2023-04-07: Shattered Skies
- Log: Shattered Skies
- Cast: Zhang Xiumei, Eleanor Klein, Kamui, Venetia Vuong, Ashley Winchester, Josephine Lovelace, Ida Everstead-Rey, Seraph Clarine, Acacia Saitani, Azoth, Lydia Seren, Ruth Pauling, Seraph Ragnell, Hicalu Wilwisp, Gami, Juni Vandrer
- Where: Skies of Filgaia and Beyond
- Date: April 07, 2023
- Summary: Heimdall Gazzo breaks up. There is a daring mid-air escape -- and the fear of losing some to the Memory Maze.
Kamui's aircraft has landed in the waters of Filgaia -- not far from where Kamui and Gami have landed themselves -- and the skies above are clear and blue. This is partly because of Heimdall Gazzo -- which has cleared the clouds around it, in rings where shockwaves from blasts in the battle echoed out.
After a moment, there is a titanic explosion on the top of Heimdall Gazzo. A fiery explosion -- and then another -- and Heimdall Gazzo begins to come apart. Pieces of it come crashing down -- but the vast majority is plummeting down towards the very depths of the Great Sea.
One large piece shoots out, though, ahead of it. A large, gleaming sphere of blue -- though it quickly becomes a brilliant red, as it flies over the horizon. The Sorcery Globe -- the ancient, alien artifact that Odessa used to teleport its forces -- now hurled free, and flying to the east.
On the surface below, Xiumei stares up at the fiery wreckage. Then, she looks with alarm to the side. "Have--have any messages come through? From the team that went to deal with Vinsfeld?"
Her voice almost breaks.
UP ABOVE
The bridge of the Heimdall Gazzo explodes apart into flame. The fireball that rips through it -- metal twisting and melting, armor peeling back from the frame, windows and consoles shattering -- is not something survivable.
It is fortunate, then, that Ashley, Eleanor, Brad, and Josephone aren't there. There is a tremendous flash of blue light around them; only the barest hint of heat striking their skin.
There is but a second to glimpse Filgaia, through the blue light and flame.
Then a feeling of being pulled.
They are pulled, endlessly and instantly, and appear with another flash of blue light in a well-lit space. White mists spread out all around them, endlessly and to the horizon. It is like a well-lit day -- though the sun can't be seen through mists and clouds. The only other thing around them are pillars.
Stone pillars, reaching up to three times their height, with carvings worn by time.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Eleanor Klein realizes it, in the moments before the blast. She needn't have despaired. Just as Marivel had told her, the signs were all here. This is...
"We have no time!" Eleanor calls, and closes her eyes, not against certain death, but to focus.
Her voice will echo in the minds of all of ARMS that she is able to touch.
~Everything is proceeding precisely as it is Meant. I'm not sure exactly what is going to happen next, but I know that we're going to need your help. Please don't give up!~
There is no chance for a reply; the sensation of Eleanor's mind being close to that of the others' is gone, all at once.
When she opens her eyes, she is Elsewhere.
<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.
The brief and violent battle between the rest of ARMS and DELTA-Kamui has concluded with the remnants of the Ultimate Armour, in craft form, in the waters of Filgaia. Asgard had a plan, providing a mysterious device to Xiumei by which Kamui could be saved, along with the powers of Varius and Avile; this was enacted in the battle prior, and Kamui...
Well, Kamui has gone somewhere -- the robotic can very clearly detect this. But this also does mean that the broken husk of Kamui that Gami is holding is... simply that, now. A husk. But it isn't a husk in the way Reploids and sufficiently advanced robots would know it -- Kamui didn't die with her body. The ploy worked, and Kamui was spirited away from her body, but...
Where?
That's a mystery for another time, perhaps. Another time so, so very soon.
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
After such a high rise and such a long fall, Venetia Vuong's first response was -- was not to sit down; but to crouch down. To get stable. She is surrounded by an element which is alien to her. That element being, of course, the ocean.
She has perhaps had time to breathe... a few times, anyway. Gazing upwards, towards Heimdall Gazzo, she has had time to send a thought to the group up into the sky.
Then her eyes widen behind her seawater-drenched facial mask. She sees the Sorcery Globe rip free. Fly free! Fly towards the east, to reach the realm where the sun rises, perhaps.
Venetia reaches imploringly towards the Sorcery Globe even as it accelerates, outdistancing all last parting shots.
And then something else comes to her. An echoing thought, ringing in her mind. Everything is proceding - "Eleanor!" Venetia exclaims aloud. "Eleanor what the devil did you -- wait, don't -- HELLFIRE AND DAMNATION!"
Venetia looks towards the others present. "Did you hear that?"
<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.
Ashley is-- not gone, but not entirely here. There is another, the Knight Blazer, hangs amidst the flames like a burning effigy. Its chest is hollowed, a smoldering ember where the blackened flesh has been all but obliterated, failing to contain the destructive power it had unleashed only moments ago.
Half gone, mostly unconscious, barely cogent, Ashley Winchester makes a wish.
'I want to see her again.'
'I want to go home.'
He tilts forward, topples over, the Blazer disappears into smoke and ash--
As a burst of blue swallows them all up entirely, and Ashley Winchester truly is gone.
...
When he comes to, he's...
Elsewhere.
--And looking into a face he somehow recognizes.
<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.
She has one arm on Eleanor's shoulder when it comes, stumbling as she makes her way along. Tilting her face upwards, the pained grimace on her face fades as she beholds the flame hurtling towards them.
Ah, well. She hadn't entirely expected to come back from this one, anyway.
"Shame 'bout--"
She doesn't quite finish the sentence, not when she beholds the expression that Eleanor herself wears. Her grip on Eleanor's shoulder tightens and as the light engulfs them, Josephine smiles.
Well then. She'll take that second chance, however it happens.
And then she is gone, swept away to another time and place.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
It has been a very tense few hours, to say the least, and while Ida is still riding a triumphant adrenaline high, she is still kneeling on a half-capsised craft floating in the middle of the ocean. Kamui had her hands full guiding the craft, and Gami had her hands full protecting Kamui--and now, Ida grips the larger reploid's shoulder with exoskeleton-clad hands, hauling with all her remaining strength.
"A--almost there," she says, letting out a hiss of breath after. Her lungs still ache from the cold and the thin air. This is horrible exertion. She's still terrified for the fate of the others, still aboard the Heimdall Gazzo, and she saw that beam lash out in its death throes. It's--
The booming roar of an explosion, above her. Ida sees the ship come apart, sees the sphere streak out.
It all happens so fast. Ida watches, at a remove from what she's seeing, stunned into numbness. A cry is about halfway up her throat when--
Her eyes widen. She looks over at Venetia--stares, wide-eyed--and nods. She hasn't let go of Gami.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
The Ultimate Armor lands in the waters of Filgaia. Clarine is jarred from her position as it collides, her barrier giving way. She collapses onto the craft. She's... exhausted. It's easy to tell just by looking at her - she has expended much of her energy reserves in the name of protecting everyone, and her light has become thin and wan.
But still, she manages to ease herself up into a sitting position, first looking toward... Kamui.
"She is... How is she?" Clarine asks, concerned. She still knows very little about how they work. They are quite different from beings of flesh and blood, or even spirits such as herself.
And Xiumei poses a good question. Have any messages come through?
"Xiumei..." Clarine murmurs. She can understand her concern. For her friends... for Eleanor. But before they can despair for too long, there is a message.
"Ah... they yet live!" Clarine says. She brightens just a little, within her current capabilities. "But they require our aid... We must be prepared to provide, in whatever manner that is."
<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.
Where Xiumei's voice breaks Acacia's does not, because she's not saying anything at all.
The journalist isn't unresponsive - she gives Heimdall Gazzo the briefest of glances as it explodes, as if all she can muster in the moment is the feeling of 'well, that happened' and make sure they aren't about to get landed on by a piece of rubble. It takes her only a moment to join the others in hauling Gami out of the water, most of her strength driven by quiet determination.
What remains of Kamui is still cradled in the other robot's arms. As far as Acacia can tell, it is lifeless; even if she were somehow still there, what remains is so shattered and pitted that there surely wouldn't be long left together. One final goodbye, after all the other final goodbyes. She's not sure if that would be a comfort or not.
She doesn't collapse backwards or anything once Gami's safely on board. She doesn't break down into crying or simmer with rage. She doesn't seem like she's in shock - though it's a lot harder to tell on that front. She simply stares at what remains of Kamui's body, marking the moment with her silence even as Eleanor yells a warning in her mind.
Acacia is enough of a realist to know there's a wide gulf between being prepared for something like this and having it actually happen. She's just never lived it before.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Sometime as the aircraft landed and in the chaos of the aftermath, Azoth's visage has returned to that of its human-like guise. Any explanation as to why the masquerade drops has yet to be given, and Azoth is of the opinion there are far more pressing matters to worry about.
Chiefly, getting Gami out of the water. Azoth kneels with Ida to grab onto Gami's damaged frame, helping drag the large Reploid out of the sea. "I'm here. Don't strain yourself." They're all too exhausted and damaged.
DELTA-Kamui... she isn't here. A body is. It's easy for Azoth to emotionally separate a consciousness from a body, being in the wrong one himself.
"...She's not there," he says quietly to the others of DELTA-Kamui's empty body. "But she's somewhere. We might -- we'll meet again."
Up above, destruction. Xiumei's question is one that gives voice to the greatest worry. Azoth looks to her without an answer. Eleanor was among those who went to battle Vinsfeld, too...
A voice enters his calculations, and Azoth makes a distorted, startled beep, eyes giving a glitched flash. His eyes are bright with capital L Light for the duration.
"MESSAGE RECEIVED."
He blinks several times afterward.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia Seren runs on by, dragging her cart around behind her--
--and over her shoulder. Iti's a lot easier now that she has spent all her goods. "AZOTH DID THE TINY HAMMER HELP? IS KAMUI OKAY? She's the first person who said I was coooool...."
Tears well up in her eyes. "Oh no... Oh noooo...." She says when she doesn't see Kamui around! She has one idea of what that means!! "Kamuiiiii...." But knowing that through everything they weren't able to save their friend...
Khzhzhzhzhzhz
Lydia doesn't immediately notice.
"Oh Guardians! Where's the Tall Robot Who Makes Me Feel Weird Things About Being Stepped On!"
Lydia knows she's in the water and rushes on over. "Lydia is here to help!!" She fans out her wings. "Anybody need to FLY AND HOLY CARP WHAT IS GOING ON? Don't tell me things are okay when that's happening voice in my head!!"
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
Ruth, in her natural Hellionized state, hasn't moved much (or really, at all) since DELTA-Kamui's craft made its landing in the water. Her glowing eyes are cast out to the skies, working out the feelings of the whole last handful of hours in her relative comfort zone of 'alone, at edge of shooting anything that comes close.'
There's no telling if Heimdall Gazzo has any parting shots for them, or if some knuckleheads somewhere, somehow, decide to still fly that banner and attack the survivors.
She's roused to movement when the large, gleaming sphere of blue (soon into red) takes off, rising and pointing her rifle up towards the Sorcery Globe more out of intrigue and instinct rather than a witting understanding of what it might, or could, do - but it escapes to the east. The gargoyle-like figure slumps, tongue flicking with the taste of despair and worry reaching her.
Eleanor's voice comes in. '...Please don't give up!'
"...You heard her," Ruth says in a soft voice as she returns to her vigil, facing away from everyone after being certain she's not in a range she might accidentally hurt Clarine with her presence.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.
Ragnell isn't especially worried about Heimdall Gazzo crashing. Team Vinsfeld Sucks will figure it out, and if they don't, that's no skin off her semi-corporeal nose. What matters to her is its power source. She watches the Sorcery Globe fly off with narrowed eyes, making note of the direction of its passage.
You oughtta track that thing, Az, she comments to her vessel from within. But if it's a low priority for *him* right now with him working on getting Gami out of the water with Ida and worrying about Kamui, well, she gets that. Especially since Heimdall Gazzo actually does explode.
But... a message follows. Ragnell hums thoughtfully, 'reading' it off what Azoth receives. I figured they'd be fine.
Well, like... fine-ish. Either way, Ragnell still sees no reason to pop out of Azoth at the moment.
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.........."
What goes up must come down, and it is true of both gravity and volume. Eventually, Hicalu Wilwisp stops screaming.
"... aaa..."
Mostly.
His big fluffy tail wraps about him as he hides against the hull, hands all covering his head. It's not until those big Fennec ears twitch and rotate that he really shuts up. Hearing something he couldn't possibly hear, again --
"Huh?" Hicalu asks, as he pulls himself up sitting, ears swivelling to and fro with the way he looks back and forth. And then he just happens to look right at the sun -- no, that's Clarine -- and his chartreuse eyes go wide. "Oh wow so like, you're not a ghost? Okay -- yeep!" That's Hicalu yelping as he realises that the giant woman who helped protect them is in danger of becoming a giant...
What do you call those things that sink to the bottom of the ocean? Okay no let's NOT think about bodies under water that's --
Hicalu has, of course, covered his eyes in the process of his mind running away from him.
"This sucks," Lan's little brother whines, ENTIRELY in over his head. He at least looks over to everyone dragging Gami out, and ventures: "H-hey, are -- is she okay? I don't, um..." He sadly unclasps his bum bag from his waist and shakes it. The charred remains of muffins, destroyed by re-entry, fall out. "... I ran out of snacks, so I don't know that I'm much help now..."
That's the problem with making healing muffins. You need an oven to heal people.
<Pose Tracker> Zhang Xiumei has posed.
Xiumei's hands are curled around the device that Asgard gave her. It looks something like an orb, inside a latticework of metal. It glows, lightly, as she holds it. She stares down at the device for a moment.
Her mind isn't on that. It's on the idea that Eleanor may be dead. Xiumei, in general, doesn't emote much. She doesn't wail; she doesn't sob. She just looks at the water with a vacant look, her green eyes wide but empty.
She tries to process it. She tries to find logic to explain it.
She finds nothing.
Clarine says her name and she feels her shoulders tensing up, every muscle in her body rebelling at the idea.
When Eleanor's voice rings out in Xiumei's mind, it is beyond a relief. She almost sags with it; with some effort, she straightens herself out, and then she nods her head once. "Nora..."
She can't answer her. She can't sense her -- like she was pulled away. Xiumei glances downward.
But she nods to Venetia. "I--yes. I did. I don't... I don't begin to know what happened."
She looks down -- at Kamui's husk, with Gami and Acacia. Then she looks down. Beside her, the two Biometals float; both are duller, now, and the lines of light that crackle across the floating drones have interruptions and sputters.
Varius speaks after Azoth, but his voice is riddled with static. "Sparky is right. Kamui's... spirit... we'll call it. That's still here. Somewhere."
Avile's voice has the same static. "So we didn't lose anyone..."
Xiumei looks sideways at Hicalu -- staring for a second. Is he okay? On the other hand, she would have been like that, when she started out.
ELSEWHERE
The mists go on forever. So do the pillars -- the rows of them form an outline of a pathway, which suggests both a way forward... but a way they came from. It extends on and on, forever.
Which means, when a figure steps from those mists, she isn't as far away as one might expect. It might be a little mindbending. She has dark blue-violet hair; it isn't that unlike Ashley, though the shade is different. She has dark eyes, too...
And wears white armor, over a dress fit for battle. Over her back is a sword. She steps forward, eyes on them all for a moment.
"...I am Anastasia Valeria," she says. "It has been a very long time since someone made their way here. But I'm glad for it."
<Pose Tracker> Gami has posed.
Gami holds on tightly to Kamui's body, though she knows better than anyone that 'she' is no longer within it. She cannot much help the people trying to drag her out, though; her hands are full and she is still faintly steaming, Ida's protection being sufficient to kep her from being even worse-off when it comes to damage. She notices the cold of Ida's hand, especially compared to the heat of her shoulder--but it does not bother her.
Azoth's assistance, too, is welcome; Gami is very, very heavy. "...Thank you," she murmurs, as she rises out of the water. She kneels down once she has, to look down at Kamui's body.
"...One day," she says. "We will 'meet' again. If I have to endure to the ends of this planet, and beyond."
"...Is there any news of your friends?" she wonders of the others, but does not let go Kamui's still form. Not yet.
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
When Ida stares at her with such intent, Venetia surrepetiously reaches up to make sure her robe hasn't fallen off or tattered dramatically.
The others atop the craft seem to be moving alright, anyway. The people of artificial nature, whether by birth or adoption.
Birth? Adoption??
Venetia opts to deal with the various metaphysical questions regarding identity raised by, for instance, Lydia, and for instance, Ida, by grimacing as if she's irritated by something. Fortunately, this is absolutely standard behavior. "I had no intention of giving up, to be frank," Venetia states.
"She's been through worse, I understand," Venetia comments to Hicalu, more mildly than her usual thunder and blood tone of voice.
Her attention turns towards Xiumei, towards Gami. Straightening up, she says, "The others... we received a telepathic report from Eleanor Klein, the Sage of Light. Evidently they are alive and proceeding according to outlined expectations."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
Hicalu addresses her. Clarine offers him a smile - as small as it is, due to how stretched thin she is at the moment. Ah... he can perceive her now, it seems.
"That is correct. I am a spirit, but I am not a ghost. Do not be alarmed. It is perhaps a little late for introductions, but I am the Seraph Clarine - I am a friend and ally." She assures. "I am a being of light - but I am also of ARMS, and I am here now in that capacity."
...She turns her attention, then, back to her present concern. Kamui...
According to Azoth... she's not there, in the body - but she's somewhere. They'll meet again. Relief floods over her.
"Thank goodness..." Clarine sighs, allowing herself to relax a little.
Kamui is somewhere. Eleanor and the others are, too. That, at least, is something.
She looks up to Gami, then, as she is hauled out of the water.
"Ah... Eleanor reached. She said... this was Meant to happen." Clarine replies. "...They will need our help. Though I know not with what. Only that we must not give up on them."
She has never been one to give up on those close to her. She turns her eyes upward.
"The wreckage of the Heimdall Gazzo, and that... strange sphere that flew out of it. Will it be a concern...?" She wonders. She shakes her head for now.
"I think... for now, it may be best to assess our condition, and determine how we will return to land." She says. "
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Another job, another splash down landing. Another time of sitting in some kind of evac, waiting on pickup, staring at the sky on her back. Since they've landed, she's taken the effort to wrap things up. Doing a full check on herself to see what, if anything broke in more ways than one.
Now, while chewing on something smoked guessing by the smell, she's working on basic maintenance. Keeping herself busy. Enjoying the sound of the ocean. Wishing she had the shampoo from home that would help get rid of the inevitable salt that will be her bane for a month. The usual.
The voice in her head gets an ear twitch. THen she checks both ears with a finger. Then scowls. "Got it got it."
Much like Ruth, in a way, the scope is lifted and used to track the globe as it flies off. Recording it, trying to get any clues as to what it is. Eventually settling on a tired pinch of the bridge of her nose and settling back in. More problems for the future. Maybe she can get some intel or something later.
<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.
... maybe the biggest measure of Acacia's feelings at the moment is that she can't even find it in herself to respond to Azoth when he says that part of Kamui still exists somewhere. A spike of some kind of-- irrational, jealous contrariness wells up within her and leaves her setting her jaw tightly: don't chain Kamui down with a 'we'll meet again' even after all of this, it says, and more tellingly, please don't give me another shot of hope right at this moment.The breath she takes shudders a little as she tamps that feeling down. It's not fair to Azoth, she knows. Hope is good and normal, and throwing a tantrum isn't going to help. It's not fair to Varius and Avile, who both gave a great deal of themselves to reach this point with a resolve she needs to accept. Most of all it's not fair to Kamui-DELTA, whose only shared crime was wanting to live without feeling the guilt and pain of a million extrapolations.
There's a better option than tamping it down, she realises. Once upon a time she'd wanted to connect with her distant ancestor. Now her fist itches to smash everything that ever led towards the 'Suffering Circuit'. (She'll think better of this in the morning, not least because you could probably infer that means punching Gami in the face or something similarly dire. But that first 'better' is doing a lot of subjective lifting right now.)
Her hands clench and unclench. Gami's quiet promise to herself and the calm with which she delivers it helps, a little. So does Hicalu going through fifteen different realisations at the same time, but not hitting the most important one. Somehow, that's what gets her to speak up. "You did good," she notes, and flatly adds: "This is when we get to sit and wonder why we do this."
She turns that stare on Xiumei, closes her eyes for a second - then shifts forwards to give the other woman a solid pat on the shoulder. The grin doesn't reach her eyes. That's okay. "Come on. She gave us that warning exactly so we wouldn't think the worst. Or that was the intent, at least. You'd think she'd be smart enough to know how not to sound foreboding, though."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida lets Azoth take more of the load without protest. He's in bad shape, too, but he's stronger. "...I trust you," she says to him, her voice tight with the remnants of worry. Venetia looks back at her, Ida realizes she's staring, and shakes her head.
"I... wanted to be certain I wasn't hearing things," Ida says. Gami stirs as she's hauled out of the water. Thankfully, Venetia handles the update, because Ida sinks onto hands and knees and just breathes. She's trembling with exertion and emotion.
"God," she whispers. "So tired." Physically, she could force herself to keep going, but emotionally... there's still that pall of dread. Did that last shot hit Meria? Klein? Is she going to go home to a slagged crater? No--no, it was aimed north. Cold comfort.
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
Ruth adjusts her posture as the weight of Gami's emergence upon their craft necessitates it, her healthier ear picking up what Gami murmurs. Her head lowers as the space around her starts to feel like it's about to fade. The temptation to just retreat out of lucidity, to the comfort of those repressed feelings that by nature just want to keep being and not stop.
"What comes next," Ruth replies to Ida talking about how tired she is, "that's... that's how it was last time." 'Last time' being Celesti, its downfall, and its victor not even going more than half a year before that nation completely collapsed in everything.
Brionac threw their lot in with Odessa. Where are they now? What will they do? How will everyone, and everything, deal with all Odessa unearthed, destroyed, and rallied?
...
Eleanor said not to 'give up.' Give up on her, or...
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
I'm trying, Azoth tells Ragnell. There is a large energy signature. But now isn't the time to chase after it. Indeed, he's prioritizing Gami right now. The Sorcery Globe will have to wait.
Ida says she trusts him, and Azoth smiles back at her like she's right to do it and it's not a stab straight through his core. He nods, and gently, but steadily, he lifts and he pulls. He has no muscles stress or tendons to tear.
Lydia arrives to help. "I remembered a few things from the past," he says. And maybe the hammer did help with that, unlocking more than he would have received otherwise. He looks back to Gami and Kamui. "More importantly... There's still hope for a future."
Even Eleanor and the others with Vinsfeld. But then the sense of them is gone so quickly. A plan that's Meant to be, and needing their help... All they can do is honor that request: don't give up, and look for their opportunity. Thankfully Venetia puts that in words better than he can.
With Gami finally up, Azoth gives a small, concerned beep sequence. She'll need extensive repairs after this. What calculations must have gone into such a behavior? It's mystifying, but Azoth runs over his own possibilities and hypotheticals. That determination...
He looks to Hicalu, eyes scanning and identifying the remains as the heal berry muffins they once were. "Well, if you still have ingredients, I have some practice acting as a steady source of warmth for the purpose of preparing food with dry heat..."
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
"Oh, cool!" Hicalu smiles, to Clarine. (He's also at strain, but he can still be friendly.) His expression falters for a moment, though, as he asks: "Uh... y-you're not related to that weird talkin' cat fella, right? I couldn't rightly see him neither, but wow, that guy..." His ears wilt before he can properly mention Harmaus's kidnappings, but he might well get his point across, anyway. "A-anyway, it's lucky we got a whole spirit protectin' us, huh?!" No one tell him there's another one inside Azoth. He'd probably faint.
He almost does anyway, when Acacia tells him he did good. "M-me? I mostly just got in your way... b-but, thanks, you know? I... wish I coulda helped you out more." It feels like it weighs nothing at all, against the tension she's carrying in her hands; Hicalu didn't know them, but he knows from seeing that battle that Kamui was important to Acacia.
It would have been nice if things had happened differently.
He shakes his head, though, looking to Venetia as those big ears perk up again. "Oh, yeah! It's cool how Tristan's sister is one of those Sages. Is that how they got out of there? I mean, I guess... uh, hey, what is a 'Sage', anyway?" A beat, "Ah, sorry, bad time to ask..." He's just a normal guy, so it's not like he needs to know the details of people's cool destinies or anything.
Azoth, luckily, has salvation. "Huh? You can do that? Oh, right!" Machine person. Duh. Hicalu unslings his knapsack, and digs through that. "Let's see... oof, this is no good... oh wow how did that even happen?!... no, no... aha!" He holds up a metal container, with the traditional item acquisition noise. "I thought Master Erica was crazy when she said I should pack stuff in a protected case like this, but man, she was so right!" Opening it up, he finds himself with a stock of dried Heal Berries, flour, eggs, sugar -- all the basic ingredients of the humble muffin. "If you could help me out, man, that'd be great...!!"
And so, with Azoth's help, Hicalu gets to the weirdest batch of muffins he's ever started making.
Lydia Seren (Lydia) pages Gami, Josephine Lovelace, and Ashley Winchester: are y'all doing the mem maze poses just checking
[20:11] Idle message sent to Lydia Seren.
Gami pages Lydia Seren, Josephine Lovelace, and Gami: Nah, no more tonight, I wanna wait for Brad to do more
[20:12] Idle message sent to Gami.
Gami pages Lydia Seren, Josephine Lovelace, and Ashley Winchester: Nah, no more tonight, I wanna wait for Brad to do more
[20:12] Idle message sent to Gami.
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni Vandrer finds the craft jostled by the weight of the machine. She adapts well enough, adjusting the tail she's occasionally just utilized as a chair itself to keep better balance. The scope is slide back into her coat. Tucked away separately from the rifle. Ignoring twinges of pain. Sort of. A small box is pulled from an inner pocket and a pill is swallowed down. Working her fingers a few times after before pulling the coat in against herself, arm tucked away under it for now.
"We wouldn't be able to anyway as fast as it's moving. Not in a glorified rowboat." She's trying to sound less grouchy and serious at least.
Azoth's admission to being a microwave gets a snort. Caught her off guard. It's funny. Still, she checks the same pack she'd pulled the pill from, fiddling around one handed in it. String. Medical stuff, the sturdy stuff! "We've got enough metal floating around we could probably make a crude hook. Some uh." She checks another pocket, then a third. "I lost my last ration bar. Someone have bait, we could fish for a bit." Better than nothing. Also more appetizing than the lost bar she'd considered using. Things tasted like paper anyway.
As for the other part though. The serious part. She's running that around in her head. She's still not sure what the sphere had actually been and had no guesses even.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia sees the fallen Kamui corpse in Gami's arms. "Nooo...."
She starts to sink to her knees IN DESPAIR.
Data...DNA Soul... Missing. Likely survived.
"...MHmhphmphmph...." This time Lydia does notice but she doesn't say anything else just yet but it sounds like maybe Kamui ISN'T dead? Forever? Bluh.
"I'm not sure what's going on here." Lydia says eventually, slowly. "But I'll act like I do. You better believe it. Either way we gotta GO."
MEMORY MAZE
And yet, why is it that Marivel seemed so certain that Kamui didn't survive the battle despite this, even as a Time Traveler?
Well...She might've been a little distracted all the time.
"Hey," Someone with a familiar voice says from behind Anastasia, approaching from behind her. "What is it? Who are you?" Her eyes focus on Ashley first because he looks somewhat like Anastasia. "It's dangerous here, it's in your best interest to leave as soon as possible."
The owner of the voice looks EXACTLY like Marivel. Well not exactly. There's something different in her eyes and posture even if, physically, she looks identical.
She is definitely way more guarded by the arrival of so many in the Memory Maze but she does spot Eleanor among them and there's a flicker of recognition in her eyes, settling down a bit once she notices something in Anastasia's eyes.
Yeah she had other stuff on her mind.
<Pose Tracker> Zhang Xiumei has posed.
"They need us to do something," Xiumei says to Venetia. "I... don't know what. I think we'll need to talk to Lord Irving. He might have some idea."
She swallows, then she looks at Clarine, and nods. "It might. I didn't like the look of it, that's for certain..."
Then she looks at Gami. Her expression softens, after a moment, and she nods. "We'll... we'll find where she is, Gami," Xiumei says, her voice quiet. "I'm sure of it."
She looks at Acacia, then, and Xiumei hesitates for a moment, before sighing. "I know," she says. "She... ah, we'll just have to find her. I think it's hard for her to not be foreboding, though. It might come with being a Sage."
Then, she looks at Hicalu. He asks a pertinent question. "A Sage is... it's a title from ancient days. It means they have an important destiny, a connection to Filgaia..." Xiumei trails off. "We're still figuring a lot of the details out. But--I think..."
She frowns. "Nora reached out to us for a reason. We have to trust her."
It puts a thought in her mind: she should go find Link and Medli. They will need to know about Eleanor.
"Are you okay, Azoth? After getting those memories back?" Avile asks. Or -- well -- tries to. The static makes her hard to understand a few times. (Though maybe less so for a robot.)
In the distance -- and high up -- a form becomes visible. Valeria Chateau, on its engine-armed bedrock, is flying in their direction at a cruising speed.
<Pose Tracker> Gami has posed.
"I see," Gami answers. The title of Sage means little to her, but if they have a message from one of their leaders, "That is well. I would be disheartened if you had lost your friends."
She looks to Clarine, and considers. "Then I wish you strength and fortitude both, that you need not forsake your hope."
Azoth is quite right; even with Gami's impressive self-repair capabilities, this is significant damage. Plates of her armor are melted entirely; the cloth that was over her shielding is largely burned. She is fully synthetic to look at her now, from the fact that her 'hair' is not touched by the burns to the metallic seams in her 'flesh'.
She regards Juni, for a moment, and then at the matter of the sphere, "...I am not familiar with what it is," she admits. "But I suspect indeed that it will be a problem."
She regards Ruth. "But with a stalwart protector such as this, you will not want for assistance in handling it."
'You', she says. She seems to have no intention of joining ARMS herself even now... but perhaps she'd reconsider. Maybe.
"There is always," she echoes, "'What comes next.'" She nods. "But Acacia is correct. You must dig deep, and recall your reasons for being part of these terrible battles... And your reasons for persisting after them."
She regards Hicalu as he starts to make muffins. She tilts her head. "What a curious man."
She did not hear Lydia's earlier comment, though. Instead, she looks to Xiumei, who is sure that they will find her again. She inclines her head. "Yes. I..."
She considers. "I will go to -Tishrei-. To lay to rest this body that she inhabited for so long."
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
Venetia considers Juni, for a moment, and then exhales with some force. "That strange sphere... Clarine, it was the Sorcery Globe! Perhaps the greatest artifact of magic still on Filgaia. I barely understand its powers and its potentials, except for the horrible wonders it has wreaked. Once Rhadamanthus used it to fling hundreds of Drifters to Spira with a snap of his fingers!"
"That Spira! Not Spira, Ostkislev Oblast, Kislev!" Venetia says, jabbing the sky with a finger.
"And that was probably just the merest tithe of what COULD have been," Venetia huffs. "Dinoginos wept! I'll be honest with you, Clarine, that I had hoped to confront Rhadamanthus and seize the Sorcery Globe for myself. I'd fix some little green wagons with that, I tell you! I wouldn't use it to make GRANDILOQUENT STATEMENTS, that's for damned sure. No, no; I actually worked for a living, Clarine! I know not to show a client a job half done!"
Venetia exhales with force. "The wreckage is probably going to be a problem for someone, but I suspect the Thames will be making its way here."
From Hicalu, she receives a question. "Evidently it allows you to turn into an *owl,* but beyond that, I don't really know," she complains.
Venetia spreads her arms. "If I had the Sorcery Globe, I'd apport us all straight TO the Thames! And if I could turn into an owl myself, I could fly there - or to land - Bah! Curses! Damnation and stone gas!" Venetia kicks a stone, which she almost certainly was responsible for in the first place.
"This is my own damn fault! If I hadn't been so in love with the prospect of destroying Gears with sorcery direct, I would have finished planning out that aerial dynamics enchantment, and this -- well," Venetia pauses, musing, "No, it wouldn't work on most of you for more than a few minutes at a time unless I accepted an air flow rate comparable to a fat ox's. No, I'm popping off."
Venetia folds her arms again and gazes at others, at the horizon, at nothing in particular. She has Resting Venetia Face once again, more so than usual, but --
Something...
Venetia's head inclines up slightly.
"I don't think we'll be waiting long," Venetia says, gnomically.
Wandering over towards Lydia, she reaches down to clap the shopkeeper-and-more on the shoulder for a moment. "Chin up. Things like this have a way of muddling through. I believe in all of them. I am this world's greatest but if I was to hand on that title, it would be Eleanor. Brad has seen off things worse than you can imagine. And Ashley... well, he's got a trick or two of his own."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
Hicalu asks a very important question. ...Clarine's smile becomes sympathic.
"...Ah. You speak of Harmaus." She says, and hesitates as she figures out just how to explain it. "It would be a lie to say that we are completely unrelated, in that we are both Seraphim born from the light of the Earthpulse, children of our Goddess but that is where the relationship ends."
She pauses for a moment longer, and decides to give more decisive clarification.
"I do not claim him."
She nods, though, as Acacia says Hicalu did good.
"It is true. You were quite the help, and that is that. I shall not hear anything different." Clarine says with a resolute nod.
Xiumei says... it might be a concern. Clarine nods quietly.
"...Yes, it... it doesn't seem good." She murmurs. Venetia, though. Venetia has much to say on the subject. "The 'Sorcery Globe'... Ah. Yes, I remember."
While she was technically present on Filgaia when it landed, she was in no condition to receive news, trapped as she was in the depths of the Shadow Vault. But Venetia seems incensed by it.
"I have reason to believe we have not seen the last of it. Objects such as that do not simply lie doomed to obscurity. Do not despair. I daresay you will have your opportunity to make good on this in due time." She assures.
Gami... Clarine nods.
"...Thank you. I suspect we shall have need of it, in the come days - but I shall ever endeavor to maintain the light of hope." She replies. What comes next... Clarine nods. But, she is going to -Tishrei-, to lay the body to rest. Clarine nods solemnly.
"...Thank you. It ill suits me, the thought of leaving her here... I am... glad to know that she will receive the appropriate dignity." Clarine murmurs. Even if Kamui herself is elsewhere... this body of hers had been the image of her friend for so long. It's good that someone will be taking care of her.
For the time being, that's the Valeria Chateau. They're already heading this way, so they might already be aware of their presence... But for her part Clarine raises a hand to the heavens and unleashes a bright flash to act as a signal flare for the Chateau's crew.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida drops onto her side, then rolls over onto her back. She stares up at the sky, focusing on her breath, letting herself feel. Tears pool in her eyes, the saltiness in them mingling with the salt spray on her face.
"...Muffins?" she says, after a long moment. She looks up at Hicalu, and Azoth, and smiles. And not just them. Xiumei and Gami's words, even Venetia's speech--little points of warmth, human or otherwise, in the aftermath of something terrible. Clarine sends up a flare, and Ida pushes herself to a sitting position.
"There's our ride home," Ida says, managing a weak little smile. "Or... our home."
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
The look Azoth gives Avile is briefly unreadable. It's not for the static, something he's able to navigate through. There's a distance in his gaze before he puts on a smile. "I'm just fine." His lets his expression crack at the lie he's told. "...At the very least, now isn't the time to talk about it." He shakes his head. "What about you and Varius? After what you did..."
Something he doesn't fully understand, except that it saved Kamui. And DELTA. Kamui's 'spirit'... Perhaps it's strange for him to question his own soul. A robot's essence is something that he can sense and measure. It's really the humans they can't be so sure about, isn't it? That's why one has to make extra sure they don't die.
If I hadn't been so in love with the prospect of destroying Gears with sorcery direct...
Azoth looks to Venetia with an intense amount of alarm. It is time to back away slowly. Toward Hicalu.
"Whaaat?" Azoth asks Juni playfully. He caught that! But he sits down to Hicalu to get to the baking, which seems to be pragmatic for distracting from the dread of their situation as much as the ability to help resupply. The 'oven' he procides takes place between his palms, Azoth working lines of light like a particularly complex game of cat's cradle. This inexplicably holds contents within it. Somehow. Ah, ancient Zeboim tech.
All the while, he observes Hicalu's work closely, hoping to learn something from the process.
<Pose Tracker> Acacia Saitani has posed.
It's a little easier to look at Azoth this time as he mentions hope for a future. If she thinks about it, that was really all the Kamui-DELTA wanted - a way to navigate through the mess of potential futures to one that would be worth it. It's a slight comfort this time, rather than something that makes her wobble with ill feeling. Still, it's a little difficult to find more than a somewhat hoarse "I hope so," in return.
Acacia lets that tiny sentence go with a heavy breath in and out, then opens her eyes again. This is something she can focus on better while she lets the mix of emotions in her stomach churn. "I appreciate the thought. But you're still breathing, and the big doom castle in the sky just blew up. You've got to take the victories where you can get them or you'll go nuts with 'what ifs'. There's no big secret to this stuff other than that."
Especially after today, she speaks from experience. ... but the man is already gleefully using someone else's chest compartment to make muffins, and Acacia slowly ratchets her mouth shut again. It's too late. They've already infected him with weird heroics.
A huge part of her wants to go home and curl into her blankets and stay that way for a week, or maybe a month. The thing that makes her feel most tired is that she knows she can't do that yet - but at the same time, they don't have a lot to go off beyond a vague warning and uncertainty. It leaves her with too much energy to spare and nowhere to direct it.
She studies Xiumei for a moment, gauges her response before nodding a little to herself - then looks across to Gami, pointedly ignoring the Chateau's approach at first. "... I'll come with, if you'll have me. But I understand if you want a little time."
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni listens to the descriptions from Venetia and the lack of one from Gami, not that she's in a better position. One of them did though! And as she talks about what it can do, Juni's ears slowly flatten. "You guys need deadman switches on your doomsday gear." She's not thrilled at the idea of some magical battery with that kind of juice floating around waiting to be nabbed.
There's a pause. Then a scowl, "I say having come here to make sure one of ours didn't malfunction." The ears to pop back up after she chases away darker worries for now though.
Instead she looks to Gami, "Any of you guys need uh, repairs. I can probably help on the electronics side if there's not someone better suited. I could probably adhoc something functional." That had been a thought before they went free falling. Other concerns interrupted those though. "Offer from before's still there too."
Azoth's response asks, "Do you ding when the food's done at least?" She's had experience with human sphere stuff! Mostly. Numbers are still hard though. There's baking instead though. And a pause. "Baked fish and bread sounds good." She glances up, looking for birds. "Or birds." Or anything really. She's got sharp teeth!
Back on topic briefly though. The dangers thing. "When we make landfall I can try to calculate the direction and speed out so we can get a guess on where it might end up on a map. Someone will want to check my math converting it over- I want to get on it when I can. Post.. making sure everyone's okay." There's a caveat she had to remind herself on. She's gone solo too long after all. "In more ways than one." There's fiddling with her claws and she sighs. "That sounded mechanical didn't it. Ignore it. I'll help out. You point I go."
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"Okay I'm glad there's hope for the future," Lydia tells Azoth. "Because I really wasn't sure about that but then OS spoke up and--well I'm glad y'all confirmed it!"
Did the TIny Hammer help? "And I'm glad the tiny hammer helped." Since Azoth didn't DENY that the hammer weas involved, she assumed!! "I can get more tiny hammers for when you need more flashbacks, okay?"
She is very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very glad that Gami didn't hear her earlier comment.
SAFE.
<Pose Tracker> Kamui has posed.
Somewhere, somewhen, someplace, within a large blue capsule...
LUM ENGINEER WORK SYSTEM
Model CPS-9204
Copyright (c) 21xx,21yy,21zz
LUM Laboratories in conjunction with Tenebrae Laboratories
All Rights Reserved
real mem = 8192 TB
available mem = 32768 TB
primary data cache : 64 GB
primary inst. cache: 128 GB
secondary cache : 32768 GB
login : dr-l
code : * * * * * * *
password accepted.
last login: 0x6eb2 years, NaN days and bzzzzzzztphht hours
> c-elf-device -dvl -a
... reading "M.X.S." ...
... assembling structure from compiled registry ...
... collating stored data from available caches ...
... mapping last known good physical configuration ...
WARNING! WARNING!
stored data contains README file marked at CRITICAL level:
sufferingcircuit.README.
it is recommended that user reviews noted warning before continuing.
open file? (y)es (n)o (c)ancel
> n
user has accepted all risks and responsibilities.
... compiling ...
"Heh heh heh... that Asgard... really is something else. This will truly be my last gift to you... ...so live free of my chains upon you, my dear daughter. What happens next in the future will be decided you, and only you, and your dearest of friends and family. My dear... Kamui..."
A faint flicker, and the ghostly image starts to dissipate into its component data cubes.
"Was it all worth it, Marivel? My great-great-great descendant grew up to be a real spitfire, it seems. I finally found my Answers, in the end... heh heh... I'm so damn tired. Wheeew..."
It vanishes, without further trace, the capsule dimming. ... just a fragment of the past, a record, and nothing more.
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
"I wish I could turn into an owl," Hicalu sighs, as he takes on that Sage explanation. "Ahh, but I shouldn't say that... it's really dangerous being Eleanor, right? I-I mean--" He waves his hands, looking to Xiumei in alarm -- "I bet she's fine! It's gonna be okay!" Even though Kamui's already died... or... mostly died? He doesn't really understand how machines work, though he does look at Avile and Varius's staticing with concern. Are they gonna die next too?! And what does dying even mean to a robot? He's too sensitive to ask those questions out loud. What does death mean to a machine..?
That's not the only new term he's learning now, though, as he listens to Clarine. "Even though he's related to you, you don't want anything to do with him, huh...?" Hicalu... pauses, for a moment, and perhaps Clarine of all people can tell --
When someone's eyes grow distant and lost, just for a moment. "I guess I can get that," he says, a shade removed.
"But... okay," he orients back on Clarine, guided back to the present day and present time, when she emphasises Acacia's statement over again. "Thanks." And he looks to Acacia, and wonders: "There's no big secret, huh...? All righty!"
And lo: he makes muffins with Azoth. This is definitely the weirdest thing Hicalu has ever done. Seeing Azoth watching him, he finds some cheer in explaining the process, all set out on a clean sheet because food safety is important: "So now you need to mix stuff together, right? The container's pretty good for that. We just gotta knead it out now, get the berries mixed in... and here! Cook 'em up, buddy!"
Lo, does Hicalu bestow upon Azoth his greatest gift...
... a Cooking Skill Point.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia looks up into Venetia's eyes as her hand is placed on her shoulder.
She...has no idea what this woman is talking about???? Oh maybe--the person talking into her head? That must be it.
"I'm...mostly worried Gami heard me actually." She says softly. "But I don't think she did so we're in the clear."
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
Ruth starts to look up as the Valeria Chateau zeroes in on the floating remains of the ship, just as the edges of nostalgia start to creep into her as Juni talks about fishing and Hicalu starts making muffins. She's not a strange to voyages out at sea, not by a long shot, but to drift any further in that direction of memory lane is... as anywhere, in her state, fraught with peril.
She clenches her rifle a bit tighter. They're safe here. This is a place of safety and relief and she needs to keep it that way.
"She deserves her rest," Ruth says of the body, though hearing that Kamui herself is yet elsewhere... doesn't change the sentiment.
Where Venetia takes vocal charge and Clarine lights the way as a beacon, Ruth seems to take more after Ida's approach of just letting herself process all that's come, and will come, even while Gami and Azoth process their feelings about Kamui (and Acacia, who is not a machine, hopes to follow suit to where Kamui's body would be buried).
"...Now that you mention it, it is strange to suddenly become an owl, isn't it..."
<Pose Tracker> Zhang Xiumei has posed.
"It... it may take practice," Xiumei tells Hicalu and Ruth. "Actually, though, she surprised me when she did it. Maybe it was instantaneous, upon becoming a Sage? Or... discovering she had always been one?"
Xiumei trails off, then she glances sideways at Gami as she explains a little more. "You'll take her body to the laboratory? That... that seems best," Xiumei says, with a glance down at Kamui's body. "I think it's what she would want. And... hopefully, we'll find where she is soon."
Then, she looks at Acacia. She hesitates -- but she nods, after the reporter. "I'll come too, Gami."
A couple lines of light run across Avile's drone. She doesn't, it seems, believe Azoth's lie. But she doesn't challenge him further, especially when he says this isn't the time.
"We've been drained of a lot of energy. We're still functional... but unless we can figure something out, Xiumei can't use the armor. I don't think it will replenish on its own in time for her to be able to."
"That's also a problem for later," Varius adds.
When Venetia identifies what was thrown free of the Heimdall Gazzo, Xiumei frowns. Her eyebrows knit for a moment, then she nods. "That... that would be a problem."
From what she followed. She can't quite make all of her talk of magical specifics out. But she can make out the information about the Sorcery Globe.
She puts a hand to her forehead. This will be a problem.
She looks at Juni -- then nods. "We'll make sure you get the things you need to trace out where it might have gone," she promises.
It is difficult to say if Clarine's brilliant flash of light is why the Valeria Chateau found them -- but it certainly doesn't hurt. A few moments afterward, its course changes slightly. The Chateau lowers -- coming down to the water, the land under it skating over the water.
Large waves are sent up in its wake -- away from them, thankfully -- and the Chateau comes closer, before it comes to a stop on the ocean waters. Several blue-uniformed men and women hurry forward.
Irving prepared for everyhing. This includes boats -- which they're dropping into the sea, and starting to row over.
On the steps in the distance, Irving Vold Valeria stands there -- and watches and waits, as ARMS goes forth to collect their comrades and allies.
<Pose Tracker> Gami has posed.
Acacia wants to come, too. Gami regards her for a moment, and then nods. "That is well," she says. "She would want you to be present."
"I have had plenty of time in solitude, and will have more again in time." She considers Xiumei, next. "You are also welcome. Kamui's 'newer' friends, being present as well... I believe she would approve of that."
She ods to Ruth, too. She agrees. But, "Humans do not usually become owls," Gami says. "I believe that that is also true of elves."
"BUt..."
"I am hopeful," she says to the others. "...When I return, I may be able to assist with this... Globe. I am not yet sure."
"...For now, I will... simply focus on this."
Lydia mentions not hearing her... "You should know, Miss Seren, that my hearing is very good."
Pause. "Just in case you were wondering.""
<Pose Tracker> Venetia Vuong has posed.
"Oh... well, then, as you were," Venetia says to Lydia. "Just to satisfy my curiosity, can you do that puddle thing on purpose? Say, a sail shape?"
"Oh abyss's sake," Venetia says to Azoth, "I don't mean any of YOU! I meant if there was some sort of Super Odessa Ultimate Revenger Generator Romancing Assault Pedometric Electro-Synthotron and you were all able to confirm that it wasn't-- you know, that it was just a giant TRUCK, not a PERSON."
"But it'd probably have been immune to sorcery anyway," Venetia grumps.
"We're going to make housefall well before we make landfall, though I'm glad that you're on the fall yourself. Ball," Venetia corrects herself to Juni. "And believe me, if I had anything to say in the construction of the sorcery globe, we would be having a VERY different conversation right now!"
As the Chateau arrives, and begins to set its boats out (it cannot land, of course, and to approach Kamui's aircraft might be foolhardy) Venetia looks at Xiumei. "... Always was an owl?" she asks her, echoing. "I would hope she would have noticed something like that. She's always been rather sagacious, but..."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.
"Yes, that is correct." Clarine replies with a nod, as Hicalu comments on her feelings on Harmaus. "...He has squandered his every chance."
Hicalu, though... for a moment, he grows distant. She can hazard a guess as to why, though doesn't know the specifics. She doesn't press for them.
"...My sympathies." She offers quietly.
Her attention turns to the Chateau once more. Boats are being dropped, and heading their way.
That's... good. She's so relieved...
Maybe now they will get a chance to rest, before it's time to face whatever trial that is waiting for them before in order to lend aid to their friends.
<Pose Tracker> Azoth has posed.
Azoth beams at Venetia. "I appreciate the bid for confirmation first."
Lydia mentions OS, and Azoth brightens up, smiling again.
Hope, Azoth's decided, is something that helps aim at the future. Suffering helps determine where to aim it. Kamui and DELTA needed that hope. Not to carry it, but to have others hold it for her, for a future they wanted to see together. Avile and Varius, Marivel and Acacia, him and her friends, and Gami...
Asgard brought his own hope. They'll see, in time, what it means. Azoth must believe in that for now.
Xiumei's armor completely drained. Azoth frowns thoughtfully, even as Varius calls it a problem for later. "...I'll run some calculations." It might not amount to much. "But if you know anything I can do, just ask."
On the matter of owls, Azoth puffs his cheeks. "It's perfectly fine for people to sometimes be owls!"
"That's a good idea!" Azoth says of going 'ding'. Thanks Juni, now he's also gained a More Annoying Skill Point.
He 'hums' an idle chiptune song to himself as he handles batter within his cage of light, perfectly and evenly baking up Hicalu's creation based on the parameters given. And not any whimiscal parameters that 'feel right' -- mercifully. That's for his own projects.
It works to distract the time and fill the air with what Azoth assumes is a pleasant smell until help arrives. Onward toward a future... where muffins exist.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
'She deserves her rest.'
"She does," Ida echoes. "She... gave more than any one person should ever have to give." Even if she comes back, she won't be the same. Not necessarily a death, but a metamorphosis.
Ida finds herself flexing her right hand, experimentally--the presence in her mind is silent. She lets it be. Fafnir is not a novelty fortune-teller, to be consulted in moments of uncertainty.
Ida sits back, the smell of the muffins mingling with the sea air. A future where muffins exist is, at least, better than the alternative.
<Pose Tracker> Hicalu Wilwisp has posed.
"THAT CASTLE IS A SHIP"
Good news! Hicalu finally noticed the Chateau.
NPCs... don't have very good situational awareness, do they?
"But hey, looks like these are done... thanks! Azoth, right?" Hicalu's big ol' ears must have heard his name somewhere. "I couldn't have done it without ya! Here," he proceeds to distribute muffins, as the ships drop down and row over. "I hope this'll help."
And, indeed, the Heal Berries in the muffin retain their healing properties, such that anyone who can eat one will have their HP restored.
It's not much, but it's what he can do.
And hey, now he gets to ride in a CASTLE-SHIP, so his life is only getting more and more interesting..!
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia has learned FLOAT thankfully but she does say, "I'm sorry, if I got there in time to give her the mustard--" Hey it helped with one rogue AI it stands to reason...
"Are you asking if I can become a sail? Uh.. I could try!" Lydia says. "It sounds--"
'Lydia mentions not hearing her... "You should know, Miss Seren, that my hearing is very good."' Lydia freezes in terror. "Uh--uh--uhhhhhh I'm sorry Gami sometimes I just sort of speak before my mind can really catch up and I want to promise that it was meant entirely as a compliment...!" To Venetia it look slike she's considering sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Her entire face is silver. Forunately there seems to be hope for everyone even if they will have to be apart for a while. So she says to Gami, "Um. I know that uh... It can seem like forever when you're apart from the people you love and all but..." "When you find them again, it'll be like...they never really left. From experience..."
<Pose Tracker> Zhang Xiumei has posed.
"Always a Sage," Xiumei answers Venetia. "She certainly hasn't always been able to become an owl. That is a new development."
She looks to Gami, then, and nods her head. "I... I'll do that, then," she says.
"Yeah. I'll let you know. We'll get it figured out, Sparky," Varius answers Azoth, with that static-filled voice.
Xiumei also spares Azoth a glance. In gratitude, but also...
...because she wants a muffin.
The row boats come up -- one after another. The edges hit the Ultimate Armor's wings with a clang, and the first people hurry onto the boat -- with curatives, with support, and with aid.
It's time to go home.
<Pose Tracker> Juni Vandrer has posed.
Juni Vandrer is always happy to help machines annoy their handlers. Seems to be a tradition everywhere after all! That aside, she nods. "Yeah. We'll get on it. Sleep first though right?" That sounds good. That's in response to getting the information to try and calculate it all out.
"So what's the air speed on a house anyway?" Pause. "Manor." Then a chinrub. "Big flying domicile."
A shake of her head and she settles back down, ready for retrieval. Nothing else to be done for it.
As an aside she also adds, "So another random bird I shouldn't just grab for a snack." Owls. She pokes at her wrist. Time to see what an owl actually is.
<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.
The Chateau descends, and the boats are deployed. Ruth emotionally steadies herself as she wrestles with Eleanor's (at the moment) final words to them while internally dealing with the Malevolence-laced whispers weighing her where she sits. One by one, they will leave on boats - with delicious-smelling muffins - towards what comes next.
She can feel the sorrow and worry leave a number of them, taking away color and sound with how she uniquely perceives the world in this state. Her posture goes more rigid, for a bit, before looking to the rest behind her (and getting a better look at how badly off Gami is - her gaze wavers a bit before catching herself that it's not what the first thought that comes to mind is).
She's still going with them. Despite everything that came before, and whether there might be a place for her nearby, weell...
"I'll need a moment before I get on the boats," Ruth says to the rest. They're all grown-ups, she can say it straight even if she has at least some shame. (A lot of it, going by what her Malevolence is composed of, but shhh.) "I need a moment to put myself up."
She lets the others board first as she moves to some other corner away, because they don't need to share small boat space with a Hellion putting out Malevolence next to them no matter how much individuals may trust her, accept her, and even consider her as much a friend worthy as anyone who isn't a horrible sadness monster.
This is also because turning into the shell of who she used to be is a process that, succinctly, sucks - it needs no further elaboration or play-by-play as to how it goes - and there is a reason she has only ever done this once before in front of others (and that was in the sky with DELTA-Kamui).
But, all the same, it's enough for her to hold onto that pervasive sorrow for whatever plan, or hope, has been put before her.