middleofsomewhere | We Approach Our Final Hour

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We Approach Our Final Hour

The days after the celebrations are filled with helping those from system #1015 get settled, or just by resting and recuperating after what was a difficult battle.

A couple of days later however Void Minister Till once again calls all the voidtreckers, scientists and other interested parties to a meeting. She looks a lot less grim this time.

FINAL CHOICES

"Thank you all for gathering again. As you know we have been working on figuring out what was happening with your tethers, trying to untangle them from the Voidtrecker Express and find you a way home." She gave a tired smile.

"However with the resolving of the time paradox surrounding system#1015 it seems much of our work is out of our hands, your tethers seem to be detangling themselves and so our work quickly moved to keeping you all stable enough to remain here, because we are very mindful that you deserve a choice in this and a chance to say your farewells. You were brought here without your knowledge or consent and despite that have done a great service to the void so before I say anything else I wish to thank you, on behalf of us all."

To Return Home

"We are now able to see the way to return you to your non-travelling selves. This will untether you from both the Voidtrecker Express and the void. Your bodies on your worlds are, for the most part, well. Tethering is a powerful thing so even those from places that do not have the technology to sustain an unconcious person for a long period of time will find themselves well, though feeling some lingering fatigue. Time has passed in all your worlds and I know it will be difficult to explain your absence." She smiled softly.

"We don't ask you to keep the void completely secret, but especially those from places with a low level of technology should use their discretion when talking about their adventurers. You will not be voidtreckers anymore. You all come from non void active worlds and so until those worlds join the void network you must remain on them. Those from the void can always visit you and we will endeavour to pass on messages between worlds if there are those you wish to remain in contact with. This is the option we expect most of you will take."

To Remain

She lets the any comments or discussions about that bubble for a moment before she presses on. "However, we are very aware that there are those of you who do not have homes to return to. Some of you were tethered on the brink of death. Some of you come from places now destroyed. Some of you have physical places to return but have found family and friendship in the void far greater than anything you had in your lives before." She paused.

"For you we offer another option. You may remain. We believe that as we detangle your tethers from the Voidtrecker Express we can tether you, properly tether you, to this void base." She looked around. "I won't mince words, this option means that your non tethering selves will be no more, your bodies back on your world will die. You will be like those of Osiga and now those of system #1015. You would not be able to return to live on your world." She paused, to let the gravity of that sink in.

"You will always have a home on this base and from here..." She smiled warmly. "You can do what you wish. There are many mission craft that would happily take you on if you have found you have enjoyed assisting worlds in need. Otherwise there are other craft, scientific voyaging craft, tourist craft. We will help you find a place. Though you are free to go your own way, this would be your base but you would not be obligated to remain here. You would be welcome to visit those who return to their worlds, though we would ask that you limited visits to your own, to avoid complications." Again she gave a moment, for the discussion around that to die down before she spoke again.

To Go Back

"Finally. We are aware there are some of you in very difficult situations. Where taking you from your world has led to your whole world, or large parts of it in grave danger. We are aware worlds have fallen, for lack of you. For you we make another offer. We do not make this lightly, it is risky and we ask that those taking it have very good reason.." She looked around, silent and serious.

"We believe that using what we learned of anchoring through time we can return you, not only to the place you were brought from, but the moment. You would remember all that has passed but to your world it would be as if you were never gone at all." A pause.

"Because of the grave risks associated with this, we will be sealing the worlds of those that return in this way. These systems will never become void active and no void craft may enter those systems. As I say, it is not an option we give lightly."

The Choice is Yours

"Whatever you choose we will support you in it. We are also aware there are many of your number not with you. Please be assured that we are working through their tethers. We will do our best to give them the same choices and at the very least we will return them all to their homes. I understand there is a lot to think about. We believe we can hold on to your tethers for a couple more days and so please take this time to talk it through and to say your farewells."

She falls silent and steps back, letting people talk and discuss, whilst remaining close.

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He hadn't, but context clues suggested quite a lot, and she had assumed something along those lines.

It didn't make it hurt less when he said it, of course, her fingers tight around his; squeezing just a little harder than she intended. Thankfully, as physically weak as she was, he probably wouldn't be too discomforted by it. That strain in her voice remained, the tears barely withheld — and yet somewhere in there, she sounded... surprised.

"What do you mean, visit me regularly?" She asked, "If you are staying, Rezo, then so am I."

Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

…What?

Rezo freezes for a long moment after she makes her declaration. He had thought, of course, that if he couldn’t stay in her world, that it would have been equally wonderful just to continue traveling with her. But he hadn’t let himself dwell on that thought, because he’d also known what it would require of her.

And when the initial shock wears off, Rezo blurts out “Lioriley, you can’t.”

He winces as the words leave his mouth. Damn it. He doesn’t intend to sound so imperious about it, it’s just-

“You know what the minister said. You’ll die if you do. And you’ll lose your home, forever.”

'You can't', he said, like he had any ability to truly stop her or make that decision for her. She would listen, of course, to any reasonable argument he had on the matter, but she had made her decision the second he spoke his. She wasn't going to lose him, even if it meant losing everything else.

She didn't respond to the insistence that she couldn't stay, and remained silent as the tears finally started to fall from her eyes. Slowly, she loosened her grip on his hands so she could instead raise them to cup his cheeks; lean in close and ease up on her knees to press their foreheads together.

"But I will have you, forever." Whispered, barely audiable, but he would hear it just fine, wouldn't he. "I cannot let you go, Rezo. Even if it means forsaking all I have ever known - it is a price I am happy to pay to spend my life with you."

He should probably pull back, when she lets go of his hands. But he doesn’t. He stays very still, allowing her to settle her hands against his face and her forehead against his. Allows her to whisper, in a voice thick with tears, words of love and devotion.

Rezo swallows. He can’t- he shouldn’t- allow her to go through with it.

“...Yes, you’ll have me,” Rezo says quietly. “A cripple who destroyed countless lives and nearly destroyed his own world in pursuit of his desires.”

Desires that now include her. Yes, he wants her to stay with him. Of course he does. But unlike his attempts to become sighted, he can’t even justify it as something that would make him more useful, something that would be for the greater good. All it would do is… make him happy. But what importance is that, in the grand scheme of things?

“I cannot ask you to give up your life and home, solely for my sake. You deserve far better than what I can give you.”

"Be quiet." She said as sternly as she could despite the quiver in her voice. "And listen to me, Rezo."

She had heard it all before. The self-deprecation, the insistence that he was not worth her time, the assumption that he was the only one being selfish in any scenario they were involved in together.

"I have told you once, and I will tell you countless times more- you are a better man than you give yourself credit for. You have done wrong; done things you regret, but you have tried and succeeded to make amends. I have seen the good in you, Rezo, and if anything... I want to be there for you while you continue to find your way. I want to hold your hand and help to guide you, I want to celebrate your triumphs; hold you when you fall." The tears were endless now; streaming down her cheeks and darkening the dirt they sat upon. "You will be my life, and I am perfectly fine with that. Please, Rezo. Just let me stay. Do not try to send me back without you. Please."

“Lioriley…”

He can feel a little of those tears, a few of the heated droplets falling onto him as the two of them are pressed closely together. His fingers twitch with the urge to reach up and wipe them away; he wants to wrap his arms around her and hold her even closer to him. But still, he hesitates.

“What if you regret it? What if I do something-” His voice nearly cracks, “-that leaves you hurt? What if I drive you away? I can’t- I can’t stand the thought of letting you down as well. When you make such promises, there is a part of me that is terrified by them.”

He’s actually a little surprised by his own admission. Being honest with his feelings, even to himself, has never been his strong suit. He swallows, again, feeling his eyes starting to burn behind the permanently sealed lids.

“I don’t want to fail you. Or hurt you. But I don’t trust myself not to.”

She was silent this time, listening intently while Rezo spoke. They were all valid fears - but they weren't unique to Rezo. Perhaps they were more intense, he had more reason to worry about hurting her for all the things he had done; all the things he was apparently capable of.

"My love..." she started, doing all the work for him when she finally bridged the last few inches between them and wrapped her arms around Rezo's neck, sinking into him as best as she could given the angle they rested at. "Could I not ask the same thing? What if I drive you away? What if I hurt you? Do you think you are the only one who has made mistakes - who has hurt those you love, even without intending to?" He probably wouldn't believe it. But Lioriley never had been inclined to lie. "I worry that I am not good enough, not strong enough to hold you up when you need me to. But I want to try."

She slid her hand into his hair to rest the palm against the back of his head. "I trust you, Rezo. More than anyone, with all of my heart. Let me stay. Let us see this through together."

Rezo still resists the urge to properly embrace her, yet his head droops and he finds himself leaning into her.

In spite of a slight reluctance born of his habitual stubbornness, Rezo does consider her words, turning them over in his mind. Though logically it’s possible, it’s hard to imagine Lioriley doing anything that would seriously hurt him, let alone drive him away. She seems to feel the same way about him, but she’s never seen him at his worst…

Let me stay.

“I want you to stay,” he admits. “But, as well, I want to be good for you. What good would I be doing by forcing you to make this sacrifice? By making you into my caretaker? I’d rather be someone you can rely on. The person to support you through the joys and woes of life, someone who makes you smile, and… who holds you whenever you need to cry.”

Cautiously, slowly, he finally raises his arms and circles them around her.

"Do you so easily forget all the times you have done those things already?" She asked, voice low in an attempt to keep it from cracking with the new swell of tears and soft sniffles. "All the times that you held me and comforted me?" Like after the disaster that was Osiga. He was the one that had held her and saw her through the absolute devastation she felt not being able to help everyone. "And it goes without saying that I have felt plenty of joy with you, darling. Every time I see you I feel nothing but."

She probably should have taken more time to consider what she was leaving behind. But the world would keep spinning with or without her, and in her place someone else would rise up. She would be missed, but perhaps not as much as she would miss him if she returned. She would be distracted, trying to find ways to come back - why not just cut out the middle man; the sadness and longing, and just... stay.

Lioriley shifted to settle into his lap, sighing as she relished the familiar weight of his arms around her, face buried in the column of his neck. "You are not forcing anything upon me. I am making the decision, and am simply asking your support. If you wish me to stay - I will. And I will be glad to do so, so we may be together for as long as we both shall live." She kissed under his jaw softly. "We can take care of each other."

Despite himself, a warm feeling swells up inside Rezo at her words, and his arms tighten around her. He knows, or at least, he knows he should know he makes her happy. It still feels good to hear her say it, to have evidence that she isn’t being martyred by loving him. It gives him hope that he still has something positive to contribute. Lioriley gives him hope, hope that there is still good in him and in the world- worlds- around him.

The truth is, he’d probably be a mess if she leaves him behind. Or more of a mess. He’d try to keep it hidden, to bury it beneath the surface while he worked on a way to reunite the two of them properly, but it would be easy to revert back to the troubled frame of mind he’d been in when he’d first been brought aboard the train. He’d be happier if she was there to give him little kisses like the one she presses to his jaw, and if she were with him he wouldn’t be worrying about if she was crying alone somewhere. They could take care of each other, as she says.

“I would like that, very much,” he says quietly.

Still. He knows that, unlike him, she has friends and family back there on her old world. And with everyone who has been talking about finding ways to circumvent their limited choices…

“But are you sure it wouldn’t be better if you went home, just for a while? There are several people already looking into ways to tether individuals to new worlds, or to open up void travel between more worlds. I would also be more than happy to research it if it meant you could have everything- your home, your old friends, not just myself.”

It was a tempting offer, to wait it out and see what could be done. Perhaps there was a way to have Rezo join her in Valsheria. But maybe, more likely, there wasn't. She didn't want to take the risk, to not know if she would ever be able to truly and wholly be with him like she would be if she stayed. If she let her body die and gave up all she once had for him.

"I am sure." She said after a moment, leaning up and tilting her head to press her lips, this time, to his - both as a means to silence any further argument, and because she just... wanted to kiss him. Like she was sealing a deal with the press of their lips; her choice made and leaving no room for any more objections.

“Ah-”

For a moment Rezo is surprised, but it’s only a brief moment before he begins to relax, bit by bit, into her kiss. And as their lips brush together he strokes his hands slowly up and down her back, tangling with her braid of hair. He vaguely recalls that they’re in a greenhouse where anyone is free to wander through, but concludes that he doesn’t give a damn about anything but relishing in the feel, the taste, and the scent of Lioriley.

Once they’ve shared a last languid kiss he tilts his head to break their mouths apart and take a breath. But he keeps his arms firmly wrapped around her.

“Alright,” he says, breathless, “I concede. I can’t give you up, anymore than you can.”

After the earlier announcement, if anyone saw fit to complain about two people kissing anywhere on the train, they would surely need to get their priorities in order. Lioriley didn't much mind the public display either way; making sure to press herself as firmly as she could against him, head tilted to deepen the kiss once reciprocated. She could have kissed him forever if they did not have to breathe.

She leaned back as he did, her cheeks and eyes still wet with tears. It was a lot, this decision, but she was not going to regret it.

"I am glad you have come to your senses." She chuckled softly and raised a hand, stroking her fingertips over his cheek and back through his hair. "I love you, Rezo."

She’s really staying with him. Whatever happens next, they’re going to be together. A part of him is still insisting he should be ashamed of himself for taking her away from her home, but it’s growing quieter as it’s drowned out by the fact that she, Lioriley, is choosing him. The knowledge is dazzling, and prompts a shy grin to spread over Rezo’s features as he leans into her hand.

“My darling girl,” he says, “I love you too, Lioriley.”

He reaches up to carefully take her hand and hold it in place as he tilts his head to press a kiss against the inside of her wrist. “You truly are a miracle,” he murmurs, and his eyes burn anew with sealed away tears. “Thank you.” For choosing him, for loving him, and for being who she is.

It made her heart soar, hearing him speak the words, even if she had heard them before. They meant more now - all of it meant so much more now that she had decided to stay with him. And she tried not to think of the people that would miss her back home; not wanting to ruin the moment by envisioning anyone and anything she might lose. This was more important. He was more important.

A miracle, he called her, and she could not help but scoff out a laugh. "Of course, my love. And thank you for allowing me the chance to be with you always. We will find our way together." A beat, and given how close they are Rezo might feel the heat radiating from her cheeks. "We may even find our own personal quarters together, now that we have the chance." Being alone with him whenever they wished would be a dream.

There’s another beat while Rezo registers exactly what Lioriley has just said- followed by a burst of delighted laughter, lively enough that Lioriley will feel Rezo shaking beneath and around her until it subsides. It’s partly amusement at her words, yes, but there’s more than a little bit of the relief still circulating through him that fuels his merriment.

“Yes,” he says, once he’s had a moment to calm himself, “That sounds like an excellent place to start.” His face, like hers, is now quite flushed. With a tender look, he brushes his fingers against her heated cheek.

Poor Lioriley. He can still feel the dampness on her cheek, and he suspects those will be far from the only tears she’ll shed. It won’t be long until everyone will be saying their goodbyes, and Rezo himself certainly feels more than a little wistful about the idea of leaving the train.

He doesn’t want to stay on it though. With its old crew back and many of his fellow abductees making their own way either back home or out in the void, Rezo feels like it’s time for him to move on as well.

“Only a year ago, I would never have imagined where I would be now.”

She was an emotional woman; prone to crying at the drop of a hat. But even with the tear stains upon her cheeks, Rezo would feel no more fall from her eyes. Instead he would feel the twitch of her mouth when she smiled and leaned into his palm, her eyes shut to relish in the warmth and comfort of the gesture.

"Mm. Things can certainly change so quickly." She agreed, tilting her head to kiss his palm. "When I arrived on the train, I never could have imagined I would find love upon it." Making friends? Certainly. But falling in love with a blind priest from another world? She could have never guessed. And now she was giving everything away for him. "Do you remember when we met, how I had insisted you board lest something terrible happen? I wonder what might have become of us if I had not."

And it should be said, she didn't sound melancholic and regretful. It was just a thought. Some 'what if.' "I think we still would have found one another. Just... in a different way."

Oh, he certainly remembers. Each sensation of that strange new beginning, the sounds of the platform and the train and her voice, the chill in the air, the lurch when the train took off, the way she’d casually touched him in a way nobody had touched him in years… And now he has her fully in his arms, while she easily presses kisses to his hand. Things have certainly escalated, in the best way possible.

As for Lioriley’s speculation, Rezo’s not sure if he would have kept resisting the instinct to board the train or not, but if he had…

“I would have had a significantly less dignified entrance onto the train,” Rezo remarks. He has- somewhat miraculously considering his self-destructive tendencies- managed not to take lethal damage during their entire time aboard the train, but he is aware that those who do wake up inside the luggage carriage, inside the luggage.

“But I think you’re right. I know I wouldn’t have been able to resist getting closer to you, however I could.”

And it was inevitable they would have run into one another with their overlapping spheres of interest and expertise. He’d have described their relationship as colleagues, initially. And now Lioriley’s offering to be a partner in life as well as in work. Which makes Rezo think about what kind of work he’ll be doing now that he’s no longer in the voidtrecker business.

“...Lioriley, I don’t have many plans for what I’ll do after we’re tethered to the voidbase, but I have agreed to pass on some messages to other worlds for those who will be returning home. Of course, that will mean tracking down those worlds, and specific individuals upon them, and arranging transportation. And a whole host of other tasks.”

He takes a lock of her hair between his fingertips and idly plays with it as he continues, “I would appreciate your assistance with such matters- when we’re not too busy in our personal quarters, of course.”

Lioriley knew from experience that he would not have truly died had he remained on the platform. Someone else had done so on purpose; had thrown her onto the train to assure she didn't suffer the same fate while she struggled to drag him aboard. It was traumatic, to say the least, and she was glad that Rezo had listened where Malakith had not. The conversion that followed aboard the train had been delightful, too, and she would always remember that fateful day, as she remembered all others they spent together.

She lifted her head when he spoke her name again and nodded.

"Of course, love." She had no concrete plans thus far beyond researching everything and anything she could get her hands on, helping the scientists, and exploring the worlds they ventured to. Rezo's request could easily be pushed to her top priority. "What ever you need, I will be glad to help."

It would take her a moment to catch the last part of what he said, and then fully register it. She laughed, her cheeks burning with warmth again. "Planning to whisk me away once we are free, hm?" Like she didn't have the same plan.

Rezo would have been very surprised if she had refused, honestly. Lioriley is a helper by nature, and he’s sure she will have sympathy for those who have unfinished business across worlds. God knows she’s always been sympathetic to him.

It’s going to be difficult, of course, for numerous reasons. Lioriley will be mourning her home, there will be a plethora of logistical issues before them, and if she becomes involved with his attempts to get a cure back to his home world, well- neither of them would enjoy Lioriley learning more of his past transgressions. But she’s taking the risk of coming with him, so he can, as in the beginning, take the risk of trusting her.

Besides, it’s not all hardships ahead.

“At the first opportunity,” he says. Then he leans in and adds, in a quiet voice, “I want to make love to you until neither of us can walk.”

Well, she was the one who brought up the subject of personal quarters first. And she’s been very firm about letting Rezo know that she wants him to whisk her away, so she can hardly complain if he takes her up on that.

It would be... a lot, to say the least. But aiding Rezo in such a benevolent endeavor would keep her mind from wandering to more upsetting things like the loss of her home, her body, and her friends in Valsheria. And when the time came to search for a cure, they would get through all of that too. She was confident enough in that (as much as she could be, of course, not knowing the further depths of what Rezo may or may not have done in his past).

Lioriley giggled and glanced around, like she was worried someone had heard her priest speak something so lewd in a public area. Of course no one was, but that didn't help assuage the blush at all. "I believe that can be arranged." She replied, voice equally as low, and punctuated the thought with a soft kiss to his lips. "Would you come walk with me, darling? I have nowhere specific in mind, I just... want to meander a bit, I suppose." Restless is what she was. Very restless for so many reasons.

Rezo would be quite content to stay there, seated with Lioriley in his arms, for at least a good few hours. He’s still basking in the knowledge that Lioriley is staying with him and will probably be distracted by that thought for a while. But he can bask just as easily walking as he can sitting, so he easily agrees “We can go wherever you would like.”

Rezo rises to his feet, slowly, so that Lioriley has time to clamber off of his lap. He will not, however, be letting go of her hand.

Good, because she hadn't planned on releasing his hand either. Lioriley twisted her wrist so their palms pressed together, fingers interlocking and squeezing tightly; pointedly. She was here. She would always be here.

It would probably be no surprise that her 'idle meandering' would lead them, eventually, to the library; the medical bay; and anywhere else they had seemingly claimed as a safe haven for the both of them. And even if they did not speak much, she was content enough even with silence, so long as he was there beside her.

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We Approach Our Final Hour

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persuasian check: succeeded

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