i just wanna know: who broke it?

[summonerd]

[Sheena'd thought she was all done with dimensional travel, now that the two worlds were united. But here she is, having fallen asleep in one world and woken up in a Tethe'alla that's just different enough from the one she knows to be constantly jarring. Her connections to Aselia's summon spirits dangle loose, snapped by distance - not even Origin's power could follow her here, it seems. That's more than a little unsettling.

It takes her some time, alone in a bizarro version of Meltokio as she is, but eventually she stumbles on a lead - an old scientific journal, a mention of the power of something called an Aegis being able to transcend space and time, at least in theory. And a little asking around tells her that Tethe'alla has its own Aegis, though no one's seen it for years. Well. Worth a shot, right?

Somehow she manages to talk her way into the Tethe'allan castle where the Aegis's core crystal awaits being woken up, with a series of smiles and her very best politicking - yes, of course she's got nothing but loyalty for Tethe'alla, of course she's skilled at this, of course it'd be a great honor.

(Zelos would be proud, she thinks, wryly.)

They're dubious, but her persistence wears them down, or maybe they're just desperate enough for a return of the Aegis's power to let her try, and the orange core crystal is offered out to her.

She takes a deep breath, and reaches out to touch it.]

Comments

[presidentheartbeat]

You know what? It actually gets a little easier to tell when Lloyd's being a jackass and fucking with people about food after having been subjected to said fuckery in the first place, so when Lloyd starts to go off about the s'mores process being backwards in his world and Malos falls for it, Zelos stifles his giggling by eating a marshmallow Malos handed him over earlier.

Lloyd's really fucking committed to his act, huh? He could fool Zelos again if he didn't know what to look for, or if he wasn't expecting him to pull something like this again, or if it wasn't for the little pull to his lips that's telling of a shit-eating grin. He's not tricking Zelos again that easily. Still, though. Architect, must he do this to every unsuspecting blade out there in the world? Please.

Clearly there is only one way to handle a situation like this.

He starts by taking off his glove and laughing. "Yeah, no, that's totally how they do it," Zelos shrugs, reaching over for another marshmallow to carefully warm it in his hand. The idea of getting sticky for the sake of a joke is horrible, but, whatever. If all the pieces of the puzzle don't come together perfectly then the full picture won't be convincing, so it's a sacrifice he's willing to make. "It's quite the backwards culture, honestly. They do everything all weird, but cultural differences are fun, right!"

Oh god, the marshmallow's melting. This is disgusting. Last minute, Zelos isn't sure he can commit to actually grabbing chocolate like this and getting even dirtier, so instead he redirects everyone's attention to Sheena when he turns on his heel and waves over at her, shouting, "Sheena! Get over here and help me with this!"

[summonerd]

Sheena hadn't stayed asleep long, even with Zelos being gentle when he'd kicked her out. Some combination of his unease and her own mess of an emotional state had dragged her into wakefulness, and when she'd found Lloyd the only one awake, she'd called up to him to see if he wanted company. It's almost normal, a soft little nothing conversation that they could've had in any world after a bad night, and Sheena clings to that, lets it steady her heart and chase off a few of her worries.

When Lloyd jumps down, she hesitates, glancing down. Malos is up, obviously, but Zelos is, too, and… He probably doesn't want to see her, right now. The guilt that her conversation with Lloyd had softened bubbles up again, just for a second, before she pushes it away. It's fine. She doesn't mind staying up here a little longer - the early morning light is pale and dappled by the branches above her but warm anyway, and the others' words filter up to her as she closes her eyes and continues what the time spent with Lloyd had started and centers herself.

It's nice, actually, letting the conversation drift past her, though she has to muffle a very undignified snort of laughter and bright amusement as she realizes what Lloyd's trying to pull. And then Zelos calls for her, which she really hadn't expected, and she jolts a little as he waves, with a ripple of surprise. Well - maybe that was all the space he'd needed? S'mores don't sound like a bad idea, anyway. Sheena pulls herself to her feet, as casually as if she'd been on the ground, and eyes the distance for just a second before she leaps, straight down. Her landing is just as nonchalant, coming down onto one knee for a moment to distribute her weight better before she straightens up, heading over to Zelos.

"Don't look at me, my world didn't even have s'mores til Lloyd introduced them," she says, though the uncertain smile on her face as she catches Zelos's eye doesn't entirely match her tone. Not that she'd spent much time in Tethe'allan cities since the worlds were reunited, but the last time they'd stopped in on Regal he'd mentioned that Lloyd's prank had actually managed to take root in at least one noble's household, so far, and Sheena can't help the way her smile gets a little closer to a real grin as she remembers that. "What do you need?"

[presidentheartbeat]

There's a bit of a bubbling anxiety in Zelos' core when Sheena does approach them, but he tries to hide and keep it inside to the best of his ability with a loud laugh. Come on, Zelos. You asked her to come. At least he manages to succeed in making it sound natural, and his next words come easy, in that high-pitched, playful tone of his he always uses for shit like this.

"What do you mean your world didn't have s'mores!" he exclaims, dramatic and loud. Then he shrugs and offers the marshmallow to his driver, smirk big and eyebrow raised. "Honestly, I think the people here deserve a demonstration, so I was going to ask you to try the reverse process Lloyd keeps going off about! I even roasted a marshmallow for you since I'm so considerate!"

Please take the marshmallow, Sheena. Please. It feels disgusting in his hand.

[summonerd]

Sheena deliberates for just a second, as much to push her own trepidation down as to consider if she's really willing to do this. No, alright, she's done dumber things without meaning to. It's not worse than the unpeeled orange would have been.

"Okay, okay," she says, leans in to take the marshmallow from his hand. The motion brings her out of the fragile morning light and into a shadow, and her eyes reflect Zelos's ether back at him, bright, for a moment. Actually, she kind of has to scrape the marshmallow off of his hand. Gross. This is why people use sticks, Zelos. "Thanks," she tells him, more sincere than dry - though, on the other hand, she does now have a handful of gooey marshmallow because of him, even if she appreciates the gesture - and reaches over for the rest of the s'more supplies, creating a fucked up reverse sandwich with the graham cracker in the middle. "Here, this is how you eat a Sylvaranti s'more," she says, struggling to keep a straight face as she takes a bite.

He's actually curious

[presidentheartbeat]

Zelos wants to focus on the horrible fact that oh, Architect, Sheena's actually doing this and that looks so uncomfortable, but something else catches his eye instead. When Sheena leans in Zelos catches a second of Sheena's eyes reflecting the light of his arm's ether lines, almost cat-like, and the notion is so sudden that Zelos is way too flabbergasted to speak when she's done.

Without really thinking about it Zelos waits until Sheena's already eaten the s'more and at least cleaned her hand before he does anything, choosing to reach over and cup her face in one hand, pulling her to look at him. He moves her head from side to side, watching her eyes reflect the light of his ether, and raises an eyebrow. Curious. Like, what the fuck? Zelos has seen and lived with enough humans in his life to know that this is abso-fucking-lutely not a human trait. Or, maybe that's just how humans are in Sheena's universe. But then why don't Lloyd's eyes shine?

Do they even shine? Have they tried that?

"Has anyone told you your eyes are like, glowing?" Zelos asks, watching her closely. "Is that a thing in your world, maybe? Like, what the hell." He moves her head to the right again before humming, then turns over to squint at Lloyd without releasing his driver. "What about you, huh? Any glow?"

he's so valid

[risingfalcon]

Lloyd is absolutely losing his shit. The joy of Zelos getting in on the act and making it seem like inverted s'mores were just a thing that existed for Lloyd, compounded by the appearance of Sheena and the fact that she totally just ate an inverted s'more works to leave the bright, shit-eating grin on Lloyd's face obvious for anyone to see. God, he loves these fucking memes so much, he thinks, fighting off a wave of laughter as he shoves another (actual) s'more into his mouth.

He turns his head to look back at Zelos when addressed though, the grin softening down into a playful smile. "Nah, I'm human, so my eyes don't glow. Sheena's part elf, though," Lloyd shrugs, huffing out a laugh, "we think so, anyway, which would explain the nightvision thing."

Then, he sends Sheena a cheeky beam, ready to have something thrown at him. "She's a rescue though, so we don't know for sure."

HE IS

[summonerd]

Honestly, mess aside, the s'more isn't terrible. There's not enough cracker to make up for the marshmallow's sweetness, and she has to eat it before the chocolate can melt and make the situation any worse, but Sheena would take this over eating an unpeeled orange any day.

She's not expecting Zelos to just reach out and take hold of her face, though. "Hey," she starts, uncertain, though she doesn't fight it for the moment, letting him tilt her head. She can guess what this is probably about, but her face heats up a little in embarrassment anyway. And then Lloyd speaks, and the heat spreads into a full blush, scowling. "I'm gonna throw you off the closest mountain as soon as Zelos lets go," she warns him, tugging her face away from his grasp, though not as strongly as she could have. She's mostly joking. Probably.

"But yeah, I have a little elven blood," she continues, with a little shrug. She can't help the trepidation that wells up in her, just for a second, though it passes quickly-- it's not like anyone's given her shit for it in so long, and it's not like anyone here would so much as know why it's weird. "Probably not much, since I'm hopeless with magic. I can see better in the dark, that's all."

I'M GLAD Y'ALL LOVE HIM?

[presidentheartbeat]

Hm, okay, that explains it a little, except it really doesn't. Still holding onto Sheena because he doesn't want to be responsible for a murder, Zelos raises an eyebrow in Lloyd's general direction, then down at Sheena when she starts explaining the rest. "What the hell is an elf, though?" he asks. "'Cause, like, the way you're explaining it it sounds like you're either a Flesh Eater or a Blade Eater equivalent. Probably the latter."

Alright, that's quite enough. Once his curiosity is satisfied and when he's probably sure that Sheena's not going to actually throw anyone off any mountains, Zelos smiles and lets go of his driver. Right away the little droplets of shame and 'oh god I did that' start falling at the pit of his core, and he evaporates them out of his mouth through a laugh, reaching over to take off his other glove, because putting on the other one when his hand is still sticky is a preventable disaster.

"Wellp!" he exclaims, shrugging. "Not like I care, but I guess night vision is the more useful end of the bargain." With the gloves off Zelos reaches over for another marshmallow, this time just warming it a little bit before eating it as is. Fuck getting dirtier, man. And eating with sticks sounds like a health hazard waiting to happen, even if he doesn't exactly have the same health issues a human would have, but-- "Guess we now know who's in charge of keeping watch tomorrow!"

HE'S FANTASTIC

[risingfalcon]

Lloyd waves his hand in the air a little carelessly, shrugging while biting into a marshmallow he was too lazy to cook this time. "Elves are a race in our world," he says around a mouthful of sticky goop, "they have a collective stick up their asses and live in Heimdall. Better off not having to deal with them, honestly."

Pausing, he sighs a little out of disappointment at himself and his tone, and then straightens up and swallows the marshmallow. "Okay, well, they're not terrible, really. Their society is just like, really fucking strict and has some shit views so I have a grudge against them." A grudge is rather light of a descriptor, given the way his lips curl into a frown as soon as he thinks about Heimdall and Genis and Raine and everything the elves have done to treat the half-elves terribly, but he sticks with it. "They're pretty cool ability wise, though. Have some real good magic stuff and the nightvision thing."

I'D DIE FOR ZELOS

[summonerd]

Being this close to Zelos without him making some kind of weird terrible innuendo that makes her elbow him in the gut is a little weird, but she's starting to get used to it, she thinks. "Nope, neither of those," she says, tone light.

Sheena snorts in laughter at Lloyd's first description, not offering any argument to it. It's not like he's wrong. The way they'd treated Genis and Raine had been enough for her to not need to see any more, honestly. "That's about it," she says, after he continues. "At least they mostly keep to themselves."

She wouldn't mind a second s'more, but first--

Once Zelos does let her go, Sheena takes the opportunity to pull Lloyd down into a headlock, noogieing him mercilessly. "A rescue, huh?" she asks, messing up his already-messy hair.

NO!!!! HE'LL DIE FIRST. NOT NECESSARILY FOR YOU BUT HE'LL DIE

[presidentheartbeat]

Elves sound like a bunch of jackasses, Zelos thinks as these two explain the whole deal with them, as his core starts to find annoyance growing like an unwanted weed. Though--honestly? They just sound like humans. And it's kind of putting Zelos into a bit of a bad mood to be hearing this stuff--he did say he didn't care--so before any disaster can even think about striking, Zelos chooses to disengage from the situation instead of letting it escalate.

He laughs, dismissive. Then Sheena pulls Lloyd into a headlock and Zelos just throws his hands up in the air. Wellp! He tried. Whatever. The Aegis then turns on his heel and leaves the two idiots to themselves to walk over to Malos, marshmallows and s'mores forgotten in favour of grinning up at the only other responsible person here. "Anyway," Zelos says, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder to the roughhousing duo, "let's leave the dumbass solidarity over there to their own devices and talk about mature things, like what the plan for today is and whatever. It's already morning and we have two new guests."

DON'T DIE YOU'LL BREAK MALOS' FUCKING HEART

[theactingdad]

"Oh I'm not staying," Nia tells Zelos, already packing up her things. "I think I'll steal another s'mores before I go-- least you owe me for saving your asses--"

"Hey don't take that out on Zelos, he did nothing wrong," Malos interjects.

"No you're right," Nia says. "But I swear I cannot count how many times I've had to look after you fuckin' Irvings, and I am Not changing my plans to follow you cross country just to do more of that." She closes her bag with a finality, shouldering it.

"Hey, you can't leave before you say hi to Anna," Malos tells her.

There's a split second where Nia looks like she might just kill Malos, but then she huffs and drops her bag back to the ground. "Fine!" she says. "I'll stay another half hour! But if she wants to spend longer than that messing around with her husband, then that's on her."

"Ew," Malos says, on reflex. On a list of things he's pretty sure aren't happening right now but still didn't want to think about, anyway? That. Thanks Nia. It's not worth arguing with her, though. He focuses on the question Zelos asked him, instead. "Anyway, just. Kratos is probably coming with us, which is for the best because he'll have a better idea of how to sort shit with Mithos than I do, for sure. Don't think plans have changed too much, otherwise. We'll head out-- I'dunno, soon?" He taps into the emotional bleed to try and get a gauge on things, but Anna's got a tight enough grip on her end that it's basically impossible. He thinks things feel better? "Give Anna and Kratos like twenty minutes to finish sorting their shit and then cool off-- Nia raise those eyebrows any higher and I'll punch them off your face."

"Hey, I said nothing," Nia protests, eyebrows raised and looking smug as hell. Malos takes a half-hearted swing at her which she ducks under, and she laughs, good natured. "Next time you need healing, ask someone else!" she shoots at him, slinking off to procure more s'mores.

Malos lets out a short, strained noise, then straightens and composes himself. "Anyway. Like. We'll head out soon, alright? Unless you think we should do something else. Dunno if you've got any kind of change of plans in mind after yesterday. If you do lemme hear it."

EXCUSE ME

[presidentheartbeat]

Architect, there's so much noise. Sheena's still putting Lloyd through hell, Nia is personally terrorizing Malos, and Kratos and Anna are probably still having their marriage squabble off where the Aegis left them. They're just so damn lively for so early in the morning. If Zelos knew what a sitcom was, he'd be mentally comparing the current situation to one of those. Unfortunately, though, in this universe there are no sitcoms to speak of, so the Aegis is left simply thinking about how absolutely bizarre these people are despite having just escaped certain death a few hours ago.

It's like everyone has someone to bounce off of, a bond to fall back on. Someone to distract them of the grim realities of what just happened. A group full of duos... and then there's him.

Huh. Um.

Alright.

Zelos blinks. The little plan he'd formulated with Kratos comes to mind, along with how unlikely they are to sneak off now that everyone's awake and so aware of each other. Oh, well. For now Zelos ignores it, chooses instead to flip his hair over his shoulder and sighs dramatically, like putting up with this mess and all this noise is personally offensive and oh just so much for him, and then settles for the hands-on-his-hips pose and a bored expression. "You say Kratos knows his shit, right?" He shrugs without taking his hands off where they are, smirks. "Then I say we follow him. We can head out once he's back and you lively lot have had your fair share of sugary poison."

MALOS LOVES HIM!!!!!!!!

[theactingdad]

"I mean he's known Mithos for hundreds of years, so I hope Kratos knows what he's doing," Malos laughs. "Anyway, sounds good to me-- don't shit on s'mores though! They lightened the mood right up after the bullshit we went through yesterday."

Not that he thinks Zelos is really doing anything more than joking, but it's nice to jest in good humor.

"But that's fine if you don't want any-- More for us!" Malos laughs, though what he actually does is goes to put together a slightly more substantial breakfast for everyone to start the day with.

MITHOS HEAVEN FUCKING NOW

[aurions]

He and Anna do sort it out, and though Kratos is still upset, he is glad she's alive, and she does seem to be genuinely sorry, so maybe he can find it in him to forgive her. Eventually. Since they have the same destination and he doesn't exactly want to leave her after just getting her back, he elects to travel with them, of course.

Before Nia leaves, Kratos asks her if she'll take the core crystals he gathered, since he certainly doesn't want to be lugging them across the continent on a rescue mission. She complains-- as she does-- but agrees, and keeps quiet about it, so that's alright. It's also out of his hands.

The travel plans don't change, though Kratos admits after some consideration that there's probably no point stopping at Mithos' tower-- chances are that he's likely long gone, already on his way to save his sister. They're more likely to bump into him on the road, or arrive after he's already freed Martel, given the speed advantage Mithos has with his wings. The good news is not stopping at the tower will save days of travel.

Truthfully, Kratos spends most of today's travels dissociating, trying not to think about Martel suffering, trying not to think about how long it's going to take him to get to her. He remembers-- him and Martel, traveling to get to Mithos. Those were the longest weeks of his life. It feels like a repeat is playing out before him, now, just louder, more voices to fill the terrified, urgent silence he and Martel traveled in some hundreds of years ago. Oh well. Everyone keeps their distance from him, at least, which is good becuase Kratos is not quite certain he'd react well if anyone got close enough to touch him, and doubts he'd be a good conversation partner, either.

After what feels like an eternity, the sun finally starts to set, and they pick out a place to camp for the night. Kratos starts to make himself useful, but then--

The sun abruptly yanks itself upwards, out of sunset position.

And then it swings due south, like it intends to set there instead.

Kratos stares for a long, long moment, his core slowly going numb as he processes what he is seeing and moreover what it means.

"Oh, no," he says, tries to breathe around his horror.

"What the fuck?" Anna asks.

It takes Kratos a second to find words, to make himself move, but he has to, he has to. "Mithos," he explains, somewhat breathless, frantically shoving everything he's unpacked back into its bag. "It's--" But he can't quite find the voice to explain that the sun only does this within a few miles of Mithos when he's outputting an extraordinary amount of power, way more than he would output normally, safely, and if he's using that much power then something's very, very, very wrong.

"Consider it a distress signal," Kratos says, knowing the sun has positioned itself right above Mithos' current position. "We need to move."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GvBbbYcD8o

[presidentheartbeat]

The moment that their group steps into the general area they choose to call camp, something immediately starts to feel wrong. It's like a prickling sensation underneath Zelos' artificial skin that, though small and easy to ignore at first, still flares up and grows and threatens to rip him apart from the inside and destroy him the longer that it goes unchecked. It crawls up his core and lodges itself in his windpipe, and unconsciously the Aegis reaches up to scratch at his throat lightly, gulping down the stubborn lump before it can completely silence him.

Alarmed and alerted, yet wanting more information before acting, Zelos frowns, turns his attention to the ambient ether surrounding them all while pretending to busy himself by preparing everything for the fire. It's probably just an ether crystal deposit around the area or something, he thinks, since the signal around their camp isn't nearly strong enough or mobile for him to think that anything alive could possibly be outputting it. It feels more like a force of nature than it does a life force. But then that strikes him as even weirder; why would ambient ether lodge itself in his core like this, like it's a threat or a danger? Even the mines hadn't felt quite this oppressive.

Something's definitely up here.

That prickling sensation multiplies twofold under Zelos' skin, beating to a tick-tick-ticking rhythm that his pulse has memorized since the moment of his escape, since that millisecond in the mines when his mind gave him the cold, harsh numerical values of their survival on a bloodstained silver platter. His attention snaps up suddenly, hand already reaching for his driver before his eyes even find her. "Hey, Sheena," he says through another lump in his throat that he desperately swallows back down again, grip on her arm tight. "Something's wrong. I--"

And then it happens.

Within seconds, the sun is yanked right out of its descent to rest back up atop the skies, blue tint clear and breaking through the reds and oranges of twilight as the cloud sea above them is parted as if to make way for the painful brilliance of the blaring heavenly body, torn apart by an invisible force that pries reality open. On its perch the sun beats down harshly upon their camp, stuck there for a moment before it is shoved elsewhere, over to the south, resting there in its full, proud glow on a bright blue sky. Blue, not red. As if denying the sky itself the right to bleed in agony, a request for their full attention.

It is painful to look at. The glare of the sun is hot on sensitive skin, almost evaporating the ambient ether to unbearable smog that clings to the inside of Zelos' lungs.

The ether around the area is suddenly pushed down with an overwhelming pressure that brings Zelos to one knee, and his grip on Sheena's arm means that he drags his driver down with him when his legs give out. At first Zelos chokes on it: the lump in his throat becomes a claw that obstructs his throat and seizes all the air in his lungs, keeping it in an air pocket within its tight fist. Coughing, Zelos' free hand reaches up to his throat and uselessly grasps at it as if to dislodge it, eyes wide and lost on the ground as he starts scratching at skin. Get it out, get it out, get it out. Because this sensation... this abrupt change in ether...

Oh, no.

Oh, no no no no no--

Zelos gags. They don't have much time. They don't have time. They don't have the time to be sitting ducks out here in the open when--when-- "Fuck," he manages to cough out, skin clammy with the ambient ether's abrupt 180 into whatever the fuck this is. He's shaking, but nobody cares about that. He can't give himself the time or privilege to care about that, so he pushes himself up to stand, trying to drag Sheena back up with him. He doesn't know if she even needs the help. He can't tell if Sheena's okay or not. He's not really paying attention. His mind is too busy running numbers, the synchronization between his logical and his emotional halves torn to shreds like the clouds above had been, leaving him in a slight daze.

"We gotta go, we gotta go, we gotta go."

[aurions]

"Hang on," Malos' voice stops Kratos, though only for a second. "You wanna head towards whatever the hell that is!?"

There's a catch of fear in Malos' voice but Kratos pays it no mind, anger burning in his core, anger and sharp sharp sharp need singing inside of him, pushing him pushing him towards the source, his brother's ether calling him choking him and Kratos grounds his feet and stands tall in the wake of it, ready to shoulder ahead.

"It's Mithos," Kratos says, simply. "I have to--"

No time. No time no time. The ether fluctuates in fits and starts, the sun a burning and vibrant cry for help against a stubbornly blue sky. Kratos does not look to see if anyone follows him when he marches ahead. He's taken down armies alone, before. He'll do it again.

[presidentheartbeat]

Honestly, Zelos' first instinct is to run away from the source of this mess, every single self-preservation alarm in his mind and core screaming 'save yourself save yourself save yourself' within the cacophony of calculations and his systems trying to stabilize in the situation. He pulls at Sheena, urging her in literally any direction except south, still coughing up the remains of that lump in his throat. The ether in the area tastes like raw emotion, bitter and scalding with its rage. Much like his own has before, back when he was in--

Zelos abruptly stops thinking about that for long enough to hear Kratos mention Mithos' name.

And it's--it's like a bucket of cold water is dumped on him, a half-guilty, half-horrified feeling sinking to the bottom of his core like a fishing line that hooks down and pulls him south. Mithos. An Aegis. He's causing this. A blade is suffering. An Aegis is suffering. An original is suffering. And Zelos, he's--here he is, thinking of running away and saving himself like a coward while Kratos puts himself at risk for Mithos, while someone with an actual place in this world suffers for--

It's not going to continue.

Zelos draws in a sharp breath and abruptly lets go of Sheena's arm. He gets up to his full-height and doesn't think about it when he starts walking south, refuses to, just focuses on Kratos' retreating back. That hook in his core pulls him forward and he lets it, ignoring everything else in favour of making himself useful by helping Tethe'alla's rightful Aegis.

It's the least he can do with his miserable existence, right?

[risingfalcon]

In the aftermath of the reunion of the worlds, in the recreation of a joined Aselia, Lloyd had learned how to control his angel powers in what could only be called the hard way. Without a true guiding hand to teach him how to control them - (Colette tried, she really did, but how are you supposed to really control powers your body was never meant to have?) - many of his tactics came by way of trial and error and terrifying moments of clarity.

Accidentally shutting off his hearing for a day was horrible, yet funny in the grand scheme of things. Something to laugh at afterward, to joke around about and keep in an otherwise humorous memory. Turning off his emotions, though.

Now that was something that truly scared Lloyd.

Truthfully, he's not sure if his friends back home even realized what had happened to him when it did. He's not even sure what it was that triggered the disconnect, what made him snap his emotional ability with scissors he was never meant to use. All he remembers is the feeling of emptiness in his chest and mind, a frightening awareness of logic he usually didn't care for in favor of emotions he wasn't able to feel. On that day, there wasn't a single decision that Lloyd didn't think through at least twice, and the simple fact that there wasn't any emotional input was enough to scare him into finding out how to feel again. He stayed up that entire night, staring up at the ceiling, thinking of things he never voluntarily thought about, just to trigger himself into crying, into smiling, into anything that would force an emotional response, something that would show him he hadn't lost his humanity.

He had never thought he would ever welcome a nightmare, but the tears that greeted him when he woke up that night were like a blessing from a goddess he no longer believed in.

The best way he had learned to control his emotional output was to imagine if as less like a lock on a door or a plug in an outlet, but more of a stick-and-box animal trap. The trap represented his manaflow, and the animal it could trap his emotional capabilities. As long as he didn't allow his manaflow to overpower his emotions, as long as he kept it regulated to allow for that vital part of his pre-angel transformation to shine through, he'd be able to feel.

The panic that Mithos' name induces in Lloyd's system, the way that the sun shifts in a representation of Mithos' instability, the way that Kratos and Zelos follow forward to find him, heedless of Malos' warning - it all becomes way too much to process at once, the way the environment shifts from the scenary in front of him into something resembling Altessa's house, the Tower of Salvation, Derris-Kharlan -

The box snaps shut over the fox, and though Lloyd had faltered, he stands tall and emotionless.

"Sheena," he calls, eyes roaming over the sky. She knows as well as he does that this is a dangerous situation for everyone involved, with the exception of Kratos, should Mithos not be right of mind. He can't help the way he side-eyes Kratos, either - his own Kratos shred allegiance to his son for loyalty to Mithos before, and they can't be sure that this Kratos won't betray them either. Purposely keeping his voice low, Lloyd continues. "Keep an eye out for any disturbances. I can't read the ether in the area, but Zelos' reaction - it doesn't say much good about what's happening."

Unsheathing Gagnrad, he steps forward to follow Kratos and Zelos. Lloyd keeps his gaze firm ahead of them, enhances his hearing to keep at attention, and keeps his grip tight on the handles of his swords.

Left flank? Clear.

Right flank? Clear.

Anna and Malos are at the tail-end of the group. They look hesitant, maybe a little panicked, but they're fine, otherwise. All clear.

All clear. All logical. All will be fine.

[summonerd]

Sheena turns her attention to Zelos when he takes hold of her arm, away from the part of their camp she'd been helping to set up.

It's not much more than a vague pressure in the air to her, a mana signature cousin to the feeling of an oncoming storm, but the way the sun suddenly moves makes it very clear that it's no storm. She chokes a little when Zelos does, unable to look away from that sky. When Zelos goes down, she stumbles, tries to keep her footing on instinct for a second before she goes down with him in what isn't her most dignified moment. She barely even notices.

"C'mon, just breathe," she half-pleads, free hand bracing itself carefully on his other shoulder. "It's--" Well. Is it okay, Sheena? Whatever this is, it's clearly not good. She doesn't process Kratos's words to Anna right away, drowning in the emotional bleed and the oppressively heavy ether in the air, but when Zelos gets up and tries to pull her up too she follows, lets him pull her.

And then Zelos's guilt and horror breaks over her, and it's enough to cut through the worst of it, at least. Sheena swallows hard, tries to put up at least a little of a barrier between the two of them just to regain her composure, even as he lets go of her and starts walking. Towards the too-high sun, like he intends to meet it head on. Fuck.

"Hey, wait for me," she calls, wincing a little to herself as she hurries south after Zelos. Every inch of her limited ether sensitivity, not to mention her survival instincts, is screaming out not to follow, but she's damned if she's going to let Zelos go alone. And with what Kratos had said… If it's a cry for help, it's not like Sheena can ignore it, no matter who it's coming from. She digs into a hidden pocket for a few cards, fanning them out in her hand in preparation. She's not sure what exactly it would take to overpower an Aegis, but it probably involves enough enemies that she'll be better off with her preferred weapons than attempting to take on just one at a time with her knife.

Lloyd's voice pulls her attention away from her preparations, and she looks back as he speaks. "Right," she calls back, with a firm nod. His tone is smooth and even in a way that's not familiar, and she can't say she likes it, but - he's still himself, still present. It's not like how he'd been in the mines. It's… It'll be okay, at least while they get through this. Hopefully. Sheena catches up to Zelos, falling into step next to him.

here comes a special boy!!!!! he's in hell

[lovedbyorigin]

The closer you get to the source-- to Mithos-- the higher up in the sky the sun travels, positioned directly over Mithos as it is. It sits, proud and confident in a stubborn blue sky, careless to the actual time of day. The ether in the air is thick, mostly light based, but there's a touch of earth in it, and a quieter touch of the other elements. Kratos is likely the only one not choking on it, because he knows this ether, he's had it course through his veins before, so the most he feels is comforted by its familiarity, perhaps a little worried for the boy producing it and so much of it, too, why would he need to produce this much? It's building and building and building like it does not intend to stop, building and building and building like an unsteady tower to the heavens that's only doomed to crash--

There is a hill, blocking your view of the distressed Aegis, but you can hear him by the time you're at the foot of the hill. It's a voice Kratos could not possibly mistake, a voice that Lloyd and Sheena will recognize, and well. The anguish of a broken child in the pits of despair, bleeding out all of his anger as he screams:

"You want to see the world fucking burn? Fine! FINE! Put me in the cannon, then! Go on! I'll gladly burn this miserable fucking planet until there's nothing left of it! I'll burn it all--"

Sylvarant's cannon goes off.

The blast hits somewhere-- distant, irrelevant, no where close to any of you. An Aegis might be able to plot the trajectory as heading towards Flanoir, half a continent behind you. The shot traveling through the sky leaves an afterimage, though, burning and terrible. And all of you here are not completely unaffected, because the ether that had been gathering around Mithos releases suddenly and crashes down on top of you. Mithos screams, screams like that cannon blast was pulled out of his own veins and not Martel's. The sky-- flickers. It is suddenly night and then it is day and then it is night and then it is--

Sunset, the sky bleeding red from the western horizon, just as it should.

Once you are at the top of the hill, you can see Mithos. He is still screaming, crying like he's incredible pain, blue and green light flickering maddeningly from his core crystal. He's on his knees, heaving and sobbing with the weight of the power that just crashed through him.

Around him, a ring of humans; wary, but all upright, weapons trained on the Aegis. Mithos' hands are bound by chains behind his back. Even if he were not in incredible pain, he does not appear to be in a position to get away.

MITHOS IS /DEAD/

[aurions]

Kratos does not think, he simply acts. He gathers ether around him, pulling more from the thick ambient ether than the ether in his own veins, because to not use a resource available to him would be absurd. (Mithos' ether is much more powerful than his own, anyway.) The ether gathers, releases, Judgement raining down on the humans that surround Mithos. Tethe'allan troops, not that it matters. Those not killed by the Judgement fall to swift, efficient strokes of Kratos' sword, until he can reach Mithos' side.

"This might hurt," Kratos warns, but Mithos simply nods, so Kratos gathers the ambient ether again, concentrating it on the restraints binding Mithos. The ether cuts through them, releasing Mithos' wrists, and he collapses into Kratos' arms.

He's still sobbing, trembling, clinging to his older brother. "I forgot... how much it hurts..." he laughs, weakly. "I didn't think I could forget."

"You're okay," Kratos whispers, soothing as he holds his brother tight. "It's okay, now--"

"It is," Mithos agrees. He pulls himself away from Kratos a little, though he falls with his head resting against Kratos' knee. He smiles, wide, and brings shaky fingers up to his core crystal. The dull green that has been threaded through it for years now burns, brilliant and glowing and-- "Martel's alive," Mithos says, full of joy that darkens only after a second. "She's alive and they're hurting her."

His other hand grips Kratos' arm, tight and uncomfortable.

"We'll save her," Kratos assures Mithos.

Mithos shakes his head. "Not like this," he says. Kratos squints, but-- The puzzle pieces aren't that difficult to align. Blade eaters share pain because of the shared core crystal, and what is Mithos doing with Martel, right now?

"Mithos..." Kratos begins, not sure how to solve the problem. Mithos is one step ahead of him, though, still smiling.

"It's okay, you're here now," Mithos says, unbothered. "So I can just..."

Ether gathers around his fingertips, around his core crystal. It's a second before Kratos understands, and once he does, panic strikes him.

"Mithos," he says, in warning.

"Kratos, it's okay," Mithos tells him, bright. "It's safe-- it'll be just like before. It's not like I could keep her shards, anyway."

Kratos doesn't have a chance to argue, all he can do is watch as the ether around Mithos gathers, warps, and then--

Mithos' dormant core crystal and a handful of Martel's shards fall into his lap.

camp segue bitches

[ilivedbitches]

Okay, so. It turns out being near such a large discharge of ether sucks, actually. Like a lot. So that's no fun. Anna thinks it might have been somewhat better had Malos not reflexively thrown up a sheild to protect them, but he had, and, well. Aegis ether is Aegis ether, regardless of which Aegis it's coming from, and even if this discharge had not been a blast aimed to hurt, the mere act of that much strength kissing Malos' shield is enough to send him spiralling into sharp panic and overwhelming dread. Anna's so busy choking on it that it takes her some time to even catch up to Kratos, and by the time she has--

Mithos is gone. It's just Kratos, holding a dormant core crystal.

"He'll be fine," Kratos says, and it's kind of like the words go through a kind of filter first, distorted. Anna bites her tongue to see if that helps her see through Malos' panic. Sort of. "Aegises remember, so. He'll just need some time."

"Ah," Anna says, and nothing else.

Kratos looks up at her, then, really meets her eyes. She has trouble holding the gaze. She's-- okay. Malos isn't, though, and it's definitely affecting her. Anna swallows. Kratos' eyes move away form her, considering the rest of their companions. Anna doesn't even have the energy to look, but the decision Kratos makes doesn't take too long, doesn't appear to need her input.

"We should set up camp, so we can rest," he says, getting to his feet, then holds a hand out to Anna. Anna blinks, a little surprised, but he wouldn't offer if he didn't mean it. She takes it, somewhat relieved. It's a welcome anchor.

Kratos hesitates, sending a weighty glance to one of the few not-incinerated corpses that litter the ground around them. "...not here, though. A little further out, if we can manage."

Anna nods numbly, and lets him lead her along, any other input from anyone else a blur in her ears. It's difficult to think about anything other than Malos' panic and Kratos' hand in hers, so she doesn't.

Sorry I'm late there was a hostage situation at the Derris Kharbucks

[summonerd]

For all that Sheena's prepared to fight, it turns out not to be necessary at all. That's good, because the ether released makes her stumble and choke on it, the weight of it too much to bear. She reaches out in Zelos' direction, not even sure if he's close enough but terrified of being separated from him somehow if she doesn't, like the flow of ether might carry one of them away. By the time she's collected herself enough to regain any awareness of her surroundings, Kratos is cutting down the last of the survivors. She swallows hard, flexes her fingers in an attempt to feel like they belong to her again. It doesn't work very well.

She misses - more than a little of what else happens, really, but she pulls herself to her feet, drifting over towards Lloyd. He'll know what to do. He always does.

"What happened," she manages, forces herself to take stock of what's around them. Okay. No enemies standing. Lloyd's here. Kratos is leading Anna and Malos. She doesn't know where Mithos is, but there must be something she missed, if Kratos doesn't seem as on edge as he had been. Zelos is--

"Zelos?" she calls, realizing he's not at her side anymore. Oh, no. Pushing down thoughts of some missed enemy trying to take him hostage while they'd all been shaking off the ether that had been dropped on them, she turns, anxiety cutting through the haze, as she tries to spot him.

You left on a comet to get coffee?

[presidentheartbeat]

For all that Zelos prides himself in being an Aegis, in being powerful, it still doesn't change the fact that he is artificial, an imperfect replica of godlike power that he was never going to replace no matter how hard he tried to be adequate for. An original's ether release feels a lot like being hit right in the solar plexus, all the air escaping Zelos' lungs and leaving him on his knees again, heaving, hands reaching for his chest as if to try and dislodge the nauseous obstruction of raw power colliding with his self.

Pain, like a waterfall in a still lake, fills him to the brim and disturbs him as soon as Mithos releases his power, as soon as Sylvarant's cannon goes off. Though the cannon shot doesn't even hit anywhere close, Zelos still feels it, feels the way its trajectory curves along the skies and how it makes the earth shake, his mind calculating its destination and power in a matter of seconds. An intrusive numerical death toll estimate flashes behind his eyes. He shuts them tight to rid himself of it, curls into himself, holds his midsection as he tries to regulate his breathing and the shaking of his limbs, the fog in his mind condensing into murky waters that leave his thoughts swimming in the abyss.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out.

It takes a few minutes, but eventually the aftershocks pass just about enough for Zelos to inhale deeply and finally not choke on the air, his eyes opening slowly and tentatively to take in the dirt below. He blinks, exhales. Blinks again, raises his head. The sky is back to proper twilight again, cascading its red lights on the massacre surrounding Kratos. Macabre, yet fitting. In his hands Zelos can see the blade is holding a dormant core crystal, no Mithos in sight--and it doesn't take a genius, or even too long, for Zelos to immediately guess what the fuck just happened while he was out here being absolutely useless.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe in, stop.

Zelos is abruptly hit with the weight of his role in the world, all at once, all of it dropping onto his shoulders as he shakily rises to a stand. The bodies surrounding Kratos are dressed in Tethe'allan military uniforms of varying ranks. It's a sight that Zelos has known since birth, his whole life accompanied by some stuffy general or soldier escorting him places or discussing his use while he didn't have a choice but to comply, his own selfish survival riding on his usefulness and how well he could perform. Absently, emptily, he stares at a captain's corpse. The little blood-splattered insignia on their chest mocks him, a self-loathing sensation of tick-tick-tick-tick-ticking beats crawling up his veins as he stares, mesmerized, horrified, in despair.

Sylvarant has fired at least twice now. Tethe'alla has no Aegis. Tethe'alla's absolutely defenseless. They are desperate.

What they need is a counter, something of equal or better power to turn the war on its head or at least still it once again--they need an Aegis, a weapon. It's war strategy. Mithos' death is proof of that. And Aegis restoration or not, whatever happened here, Zelos' little escapade still cost Mithos his life. It's cost Colette and Martel their freedom and their lives, too. It is all cold, hard facts.

And all the while Zelos is out here parading through the countryside as if he wasn't just as guilty of this as the humans who built and caged them in the first place.

How many people died in that blast? In the last one? This should never have happened. He should never have left Meltokio. He just went ahead and took his freedom without caring of how others would suffer for his selfishness, Aegis and civilian alike.

You're just a dirty coward, aren't you?

Snapping his attention away from Kratos as he helps his wife to stand, Zelos wordlessly turns on his heel and begins to walk to where he knows Tethe'alla to be, over where his guilt will take him.