There's always a lighthouse

[wheremst]

And just like that, you wake up in the basement of a lighthouse in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There's a circle of 25 pods in the middle of the room, and two more in a room off to the side, and you can imagine who is in which.

An elevator to the side of the room leads up to the ground floor (or to the first sub-basement, if you want to check out the machine that brought you here), where you can for the first time in weeks look out a window and see the sky. Its a beautiful sunny day, with a strong breeze on the grassy ground of the island where the lighthouse stands. Have you ever been this happy to hear seagulls?

You're free. Whatever comes next, you're free and you won. Take some time to relish your victory, won't you? Reunite with friends you thought you had lost, go forth and just... well, enjoy this.

Comments

[philoxenia]

[ She's up here, too, mostly because... it's nice. It's away from the crowd, and as much as she cares about a lot of them, it's still a lot. She's a little more guarded than usual, but... she also seems sort of at ease. ]

I don't think I've ever seen a view like this.

[pimpplan]

Really?

[ He cocks an eyebrow. ]

I'll have to take you to Altamira at some point, then. It's basically a resort city, there's tons of great views there. You'd probably like it.

[philoxenia]

[ The offer takes her by surprise, but only for a moment. Then, she lets out a little laugh. ]

A resort city, hm? ... Well, it'd be a first for me, but I'm not opposed. I'll have to make time in my very busy schedule...

[pimpplan]

I completely understand. The offer's on the table, whenever you can spare a few days in your very busy schedule.

[ wwwwwink. ]

[philoxenia]

[ Oh my god. She rolls her eyes, but she doesn't actually seem annoyed. ]

I see some things never change.

[pimpplan]

Force of habit, I'm afraid. If even dying couldn't squash my spirit, what choice do I have?

[ For having such a loose grin on his face, he sure is gripping the railing pretty hard. ]

[philoxenia]

[ Ah. Hard to miss that, really. Her expression shifts into something more pensive, and she looks out toward the ocean. What's he feeling? ]

... You know, I've been told I'm not a bad listener, [ she says quietly. ] If you wanted.

[pimpplan]

[ He gives her a look, his face kind of hard to read. ]

I appreciate the offer. I think I'd rather not drag you down with any of that depressing stuff, y'know? We should be celebrating.

[ Surprisingly (or maybe not), he's sort of all over the place. Guilt's probably one of the two biggest things that permeates throughout (whether it's about what he did here is hard to tell, though), though at any time she can no doubt pick up on anything from confusion to anger to concern. The other big thing is his self-loathing that always seems to lurk around, only seeming to perk up considerably when she offered to listen to him talk.

It's a lot, girl. He's a lot. ]

[philoxenia]

[ Oh boy. That is a lot, and it gets her to look at him.

... It reminds her of herself, actually. Hiding your feelings, burning yourself up so you don't ruin things-- yeah, she gets that. She seems to hesitate for a moment. ]

It takes a lot more than that to drag me down, Zelos. [ That's what she decides on, in the end. Her voice is even, and the sincerity in it is undeniable. ] I won't force you, you know. That never does any good, to force someone to spill how they're feeling... but the offer's there. Even if there's cause for celebration...

If something's weighing on someone, well... I'm more than willing to listen.

[pimpplan]

[ He makes a small noise of acknowledgement, as he turns back to the ocean. He seems to relax just a hair, as he suddenly feels a little nostalgic. ]

You know, you remind me of someone back home. I can hear her say the same thing, honestly.

[ Thinking about her is only making him feel more guilty, though. Not that he doesn't deserve it, with what he did to her, to them, but still. ]

[philoxenia]

Do I?

[ Ah, more of that guilt... She wonders just how deeply it runs. She lets out a soft hum, looking from him to the ocean. ]

Now I'm curious. Why don't you tell me about her?

[pimpplan]

[ Zelos doesn't reply, right away. He's mulling over whether he wants to, or not – Mira says she's happy to listen, but he's not sure if she wants to hear any of it. If he wants to hear any of it, really. But... she's somehow hard to say no to. ]

Her name's Colette. She's the other Chosen – there's two, including me, but that's not important. She couldn't be more different than me. She's really good at being able to make people feel better, to be able to light up a room, y'know? [ He looks back at Mira for a moment, before looking back. ] Not to mention she's okay with being who she is. She's changed her tune about a few things, but...

[ He sighs. It's really taking all his willpower not to just blow it off and change topics or leave. He's actually surprised with himself. ]

[philoxenia]

[ True to her word, she listens. She's attentive, too, not looking away from him for the most part. So far, she doesn't seem bothered by anything he's saying. But she knows there's a deeper thread there.

She doesn't pull at it; it's not her place to unravel that. It's his, at his own pace. ]

She sounds pretty incredible. [ And she reminds him of her? ... That's pretty glowing praise. ] Have you two known each other for a long time, then?

[ Considering they're both Chosen, and all. ]

[pimpplan]

Nah, she only knew I existed no more than a couple months ago. [ m. maybe? how the fuck does the passage of time in rpgs get quantified, anyway ]

It's to be expected, being from different worlds. The only reason I even found out is because a third party.

[philoxenia]

[ that's tales time, babey ]

Different worlds... [ Well, she's curious about that, but-- ] A third party, huh? How did that go about happening?

[pimpplan]

[ His first thought is to start using analogies that would better contextualize things, but... maybe that's not such a great idea right now. ]

A group of defectors told the Tethe'allan royal family and the Church about the existence of the other world and the other Chosen. Since their existence endangered Tethe'alla's prosperity and mana flow, they sent an assassin to try and kill Colette. Obviously that didn't work out so well, given that they made it back over.

[ ... he's just gonna omit the part where he also probably heard at some point after agreeing to spy for Cruxis. It's fine. It's telling the truth by omission. Sh-she'll never know... ]

[philoxenia]

[ ... She does a great job of not looking completely horrified, but she's definitely stunned. And, yeah, a little horrified. She mulls that over--it's a lot. The worst part is, she can follow their logic, just from what he's told her. She just hates the idea of it, and she thinks it sucks. ]

And... you met her after that?

[pimpplan]

[ Honestly, he'd probably have been more concerned if she wasn't. He talks about most things flippantly, there's no reason why anyone else should. ]

Yeah. Not that long after they crossed dimensions, I guess. [ He pauses. Should he... keep going? She's not gonna like this next bit either, probably: ]

The only reason they did all that was to find a way to revert Colette's humanity after going through the whole world regeneration thing. She was basically in self-preservation mode for awhile; she actually flung me across the square when I tried to hit on her.

[philoxenia]

[ Ohhh, yeah, hate that.

But that makes her think of something... the vessel issue he'd mentioned back at his trial. She doesn't bring it up. But she can see the threads sort of weaving together. It shows in her expression, too... Aside from the vague disgust.

She clears her throat, though. ]

... And was that your first time meeting her? You getting thrown across the square?

[pimpplan]

Yeah, that was it. She eventually regained her consciousness after awhile, so technically it was later, but that was the first time meeting her.

[philoxenia]

[ Hmmm. ]

Your first meeting with a fellow Chosen, and she [ don't say yeets ] tosses you across the square... That must have come as a huge shock.

[pimpplan]

[ this chosen's empty! YEET ]

I mean, of course. Usually I just get a slap in the face when I hit on someone that doesn't want it, getting thrown by someone half my size isn't a normal reaction.

[ He probably knew they were coming, given how much info he was fed at any given moment, but it still had to be a surprise to have it play out like that. Definitely sobering, too. No world was worth that kind of effort. ]

So, you have that going for you. Unless you have superhuman strength that I don't know about?

[philoxenia]

Hmmm.

[ She regards him, considering... ]

Care to find out?

[ is she joking?? unclear. ]

[pimpplan]

[ ... he takes way too long to answer. ]

I... feel like this is a trap, somehow.

[ sweats nervously ]

[philoxenia]

[ She watches him a little while longer before she laughs lightly. ]

I wouldn't do that, even if I could. ... But I can deliver a swift kick if I need to.

[ She, perhaps, says that entirely too cheerfully. ]