There's always a lighthouse

[thekeyofsea]

[ Blinking, bruised, but not defeated, you all stumble forward into the light. It's a quicker and easier trek downhill to the beach than it was up to the lighthouse by far - especially, perhaps, for those of you eager to see your previously fallen fellow passengers.

LeChuck comes with you, of course - not that he has much other choice, struck low by the Ultimate Insult as he is - and already on the beach or upon the ship they sailed from hell itself are the dead, ghostly but present. You can touch them, there's just a weird glow and you can kind of see their skeletons?

Jones, for his part, stands on the deck of the Dutchman, a plank lowered by his crew to the sand below for anyone who wants to speak with him. There will come a time to decide what to do next, but for now... focus on reuniting and figuring out what happens to that mean ol' LeChuck now.

Welcome to your Golden End. ]

(ooc: Congratulations, everyone! Feel free to mingle here to your hearts' content - tomorrow afternoon or evening, your ride home will be resolved, and that'll lead to an optional mingle with any Round 1 characters who wish to join and commiserate about the experience!)

Comments

[ahelpingpaw]

Honestly I'm still kinda surprised I didn't die. After all that happened that I was still around, it feels like I got very lucky.

[It wasn't fun to see the ship empty little by little, but he survived. That's something to be proud of, he figures]

...it was...not a great time, to know what happened and how it all ended. But it's all in the past, you know? I mean, all is well that ends well? No matter what happened I just am really glad it all worked out. And that includes you -- I'm glad we can welcome you back onto the living side of everything.

[It's a little clumsy, but the spirit of it all is that he's really happy Plumeria is back, as well as everybody else. Everyone is welcome]

[paucipan]

[Plumeria doesn't want to agree with such statement--that feels cruel? That feels deeply cruel, really, but in a way, it's true. Filbo got lucky that he didn't get targeted for sure. Who knows what kind of hell would break loose if he died?

Still, Filbo says something so kind after, and Plumeria pauses. A little startled, really, turning away and just...]

...You're way too nice. I almost...I don't...

[Plumeria doesn't have the heart to finish that, really. She looks back to Filbo, and...]

...Thanks. It means a lot to hear that. I wouldn't have blamed you for being angry with me for acting selfishly. But I am glad to be back.

[...]

Hey. Do you mind if I...?

[Plumeria opens her arms a bit, the gesture likely obvious. Permission to hug?]

[ahelpingpaw]

[Filbo doesn't hesitate to open his arms. Yup, permission given]

Anytime. I hope anything that happened on...wherever you were?...wasn't too harsh on you.

[Come over here, Plumeria, have a hug]

[paucipan]

[Plumeria is absolutely going to hug him! Filbo is shaped like a friend, and thus, very warm and nice to hug, but it's just...nice to hug a friend, really.]

Well, Alice certainly had a bone or two to pick with me, but after everything that happened...she deserved that much, at least. [Plumeria shrugs into the hug.] ...It was a little lonely without some of you there, but I'm glad you all stayed over here, for better or worse. Where we went felt like a pretty hopeless place for a while.

[ahelpingpaw]

I don't think Alice had any ground to be cross with you. Don't...tell anyone I said that. I was trying really hard not to let show how angry I still am with them.

[He's seriously happy to see Alice and Decus again, but he's not forgiving them for killing Sylvando. Still! Filbo being honest about what he felt really is different to how he was for most of the time Plumeria knew him, that's for sure]

It's time to leave all that behind, anyway! I mean, we have long lives ahead of us. And hopefully all of it will be very far away from the sea!

[paucipan]

[...FILBO, YOU FEEL HER...]

Your secret is safe with me, don't worry. Because I feel the same way; I'm still incredibly cross with them too. Just...don't tell anyone I said that.

[It's the reason she's not apologizing!! At least to Alice. Decus is a weird subject she's not sure about at the moment. But Plumeria chuckles shortly after that, though.]

Yeah, we do. Hopefully it involves a little less...you know, glowing and skeletons showing, but I'm sure we'll be able to find a way to fix that. I'm certainly looking forward to going back home and helping Mother restore everything...

[ahelpingpaw]

She's gonna be great at anything she wants to do! I believe she can, she...

[...it takes him a moment to realize what Plumeria said. As far as he can think, even though Plumeria did mention Freyja was like a mother to her, she never called her that. It was always by her name and/or title]

...oh! Are--Are you calling her--are you...?

[Did things get better with Freyja, Plumeria?]

[paucipan]

[...She's gotten so used to calling Freyja 'Mother' that it hasn't registered as odd to her, whoops. Plumeria laughs, though, brightly.]

She...she introduced us--Chloe and I--to Lady Calypso, when we got a chance to meet one another, as her daughters. If we wanted to be. And she wasn't upset when I admitted to her I considered her like a mother to me...

But...yes. I'm happy to consider her my Mother.

[ahelpingpaw]

[So Calypso was real, after all! Filbo files that away for later thinking because right now Plumeria's family is far more important]

That's great! I'm glad you two are like this now. I...I really did tell Freyja long ago that I hoped she would get closer to you. Congratulations on your family, Plumeria.

[And also wow, another thing she said:]

And also I'm glad that Chloe is with her, too. After everything Chloe has been through I hope she finally will be able to have a nice and long life without any more trouble.

[paucipan]

...Thanks, Filbo.

[ugh don't do that, now her heart's gonna go all soft and mushy...]

That's what I'm hoping too. I'm sure she'll adjust to everything just fine; we're going to make sure that nothing else happens, so she can finally have some peace in her life.

[...]

I admit I've...never really been a sister before. I just hope I do well; she deserves that much.

[At any rate--hope you don't mind if she lets you go, Filbo, even she can only take so much hugging. She looks out towards where the Swift sank, pursing her lips a bit...]

...Were you guys able to grab much, before you left?

[ahelpingpaw]

I passed around bags to prepare in case we had to leave the ship. There was this huge bunch of clouds above us for a couple weeks? So I got all scared the ship would sink, so I prepared stuff just in case. I have a backpack and--oh! I actually have someone you may want to see again!

[Give him a moment, Plumeria, he's going to run and get his backpack, yup. Theeeere he returns after a couple minutes, bringing it and slowly and carefully taking stuff out to get to the bunch of strawberries he has been carrying around.

In the meantime he comments:]

You know, when I was feeling real awful Freyja once offered a new life in her realm. It probably would have involved leaving my old life behind like Chloe will, so if that happened...well, there's no way Freyja would have adopted me because I'm already a grown adult and all and I probably would have been on Lo--Loja--the other realm, but would that have made you and I distant relatives?

[Judging by the smile he's joking, hah]

[paucipan]

Wait, you actually...?

[Plumeria processes that slowly, but she smiles as Filbo digs through his bag, but she winds up smiling none the less. The question gets a little bit of laughter from her, though--]

Filbo... [Give her a second, oh dear gods.] Ugh. What am I going to do with you? Now that you've become a little joker in the time I've been gone.

[It's fondly stated, though.]

[ahelpingpaw]

I think you'll have to blame Yeager for that. Well, probably isn't his fault but I'm gonna blame him anyway.

[Their first meeting was Yeager blasting him with a party popper as if he hadn't very clearly seen the cyan grumpus approaching, what a jerk. Filbo is blaming him for any faint appreciation for jokes that aren't puns.

Soon he takes out a bundle of bandages covered with chocolate, still sticky and frankly probably made nearby objects all sticky too. The bundle is moving, clearly what's in there is still pretty much alive and probably rather content to have been enveloped with chocolate]

Here it is. Just as you asked I made sure to take care of B.B. Also gave it a lot of chocolate, it's...it's not so bad. You probably should get the credit for that.

[Because his opinion of the other Strabbies that got on the ship sure hasn't improved at all. B.B. is a special case, as far as he's concerned. Here, Plumeria, take your strawberry while he gets the pillow out of the backpack too, yup]

...I...I actually feel like you can handle it at home without causing a whole lot of trouble. Just make sure no wildlife gets to it. I wish all Bugsnax had been like this one.

[Well-behaved and cooperative. Maybe fairies really are able to tame them. Would make as much sense as everything else about Bugsnax, haha]