So Familiar a Gleam: Conclusion

[voidtreckermods]

Time to leave!

There is not much of the city left, but the park is holding together as those anchoring help those who are not voidtreckers through back to where they belong. Monsters continue to attack and a little further out there is a battle of hearts and minds being fought with the mass of colours and chaos.

Eventually, after the bulk of citizens had been evacuated everyone with SCA's on would hear Jin-Roh's voice after a few frantic beeps, as Chiff aligned everyone's SCA's. "We are almost done here, if you are with anyone not tethered to a voidcraft get them to the evacuation point, as quickly as possible."

Anan pulls out of the anchoring point to call out to any defenders in the park. "Come on! Anyone who isn't a voidtrecker! It's time to go."

Luckily those off fighting the entity headed the message and made their way to the park as Jin Roh spoke again.

"Everyone else get ready. When we call it you need to leave. If you don't have your SCA on then get to someone who does."

As the last people rushed to the park Anan calls out again, through her SCA and outloud to the park. "You need to unanchor, before you can evacuate. Everyone be ready."

She goes in again though, because there are some last people, those from the large battle, getting through as another message was called.

"Almost there. Be ready. On my command..."

Anan unanchored again. "Quick everyone unanchor."

"NOW" Jin Roh's voice came through strong on their SCA's. Hopefully those with SCA's would grab those without.

There is some outside help as well, the train pulls anyone who is unconscious or still under the entity's control, forcibly evacuating them. This includes Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and Zagreus.

Luggage Carriage

There has been a mass evacuation before and that was crazy enough but since then the population of the train has almost doubled and now it is an extremely tight squeeze as everyone crashes into the luggage carriage at the same time.

The train jerks and rolls as they enter into the void at breakneck speed and again as they seem to slow, rather than speeding off though the void.

There's a crackling from their SCA's. "Voidtreckers? Voidtreckers come in!" Anan's voice. "Please tell me you made it..."

There's only a few moments of signal and soon they are flying though the void again, away from the strange non-world, the entity sealed for now. To new adventures, but first hopefully some time to recover from all that has happened.

Comments

FOOD CRIMES FOOD CRIMES

[its_dad_sanzo]

Koumyou's also in the dining car, napping with his head down on the table. Not an unusual sight after any mission, let alone this one.

He does, however, stir when Yondu comes into the area, and blinks very slowly at the man's food choices.

"That looks..."

What are words? Words are hard. Give him a second, here.

"...Like a choice."

[yondu]

"Hungry." That's his one initial response, sort of grunted out like an old-style caveman. And he just takes a bite out of it, chews thoughtlessly, and just looks equally tired at Koumyou.

"Didn't plan for the crossin' to take so much out of me. Shoulda known it would."

He had fully lost track of the Sanzo at some point. "...You find Devero? He come back?"

[its_dad_sanzo]

"What's it taste like?"

Look, Koumyou has eaten worse things for a lot less reason, he's curious.

"He actually found me. I... kept falling back into the illusion, and he pulled me out again."

A little surprising for a guy with such strong anti-illusion training, maybe, but this had exploited one particular weakness in Koumyou's psyche; the allure of getting to be -- to have always been -- normal.

[yondu]

"Like real food. ...Cone's just a little sweet but it ain't botherin' me too much." There was a point where the fakeness of 'Diagad's' food became obvious. This is trash but it's real. And that leftovers existed at all is a miracle. He probably stole them from someone but fuck it, they can bill him.

He takes another bite and chews it tiredly.

"Good, at least he kept ya out of it." He understands though.

"Remember what I told ya about my old crew?" That they died. "I forgot about it for a little while. Had one single night where I didn't think about 'em or dream about 'em." Or remember the air being torn out of his own lungs. And he almost wishes he could keep that Yondu.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Professor Sanzo never let his kids down," Koumyou sighs, propping his chin on a hand, elbow on the table. "He never stood by and watched people he cared about die without lifting a finger to stop it. He was just a guy, with a normal job, and a normal family, and not the custodian of any universe-creating artifacts. Not beholden to any Gods, or cosmic duty other than keeping an eye on his kids and... teaching."

So, he gets it. He really does.

"Pretty sure that's why it kept getting me. I have a lot of training against illusions, you know? But I've never encountered one that made up a whole backstory like that."

[yondu]

"Yondu Udonta never had to kick the hell outa his kid to make it look like he only cared about 'im as crew." He feels sick to say it that way, something he's never stated to anyone before. How the reasons for Peter Quill hating him were very real. "Never watched his men die. Had memories of his parents lovin' 'im. Of some random ass person lovin' 'im. Had good girls that thought highly of 'im."

He finishes off the cone in a few more bites.

"I just wish that guy coulda done what was needed. He'da stayed. I'da went."

[its_dad_sanzo]

"That guy would have never understood me," Koumyou says quietly, "so, selfishly, I'd rather have you around."

[yondu]

Yondu pulls a harder frown, but it's not him being upset. He's just thinking, and his face does these things against his will.

"You should give a few more people the chance to understand ya."

Sanzo's a good guy. The real him is as invaluable as the Sanzo him. But then he reluctantly says, "I was talkin' with Wangji and I's wonderin' if we should do some sorta team meetin'. We had a lotta people lose their families, an' you're the only qualified holy man and soul advisor I know that ain't actually a god."

[its_dad_sanzo]

"I don't--" Koumyou cuts himself off for a second, and then continues, "I don't really know how anymore. The aloofness is just... part of me, now."

Because yes, he is what most people consider aloof. Friendly, but distant, like the moon that he embodies. Most of that is the trauma, and some of it is the sutra's influence, because one can't be bonded to such artifacts without being changed by them.

And Koumyou had been bound to two, the first in history to shoulder twice the burden of a normal Sanzo priest.

That other part gets a thoughtful look from Koumyou.

"I think I'm the only clergy on the train," he admits, "but I'm... not very good at it."

Which isn't true, but he sure thinks it is. The only part of his job Koumyou knows he's good at -- the only part of anything, ever he knows he's good at -- is murder.

He's fantastic at murder.

A failure at everything else, though. Or so he feels.

[yondu]

"Bein' an isolated asshole was part of me. Still is a little bit. But... I dunno. I let some people... I wanted a few people in."

There's a difference between saying 'let', like they did all the work, and 'wanted', like he was happy they did the work.

"Not a whole lot. I still don't trust a bunch of people what are well an' truly adults." He's still sensitive as hell, used to any soft words being used as weapons that could harm him. Comfort is weakness, requiring payment and being stashed in safe places. But it's not, is it? He can let it in.

"Even if ya don't, I could still use your help. I ain't no holy man. I don't know words that could comfort nobody." He tries, he does. But he's not good at it.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Well, I suppose I can try to do the whole priest thing, if you think it'll help."

Yondu's been warned, though.

"I'm really only good at the murdering part of my job, honestly."

[yondu]

"I could say the same of myself but sometimes even the worst we done is helpful to what we can do here."

He doesn't mention that one of the reasons he was good with kids when he first showed up wasn't because of Peter. It was because he knew how to wrangle belligerent, unwilling people. Adults and children. The worst skill geared towards the best result.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"I suppose being a cold-blooded murder machine makes me a great deal less judgemental than the standard priest," Koumyou admits.

So, there's that. Right? Right. Silver lining and all.

[yondu]

Yondu looks over at Koumyou dully.

"Yup."

Says one cold-blooded murder machine to another. Whose seen these children talk about their histories as slaves, or clones forced to kill, or homeless and betrayed. Whose seen the adults walk around with their various other traumas. There is no real pretense to what Sanzo has gone through.

He's a killer who's come to an understanding with his gods.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Yup," Koumyou echoes, because what else is there to say on that point? Nothing much. So he sighs, and puts his head down on the table. "Let me know when, I guess."

[yondu]

"I ain't got the brain for schedulin' nothin', so you're in the clear."

Yondu finishes off the last of his nightmare food and leans forward and places his cheek on his arm, resting the opposite way so he's still blearily looking at him.

And then he reaches over and pats his head, right on his hair, clumsy and tired and fond.

[its_dad_sanzo]

That head-pat gets the tiredest little laugh out of Koumyou, but he's not too exhausted to joke, "Well, if you don't have a day and time right now, then I'm afraid I'm booked."