2022-09-10: Tied Destinies

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===========================<* Celesti Wastelands *>===========================

Decades ago, the nation of Celesti ripped itself apart in a vicious civil war. Outside of a handful of settlements, its former territories are lifeless. The remains of trenches, bunkers, and barbed wire lines serve as lingering reminders of the conflict--scars that have yet to heal. The earth is dry and barren, and much of the groundwater has been contaminated by biological or chemical weapons.

Travel through the Wastelands is treacherous. The roads are pockmarked with shell craters, and Reapers have been known to haunt its blasted plains. A handful of functional rail lines cross the wastes, but these travel directly to their final destinations. The shattered remains of ghost towns dot the landscape. Some may yet hold things of value, but experienced travelers know better than to go treasure-hunting on a whim. The war-dead of Celesti do not rest.

Ghosts aren't even the strangest things one can find here. As the war dragged on, both the Congressional Knights and Aquvy Union dug up ancient weapons to aid their efforts--including, it's rumored, ARMs from Zeboim. These rumors draw both the daring and desperate into the wastes, and more often than not, to their end.

BGM: Shin Megami Tensei IV - Blasted Ichigaya

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Id can only stick around for SO LONG if Fei isn't being antagonized and frankly a hugging Emeralda definitely lowers the time frame here. Even Id knows that much. And so he quickly makes his way after Weltall-Id since he doesn't exactly have a lot of time here. Luckily, he can control Weltall-Id so it can reach him halfway. Xenia isn't going to really get news about this but even Xenia probably doesn't want to try to antagonize Weltall-Id. It took Asgard's assistance to stop it the first time and it wasn't alone either. Id is one thing on his own but with his machine he really is a civilization destroyer.

Luckily the Gear doesn't seem intent on HURTING Xenia. Could Xenia survive being squished? Possibly, but it isn't a fun experience.

Eventually the machine sets down and Id starts approaching on his lonesome. And he DOES look like Id, not like Fei as he sometimes 'masquerades' as.

He's gonna let Xenia get the first words in because he is struggling to stay on the stage of death as it is. 

<Pose Tracker> Xenia has posed.

After everything that happened, Xenia was beaten up badly both in a physical and emotional sense. By the end of it, she'd resigned herself to however things were going to play out. The fact that things played out very differently than any scenario she could have imagined didn't change that. She's made absolutely no effort to try and slip through Weltall-Id's grasp, simply going along with being taken... wherever. No matter where that is, it means going away from Xantia. That's good, right? That's what she wanted, isn't it?

Before this night, that would have been a definite 'yes'. After resigning herself to the degree she did, she doesn't even know that much for sure anymore. She needs time to put her thoughts in order. A lengthy Gear trip does wonders for that much.

By the time Weltall-Id lands, she has enough presence of mind to get away from it, as quickly as possible. It's not at her usual speed levels, but she still deftly slips out of the Gear's grasp the first chance she gets. With a series of acrobatic flips, she puts some distance between her and the machine, before sinking through her knees. What looks like an energy surge of some sort ripples across her suit - no, her body - and she breathes out, removing the hand she'd subconsciously placed on her abdomen where her wound used to be. It's less visible now, her body once again shaped the way it used to be in that area, but still showing a slight discoloration. Not quite back to the way it used to be.

She looks up, to see Id approaching. Slowly, she straightens, and spreads her arms slightly, as a means of showing she's not going to cause any trouble.

"I suppose I should thank you. One way or another, that was going to be a mess. Thanks to you... well, I'm not sure how much of a mess it ended up being, but it's better than it would have been otherwise, believe me." She crosses her arms.

"...So? Now what? Don't suppose you were planning to just let me go on my merry way." 

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Id slants his eyes towards Xenia's wound, then back up to her. "Mm. It is out of character for me to act this way." He admits. "Nevertheless, I got to stand on the stage once more thanks to you two, but it's a gift I tire of receiving. Perhaps it is my nature. I break cycles, I don't endure them."

He exhales softly.

"This is untenable, Xenia." He says. "I respect your devotion. I do. But Doc was right. If nothing changes, this will just repeat forever. Fortunately, there is an opportunity."

He looks away for a moment. "In the Nisan faith," It might be weird to hear someone like Id speaking of that particular faith. "We as a people were not meant to fly under our own wings. Rather, it is through sharing our wings, cooperating with one another--that we are truly able to fly. There's more to it I suppose but that's the phrasing that always stuck with me. I don't really believe humanity has that in him, but you two don't have to accept our stupid nature as your own."

He turns to look back to Xenia. "I have convinced them to try not to force the matter. Even Xantia. They'll listen to you. All they want is a chance to convince you to let Xantia regain her memories. I think Xantia has finally gotten it through her head that there's actual risk here."

"So," He says. "I'm asking you to go back and talk to them. Try and reach some kind of agreement. Maybe you can convince them to let it go and if you do, you can stop worrying about her chasing you to whatever doom you believe is waiting for her. Or maybe she can convince you that she needs to take that risk anyway and if and when she goes nuts--you'll have backup to deal with what comes."

Id crosses his arms but doesn't approach any closer. 

<Pose Tracker> Xenia has posed.

Xantia has frequently claimed to understand Id's nature. But does Xenia? Is she even interested in Id's plight? There is curiosity in her gaze, but exactly how far that extends is unclear. She's keeping her emotions closed off, not showing the open fear of Id that she showed before. At the very least, she seems to have understood that his intentions towards her aren't of a violent nature.

The first sound she makes is a soft 'heh', at the word 'devotion'. But she lets Id speak his peace without interruption, her only other reaction while he speaks casting her eyes skyward when asked to go back and talk. She clearly doesn't like that idea. But she doesn't directly object. Only at the very end does she begin to reply, uncrossing her arms when Id crosses his.

"First of all... I'm curious to hear what kind of devotion you think I have. Not really a word I would associate with myself at all. I sure don't adhere to any sort of faith, like you seem to."

She looks to the sky again, this time with a deep sigh. She needs a moment to think about her response here. She has one by the time she looks back to Id.

"...Me being there will make things worse, you know. It always will. Doesn't matter how I approach it, I can't do it in any way that will help matters. If I could explain it better than that, I would, but that's all I can really say about it. I'll do a lot of things, but I won't lie - there will be no agreement between us. There can't be. I'll ruin it myself if I have to. Because that's the quickest way to get results, the path I'm forced to take. It's just... my role."

She crosses her arms again, looking down and off to the side. "That's why I told them. Keep her away from me. But they won't listen. They never will." She shakes her head, eyes suddenly showing fire when when she looks back up. "And yeah, I've accepted that. Xantia's going to get her memory back, and there isn't a damn thing anybody can do about it. The best I can do now is--"

The fire ebbs away, as Xenia places a hand on her forehead and shakes her head. "...It needs to happen at a slow pace. Like it has been. If I tell her everything now, things will definitely be worse for it." 

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

I'm curious to hear what kind of devotion you think I have.

Id sighs. "Must I? I'm talking about how you've been looking out for your sister." He wasn't talking about religion with THAT. "...No..." Is all he has to say regarding to whether or not he adheres to the faith. That's probably a complicated story. "Not exactly."

Xenia insists again that her presence would only make things worse. "You can't just... talk?" Id says skeptically. He understands what it is to be made for ruining things but...

He feels plenty hypocritical even just suggesting it and eventually he exhales out again and adds, "If you've accepted it, then I guess that's progress. It does seem...inevitable." Slowly instead of all at once? "...That seems like a compromise. I can accept it. Just give her a little bit. She'll spend time grappling with that and she won't chase you for a while."

He does, if nothing else, recognize the pattern. 

<Pose Tracker> Xenia has posed.

Xenia can't help herself. When she hears 'looking out for your sister', she laughs, heartily. "You're joking, right? I've just got done saying how I can't help from ruining everything, I couldn't look out for her if I wanted to." She shakes her head. "It's just that... our destinies are tied. I'm looking out for myself, which means there's certain things I don't want to see happen to her. That's all."

She frowns at the question that follows. "I think I've made it abundantly clear that no, I can't just talk. Or rather, I haven't made it abundantly clear, because I can't. Do you have any idea what verbal acrobatics I have to go through just to say as much as I have been?"

Xenia spreads her arms, and moves them down and up her body. "Consider what you've seen of me, and draw your conclusions based on that. That's the best I can do." She rubs the area where her wound used to be, which has been regaining its color while they've been speaking. "...Very soon, I'll be able to do less than that." With a grunt of frustration, she adds, "A lot of good anything I say'll do you then."

She pffts at the word 'progress'. "Call it that if you want. Just a fact that I can't do much about it." She pauses, just looking at Id for a moment. "Hm. Back there, you said it was your decision, didn't you? Did you mean that? Do you really want to make the call of when Xantia gets to move forward? Because I have an idea about how we can make that happen. It'd sure be a load off my mind, not carrying that around with me anymore."

She raises a finger, saying "But!", before pointing that finger at Id. "Not you, you. The other you. It should be him to carry the burden. Don't you agree?" 

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

"I've gotten the sense you're doing a lot of verbal acrobatics." Id admits. Xenia and Xantia. They should be able to understand each other--but that's not the problem. The problem is that he doesn't really want her to understand him because if she understands him that means she has endured such similar things.

"Letting Xantia make her own choices," Id says. "That's well and good but not if her choices are actually programmed instinct. Letting her make her choices, letting some other asshole make them at a distance... Maybe I don't want either of you to--it's too annoying."

Xenia tells ID it should be FEI who carries the burden.

Id blinks slowly. And then he cracks a grin, "Eheheh.... That coward... If he could handle that burden, I wouldn't be here." 

<Pose Tracker> Xenia has posed.

Xenia feels as if the mood has taken a subtle turn for the threatening. And yet... and yet, Id's choice of words just now was grating to the highest degree. It makes her want to dig in her heels, and push back. And so, that's exactly what she does.

"Oh, it's annoying to you, is it? Well excuse me for inconveniencing you. You got any better ideas? I don't think you do, otherwise you wouldn't be here talking to me, now would you?"

She grits her teeth. This may be thin ice she's on, but she's heard what Id said before. He won't kill her. Because... "...And after you just went and decided that I'm your sister."

She doesn't even know how she feels about that. Her emotions are all over the place. But at this point, her frustration is too great to do anything but yell, fists balled, eyes defiant.

"Do you really think a connection that strong exists between us? Then prove it! Prove that you believe me, that you're willing to listen to me, like no one else will! If you feel enough of a connection exists between us to have a relation like that, then be the one person who won't make excuses and just let me try something, let me make a difference, give me one single choice, while I still can!"

She just seems to sort of deflate after that, letting her head and arms hang limply for a moment. If nothing else, at least she got to let out her frustrations. Something she sorely needed, when nothing ever goes right, and nobody is ever there to listen.

Without looking up, she just makes a slight dismissing gesture with her hand. "...Forget it. You probably know better than me, right? Everybody freaking does." 

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

"Fine you want me to say it," Id says, body stiffening. "I don't want either of you to suffer and die or be tormented, okay? I am trying to be a tough guy. You got me!" Id says. "I'm not ... USED... to PEOPLE who MEAN THINGS to me. All I was made for is slaughter and destruction. This is not my element. For some reason you......"

He rubs at his forehead again. "...This is not what I am supposed to be. If anything terrible happens to you two, it will be my burden, not his. Not the Coward's." Two people he's referring to? Or one?

Id is told to prove it. It's demanded of him.

"..." Id looks at the floor. "Trust... Faith... Again..."

He closes his eyes. He's considering it. Xenia's reading of the situation isn't what he meant. The truth is, it will be him who carries it either way. That's just how the construct known as Fei functions.

That fake Fei... Is getting stronger in strange ways.

He opens his eyes again. "...Fine." He says. "I can't control him. He is not even real. He is not even supposed to exist."

"But I can at least tell him that it will be on his head. Whether he accepts it or not, that is up to him. But... knowing him, even if he denies it eventually..."

He sighs. "...Eventually he'll accept it, one way or the other."

"Is that fine? Is that an acceptable deal?" Id asks. "I can barely hold onto this body any more so... Sis, do we have a deal? Your lead, I'll follow it." 

<Pose Tracker> Xenia has posed.

That does get Xenia's attention. The wide-eyed confusion kind. It's not even so much about Id admitting to caring about people, not exactly. It's that it's her being cared about to the degree that he would admit to such things. This... this makes it feel like it actually means something. That this wasn't just another case of people claiming to listen, seeming like they might be supportive, and then turning their backs on her, as has been her experience so far, without exception.

She can't understand his struggle. But maybe, just maybe, she's found someone who can understand hers.

"...That's right," she manages when she finds her voice again, much softer now. "Trust. One more time." She's not really addressing Id so much as herself. All her efforts so far have required her to trust somebody. It never led to anything. But, this time, then. This time, for sure. The biggest risk yet.

She shakes her head slowly. "Whatever 'he' is, he's real to Xantia. The biggest stabilizing factor in her life. And I know that, if he's made to feel the weight of responsibility, he'll own up to it. ...So yes. We have a deal. ...'Bro'. Ha. That sounds really weird."

With that, she reaches down her leg, to one specific pouch of many, opens the clasp, and reaches inside. What she withdraws is... well, a bit of a mess, frankly. Heavily blackened metal, partially bent out of shape. And yet, still easily recognizable as... a bracer, much like the one Xantia wears on her right arm. Or well, its original shape, before she had it built into the shell of a more normal-looking bracer.

"When he feels the time is right... he should give her this. It can be now, or it can be later. Up to him. I'm sure that having this will help jog her memories. If not immediately, then with time. Just... make sure that he knows what he's doing. That by giving her this, he's putting things in motion that can never be reversed."

With an underhanded throw, she sends the object Id's way. As casual an action as it appears, it's lifting an unseen weight off her shoulders, and she fully straightens her previously hunched posture. "...And whatever you do, do not let me get it back. I'll use it in the worst way possible."

Almost as an afterthought, she adds, "For what it's worth... her feelings towards you are stronger than her feelings towards Fei. Too strong. They destabilize. That's the reason why it can't be you." 

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Id doesn't seem very happy about admitting it but the X siblings seem to have a way to make him do these things. Is he losing his touch? Maybe he should blow up a village just to remind people who and what he is. If he's not careful, he'll never be able to stand onto the stage again-- No, he thinks, so long as Solaris exists there will be a place for him.

So long as Solaris exists...

Id extends a hand and takes the charred bracer. His eyes widen faintly, but briefly. This is not exactly unexpected. She was always missing...something.

Knowing Fei he'd likely talk to others about it first. Maybe it will even work out. Id lets out another slow breath. "Okay." He says.

He pulls his hand back after catching it.

"...Yeah, when you put it like that, it makes sense." Id says. He doesn't like it, but he has to be a man of his word--at least technically.

"I'm losing hold." Id says suddenly. "If you don't want to deal with him--"

And then he promptly falls over. 

<Pose Tracker> Xenia has posed.

"Ah--"

That and an extended hand is all Xenia is able to manage before Id just... goes down like a sack of bricks. She looks confused, conflicted for a moment. She probably doesn't need to worry about this, she knows, but still... Then she winces, the lines that run across her frame flickering with a faint blue light, and quickly growing brighter.

"...Guess I'm out of time too. Just as well."

She glances at the hand holding the bracer. Did she do the right thing? Better than doing nothing, she supposes, even if doing something hasn't exactly had any better results so far. With a shrug, she thinks aloud, "The die has been cast, as they say."

With that, she whirls about, and starts running off deeper into the wasteland. After a short distance, she abruptly gains a burst of speed, all but vanishing in blue light, rapidly shrinking into the horizon.

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