE WORLD. JUST FOR ME. NO PEOPLE. LONELY YES. BUT I AM DOOMED.

Being doomed means being LONELY.

The shadows in the sky loomed closer, everyone fell through everything and nothing, the screams of a million souls echoing in their souls.

BUT YOU TOOK IT AWAY. YOU TAKE IT ALL AWAY. EVERYTHING. MY BEAUTIFUL CREATIONS. YOU ARE THE OCEAN.

A sigh that could almost be felt. A BEAUTIFUL OCEAN. PLEASE. JOIN ME. PLEASE.

A pleading in all their hearts, but especially those who had spoken, who had reached out with feeling and empathy. Join the storm. They can see it again now, those colours, almost still. But still.

I don't want to be lonely. YOU WANT TO HELP ME. JOIN ME. NONE OF US NEED EVER BE LONELY AGAIN. Not ever.

Edited 2021-07-23 20:08 (UTC)

“Why not join us?” Goku asked. “The train looks like it could fit you and you’ll never be lonely again!”

“I mean, sure, we lose people every so often, but we gain new ones all the time! And who knows? Maybe your skills can help us and even help you find a better home!”

"Loneliness and pain are a part of life." Della added on - now confident the "battle" was going in a more peaceful direction, she popped her leg back on. "Bad times make us appreciate the good times even more. You can't avoid them forever! And you can't drag other people down to try and make them feel at your level."

She took a hard sigh, now feeling a little bad she'd reacted so violently in the beginning. Sure, she still wasn't in quite a forgiving mood, but if they could truly solve this with a good talk instead of fisticuffs, wasn't that for the best?

"You don't have to drag us into a world of lies and illusions - we can find a new home for you on the train! If the train really did do something that bad to you before, think of this as its' second chance! It's never too late to start over! I missed out on years with my family... but I know I can still make more memories with them! Come make memories with us!"

Edited 2021-07-23 20:41 (UTC)

"What the others say. Being with us, seeing how we live even with the pain is still a good thing to experience. Everyone deserves that second chance to."

He was at least for the most part lowering his hands and keeping them solely by the side.

"It's easy to run away, hide yourself and just want to try and force what you need. But it's much better to take that step and actually try."

It's such a desperate pull- but Van Gogh helps to pull back, as does (more than likely, at any rate) Vegeta's own being. Kiyoiri's 'Opposition' beats in time like a heart, and she keeps her sense enough at least to understand...why. So lonely. Undoubtedly, so lonely.

She hasn't been on the train very long. She wishes, quietly, she could share those sorts of memories- of places they saved that had nothing to do with the Chaos, of the cheers. But she has an idea of something else.

Memories of Singularities resolved, even knowing they could never see the other again. Their fate restored, their paths moving forward. Memories of Shimousa- a whole other dimension and world she'd fallen into through a dream, so narrowly saved from the machinations of the Caster of Limbo. So many missions, taken not out of obligation but because They Could Help-

The memory of waking up on the platform, Ayumi, her first real friend, her girlfriend, tackling her into a hug- 'It's like Chaldea...but bigger.'

Videos of the heroes as shown in Jinnjar.

"...Why not...come with us? As separate people," she says, doing her best to hug the tendril comfortingly, "...Being separate people is what lets us help you this way. What lets us talk, this way. We could help each other. And help others, too."

(Diagad is gone- Her world, as well, is gone. But they can carry on the spirit, the memory, and hold each other together and upright with held hands and embraces.)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

folks are free to snatch her fyi

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

ROUND

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

ROUND

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject