summonerd | i just wanna know: who broke it?

[Well Zelos certainly wasn't expecting for Sheena's cards to actually hurt when she mentioned she had them, if he's being honest. He kind of just pictured she was going to give people deadly papercuts or something. But, okay, they're not dead. Holy shit, they're not dead yet! They might actually have a shot at this!

Zelos dutifully keeps his eyes on the two drivers as Sheena makes her way to the window, sword at the ready, ether pooling around him. He's so on edge that if anyone moves even just a centimeter he's going to fucking fry them with pure, concentrated ether. Or, at least, that's his threat until the other driver--the one with the electric blade--rushes at him, and Zelos quickly, barely dodges, twirling on his heel and crashing his sword against theirs, then pivoting their sword off their grip with a quick move. The other curses and Zelos steps back. Fucking shit, he has no fucking idea how he did that. Then he spots something odd that gives him pause: where the hell are their blades?

He has no time to dwell on that when Sheena calls out for him, and he barely manages to make eye contact for a second before she's already jumped out the window, leaving Zelos spluttering. He stares at the spot where she'd been slack-jawed for a second, then remembers his attackers and sends off an ether blast their way to keep them back as he turns tail and jumps out as well.]

"Well now what!" [he shouts after he lands, because fuck being discreet now that they're officially breaking out of his gilded cage. The gardens are in full-view from up here, at least.] "We're doing rooftop runs? Really?!"

[She lands neatly, only stepping out of the way to wait for him to follow so they can't get separated. As if she didn't just jump out a window without him. It's fine.]

Better than getting cornered inside!

[With that, she turns to start moving again, but those blades that Zelos had noticed were absent? Here they are, one humanoid and one animal-shaped, having just climbed out a different window to block their path. The animal-shaped one - something large and catlike and crackling with the same electricity their driver had been wielding, roars, the force of the sound ringing in Sheena's ears like Volt's words and forcing her to take a step back towards Zelos. Great! She hates this. It's not so bad that she can't handle it now, but the momentary fear that rips through her leaves an awful taste in her mouth anyway, and she lets out a quiet "fuck." She grits her teeth, forcing it aside, and lunges, her unarmed strike aiming to knock the cat off-balance.]

I got this one! Can you handle the other one?

[Unfortunately for you, Sheena, Zelos felt that hiccup of fear in the emotional link. He staggers back a second and doesn't get to stop Sheena from rushing on ahead, leaving him reaching for her with half a protest in his mouth which he then drowns with a curse. Shit--his driver is scared of lightning. And she just went to take on the lightning-based blade on her own. Well, this is fucking great. Great! Fucking great.]

"Of course I can! Just don't get yourself killed!"

[Zelos still has his sword summoned in his hand, so when the humanoid, fire-wielding blade lunges at him with her summoned sword taken from her driver, he manages to parry the first hit. But he's off-balance. He's pushed back a little and the next hit manages to slash him on the shoulder; he cries out in pain for a second before he bites that back down, and then his instincts kick in and he blocks the next hit, holding the blade right there. Swords now locked, Zelos shoves as much of his own ether into his sword as he can until it's pooled in dangerous, harmful amounts, and then sends a blast out in the radius, mindful of Sheena's signature so that this spell does not get her.

It's a debuffing ability that should exhaust the blades in the vicinity and feel like a slow-creeping poison to any human. It should've hit the cat-like blade Sheena's dealing with. Hopefully. It's the least Zelos can do for her right now.

He watches the blade in front of him gasp and stagger, and when her weight is off his blade, he shoves her back.] "What do you think you're doing, huh?!" [he calls out, glowing, orange ether particles leaving his body where she cut him. He gestures at the injury, sneering.] "You're in deep shit now, you know that?! You just hurt government property!"

I won't if you won't!

[Sheena Fujibayashi is nothing if not an idiot who doesn't know when to quit! The feline blade dodges her strike, but it's left off-balance, and her second strike lands solidly. She circles to the side of it, looking for a better angle, but Zelos's yelp of pain breaks her concentration, and her gaze is wrenched from her adversary to him, concerned. For a second she forgets that the blood on his outfit is from the official she'd murdered earlier, hesitates; the blade takes the opportunity to pounce, summoning its blade to its mouth, and now she's the one off-balance. She recovers quickly, though, springing backwards to give herself more room. Shit.]

You okay?

[The cat doesn't follow through after that, the blast from Zelos slowing it down. It shakes its head in a fruitless attempt to clear it, and Sheena takes the opportunity to kick out, sweeping its legs from under it and sending it towards the edge of the roof, where it scrabbles desperately not to fall.]

[The fire blade collapses on her knee, heaving and trying to blink away the sudden exhaustion. Out of the corner of his eye Zelos can see the lightning blade slow down as well, shaking and fighting off this strong a concentration of pure ether. As if it could, Zelos thinks smugly. He is the fucking Aegis. The blades should be out of commission for a while until their drivers get here--if they weren't in the radius of the blast, that is. And Zelos kind of doubts that they weren't. He's starting to feel a little more confident about his own abilities like that.

But, okay. There's no way his attacks haven't alerted everyone to their position, so. Whatever. They need to leave. Zelos dismisses his sword and casts that speed spell again over himself and Sheena, then rushes over to her side and grabs her hand, pulling her along without even sparing a glance.] "I'll heal," [is all Zelos says to acknowledge her,] "But that thing won't last. Let's go!"

[He leads her to the side of the roof, over to where they can see the gardens, and jumps off while still holding onto her hand.]

[Out of the corner of her eye, Sheena catches one of the drivers at the window they'd come out of, starting to climb down. Definitely time to go, then, and she just nods when he speaks, turning her attention to the garden stretching out below them.

...Hm. The walls of the maze are close, and they look sturdy - a thick trellis with creeping vines rather than dense hedges that could never take anyone's weight.]

What do you say we go over? Going through would take too long. They'd just catch up.

[That's all the warning Zelos gets, as she launches herself off the roof with extra force, holding onto his hand tightly. She lands on the top of the closest trellis, tests to make sure it doesn't wobble too badly under their weight. So far, so good.]

[Okay, Sheena angles them onto the trellis, and when it doesn't give Zelos lets go of her and runs off with her to where the castle grounds end and where freedom begins. He can feel it in his body, taste it in the air, the tick tick tick tick tick incessant against his forehead the further he gets from the castle at odds with the pumping of ether in his veins, his ether lines, behind his eyes, the taste of agitated atmospheric ether on his tongue. It's dizzying. It's intoxicating. They are so close. Sheena will truly, really have broke him out if they manage to get to the other side. They're going to get out of here.

Holy shit.

Off in the distance, over the roaring of ether and adrenaline in his body, Zelos can hear a bunch of people already rushing out of the castle, some alarms, spells exploding everywhere he can feel. The hunt is on, it seems. But they can't stop him anymore. Grinning, high off the energy and the promise of freedom, Zelos slows his own pace a little so he lags behind Sheena a few steps, and then concentrates most of his ether to his feet, leaving behind a trail of burning greenery that soon catches fire behind them. The smell of fire quickly rises in the air, and in its wake Zelos starts laughing. Free, unrestrained laughter, something that's born from deep within his core and rises out the air not as smoke, but as clear, pure delight. He throws his head back. Dear Architect above, who knew that today was gonna turn out like this?

Fire growing behind them like a protective wall, the wake of their destruction a protection against pursuers at least for a little bit, Zelos follows Sheena on the trellis until they make it to the outer wall, then climbs over it, and

just like that

he's free.]

Holy shit! [she calls back to him with a laugh, glancing back to see the fire catch across the trellises.] They're never gonna catch up with that in the way!

[She lets herself drop from the wall when they reach the end of the maze, admiring the way the smoke rises behind it. They should keep going - they're not really safe until they can disappear into the city, and maybe find new clothes for the both of them - but their shared triumph is a hell of a drug. They can have a minute to bask in it, surely.]

[Once they're on the other side of the wall, taking a moment to catch their breath, Zelos turns back to watch the smoke rise with Sheena, breathing heavily. Oh my god, he did that. The chaos on the other side must be spectacular. Holy shit.

Now that he's stopped, every overwhelming sensation Zelos has been holding back crashes onto him suddenly. That dizzying feeling of freedom and regret and hope and fear and pride and gratefulness and everything all at once, conflicting emotions and thoughts, all of them pushing at him until he breaks under their weight. The air in Zelos' lungs leaves him in a wheezing laugh and right at that second his knees give out under him. He barely catches himself as he falls forward, head bowed and eyes lost on the dirt below as he fights the sensation, breathing heavily through a grin.]

"Ahaaaaaaaa, hooooly shit," [he manages to get out. He's shaking. His throat feels dry, and he swallows hard to no avail. Maybe that's just the dry hot air around the fire.] "Oh, Architect. Oh man. I'm--I'm outside?" [He starts to laugh.] "What the hell is my life?"

That was...

[Holy shit. That was a mess, but it worked. They're free.

She's not quite as out of breath as him, but with his emotional cocktail hitting her, it barely makes a difference. She lets herself slide down the wall til she's sitting next to him, placing a cautious, gentle hand on his shoulder.]

You've really never been out of there before?

"Without it having been planned out for me at least five months in advance for a war propaganda-filled tour or requiring at least five guards to surround me as I'm guided around?" [He laughs.] "Yeah, no. The change of pace is nice, at least, so thanks for that."

[Ooop, that feels like too much information to be sharing with someone who's not even from this world, for some reason. Geez. Zelos takes a deep breath. Holds it, releases it slowly. Tries to reign back all of his embarrassing emotions to hide them deep where he can't deal with them. Closes his eyes and occupies his mind by thinking of everything and nothing, trying to map out a course from the castle to the nearest buildings he knows exist, but has never visited. And it's right then that he's struck with the realization that he doesn't really know his way around the city, doesn't know the outside world. What the fuck. What now?

Alright, alright, stop that. Breathe, for the love of god. Zelos hums and sits up, then meets Sheena's eyes and offers her a pathetic little smile.] "Anyway," [he begins, chuckling,] "do you have any plans from here on out or are you gonna leave all the hard work to me instead?"

Yeah, well. [This world is fucked up!! Not that Tethe'alla wasn't, but. This is new and exciting levels of fucked up.] You don't have to go back there, at least. [She's pretty sure she's seen more genuine emotion from this Zelos in an afternoon than she'd seen from her world's Zelos in years of friendship. Ouch. Sheena smiles back at him, thinking about his question.]

We should probably lay low until dark. Maybe get some clothes without bloodstains on them, if we can find any. It'll be easier to get out of the city at night. [A pause, as Sheena considers the fact that his injured shoulder is still fucking glowing.] I know you said you could heal that, but... do you want me to wrap it up or something?

Edited 2019-03-12 05:11 (UTC)

[He looks at his shoulder, stares for like half a second, and then shrugs.] "It'll probably be fine. I get the feeling that if the ether doesn't air out I'll probably explode or something."

[Anyway, Sheena's plan sounds solid for now, so Zelos pushes himself to stand with great effort, stumbling only a little once he's finally on his feet. He's still feeling a little emotionally and physically unstable after all that rush, but, well, given the urgency to not get caught and jailed again then that mess is going to have to wait in the back burner a little while longer.] "Fire's gonna draw a lot of attention, so," [Zelos gestures forward, off and away from the castle wall.] "Let's mosey, yeah?"

[Hm! Sheena doesn't like that! But he seems sure enough that it doesn't need attention, and what is she gonna do, insist? What if he does explode?]

Yeah, alright. Let's get going.

[AND THEY'RE OFF. Sheena leads them to the lower district of the city, figuring that people will be less likely to ask questions or to look there. Her gald's starting to run low, after a few weeks here, but she manages to stash him in a cheap inn where he can bleed ether without attracting a crowd and get the two of them some traveling supplies, replacement clothes, and something to cover Zelos's core crystal. It's a cute little capelet or something, maybe. Let Zelos-no-last-name discover Fashion. The inn is pretty seedy, which is probably fun for him, but nothing terrible happens while they're there, at least.

She wakes him in the middle of the night to leave, while it's still too dark for his fucking hair to stand out as much as it does. Once they're a little past the city boundaries, Sheena finally speaks up:]

... Hey, I'm sorry about before.

[Having his core crystal covered up is an odd sensation, but Zelos understands that Sheena just proudly carting around the fucking Aegis is a big no-no if they want to get out of here alive. So whatever. He spends the rest of their time dissociating gently by keeping most of his attention in the atmospheric ether around them, even if it's still pretty chaotic from the city-wide panic as news of the stolen Aegis spread. He's just trying to sense any big disturbances that may come their way so that they can flee quick if push comes to shove. It's his own little way to be useful.

Nothing happens, though. They leave in the middle of the night once things have quieted down a little, though there's still some pretty tight security as stray guards and citizens keep an eye out for their precious weapon. Zelos is quiet for most of the trip, still focused on the atmospheric ether even after they finally make their way out of Meltokio, and his concentration is only broken when Sheena addresses him.

She's... apologizing? Huh. Zelos feels himself raise an eyebrow, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.] "Hm?"

[She glances away, looking a little embarrassed in the dim light. The moons are bright enough that, between their light and Zelos's ether lines, she can see where she's going, at least.]

Just... me acting like you were the Zelos I knew was probably confusing, right after you woke up. And I didn't really give you a chance to decide what you wanted. So, uh. Sorry.

[Wow, Sheena, it's almost like you're very good at being rude! She rubs the back of her neck, sheepish. It's kind of useless to apologize for that second one now that it's too late to do anything about it, but... at least he's free, right?]

Edited 2019-03-12 06:13 (UTC)

[Oh.

Zelos nearly stops in his tracks when he hears all that, but manages to suppress the urge and keep walking, maintaining his face carefully blank. He does hum thoughtfully, though. Presses his lips into a tight line when he recalls Sheena's demanding behaviour towards him at first, urging him to remember a past that isn't his, then her resignation as she realized he wasn't what she wanted. Just like that the images of his mirror's death flash back to his mind's eye, his triumphant laughter as he slowly died.

He can't blame Sheena for her desperate attempt to cling to a hope that his mirror's actions had somehow been undone in this world, that she'd be able to find a solution, or even replacement, for her Zelos' choice. That's just how humans work, right? They're stubborn. They're irrational. Zelos can't really say he's not a little sore about Sheena simply slotting herself right into the driver role with no questions asked, ordering Zelos around and dragging him out of the castle, but. He did play along. And despite the regret knotting at the bottom of his stomach, he can't say he's mad about finally being free.

So.

Zelos looks up at the moon, stares. Keeps walking, silent and carefully blank, trying to figure out if the moon has always been this big or if this is new, if it's just the illusion of the grass being greener on the other side and everything feeling new speaking, comes up blank for that too. Remembers abruptly that Sheena only wants him for his power, that she only really broke him out of that life as a caged bird for the sole reason of going back home, and--

Smiles. Makes a choice she won't get to hear, and tucks that away at the bottom of his conscious where she will never, ever be able to get to, then shrugs.]

"We can't do anything about it, so who cares," [he says.] "Whatever will be, will be."

[Sheena just... lets out a dry little laugh when he says that. He's Zelos, alright, even if the longer she looks the easier it gets to see the ways he's different. Or the things he's just not used to hiding, maybe. She puts that train of thought aside before it can go anywhere too painful.]

I guess. Anyway... what do you want to do, once we're somewhere safe? Got any ideas?

[She has... no idea what he might want to do with his life, actually.]

[Okay, now that is what gives him pause. He regards Sheena for a second before stopping altogether, a hand rising to rest under his chin as he thinks. Zelos hums--what does he want to do? He hadn't given that much thought before. He hadn't really thought he could do or be anything else outside of the castle, thought of himself almost exclusively as Tethe'alla's weapon. The freedom to choose now, even if illusory, is overwhelming.

And that's the thing, too--now that he remembers what Sheena wants to use him for, as a blade at the mercy of her commands and with nowhere else to go, there's really nothing he can do other than follow Sheena around and obey her original request. Because Zelos doesn't want to believe she actually wants his input, if he's gonna be honest. A driver actually wanting to hear what her blade desires? Yeah, right. And her Zelos is still alive. Sheena's nice, and adorably naïve, but there's no way she's going to let Zelos out of his prison and escape without getting what she wants out of him first. That's how humans work.

So he makes it a show out of thinking his choice through, tilts his head, stares out at the moons as if deeply in thought. He entertains the thought of what he wants for a second before coming up blank and deciding just to get this over with already, planning something else instead.

He turns to look at Sheena and presses his face directly into her personal space, grin comically large, and laughs.] "I have no idea!" [Zelos cheerfully announces. He straightens out of her space and shrugs in an exaggerated motion.] "Obviously, though, we should first get as far away from the castle as possible, and then find somewhere to hide. But after that, I guess I send you off, right? You must miss home!"

['Let's stop pretending and get what you want done and over with already,' he thinks. He doesn't want to hate Sheena, but the fact that she just needs the Aegis to send her home? Still kinda burns. And now he has to find a way of how to go about this, considering how weak and artificial he is.]

Edited 2019-03-12 14:35 (UTC)

Things Sheena and Zelos might have noticed, had they been paying more attention:
- the woman who literally jumped out a window, ditching her lecture on the intricacies of Tethe'allan politics, the moment she caught sight of the Aegis passing by below.
- (In their defense-- she went to being more discreet the moment she was on the ground. Also, she does this a lot, so no one even really looked twice at her doing it. Oh god, there goes that law student again. The one I saw climbing the building last week? Yeah her. Why is she like this. I don't know but I support her.)
- they might have noticed: the same woman then followed them to the inn, and proceeded to sit around most of the night waiting for them to leave again.
- the same woman, hiding in the shadows and downing a stolen cup of coffee becuase sleep is for losers not on stakeouts, as they left the inn in the dark of night.
- the same woman following them out of the inn, and also distracting a handful of guards so they could safely get out of Meltokio.
- the same woman following them out onto the roads, too, at a respectable distance.

At this point?? she could probably approach them?? But they're talking and she doesn't want to startle them, but. hm. HM. Do they even know where the fuck they're going? Does she need to rescue, or just follow?

Does she need to figure out what she's going to say to mitigate the damage when she approaches them? Yeah. Is she gonna think about that in advance? Oh absolutely not.

Anyway at the moment she'll wait, following at this respectable distance.

[Sheena is completely fucking oblivious to being followed, being too distracted by Zelos's antics to pay attention to anything else. She slows to a stop as she notices that he's stopped, just watching him think it through. (It'd ease her mind to know he has something he wants, she thinks - the less like the Zelos from her world he is, the better, probably.)

And then he's in her face, and augh. She almost pushes him right back out of her personal space, but he backs off before she can do it. Her hand doesn't make it up more than halfway before he's moved.]

Well, there's plenty of time for you to figure it out. It'll take us a while to get to Mizuho. [She thinks. Should have bought a map, maybe; it's not like the worlds had been united long enough, back home, for any to exist.] And... I'll figure something out, even if it turns out you can't help. [Or if he doesn't want to!] Something must have brought me here, right?

[Zelos laughs out loud at her trying to shove him off, hands on his hips. Sheena's comment about 'if it turns out you can't help' embeds itself into his throat like a shard of glass and raises the volume of his laugh for a second before he stops himself. Come on, focus on what's important here, idiot. Zelos tilts his head, grins, squints his eyes at Sheena.] "Of course, of course! To Mizuho it is for now, then! Hope they feel honoured and humbled when The Great Aegis Zelos, the crown jewel of Tethe'alla, shows up at their doorstep!"

[To be honest, though, Zelos is suddenly not feeling very convinced about the idea of heading to Mizuho as a fugitive, or putting himself in that much danger around so many people with hidden agendas, but... that's a problem for his future self. Especially when the ether around him and Sheena stirs, and his senses abruptly snap into focus as he pinpoints the source of the disturbance--somewhere behind him and Sheena, coming from Meltokio's general direction. Well, shit. They were followed.

Fuck. Alright, then, let's do this. He keeps himself as calm and casual as he can be despite the ether gathering at his fingertips, and discreetly circles Sheena so that he's in-between her and the signal, facing her at first. It's tactics, really; he can't have his driver die now. They haven't even left the country!

He flaps his hand about, grinning.] "Anyway, I'll leave the roadtrip route to you, then. However!" [Zelos announces, voice loud and booming, right as he summons his sword and turns around on his heel to face the signal.] "I'm not sure I like the idea of you knowing where we're going, whoever the hell you are. I mean, seriously, hasn't anyone told you that eavesdropping is rude?"

[Hopefully that sounds more confident than he feels!]

Aw shit.

Okay, okay, nothing to do now other than-- stumble into the goddamn open like a dumbass. It's fine, it's fine! Anna brushes herself off and collects herself, and maybe she looks a little deer-in-the-headlights but it's the middle of the night and she is running on coffee and spite and look. Okay. Maybe if she sounded confident that would just make her less trustworthy? Because then it would absolutely sound like she had a Hidden Agenda or some shit. Yeah, that.

She definitely tripped on purpose.

"Uhhhh," Anna says. Eloquent as fucking always. "Hi? Look, listen, sorry about that. It's just. I think I can help you out."

She holds her hands up, to show she's unarmed, doesn't intend to hurt. Aims for a pleasant smile.

"Don't get me wrong, Mizuho isn't exactly a bad idea-- they are mostly neutral, as far as the war goes, but. 'Mostly' is the operative word, there. And seeing as you're the goddamn Aegis..."

(Oh god, don't just bring attention to the fact he's the Aegis. Anna. Anna you are going to fuck it.)

[Sheena whirls around, eyes wide, reaching for her cards. How did she not notice? It's hard to tell from here, even with the sudden light from Zelos's sword appearing, but the woman doesn't look like anyone she knows. Although... maybe she'd seen her in the city, somewhere?

Well. That'd make sense, if they were followed. She frowns, pushing down the spike of surprise and stepping aside so she can get between Zelos and the stranger.]

And why would we listen to advice from someone who's following us in the middle of the night?

"That's... a good point!" Anna admits.

Okay, Anna, think quickly. Too bad you have no idea how to think quickly! This is why you should practice what you're going to say before you need to say it. She fidgets a little where she stands, her excitement and her general wells of Entirely Too Much Energy making her rock back and forth on her heels for a second, as she tries to find words.

(Taking a leaf out of Kratos' book, much? Ha.)

She inhales, slow, to center herself.

"My name is Anna Irving."

Usually not a smart move, giving her name to strangers. But even if she has no idea who this driver is, she knows anyone who freed the Aegis is probably someone who isn't going to be stabbing her in the back for her anti-war sentiments.

"I'm... from a group that would very much like to see this war end, and I know that taking the Aegis to Mizuho is not how that's going to happen. Everyone wants their hands on him." She sends a nervous glance at Zelos, offers him a smile. "I want his safety just as much as the two of you do."

Hopefully that sells it? Aw hell, she's got one more card up her sleeve. Might as well play it.

She makes eye contact with Zelos. He must know this name, must know what it means.

"Kratos Aurion is my husband."

NOT WHEN YOU'RE STEALING GOVERNMENT PROPERTY

SHE'S GONNA PUNCH GOD IF ANYONE ELSE CALLS HIM THAT IN FRONT OF HER

Birth of a Wish plays in the distance

this thread is just "how many times can sheena have a stress reaction in one day"

I mean no one here is doing okay so she's valid

everything is fucked!!!

COMING OUT OF MY CAGE AND I'VE BEEN DOIN' JUST FINE

OUT OF THE CAGE AND INTO THE ARENA OF FUCKOR

YOU'RE GONNA DROP THEM LIKE IT'S HOT /NOW?/

NO BUT IT'S COMING

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogZOuyEUaqM

i am going to DIE here and this thread will never be finished

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a wild momther appears! she used stealth! SO FAR, EFFECTIVE

can't believe sheena literally rolled nat 1 perception

I CAN'T BELIEVE HER FUCKING BLADE HAD TO DO THE SUCCESSFUL PERCEPTION ROLL AGAIN

SUDDENLY NOT SUPER EFFECTIVE

YA FUCKED IT

Aw shite