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

[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. ]

[pimpplan]

[ Oh, thank god. He chuckles. ]

Well, I guess if someone had to knock me off of this lighthouse, I'd rather it be you.

[ Even if he can absolutely stop himself from falling. It's fine, she doesn't need to know that. ]

[philoxenia]

Oh? I'll keep that in mind.

[ ... she's perhaps a little too cheerful when she says that but you know, It's Fine. ]

... So, what happened after she regained her consciousness?

[pimpplan]

[ Again, he's not too worried about it if she somehow did it but MAN is that ominous – ]

What didn't happen? We ended up starting to work to separate the two worlds permanently, which backfired massively. Then it turned out Colette was suffering from a disease that threatened to turn her into a Cruxis Crystal or whatever, so we had to go take care of that.

[ He wasn't glossing over the plot of the second disc of the game because he was purposely trying to avoid talking about things, it's just... a lot to cover, and he's not really sure how much of this she actually wants to hear. He knows she's just being nice, but he's not looking to lose her completely.

He's already trying to figure out how to word what comes after that. ]

[philoxenia]

That's--

[ Turn her into one? ... Yeah, there's that horrified look again. But she shakes her head regardless, and she crosses her arms as she watches him. There's no judgment, just a quiet curiosity, a desire to listen to what's weighing on him.

Softly, ]

You took care of it, I'm guessing... but that wasn't the end, was it?

[pimpplan]

Yeah, she'll be fine now that she's got something for it.

[ He pauses. Oh boy. ]

As far as I know, the others were heading to go take on the kid with the dead sister so they could reunite the worlds. Beyond that, not a clue. Woke up in the simulation around then.

[ Okay, now Zelos is glossing over things because he doesn't want to talk about it. ]

[philoxenia]

[ The pause tips her off, at first. And then the answer. It's the type of answer someone gives when they would rather talk about anything else. It's vague, but... well. She won't call him out on it.

But the look she gives him before she glances out toward the ocean is sharp, perceptive. ]

Hmmm. [ It's considering, and she nods. ] Do you think they were able to do it? Since you've been here, they've probably at least made progress, right?

[pimpplan]

[ Ugh, he's been trying not to think about that. He knows that there shouldn't be any cause to worry, Lloyd and the others wouldn't just give up like that. But given where he left off with them, and what he knew was inevitably coming, it was hard to say with any degree of certainty.

And not knowing kind of freaks him out a bit, honestly. ]

They better have. With how I left them, I don't know if it'll happen if they haven't by now.

[ Maybe Kratos would've been able to help? As much as it pains Zelos to say it... that seems like the only way it'd work out. ]