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theairlock2017-02-26 11:49 am
airlockedmods) wrote in theairlock2017-02-26 11:49 am
week 3
[Come week 3 of the Champion Excellence Program the high-flying feelings that came with the dodgeball game last week has dissipated, especially after the...everything that was that trial. Satan Mask sure was a thing that happened.
Just like last week, right on the dot at 7 am, the mechanical woman's voice chimes to awaken the remaining champions on Sunday morning. After the initial wake-up call though there's a new message tacked on:]
Congratulations, Champions! By surviving your second trial, you have unlocked the third floor of the ship. A new mini map has been added to your P.I.P.! To access the second floor please stand on the teleporter and select the floor you wish to be teleported to.
[And again the Champions are awakened they have regained one new memory from the ones they've lost. Starting again on Sunday, as well, Jamie and Bolton will be back to their usual office hours in their usual locations.]
[ooc: welcome to week 3, everyone! Check-in has begun and don't forget to submit your memory regains!]
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[if just from scale alone]
... then a god sat here?
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Terrifying isn't the right word. It is a world filled only with sorrow, anger, and pain... The dying goddess Etro sat on that throne. From there she guided the dead into the realm of chaos and then back into the realm of life. She watched over her beloved humans and gave them what we call a soul. This timeless world is called Valhalla.
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The gods of my realm, the First Dragons, also raised humans up from practically animals. Though none of them still exist in the flesh anymore.
Lightning... is this some place you've been?
[It seems too detailed to be an image from a legend or religious text]
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[She nods, looking grim.] I was tasked to be her knight, to protect her so she could keep the world from being swallowed by the Chaos.
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[He turns back to the throne, gaze heavy. He has no reason to not believe her- even though it's one of the more outlandish things he's heard here. After Seth nothing seems impossible]
...it sounds like a heavy burden.
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I'm the only one who has the power to do it. [Being kidnapped by a goddess was not how she imagined her life to go after saving Cocoon and Gran Pulse.] It's not meant as an honor. It's to atone for what my friends and I have done to fight a fate worse than death.
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[He frowns- maybe he's biased, but he really suddenly doesn't like this 'god' of hers.]
Well, would you like to see somewhere else then?
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There's a moment of hesitation before she nods.]
As long as it's better than this place.
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[Does he just think of a place? If it wasn't for his most recent memory he could have thought of many places in Castle Krakenburg to show her. But right now home is not what he wants to see.
But once he settles on an idea the room blooms from blues to rich browns and golds of a city at night. There's the low sounds of some kind of musical performance far in the distance, and the constant sound of burbling water- like it is right on a river]
There. Much more inviting, I think.
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... there's nothing like this on Cocoon or Gran Pulse. It's-[What would be a good word for it...]-almost beautiful.
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[if he was a more open and younger man he might have taken her hand. Led her like an excited teenager- he doesn't, but there a hint of that tone in his voice as he strolls down the cobbled street.]
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It was easy to swallow down the guilt as she follows him.]
You must have a lot of happy memories here then.
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[There road ends with a view of the river.. which has other roads and buildings continuing over and on it- including a huge blue domed building that seems to have been fully built on the water. The low music seems to be coming from it, and small boats drift up to it's personal docks, framed by lanterns]
I was never as big a patron of the arts as my mother was, but even I can't deny this view...
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The view makes her eyes go wide as she looks across the expanse of the river. There was definitely nothing like this on Cocoon. She doesn't even know if something like this ever existed on Gran Pulse. The closest she's ever seen to compare this to was the large dome on the water that would be used to house the fireworks show in Bodhum.]
My sister would love this place.
[This would be a place Lightning can see herself taking her sister, or even come here on her own with the right kind of company.] Thank you... for showing me this.
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[For too long? Forever? He's only a man- his resolve isn't infinite.]
But I'm glad I did. Forgive me for my presumption, Lightning, but... you looked miserable. Not so much when I first looked in but... as we spoke.
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[There's really no telling what happened to Bodhum. Cocoon hasn't been a home in a long time. Gran Pulse could have been...
The offer catches her by surprise, hesitation clearly written on her face.]
It's-[Miserable is a good word for it.] .... because of the task I've been given by Etro, there were a few sacrifices that had to be made. One of them being that part of my past was rewritten. I saw my sister Serah after we saved Cocoon, blessed her engagement to Snow. We were all together. Etro erased that past. She made it so that the reunion never happened, and I was the only one who would remember it. Instead, my friends... I don't exist on the same plane they do anymore. I stopped being a part of that world in every respect, and none of them know it's even happened.
[If only she knew that Serah never lost her faith in her sister being alive.
She sighs and shakes her head.] So being here isn't all that different. No one back home knows this is happening either. Everyone here has a home to get back to when this is all over, and I'll be sent back to Valhalla.
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[Something like horror, like existental dread rolls in his gut. The idea of one's family utterly forgetting their happiness was bad enough-
(Corrin is gone, Leo is gone...)
-but also knowing the truth and having it only exist for you. Xander mentally and spiritually recoils from the very idea, though it only shows on his face by the deepening of his frown lines.
...if it was him, would he be able to serve? He's not sure. Likely not- he's never been that strong]
Gods...
Though... have you considered... not returning?
[Who is he to suggest fleeing from her duty? A hypocrite, surely, considering his own actions back home.
But it's different when it's someone else. And her duty seems even lonelier then he could ever imagine his own. If nothing else, he knew he would be with his family again if just in death. fifty some odd years was nothing compared to hundreds, if her 'age' was correct.]
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Even if I had the option, where would I go? [There's no place she can think of where she wouldn't immediately go to seek out her sister.]
I can't abandon my duties. If I don't go back, it's not only Etro that would be affected. Time, life, death... everything in Valhalla directly affects the lives of millions outside of that realm. If Chaos were to enter that world, everything would end. [It's a thankless job, but somebody has to do it.] My life for the life of millions of others and my friends being able to have normal lives... it's the least I can do for them.
[Her family, even Fang and Vanille in their crystal sleep, deserve happiness.]
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You barely know me and yet you feel like that? [She doesn't get it. This doesn't seem like pity.]
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I can't turn away either, so I guess a part of me is greedy by proxy. I would like to see you happy... is that strange?
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Wait
He wants to see her happy?]
You make it sound like you'd be happy if I was. Yes, I'd say that's strange. [This isn't said in a teasing way. She's genuinely surprised that anyone would say things like this.
Where was Serah when Light needs her?]
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[Hey knows why he does it though. Because if not for the happiness of others, well-
- there'd be no joy at all. Without their
( the five of them at the table, pretending at being a normal family)
peals of laughter and the brightness of their smiles there would be nothing left to keep the ghosts at bay. And no more reason to keep them from their well deserved revenge.
It was instinct to fill that emptiness, even without his loved ones here. Maybe that was cruel to his new allies. But he couldn't bring himself to keep his distance like he should. Not when they lived and died shoulder to shoulder.]
If it helps just think of it as a personal quirk.
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Seeing all of her friends happy did make her happy. They make her smile, tease them, joke with them. That's what her happiness translates into.
No one's ever said that they'd be happy if she was. It's an alien concept. Was it okay to accept it?]
Seems we share that quirk.
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It's always strange when it's aimed at you, yes?
[He thinks of Corrin- the first time she told him to stop playing with her, stop reading with her, and sleep. Please Xander, be at peace.
It's so strange]
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