Week 5

[airlockedmods]

[As with the weeks before, life in the Fantasy Sweet returns to something resembling normalcy with shocking efficiency. The second floor rest area and Adventure Zone Death Orb Room are spotless again, the demon glitter has been vacuumed, the deflated orbs have been replaced. It's like none of it ever happened, like three more friends aren't dead and stored away in the guest house morgue.

There's a new floor to explore, their "reward" for a job well done.]

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday



[ooc: Don't forget to to turn in your activity for week 4, submit your memory regains and put in your threads for the Benefactors!]

Comments

[scourgingstars]

[Accursed.]

[The word echoed in his head like the deafening roll of thunder heralding a terrible storm. He saw his brother's cold stare, looking down on him from atop the Lucian throne--the same hate-filled look he'd been met with from so many others. And at his brother's side instead of Ardyn's own...the Shield of the King, lance in hand as though he faced a daemon rather than the man he'd sworn to protect.]

[When Ardyn's eyes snapped open, they were stained black and yet his mind felt entirely clear. It all made perfect sense to him now, and the only response he had was the blazing hatred kept so carefully hidden.]

[Once the black corruption had vanished from his face, Ardyn left room seven at around four in the morning. He was sure no one would be awake yet; it was just him that didn't sleep. he moved as quietly as possible, going to the storage closet and shutting the door behind him without a sound.]

[...And then he slammed his left fist into the wall until he thought either it or his hand would break. Accursed. Accursed. Accursed. Ardyn screamed at nothing that was present--what did you want from me?! I did everything you asked, oh infallible and great Bahamut, and I'm expected to accept punishment for it while remaining some grateful acolyte--the black scourge on his face back in full force as well as creeping along his neck and hands as well.]

[He drove his fist into the wall again, snarling rage dissolving into hollow, pained laughter. Gods, it all made sense now, and all he felt about the matter was the only thing he truly felt in general--anger.]

[But as much as he wanted to just burn everything to ashes and let the cold expanse of space sort the rest out, he'd made a promise. So he returned to room seven once he'd calmed down enough for the corruption to vanish, twisting the useless ring on his finger and just waiting.]

['If you had been anything else from the start, do you think I even would have been friends with you?!']

[It was about time to test the limits of everyone's insistence upon sympathy, now wasn't it?]

[Later on in the morning, Ardyn left some junk on a table in the dining hall, sitting a short distance away glaring coldly at a cup of coffee like it had personally insulted his mother. From there he spent the rest of the day wandering the floors; directionless, with that same casual idleness his movements had taken on in the past week or so.]

Dining Room

[desperateprayer]

[ Clarith finds him in the dining room with things. She blinks a few times, then retrieves the book among them. A Levin Bible... Ah, yes. This must be hers. She holds it close, then goes over and sits across from him. ]

...I take it your memories didn't treat you well.

[scourgingstars]

[Of course she'd come find him. She always did, with that gentle look on her face that reminded him of Lunafreya.]

[...It was so, so sickening.]

And what should it matter to you of all people, my dear?

[desperateprayer]

Because I care about you, Ardyn. Regardless of what you've done.

[ She doesn't miss a beat. If he is angry, she will be calm. The rock the ocean beats against, and may wear down a little, but one the storm won't destroy. ]

[scourgingstars]

[Angry? Oh, he was well past 'anger' as most would know it. Ardyn was incredibly calm despite the cold look in his eyes, staring at Clarith as though he'd just heard something patently insane.]

Is that right.

[desperateprayer]

Yes.

[ She says it with absolute certainty. There is no hatred left in her. It drained out this morning, along with the bitterness and anger. She can't do that anymore. She just can't. ]

[scourgingstars]

How sweet.

['But please, Lady Lunafreya--you first.']

You really think I've any reason to believe that. Such idealism must be pleasant to have.

[Ardyn stood up and turned to leave, clearly having no patience for this today.]

[desperateprayer]

Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche. The princess and ruler of Lucifenia. She committed genocide against Elphegort. A genocide known as the Green Hunting. Born from her own anger at the man she was to wed breaking off their engagement because he fell in love with a particular Elphe woman, she sought to raze the country to the ground. And she would have, had she not murdered Mikaela. ...Yatski was wiped out. Burned with its people.

[ She is still calm, speaking to his retreating back. ]

...Supposedly, she was killed in the Lucifenian Revolution that followed. ...But I know she didn't. My memory last night... I almost killed her, as she was sobbing on the beach. As she begged me to do it. But I couldn't, Ardyn. I couldn't kill the girl--and she was a girl, fourteen at the time of the Green Hunting--who murdered so many because the she was spurned by the man she loved.

[ She will stand. Just as calm as before. ]

...I don't have any hatred left in me, Ardyn. Or anger. There's nothing you could do to change that I would forgive you. Just like I forgave Riliane, despite the fact she murdered Mikaela. Despite the thousands of lives lost and the destruction she brought to a country that did nothing to her. She tore apart so many lives... And I still forgave her and I am going to take her under my wing.

[ "And you're no different." ]

[scourgingstars]

[Ardyn paused but didn't turn around, back to Clarith and a thin, empty smile on his face. His answer was a low, dark laugh that made it seem as though he'd heard nothing more than a faintly amusing joke.]

I'm so thrilled that you've found yourself to be such a perfect saint devoid of hatred or spite. Not all of us can say the same, and some lack even reason to trust such platitudes.

[motherfucking_ghost]

["Tex, don't do this!"

"Goodbye."

The word makes him desperate, like a deep and sudden assurance that he's never going to see her again. She doesn't like saying it, never had. She knows. She knows what he refuses to acknowledge, that this is for good. Because it's not. Because it can't be.

"Andy, do NOT detonate! Can you see her heading? Do you know where she's going?!" The ship blinks out of sight, gone, an empty pocket of sky that isn't nearly as empty as the feeling of his heart dropping straight into his stomach. "...Tex?"

His sleep is restless, full of confused memories, frantic chaos, shifting fitfully and murmuring under his breath. No, after everything, after finally cornering Omega, and getting Wyoming, after all this, and she leaves them behind, because of the war? The fucking war?

An explosion fills the empty sky, and the cheers of the Reds around him are muted. Lead feet carry him away.

"Uh, Church? What should we do?"

"Do whatever you want," is his bitter, tired reply. "I'm going home."

It's over, isn't it? He can't even dredge up his typical anger, not even when talking to Caboose. It's muted and grey and heavy and dull, and the ache in his chest tightens more and more. There are orders, later. Reassignments. He doesn't even bother arguing. What's the point?

He never could change her mind.

When he wakes up, he feels clammy and cold and like he's run a marathon. He remembers it all and lived it in a night, doing everything he possibly could to save Tex. Save her from herself, at the end of it. And he still failed. The back of his head even throbs in phantom pain, and the empty, heavy feeling in his chest remains.

He hadn't let himself at the time, not in front of everyone, not with the numbness and shock settling into his mechanical frame, but with clarity and context and three trials and seven deaths, hot tears prickle his eyes, a sob escaping him against his will.]

No.

[He doesn't want to dare to hope that she might even be out there somewhere, after that. He'd cling to it if he let himself, he knows it. Church sits up and buries his face in his hands, shoulders shaking, frame trembling. If she'd been here, she would've found a way out. She'd survive. How could...how did all this bullshit end up with her dead? How could she make a deal with the devil for a fucked up prophecy in a wild goose chase attempt to end the war?

Why couldn't she have stayed? Why does...she always...leave...]

[scourgingstars]

... [It was still Ardyn that glanced over once Church awoke; his screaming rage was for the moment out of his system, eyes clear of any trace of Starscourge. So the night had been kind to neither of them, had it?]

[He didn't say anything or even turn to look at Church properly just yet; his eyes fixated again on the ring in his hand as he waited for his roommate to speak first.]

[motherfucking_ghost]

[She had even told him to run, her own way of trying to protect him despite everything she'd done. Everything around him had seemed to settle into normality before the reassignments, but--but nothing would ever truly be normal again.

The terrible thought that had started to plague him the day before came back harsher than ever. What if he can't save any of them?

He doesn't try to stop himself, letting himself feel it. Get it out of his system, while it's fresh, while it's early, while he can still have time to clean himself up and present his face to people that might also leave, that might also die. It's a few minutes of sobbing, and slowly, slowly evening himself out. Dry eyes. Deep breaths.

Part of him feels like he should be embarrassed by the display, because, distantly, he's become aware that Ardyn is here.

And yet he's glad. Because Ardyn is here.

Makes it more convenient to know where he is and if he's okay if he hasn't disappeared anywhere.

He'll wash up, soon, but now...now, with hands curled up in the sheets in his lap, he feels he can spare a look over.] Sor- [He coughs, clears his throat, raw and strained. It's strange to break the quiet with actual words now that he's aware of it.] Sorry.

[scourgingstars]

[A low, hollow laugh escaped Ardyn at the apology; he shrugged as though it didn't matter, failing to come up with much else for a response at first.]

...So shall I go first or you, considering your irritating insistence upon making my problems your own?

[motherfucking_ghost]

...Oh. [An alarm distantly rings in his head. Still might be the memory of getting clocked by Tex, though.] Uh. Take it things didn't get better, huh. [Not that his tone indicates he expected it to.]

[scourgingstars]

I'm not going to hurt you. [He said, with that thin smile on his face like he'd forgotten how to look any other way.] I've enough of whatever I've been to know I'm not about to tear your throat out.

With that concern set aside and despite my limited sympathy, why don't you start?

[motherfucking_ghost]

I'm...that's good to know? I can't say I was at all worried that that was gonna happen, but, y'know, good to have assurance. [Is it bad that Ardyn thought he had to say so? That might be bad. How bad is this bad going to be? It's not the same kind of distant obviously fake pleasantness as before, and yet it's also not...him, in a way.

But he's too tired to suss out the specific intricate details of Ardyn's moods. So. Time to try and not be a fucking hypocrite and actually talk things out. Being on the other side of this sucks ass.]

There's...a very, very, very, very long story leading up to all the details. [About five seasons' worth of story.] That...that girl I talked about, Tex, the one I was gonna marry, and then didn't, and we were kind of exes? She's d-- [The word gets caught in his throat. At least he'd seen Junpei's body. If he'd been dead-dead, he at least would have the confirmation.]

She's...she got on a ship, and it exploded, so far as I know, she's kicked the bucket.

[Flippancy! That'll work!]

Other stuff happened, but that's...that's--that's kind of the long and short of it.

...She was gonna end the war. She was gonna damn well try.

[scourgingstars]

That's terribly unfortunate.

[He didn't sound remotely sincere, but considering how Ardyn looked, the lack of condescension in his voice may as well have been sympathy.] There's no chance of a best-case scenario, I take it.

Dining Hall

[misanthropicprinciple]

Ardyn?

[Is Junpei so unobservant a detective that he's missed Ardyn's mood? Possible. Or perhaps he's noted it and has just decided to treat this new normal as the old normal it always was, underneath the regal veneer.]

You said your chocobo's black, right?

[scourgingstars]

She was, yes.

[As foul a mood as he might have been in, for now it was relegated to clipped, bitter sentences.]

Philomela. What of it?

[misanthropicprinciple]

Is this her?

[Rather than disinter something from his usual inflatable pool o'junk, Junpei takes something he's been keeping safe in his lap, and--oh. It's a little plush chocobo, black-feathered and adorable.]

[scourgingstars]

...hm. [That almost sounded like a laugh, Ardyn barely able to muster the sarcasm to roll his eyes.] A stuffed chocobo--I suppose that it would have to be her, yes.

[misanthropicprinciple]

She's pretty cute.

[He gets up from his seat and walks right over, despite his injuries, to hand her to Ardyn directly.]

Anyway, here. I know it's not the real thing, but she's still yours.

[scourgingstars]

... [He was half-tempted to just tell Junpei to keep it or get rid of it, but it wasn't worth the argument; he simply accepted the chocobo and placed it on the table to judge both of them with a vaguely unimpressed look that suited her owner.]

Sit down before you fall over and I'm found responsible for you bleeding out.

[misanthropicprinciple]

[Huff.]

I'm fine, you know. Nothing's going to reopen.

[He does sit, though.]

I haven't even finished bringing out everything I got. Some of it's probably as heavy as I am.

[scourgingstars]

[why is the gacha such a dick]

Anything actually useful, or is it all just varying levels of junk?