the final week

[airlockedmods]

[Eight weeks. Eight weeks of friendship and love, death and loss, hope and despair all muddled together in a cocktail that's too sweet on the tongue and leaves an acid-y pit in the stomach. With nine of them left (ten counting their dear but lone surviving host), things look darker than ever. Come Sunday morning the last of the Champions missing memories will be returned to them while they sleep. For some of them this will reveal answers, for others it might just be a fate worse than death. They could even be death.

But how does the song go? "It's always darkest before the dawn"?

There are no announcements from PAL this week. Not even morning and evening announcements.

Sunday Monday Tuesday



[ooc: Welcome to endgame, everyone! We're all very proud of you for making it all the way to the end. As you can see this is going to be a short IC week but we promise things will not be going down until this weekend (7/7-7/9). On Tuesday we'll be unveiling the OOC post for what to expect during the final investigation. There is no official AC this week, just a check-in and as mentioned above characters will be at their true canon points on Sunday morning.

Buckle up, kids, the ride's not over yet.]

Comments

[serrata]

[ Ooooookayyyyy just let her cling onto your arm there good king dad ]

R--ready!

[ she doesn't exactly feel ready but WHATEVER, YOLO, THIS IS THE FANTASY SWEET WE RIDE HARD WE DIE HARD ]

[scourgingstars]

Hold on.

[He threw the pen across the room, and for a brief instant the world ceased to exist in a flash of magenta. With it came a rush of motion like a sudden strong gust of wind and the faint warmth that came from something bright.]

[In almost no time at all the two of them were a few feet from where they'd started, the same vanishing light marking the distance traveled and forming a quickly dissolving aura around Ardyn himself, who still held on to Yuuri just in case she lost her balance.]

[serrata]

[ She's not really sure what she expects -- something more like a blink from one place to another maybe. So the rush of motion startles her enough that her legs are jelly once they're back on solid ground. She doesn't stagger but she does wobble badly enough that Ardyn is pretty clearly the only thing keeping her upright.

It takes her a second to regain her bearings -- but then once she does, a shaky little laugh leaks from her mouth. Followed by another and another until her shoulders are shaking with it. ]

That-- that was amazing! A--and that's just how people get around where you're from?!

[scourgingstars]

[Once he was sure she wouldn't fall over, Ardyn let go--a smile breaking out across his face at her reaction.]

Oh, hardly everyone. Just the king and the army. [And himself, since Ardyn was neither of those.]

[serrata]

[ She bends over a little, hands on her knees, to try and steady herself. She's still laughing with exhilaration and when she looks up at Ardyn again her eyes are bright in a way they haven't been in a few weeks now. ]

Then-- I suppose that makes me one of the privileged few, doesn't it? Well, me and Junpei, at least.

[ She straightens herself up and beams at him. ]

Thank you, Dad.

[





well. ]

[scourgingstars]

Well, there's you, Junpei, an-

[RECORD SCRATCH]





[oh Infernian's broken damned horn, he adopted three kids]

...Did. Did you-...er...

[serrata]

... Hm? Did I what?

[ she hasn't fucking noticed ]

[scourgingstars]

You didn't notice either, what is wrong with you and Junpei.

[if he wasn't out of MP he'd have warped clear out of the room by now]

1/???? i don't fucking know just enjoy the ride my guy

[serrata]

Didn't notice what? What did I--?

[ ... no wait. wait.

it's the mention of Junpei that makes her mentally rewind the conversation. ]

[serrata]

[ "Then-- I suppose that makes me one of the privileged few, doesn't it? Well, me and Junpei, at least. Thank you--" ]

[serrata]

[ "Thank you, Dad." ]

[serrata]

[ "Thank you, Dad." ]

[serrata]

[ "Dad." ]

D...ONE....

[serrata]

[ Yuuri Wakasa lets out a muffled scream and yanks her cardigan up to cover her scarlet face so she doesn't have to look at Ardyn and hopefully anyone else on the Fantasy Sweet ever again at all in her life. ]

[scourgingstars]

[Ardyn could probably have been embarrassed by the fact that this had happened twice. Or he could be concerned that Yuuri was now living in Sweatertown.]

[Or he could do what came naturally to him at moments like this.]

My, this is an awful dilemma. My parents would have been stunned to know that I finally ended up with children, even if it took such very literal ages. But that puts us right back at 'Tenmyouji Yuuri', and I think we've quite covered that issue.

[Lucis Caelum, Izunia, Tenmyouji--he was still going to be a smartass.]

[serrata]

[ Yuuri just wheezes into her cardigan. She can't even look at him. ]

I-- that's-- J--Junpei was the one who-- he started it!

[ She doesn't lift her face up but instead gestures wildly with one of her hands, pointing accusingly in the direction she thinks his voice is coming from. ]

I didn't-- I wasn't thinking-- and-- it wasn't on purpose! It wasn't!

[ THAT JUST MAKES IT WORSE ]

[scourgingstars]

[Ardyn didn't know if it was the sweater over her face, the shouted reaction, or the fact that she was pointing at least two feet to his left. It could have been a perfect storm of all three.]

[Whatever the reason, Ardyn just broke out laughing--honest and genuinely amused, laughing so hard he had to lean back against the wall to stop himself from falling over.]

[serrata]

[ The sound of his laughter is enough to make her emerge -- just a bit, just enough to uncover her eyes and her screamingly scarlet cheeks. She splutters furiously in protest and finally directs her pointing finger so she can actually jab it in the right direction this time. ]

Don't-- don't laugh! [ she says, guaranteeing that he is only going to laugh harder. ] This isn't funny! [ no, it's hilarious ]

[scourgingstars]

[HE'S DYING]

[YUURI WAKASA HAS SET THE SPEEDRUN RECORD FOR THE FINAL FANTASY XV ENDBOSS]

[serrata]

[ She makes a noise like a dying cat's last meow, so red that her face should be smoking and her cardigan catching fire. And then she decides -- you know what? fuck it. ALL IN. ]

Well-- well I-- wh--what sort of father laughs at his daughter like that, exactly?! Especially when she's in such a state! Q--quite frankly, I'm ashamed-- [ and then suddenly, Yuuri's shoulders are shaking and it's clear as day that she's fighting desperate to keep a straight face. ] -- I--I'm ashamed to call myself your--

[ Aaaaand that's as far as she gets before she doubles up with laughter as well. ]

[scourgingstars]

[YOLO, YUURI LUCIS IZUNIA CAELUM TENMYOUJI]

Th--the kind that just watched his daughter disappear into her own sweater-!

[we've snapped]

[serrata]

[ Yuuri laughs until she can't draw breath and until there's tears streaming down her cheeks. Ten Champions are dead, they're alone in the middle of space with an A.I. they can only just barely trust. And here they both are, laughing like idiots and Yuuri hasn't felt quite this light-headed or light-hearted in a good long while.

She takes a few wheezy gasps just so she can talk again but even with that, there's still giggles coming out between every word. ]

I-- I won't be living that down, will I?

[scourgingstars]

You might, if you're fortunate.

But you aren't, because I plan on telling Church almost immediately.

[ARDYN...]

Welcome to the family. You're leagues better than my last one.

[serrata]

... Well, I suppose that makes it official, doesn't it? Because if you tell Church then everyone else here is going to know by the end of the day. And that's being generous.

[ But she doesn't sound put out about it at all. In fact, she's still smiling because she can hardly believe it. At the end of two months of hell, she's alive. She's surrounded by people who love her.
Family.

She gives a shaky little laugh and that's all the warning Ardyn gets before she steps forward and throws her arms around him. C'mere, King Dad, you're getting a god damn hug. ]

[scourgingstars]

[yuuri is 5'6" and ardyn is 6'2"]

[yeah you're getting hugged clear off the floor, honey]