No Place Like Home: The Return

[voidtreckermods]

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NO PLACE LIKE HOME: THE RETURN

---

a silence broken...

It's been a very difficult few days. Rocking and rolling into the void and out again. Watching their friends out of the window as they wander from world to world. Meanwhile those lost on worlds continue to wander unable to return to the train at all.

"All attempts at returning those who left have failed. This voidcraft cannot do it alone. It is lucky that unlike those that have left before them, I can still sense them.

But I cannot bring them back alone. This is perhaps too advanced for Voidtreckers, but you have done the improbable before. You say you wish to help. This is how you help."

Their SCA's light up with a message. Or rather, a series of instructions:

In the unlikely event a tether gets stranded on a liminal space platform or between their own world and the platform space, you should, in the first instance, contact the Void technicians who monitor their non-travelling self. However, in the case they cannot be reached or there is a mass displacement of tether, an anchoring procedure can be carried out.

Ideally, this will involve two fully tethered individuals to retrieve the lost tether. One should be a stationary anchor. They should be outside of their void craft, if possible, and in physical contact with it. The second should be a roaming anchor reaching to draw the tethers back. In situations of mass tether displacement the stationary anchor can hold mutiple roaming anchors but it is recommended to not exceed five. In this situation, it is recommended that anchors rotate between stationary and roaming.

To start an anchoring of this kind, those anchoring should activate their anchoring program. Those staying station should reach out to the tethers of those they plan to steady. This might cause some emotional upheaval, and they will need to stay steady, especially if connecting to more than one roaming tether. Roaming anchors then must hold the person they search for in their thoughts and move towards them. It is recommended that the lost tethers activate their emergency beacon to facilitate being found and returning but this is not a necessity.

Once the roaming anchor has found the lost tethers they must keep hold of them and guide them back towards their craft, the stationary tethers must draw them back, pulling them through.

There is an additional note at the end, in different font.

It is as Anan told you. Your minds should visualise it. Be strong Voidtreckers.

... a short-lived dream

The doors open and anyone who wishes to try this can leave onto the platform. It is empty, devoid of the figures they had seen before; and, beyond the fog, devoid of anything. But searching requires their SCAs, not a path, and as people get into teams, they can activate their anchors and begin.

For those who will roam, their minds become filled, visualising light, void, voices and chaos; their bodies feel less stable, like they might unravel if not careful. But for those who will stay, when they touch the Voidtrecker Express, they will feel more stable, grounded. The fog shifts, but the world moves around them without pulling them in.

Thinking of the person they wish to keep stable, a mental and emotional link will be established, and they will feel each other as the roaming anchor sets off to find their missing crew.

---

Outside the train...
For those that had left - either by choice or by strange happenings - they have found themselves back at their anchor point during Poi 26, regardless of where they were before. For those unfortunate enough not to have a world to return to, or those who were stuck between in the first place, they will find themselves alone, in a fog filled space where no matter how far they walk, nothing greets them.

All those in fog or back in their world receive the same message from their SCAs.

Hold fast. Press your evacuation button. Your friends come.

---

RETURNERS: FLEETING HAPPINESS

But it's likely before the message arrived, that something wrong has been noticed by those outside the void. More than the bizarre ability to travel between existences, an inability to move far from where they appear. Back at their anchor points, they may notice - in time - colours sometimes flash across the sky, streaking through clouds or making trails in a night sky. At first not much, something to be easily dismissed but it builds. People talk, wonder at what is happening.

For the colours aren't the only thing. Across worlds, in cities, kingdoms, villages, underworlds and space stations, people are dreaming. Bright colours, vivid dreams. Prophets spring from nowhere, people claim to know the future or to have seen the past. Some talk of places and worlds they could not have seen.

Perhaps at first it can be explained away, there are always such people. But more people talk, from urchin children to commanders, people dream and the colours dance.

ANCHORERS: A STEADY HAND

While the stationeries will feel grounded, they aren't blind to what's happening to their roamer. It's as if they're both linked, intimately, meshing together, and they will need to work to keep their feelings separate; hearing each other's thoughts, their feelings. Images of what the other thinks and memories shared between them.

And then there is the search for their teammates, amongst the multiple of realities. Existences move past the roamer, threatening to lose them in the mess, but they must persevere, keep their thoughts on the individual, their stationary anchor to help them. Until finally, they appear - in a world they perhaps know, don't, the kaleidoscope colours of the void faint above their heads.

Speak to each other, keep each other focused, certain, and find who you came to save.

BOTH: HOLDING ON

Searching for individuals, the anchorers will find themselves at a character's anchor point; if they haven't moved far from here or another world, it will be easy to locate them. Now is the time to convince them to come back, and then the eventual work of doing so.

It can be in agreement, or force. Taking a hold of the person, the anchorer can pull them into the mass of chaos. Just like when they helped the guests return to their worlds from the false Diagad, all parties become battered by images, voices. Voices like sirens; 'Just stay,' the voices encourage. 'Just let go and drift into the chaos. It will be easier.'

But they must be strong, move towards their anchor and towards the craft. The crossing doesn't take too long, perhaps ten minutes each way, and once they get to the craft the person they are rescuing glows gold and vanishes. The anchors will know instinctively that they are safe on the train.

And indeed, the rescued will find themselves within the luggage carriage - exhausted, but safe.

TRAIN: AN INEVITABLE RETURN

Exhaustion is something all parties will experience, once everyone is returned to the train and the adrenaline wears off. Those who anchored will be hit with a total exhaustion, leaving them unable to do much more than eat and sleep for a few days. Those rescued won't be as bad, but if they decide to join in with the efforts, they'll too face the soul-tiring experience that other anchorers are.

There's likely to be efforts, to help soothe people over this time. And as people return to their life on the train, they will see the marks of the last few days for those who stayed behind. Broken ceramics, books out of order in the library; the ICPs in the standard coach, storage, sports and games carriages broken, and some damage to furniture.

But for the scars brought on by this event, surely, they will heal - eventually.

OOC NOTES

OOC post. Ask questions here. New second part OOC post here.

First phase of the event took place during Poi 22 to 25; the second phase takes place during Poi 26 to 28 (20-25th February).

VISITING WORLDS: While during Poi 26, it will be possible to go back to wherever they were, or other spaces. However, they will have increasing difficulty doing this, and will feel themselves getting more lost if they try world hopping too much over the next 3 (void) days. It's like something is trying to pull them back, or pull them, but into nowhere.

SCAs: The SCA's comms will not be active at this time.

Comments

/scandalizedface-pullsupcovers

[wewillwewill]

What might be surprising is that on knocking there is a small well of aether. A small spell sigil that appears and disperses with apparent harmlessness. If the miqo'te is a particularly scholarly type, it was just a spell that sends an alert to someone that it's been triggered. Odd only if you realize it's strange for someone of the Ascian's stature to be using such 'simple tricks'.

In honesty it's all Elidibus could muster by way of defense. At least he'd be awake if someone came to the door. There's a long pause before K'zeka's knock is answered.

"Come in." The voice is certainly belonging to the person sought. The door unlocks but is not opened for the visitor's sake. That's left to whether they want to come in on their own.

Shades on the window will be drawn and the room will be lit with dim but serviceable lighting. Elidibus took the time during that long pause to address his position on the bed; now seated, the duvet still around his waist and his back resting against the pillows and wall of the sleeper. A lighter sheet is draped over his shoulders and covers his torso but it's probably evident that he's wearing no shirt underneath.

The facilities to make beverages have seen their use by way of a used cup on the table next to the ICP and he or someone had brought a meal; the plate and utensils have long been set aside but not yet cleaned up. Nothing of particular remark about it, except that it points to the notion that he hasn't left the room for some time since occupying it. Nor does Elidibus move from the bed, watching silently.

"K'zeka Tia. What brings you to visit?" He sounds fine. Looks... exhausted? Many people who have been serving as anchors are starting to flag in that same way. Yet Elidibus was never seen or notice serving as one in the last couple of days.

[catti]

A sigil appearing and disappearing isn't an unusual thing, so he pays it little mind when it doesn't attack him for being there. And were it any other situation, an alarum would be cause for concern if he wasn't already trying to see if the occupant of the room was there.

'Come in' says a familiar voice and he does, sliding the door back shut with his heel once his tail is clear of the threshold.

Elidibus is in bed and K'zeka assumes he'd just woken the man up. The second sheet draped over his torso is a little odd, but compared to anyone else the cat's ever met, fairly tame and not worth more than a mental note and raised eyebrow.

"Haven't seen you around the train in a few bells and went looking." And notably not apologizing for apparently waking Elidibus up.

[wewillwewill]

Just a light sheet around the shoulders. Shouldn't be too out of the ordinary, right? Something to keep the chill off a bare torso. The usual polo shirt and pants are folded neatly and there's no sign of any other clothes.

Elidibus doesn't expect an apology. Though he seems resigned to someone familiar with him to have finally tracked him down to see what he was up to; there were a lot worse options than K'zeka.

"A few bells?" The Ascian knows better. He'd returned to the luggage car the previous day and hadn't been seen. Shaking his head, he fixes the miqo'te Warrior of Light with a direct look. "Since my return I haven't made my presence known. You've come to find out why have you not?"

There is a short sigh before Elidibus continues. "Our relationship is not one to need small talk. Pray feel free to be more direct about your inquiries. I admit I would prefer we not dance around the matter." Perhaps this last is as much a sign that he's truly exhausted and not just putting up a front.

[catti]

"A dozen, then," he admits, shrugging. "I wasn't looking the entire time."

After all, part of that time was spent back home and while there, Elidibus was one of the very last things on his mind. Once back on the train, he assumed the Ascian's apparent non-presence meant he finally left the train. That was an incorrect assumption and the reason they were chatting.

"But very well. Aye, I saw you on the passenger list and nowhere else, so I got curious and figured I'd go find where you've been hiding." Which was slower than he wanted because he can't sense an individual's aether as well as Q'uila can. "And why."

[wewillwewill]

Even Q'uila might have trouble finding Elidibus right now by seeking him through his aether alone. Not because the Ascian is hiding it. There simply isn't the bounty of an Unsundered to find.

With any luck it will give Elidibus more time to recover undisturbed.

But the Ascian is still here. And the question K'zeka presents, why Elidibus is hiding is a matter that requires thought on the best way to answer. There is no easy one, a fact which is written in his expression as he observes the Warrior of Light before him.

"During my return to the reality I knew, events in my absence had unfolded in such a way that it was my duty to redress." There is... so much of a story hidden in those words. What he learned from the Warrior of his star. What had happened. What was... no more. But he refused to show signs of the emotional turmoil in light of the miqo'te's presence.

"Doing so was to be my final act as Elidibus. That I'm here is only through the tether which still binds us to the Voidtrecker Express." Something that he knew would be a possibility. And one the Ascian was almost certain he was more displeased about than happy.

[catti]

"Your duty? What events were those?"

There's a chance they're related to what he experienced--or heard about, rather--back in his version of home. There's a chance they're not.

There's a chance Elidibus isn't willing to reveal them, but his guest really doesn't have much else better to do, so he'll stay, leaning back against the wall.

"Wait though, first...are you saying you were meant to die?"

[wewillwewill]

To prioritize the latter gives Elidibus more time to think of an answer to the former so he'll not argue.

"Yes. I gave every bit of myself in the effort and by rights, I would have returned to my star." The true death of an immortal Ascian, like Lahabrea and Emet-Selch before him. For a fleeting moment, a trace of bitterness seems to appear in his expression.

"But the connection to the Voidtrecker Express was still present. And it drew me back. I am exhausted, but I'm not undone."

That he is very drained of his aether and perhaps even less than any denizen of the Source right now is carefully left unmentioned. That doesn't mean it couldn't be inferred. Elidibus had closed his eyes for a moment. But opening them again he focuses on the miqo'te.

"As to the events that had transpired, I first have a question. When you first arrived on the train as a passenger, what had last occurred? When you returned to your reality, how much time had passed? What events were happening?" The Ascian adds by way of explanation, "This will help me know what I must explain, based on what I learned of the state of affairs in my own."

[catti]

"'Tis why you're hiding, then." Makes sense, if he expended whatever energy he had, that he wouldn't want to encounter anyone on the train who might take advantage of that state. K'zeka is not generally one of those people, especially in a place where the dead don't quite stay dead, no matter how they're killed. Or so he's heard, as he's yet to kill anyone or experience anyone who's died and come back to life.

"When I first arrived?"

It's something he has to think a little bit about. While he remembers generally what happened before he was pulled, he has to consider the specifics.

"We'd just returned from the First, the Scions and I. I didn't arrive right after...mayhap four or five suns after that, after everyone could leave their beds under their own power." It's not a detail that's vital to answering the question, but it helps him remember. "I was about to take my leave to run some errands."

The current events are fresher in his mind, and he suddenly looks a lot more worried recalling them.

"About two moons passed while I was away. In that time, odd towers appeared all over the place and all civilians were warned to stay away from them. 'Twas all I could find out, since the aetheryte network wasn't functioning properly...every time I tried to use it, I came right back to the platform. The Scions were gone and I--" The longer he talks, the more animated he gets, until he cuts himself off, rubbing his face with one hand.

"Something is wrong and there was naught I could do."

[wewillwewill]

Elidibus doesn't deny it. That he's hiding, keeping clear of others who might well have very good reason to use his current circumstances to his advantage. And it should be no surprise that he watches K'zeka keenly for a moment after. But it seems their truce of civility, for whatever reason, will hold for now. And that is enough.

Even if K'zeka would think to in the future, there would be no reason to hold back the information Elidibus has now. They are enemies yes. But they suffer from the same onus of saving the world they know.

"I can speak with some authority, since it seems to echo what events were related to me by the Warrior of Light in my reality. But it is not kind news, K'zeka Tia. And I must ask if you are certain you wish to hear it."

Elidibus fixes the miqo'te with a grave look of absolute seriousness. The news will not be good.

[catti]

"I..."

Well, he did want to hear it, but the Look and tone of Elidibus' voice makes him rethink that desire. He doesn't know exactly what Elidibus considers 'not kind' news, and it could mean anything from 'Sin Eaters have reappeared on the First en masse' to 'every beast tribe has summoned their primals simultaneously' to 'someone actually did unleash Black Rose on the world and it's fucked'.

"I'm not certain anymore. Can you tell me if it's aught that might have happened whether I'm there or not?"

[wewillwewill]

This is answered with a moment's pause for thought before Elidibus gives his answer.

"Since it happened on my star while your counterpart was present, I would say your absence has changed little in this course of events," he finally says with a fair amount of confidence. "Rather, I feel it safe to say it was my absence which led to this outcome."

The Ascian offers it in a pragmatic way. It's not condemnation; it just is because of the nature of where he and the Warrior of Light stood regarding the fate of their star. Though with a short nod of his head, Elidibus allows. "Or should I say my counterpart, should you and the Crystal Exarch have sealed him in Syrcus Tower before you returned from the First."

[catti]

"We did. I'm certain of that."

It was a little disappointing that they couldn't seal all the other Ascians the same way, but then again, none of the rest managed to get themselves conveniently near the tower.

"That's...good." In a way. "...Give me the bad news, then, or else I'll think of every other possible horrible scenario anyroad."

*hand and talk gestures, ftb and fade-in to suggest time passes* EW Spoilers

[wewillwewill]

It won't anger him to hear confirmation. Not his world and even if it was, that was simply the nature of their relation. In any case, there is news to convey. With a nod, Elidibus begins.

"After I was sealed, the one who holds the seat of Fandaniel made his move...-"

And thus calmly the ancient being begins to relate the tale as it was told him. The nature of the towers, of Zenos and Fandaniel's plan. The journey to the moon. And Zodiark...

There is more, carefully laid out. The culmination of events which ended... will end for K'zeka's world... in the return of the Final Days.

"That you've returned before much of this has unfolded in your reality... I can't say what will change. But that is the tale I was told."

Elidibus looks to K'zeka.

"I told you this was not kind. Much of what I've related to you depended on your future presence. And it seems the ability to speak to me, the last of the Unsundered."

Which would require someone able to travel from the Source to the First. And there was only one who could perform such a feat.

[catti]

He braces himself for what Elidibus is about to tell him...and ultimately isn't prepared for any of it.

Zenos is still around and has allied himself with whoever Fandaniel is. Clearly an Ascian--they and the Allagans seem to be the root of all the problems he's had and continue to have. The towers are confirmed as dangerous, and Zodiark is...less dangerous than he's made out to be?

The Final Days. It was awful going through a simulacrum of them down in Amaurot, and the thought of them happening in the present day is terrifying. And this is what the Warrior of Elidibus' world experienced, meaning K'zeka himself should experience--should have experienced some of this already--had he not been pulled onto the train.

It doesn't seem as real when it's told through someone else, though. More of a 'what if', a possible future. K'zeka's not discounting it by any means, though he's quiet for a while after Elidibus is done talking.

He may be the one with the title of Warrior of Light or Warrior of Darkness, but there are other adventurers out there as capable as he should they be needed. There are others blessed by Hydaelyn who just haven't stepped up to make a name for themselves that could be called upon in his absence. The Scions are a more than capable group and were before he wandered into their midst. Maybe he can contact the Void Ministry somehow and tell them to keep an eye on Fandaniel and the Zenos of his version of the world; surely they could help somehow.

Maybe.

He pulls himself out of his thoughts, compacting the worries into a neat little compartment in the back of his mind he'll surely visit later when he's a bit less overwhelmed.

"I trust you aren't lying, but all of that sounds too...amazing to be truth. Visiting the moon? And the Final Days...they've only just been set in motion back home, but...there will be a solution, there must be." Optimism!

Which quickly deflates. "So we're buggered if I'm here."

EW Spoilers Intensify

[wewillwewill]

Would it have been better not to hear this news at all? Debatable. But now it's spoken it can't be undone. Elidibus gives K'zeka the time he needs to process the story and its overall implications. He takes no joy out of burdening another reality's Warrior of Light with this knowledge. But for a contrivance of happenstance, it would have been he in the miqo'te's place.

But even that aside, Elidibus would not be so malicious as to be pleased by such torment. That is why when K'zeka struggles to come to terms, he is patient then as well, even through the implication that the Ascian might have been lying.

Closing his eyes, Elidibus contemplates the hypothetical placed before him, weighing what he knows with what the miqo'te wants to know.

"I can't say for certain. The purpose of the towers created by Fandaniel is to gather aether to break the seal on Lord Zodiark's prison. Your allies may be capable of delaying this on their own."

Find someone else that has the Blessing of the Light, make progress on the talismans? And it's likely only a stopgap measure. And dependant on so many factors; one of which was how close Fandaniel and Zenos came to destroying the seal even with Eorzea's Champion at the helm.

"Ultimately I can only tell you what was passed to me. And that it's unlikely events were sorely changed by my time on the Voidtrecker Express." He would have been sealed and unable to affect anything if he weren't here. It's nearly the same impact on events, unlike K'zeka's position.

Quietly, Elidibus offers, "I know the Warrior of Light succeeds in making it to a time when my star was still Unsundered." His eyes open, though he's not looking at K'zeka. "I remember him there." A restored memory. A fleeting wonder and utterly precious to the Ascian. "But I do not know if he succeeds in finding what he searches for."

He looks up at his visitor with a grave expression. "Do what you will with this information. Whether you choose to hope you make it back in time to set things right, trust in your allies to rise to the occasion or involve the Void Ministry in the plight of your reality. But if Lord Zodiark is destroyed, the Final Days will return to your star. And Fandaniel aims to make it so."