unknownseas | but even if the stars and moon collide [afterparty]

[Well, that sucked!

After about an hour, invitations written in colorful ink appear under everyone's doors.]

Understandable if you're not up to it, but we're having a memorial and "don't wanna be alone" hang-out in the restaurant again.

[The restaurant has very much been decorated with the most rainbow fabric she could find in the department store. Jonathan got roped in, mainly so she could make sure he was doing okay, but also because she assumed that he knew how to put a tablecloth on a table. He seemed like the type, anyway.

After consulting with Undertaker, most of the food that's been set out is more traditional Chinese funeral food than Victorian—you can get a whole roast duck in the restaurant—but she tried for a mix of things. There is fruit, the aforementioned roast duck, and several vegetarian dishes along with potatoes for some reason and... cookies? Okay then.

Joy's trying, because that was way less terrible for her than it was for basically anyone else.

Happy ~~Pride~~ Wrath, New Rapture!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Maybe it is just a bit...! ]

I expect you will. Every day we will start in the afternoon—which will be at whatever time I find you at. Be prepared.

[ Vholran will place his expectations adequately low for someone just starting out, so it should be fine. He has had soldiers under his command, so overviewing combat ability and such isn't too strange for him at least.

Not that he'll be the most easy-going instructor here, but hey. ]

It sounds like a useful machine. And not comparable to anything I am familiar with. There are ships and whatnot but none of them can 'combine', like this gunmen.

[ Too bad none of those are around here for any of them to use. ]

...I assume this Spiral King was the previous 'tyrant' you fought against.

[Rossiu nods at that. Noted! He will do his best and will try not to horribly disappoint Vholran.]

That's correct. Lordgenome ruled over the beastmen and subjugated humanity, forcing us to live underground. We banded together and rose up, killing him and his generals to gain our freedom and reclaim the surface. The gunmen were beastmen weapons that we stole and learned to use so we could fight back.

Hmm...interesting.

[ ...Says the tyrant, thinking mainly of the efforts of Alphen and company. ]

So the oppressor is defeated by those who were once under his rule. An irony to that when his weapons have been used against him.

[ The amused look from earlier comes back just fine. ]

His carelessness was his downfall.

Carelessness... I'm not entirely sure it was that.

[He's been thinking about that a lot since Lordgenome's fall. His dying words have haunted Rossiu's thoughts for seven years and even now that he knows the meaning behind them...]

Arrogance, certainly. I think he did want to see what humanity was capable of, but I don't think he ever truly thought we would pose a challenge.

But in the end he seemed... satisfied.

[Rossiu shakes his head once that's out there.]

Regardless, it hardly matters now.

[i mean it'll matter when nandor gets lordgenome's head in a jar out of the vending machine on sunday but shhhhh]

Hm.

[ Sounds like a situation where it's entirely possible for someone to get a head of themselves, huh. ]

...Because he's dead. And when someone is dead, they can't be much of anything.

[ Which is, perhaps, a very nice statement to make. But Vholran is plenty sure there is no love lost between Rossiu and the one who was once Spiral King. He doesn't quite understand how someone can be satisfied with losing everything, but maybe there was something else to it. ]

Yes, precisely.

[Perhaps it would be too cruel a statement were they speaking about their fellow captives, but they're talking about Lordgenome so it's more than fine.]

At any rate, it seems I got a bit off-topic, my apologies.

[ A chuckle escapes him at that. ]

An apology is not necessary.

I'd argue it was still relevant. Though, it seems that even with so many different events and situations in all of our...different worlds, there is always one constant. Take a guess at what you believe that to be?

[One constant. Hmm. Given what he's heard of other worlds, he can venture a few guesses... but it takes him a moment to decide on the one he thinks fits best.]

There is always a major conflict to overcome in some way, and with it, there will always be those who rise to the challenge and decide to fight. Regardless of the odds, there will always be those who hold onto hope and will refuse to give up.

Something like that, perhaps?

[ "Hope", huh?

It sounds close to what the people he's facing would say. Such a word is unsuitable for him, but the rest...not so much. ]

An interesting way of phrasing it.

[ The rest of those words, however, are a perfect summation of the spirit of how he's persisted despite the fact he has stared down certain death so many times. ]

...But, yes something like that.

How would you put it, then?

[It's not pointed, he's genuinely curious in Vholran's thoughts on it.]

Like what you said.

Conflict arises. To end it, people need to destroy and kill whoever or whatever is in the way of resolving it. They defy their enemy, and spite them by surviving whatever is thrown their way. And at the resolution, those who need to be put in their place should be.

[ ...... that is. Perhaps differently from how Rossiu phrased it. ]

Perhaps my views are overly optimistic.

[Which isn't usually a thing one can say about Rossiu, but he's been through a lot recently, and he'd prefer the optimism right now.]

Still, it is interesting that it remains a constant throughout all our worlds - and this one as well, of course.

So let's endeavor to do just that - we'll put the Mayor in his place the moment we have the opportunity.

[The time for diplomacy has definitely passed, after all!!]

Overly optimistic, but not overly idealistic.

[ That is his way of more or less stating that he finds it acceptable. Mostly because Fontaine absolutely would not, and for all of his optimism, Rossiu doesn't sound so naïve. ]

When that opportunity comes, I will enjoy it, and our victory.

[ He won't exactly ask Rossiu to revel in it, but he's more than certain there would be relief on all parties afterwards. ]

[Yes, that's the difference. Idealism can - and likely will - get people killed. Optimism can as well, certainly, but Rossiu at least knows when to temper it.]

I'm sure most will. After what he's put us through, there isn't any other option.

[He's not one to celebrate death, regardless of how hated the person was... but there is relief in it. He definitely understands that.]

but even if the stars and moon collide [afterparty]

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