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

[essek]

Essek listens to her words, her wisdom, and as much as he would want to, he can't really find fault in them beyond the expectations placed upon him from a very early age. Move forward with grace, never show vulnerability, weakness is a flaw, emotions are a burden. He's slowly learned some of those are wrong, though friendship that has somehow survived and strengthened devastating betrayal and a world of terror.

"...It takes time. Not weeks. Not years. Just time," his gaze seems distant as he reaches up to rub at his forearm, soft and gentle, lost in a memory of Caleb and his kindness. "A friend told me that once, for a...hm, vaguely similar issue."

[motherofresistance]

Leia smiled slightly. "Sounds like a very wise friend," she said. "There's no particular schedule for things like this. Everyone recovers at their own pace." It had been some time before she'd been able to fully face what had happened to Alderaan. And other blows had taken their own tolls. But she knew that healing was possible, even from such devastation, though often scars remained.

"I'm hardly a psychologist, but I may be able to offer a bit of help, if you're willing. Based on both my own experiences and those of others that I know." Leia, by some miracle, had never dealt with panic attacks herself. But she'd known people who had, and remembered some of the things they'd mentioned that helped.

[essek]

He chooses to keep that it's Caleb to himself. Not to take away from the man and his wisdom, his kindness in offering to to an Essek he surely didn't trust at the time, but because the Caleb here hasn't lived it. He doesn't want to ruin things more than he has.. gods he's done a lot that could upset the entire timeline of where Caleb is from.

Taking a deep breath, he looks to the woman before him and considers her offer. If it could help him cope, to not be found like this yet again... "I would at least be willing to hear it, I cannot guarantee I.. ah, will actually practice it, but I'm open to learning, perhaps...figuring out something better than this," he gives a self deprecating huff at this.

[motherofresistance]

Leia gave a bit of a wry smile at the caveat that he may not actually practice it. "Fair enough," she said. Any suggested treatment just wouldn't be complete without a stubborn patient, after all.

"The first bit of advice is related to what your friend said about time. Namely, don't try to look too far ahead. Thinking about complicated tasks and long term plans can be especially overwhelming when you're in such a state. It's best to try and break things down into smaller tasks or units of time. The next day, the next hour, the next step, the next choice; there may be times when putting one foot in front of the other is all you can do. But you're still making progress, even if it might not feel like much."

[essek]

He may be stubborn, but he was honest in his stubbornness. Essek wasn't particularly fond of making promises he can't keep these days. Seemed especially foolish when you can't escape the person you made a false promise to here.

Still... her advice is sound. In a way, he can equate it to making a spell, how you have to move forward with each step, carefully, not skipping ahead. Perhaps not as well, since with that you have to have a general goal in mind to aim for, but.. well if he has no aim, he would feel pointless.

"That is sound.. and the second bit?"

[motherofresistance]

"The second bit," she said, "is a technique to use if you find yourself spiraling into a panic attack like that again. I've never dealt with panic attacks myself, but I've known people who have, and they swear by it. If you find yourself spiraling again, focus in on and count five things that you can see, then four things that you can hear, three things that you can touch, two things that you can smell, and one thing that you can taste, in that order. Both the focus on things that are real, present, and immediate along with the simple, logical task of counting down help with grounding. It may not be perfect, but it should at least help you get your metaphorical footing back."