middleofsomewhere | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[If no one wants the cosmos in pieces, everyone just better give her what she wants!]

[...well, okay, Zetta is secretly aware that he can't and won't do everything for her, she doesn't want to be coddled or anything. But so long as he doesn't admit that out loud, everything's fine.]

Sure, all I have to do is pop the Netherworld over to whichever universe you want to visit, and you can hit up the Dimensional Gate. And when you're in the Netherworld, well...

I guess... kind of half of it is sort of yours at this rate?

That sounds a little complicated but I have full faith in your abilities. [Kind of. This is the same being who took months to realize she could wish him back to himself. And she had to figure that out for him.]

You know, just because I'm living with you doesn't mean that I get half of it. It's your world more than mine. I'll just spruce it up. [First order of business will be plants. Then bees. She misses honey and bees and all the insects and fauna of her home.] Oh! I need to dig up and get all my plant collection ready to go. Gosh there's so much to do.

Well... y'know. [Zetta looks up at the ceiling, as if it's very interesting.] I figured with the way things have been going, it's been pretty good, maybe at some point in the future we'd end up in a sort of thing where it really is half and half. Or both ours. Or however you wanna put it.

My dearest Zetta, are you implying that you want to ask for my hand in *marriage*?

[Her amusement at how he's dancing around this is very obvious]

['Sephe understands him. This is both a blessing and a curse, to be sure.]

W-when I want that, I'll ask clearly! [As ever, the kneejerk protestation -- followed by a slightly more rational explanation.] We gotta see if we work out when we're not crammed in a claustrophobic train and dealing with all its crap, right?

[Zetta thinks it's possible, maybe even likely, that Persephone will find a Zetta unleashed from the boundaries and rules of the train to be... uh, too much to handle, let's put it that way? In thinking so, of course, Zetta completely fails to realize just how much of those new boundaries and sensibilities he's grown entirely on his own, after too long as a book and a god and now a boyfriend.]

And if we do... well, you'd make a hell of a Queen of the Netherworld, and I know it.

That's very sensible of you.

[Persephone settles her hands on his shoulders and smiles softly. There's still a little tease when she speaks again] I was destined to become a queen. Not sure what becoming queen of a Netherworld is like.

But you're right. We need to figure out things with our own space. Fight over the furnishings, go on dates, figure out how to cook and divide up chores and stuff. And I'd like to go on trips to my friends by myself sometimes. I want to meet Zagreus' Persephone. Go hang out with Ryo's friends. Make Thanatos bread and force him to eat it. Cover their world in flowers maybe. Be a bit of a menace.

[Living by herself doesn't hold as much appeal at the moment but she might, at home, in the space between her arrival and him finding her. And keep that space for visits home]

[As he so often does, Zetta catches her waist. He really does enjoy holding her like this. Once again, how did he go so many millennia without discovering how awesome a flying girl is?]

I got stuff to do too, stuff you probably don't want in on since it might involve me roughing up a couple people who got too comfortable while I was away. You know, settle back into the routine and all. I'm not gonna be the guy who needs his woman on his arm all the time!

Roughing--right, I don't think I want to know. So long as we both know where we stand.

[Her smile is soft and warm. She'd never openly judged those who got married on the train but she did wonder how they could do it. It's reassuring to find he wasn't going to rush her into something. They were immortal beings, they had plenty of time] We'll figure out all the details. Maybe in a decade you can actually ask me and I'll have an actual answer. Or I'll ask you.

[Hey, even the idea of sorta-settling down is weird and wild to Zetta... just not quite unwelcome, the way he'd always thought of it. And a decade's a blink of an eye, really... a crumb of his life so far, and yet half of hers. Wild.]

Sounds like a plan to me. Though don't think I'll let you see too much of that room of your own. [Both his grin and his wink have no shame at all.]

And I hope you know I'm giving your netherworld a thriving ecosystem. We can fuss over the decor choices around your place but it'll be so fun to experiment with a whole new world. [She's not replying to his insinuation beyond a flush to her cheeks but it is a telling flush] You can still be all intimidating and whatever with good landscaping choices.

Hey, I don't know what you have in mind when you think 'Netherworld', but we HAVE ecosystems! It's not just all forbidding stone pinnacles jutting out of lava lakes! [Those are the best parts, though...] There's green fields and forests and that one tree that has an entire city inside it...

[Look she's seen one Netherworld and it was a barren wasteland that sucked the energy and life from her. She can only assume his won't but she's got nothing else to go on.

But her eyes light up as he expounds on more of his world.] A city in a tree? That must be...we should live there! On the outside so we have a nice view. With a balcony with hanging vines, moss and ferns around it for the birds and insects and all.

How about a summer home?

[He's gotta maintain the Overlord's castle as his home and seat of power. It's not just aesthetics, it's how These Things Are Done. But she brightens up so much he can't even think for a second of just flat-out denying her.]

I will allow it. You and your castle. [Her smile is small and pleased, her eyes alight with all these thoughts. She has such plans.

And it's kind of weird to have plans. Long term ones. She'd put off making them for so long, afraid that she wouldn't have the ability to follow through. But plans are nice.] You'll have to show me everything. And you can meet my friends. But probably not my mom. Let me work on her.

[Zetta is skeptical of just how bad her mom could possibly be...]

[..for about two seconds, until he remembers just what 'Sephe can be like when she's in a Mood. And how bad it would be if he were the source of that Mood. A shiver passes through his whole body.]

Gotcha. Uh, any chance the whole 'you're very happy' card will work anything here?

We Approach Our Final Hour

aaagh disappearing tag! I'm sure this time!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject