summonerd | i just wanna know: who broke it?

i just wanna know: who broke it?

[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.]

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That one startles an actual laugh out of Sheena, though she cuts it short with a hand over her mouth. "It's not like you're the same person," she says, a little awkwardly. "But I get it. I would've liked the chance, too."

She waves his gratitude off. "It's no problem," she says. "And... thanks for asking me about it, instead of Lloyd. I'm pretty sure he still has a hard time talking about this."

Hm. She pauses to think about that - would the question she has in mind be too much? It feels like it might be, but on the other hand, she's not really exposing any secrets here that Kratos doesn't already know. And it's not like she'll stop worrying about it if she doesn't ask. So.

"Actually, if it's okay... you knew the other Aegises, right?" Of course he did, Sheena, they're Mithos and Martel. "Is--" Hm. No, that's not the right wording. She starts over: "Just - Zelos, yesterday. That's not... normal for blades, right?"

Kratos hesitates for a long moment, rolling Zelos' actions over in his mind-- more out of an inherent want to come to peace with them than actually finding Sheena's question difficult. Because...

"No," he says, simply. He just doesn't have much of an answer past that. "Whatever that was, yesterday..." He has guesses, but feels weird speaking without certainty.

He tries to find somewhere to start that's slightly less direct. When he finally does find the words words, he speaks haltingly, somewhat pained. "I admit I don't know nearly as much about the artificial Aegises-- about Zelos and Colette-- as I do the originals. But. Mithos and Martel... they were both held captive for only a few years before I rescued them. Tethe'alla has had Zelos for... almost a hundred years, now. That's plenty of time to do... who knows what."

He trembles, slightly, likely imperceptible other than the shakiness of his inhales and exhales. He reaches his left hand over to his right wrist, gripping it loosely and running his thumb back and forth over where his ether lines are, even if they are not exposed. It's soothing. Helps him stay grounded. (Reminds him, a little, of Anna.)

"I always thought Zelos and Colette were better off," he continues, chest tight. "Since they were never being used in the cannons, but." He smiles, bitter. "I suppose I should know better than anyone else that humans don't need the cannons to do horrible things to blades."

"Oh," Sheena says, softly, almost more an exhalation of horror than a word. She'd thought - well, Zelos looks like he's the same age as their Zelos had been. She hadn't even wondered. If he'd been treated like that for a hundred years...

"... That would do it, I guess," she says, still quiet. "That's --" She shakes her head, hard, to clear it. "Whoever did that to him better hope I never run into them." Her voice is dark, barely restrained; she swallows, slowly, double-checks that the emotional link is still closed.

"Mm," Kratos says, in agreement, feeling much the same. He certainly won't show any mercy when they reach those holding Colette captive, and not just because of Martel and the cannon and whatever else is going on.

And then it hits him, all of a sudden. It's not that he'd forgotten, exactly, just that he'd forgotten to think about it.

Sheena's human.

Kratos is perhaps more startled by the fact it had managed to slip his mind for an entire converastion than the fact he's remembered it. Imagine that. A human who isn't Anna that doesn't immediately set him on edge.

He laughs a little before he can help it, a soft sound directed at his own winding thoughts. "I- sorry," he says. "It's just... Well." Maybe he shouldn't bring up how much he hates humans, just on principle. "Zelos is lucky to have you for a driver," is what he says instead. "And it's... nice, to speak with a human who actually cares about blades. I'm grateful."

For his own sake? For Zelos'? ...yes, both, but he rather hopes Sheena interprets it as the latter.

Oh, Sheena wasn't expecting that at all. She flushes a little, rubs the back of her neck.

"Ah... thanks," she says, sheepish. "I don't think I'm doing anything special, though. I'm just not from here, so it's easier to see how messed up the whole system is."

Is she doing well? It hasn't felt like it, much, with the amount of times she and Zelos have managed to step on each other's toes in only a few short weeks, but... They've improved a little, at least, haven't they?

Thinking about her resonance with Zelos reminds her of the idea that's been sitting at the back of her mind for most of those weeks, that she's been turning over on watch duty and as she drifts off to sleep, without any real success so far. Well, if anyone would have any ideas, Kratos doesn't seem like a bad place to begin.

"While we're on the topic," she starts, shifts her weight to the side. "I don't want to leave things like this, where blades can't do anything about who they resonate with, and I know Lloyd doesn't either, we just - haven't really worked out a plan, yet. You wouldn't have any ideas, would you?"

Edited 2019-07-25 08:34 (UTC)

"I... do not," Kratos says, after some consideration. He certainly does not have any of his own, not any that he thinks would work. "Mithos might, though."

Truthfully Mithos has already had ideas, it's just none of them have worked, yet. Perhaps he would not be opposed to workshopping his ideas, a little. Perhaps a fresh set of eyes-- several fresh sets of eyes, actually-- might...

Oh.

He supposes Mithos might not want to hear any ideas from this traveling party, actually. Maybe Kratos could convince him otherwise? But it would take time, and realistically they aren't going to stay with this party once Mithos is awake (he would not want to dally while Martel was in danger and Kratos would not be able to get him to stay), so...

"It may have to wait until Martel is safe, though," Kratos says, somewhat apologetic.

Sheena almost completely suppresses a flinch at Kratos's words - at the idea of what Mithos's plans for preventing blades from being mistreated by humans must be like - turning it into a thoughtful look, though he might still catch it if he's paying attention. (Not that she can entirely blame him, if Mithos's plans are along the lines of what he'd come up with in the other world, but-- well, obviously that's not going to work.) She nods, instead, a little surprised by his tone.

"Rescuing them is more important for now, anyway," she says. "Just-- for after that. It'll probably be easier with more of a place to start than 'figure out if the Architect is real and see what we have to do to make him fix things.'" From the offhanded way Sheena says it, it almost sounds like she could be talking about not being sure what to make for dinner. She shrugs, with that, offers Kratos a small but still confident smile. "Either way, we've got time to come up with something. We can only cross Sylvarant so fast on foot."

Kratos does, in fact, notice Sheena's flinch, and he scowls at it, more out of confusion and worry than anything else. Anna has mentioned that she thinks Something happened between Lloyd and Sheena and the Mithos they knew, something she probably guesses was Bad, but Kratos hadn't really appreciated what that meant until right now. (All the more reason for him and Mithos to go on ahead, he supposes.) He doesn't say anything, figuring Sheena would rather pretend he didn't notice, so Kratos pretends as such, and focuses instead on her comment.

It's funny, actually, how offhandedly she says it, considering the truth.

"Well, if it helps at all, the Architect is real," Kratos informs her. "Though I'm not certain making him do anything about the mess he made will be easy. Not that I've met him," he clarifies, after a moment. "But Mithos has, and Mithos' opinions of him are..." He trails off, his silence and grimace probably doing more to convey how exactly Mithos feels about his father than words could. Kratos hums, thoughtful. "But maybe he would be more willing to listen to humans, if you asked him for help."

Sheena doesn't even realize Kratos had caught her slip, small as it was. But if this world's creator exists...

She frowns at the implication that the Architect doesn't care about blades, but - well, if he had, would he have created a system like this? "If he's the one who made things like this, then there must be a way to fix them, even if he's not going to help with it," she says, thoughtful. "So that's somewhere to start, at least. Thanks."

"That's true," Kratos agrees. "You're welcome. I appreciate you wanting to help, truly."

He should end the conversation here, perhaps, but: he can't help but be curious about the situation with Mithos, desperate for even an inkling of just how bad things were, in the other universe. Sheena already said she was probably the better person to ask, than Lloyd, and hopefully it was the same about Mithos as it was about the other Kratos. He wonders if he should try and be... a little less direct, though.

Hm.

"Actually, Sheena, if you'll allow me one more question," he begins with. "I know our worlds are reflections of each other, so I'm curious. The Martel, in your world..."

He doesn't know how to finish, but aches to know if she was killed in that world, too (impermanent as it was, in this world, at least), in part from genuine curiosity, in part because knowing the answer to this will help him contextualize things about their Mithos.

He can't quite make himself finish the question, but at least it's clear enough that he's asking after Martel in general.

Oh, she was kind of hoping he wouldn't ask about that, and it's probably obvious from the way she freezes up for just a second. But she did offer, after all. It's not like she can fault Kratos for wanting to know about his family. Sheena hesitates, trying to word her answer as gently as possible.

"That's... another way our worlds are similar," she says, with a wince. "I'm sorry. I can't say I really know much about her, but..." That's not exactly true, but between Cruxis's picture of Martel-the-goddess, her interactions with Martel-the-spirit, and the stories Mithos had told while he'd pretended to be one of them, it's not like there's any simple answer. She'd never really met Martel, at least.

Ah.

Grief strikes in Kratos' core even though he was kind of expecting that answer. He nods, slowly, somewhat numbly.

"That's alright," he says. "That's- that's enough."

He takes a deep breath to steady himself again.

"I, um. I'll let you get back to what you were doing, now," Kratos says, and sends Sheena a grateful, if somewhat shaky smile. "Thank you for..." Answering his questions, even though they were awkward? Being willing to talk to him at all? Caring about blade rights? He says none of those, instead opting for omitting what exactly he is thankful for (she can guess!!) "I appreciate it."

And then he makes his way back to camp, leaving Sheena free to follow at her own pace.

Anna sits not far from the camp's fire, braiding yet another lanyard like Lora showed her just to keep her hands busy. She and Malos chat aimlessly, waiting for everyone else to trickle back. Speaking of-- There's Kratos. He looks... troubled, but when she raises her eyebrows at him in invitation he shakes his head, so whatever it is he doesn't want to talk about it. That's fair.

Kratos sends a cursory look around the camp, scowls with worry and confusion. "Where are Lloyd and Zelos?" he asks.

"Perimeter check!" Anna replies, brightly.

"Ah."

"Seriously, though," Malos says, from his position on the other side of the fire. "How long does it take to do a perimeter check? I'm starting to get worried--"

And that's when Lloyd runs back to camp, grinning like he's the happiest boy alive, cheeks red and out of breath, oblivious it seems to everyone else as he buries his face in his hands and attempts to contain his excitement. It's really only a second before Anna puts two and two together, not like it's hard, exactly. She knows what someone looks like when they've been caught by a crush. Grinning, she opens her mouth, ignoring the please don't tease our son expression Kratos shoots at her.

"Looks like someone had fun on their date!" she calls.

Lloyd jumps at Anna's taunt, lifting his head up with a yelp to turn and look at her. Obviously, it makes sense that they'd see him running into camp, but with his excitement and dumb crush blinding him from any sense, the eyes that stare him down in his complete puddle of uselessness cause embarrassment to run hot through his core, heat rushing to his face again as he gapes at everyone.

"Mom!!!!" he cries, grabbing at his jacket's collar and raising it up to cover the majority of his face, letting it muffle his words. "I-It wasn't a date, and don't say that so loud he could hear you!!!"

His mom is embarrassing him! He never thought he'd say that, but it's happening, right in front of his grandpa and his dad and his best friend and oh my god, Zelos could walk into the campsite any moment now, Anna Irving please have mercy.

Anna's still grinning, enjoying this too much to really feel remorse at the precise second, because it was worth it just for how Lloyd hides his face and all that, right now, and the cadence of his whine as it shapes exasperated and mortified around the word mom.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Anna laughs, still delighted. "Come on, aren't I allowed to tease my son a little! Just a teensy little bit??"

"Absolutely not," Malos says, reaching over and pulling her into a headlock, noogying her gently. "It's not allowed."

"What!!" Anna splutters, annoyed but mostly playing at it. "And why not?"

"Because if you start teasing him I get free reign to tease you about--"

"Oh Architect absolutely not," Anna says, and tries to pry Malos off of her so he'll stop noogying her. This ends the way it always does, with her dragging him to the ground with her and them wrestling playfully, Malos laughing loud and delighted until Anna forgets to be mad.

(It also probably serves as a great way to get the attention off of Lloyd, which might be what Malos had been going for.)

Lloyd snatching the carving before it can hit Zelos' hand comes as such a surprise that he can't help the yelp that escapes his mouth, but at least it's quickly replaced with an incredulous laugh when Lloyd takes off running with it, then trips, then rushes back. Zelos tries to warn him about the root, at least. The fact that Lloyd didn't listen is on him.

At first Zelos has half a mind to race him, and then he thinks about using that speed boosting ability from before to give himself an advantage, but ultimately he dismisses that; honestly, they didn't really complete the perimeter check. The least Zelos can do for their party is walk back to camp while feeling the atmosphere around them, focusing so he can catch anything in a larger range than usual. So he does just that, amplifying his range, slowly making his way and following Lloyd's steps.

It takes him a while to get back, like that, but soon enough he feel his own ether feeding the campfire somewhere close. But before Zelos can reach the camp, he hears an undignified cry from Lloyd echoing through the clearing, then roaring laughter from a voice Zelos now easily recognizes as Anna's. He snorts. Oh, boy. Something's going down. Led by curiosity now, Zelos drops his focus and hurries the rest of the way until he finally breaks foliage and returns to camp, opening his mouth to ask just what the hell did he miss, but all the visual image he gets instead is Anna dragging Malos to the ground and roughhousing her blade.

Oh, okay. That's--not weird, but still not what Zelos was expecting. He makes his way over to where Lloyd is and stands next to him, hands on his hips as he observes the mess happening before them. "Hello?" Zelos calls out, leaning forward. "I leave you people for like twenty minutes and you manage to start fighting! Did I miss something?"

Honestly!

Whatever! It doesn't matter in the end, anyway. Once the playfight ends and everyone's had dinner, the usual night watch arrangements are made and Zelos helps himself to some rest once he realizes that his driver won't be taking a turn tonight. His conversation with Lloyd, awkward as it may have been, sticks at the front of Zelos' mind as he falls asleep and reawakens on a grassy field at sunset, somewhere peaceful, somewhere safe. He spends about a minute just laying there, feeling the fake breeze and sunlight on his skin, taking in the beauty of a world constructed to suit his every whim.

To be honest, he hasn't opened the dreamspace in a long while since his last miserable interaction with Sheena, and he'd intended to keep it that way, but there's something that he still wants to ask. Something about Lloyd's ether and words that haunts him, the sensation of burned ether channels and a pull of power down an arm coalescing on his hand. He said something about an exsphere. Is that what it's like for Sheena, too? How does that affect her? Their lives are very much intertwined. Is she going to be alright after the mines?

Curiosity and worry bloom in his core as he sits up on the grass, pinging a signal to his driver to join him and waiting for an answer.

Sheena's having a nice dream, for once, when Zelos reaches out - something bright and warm and utterly mundane, something that will fade with nothing but the faintest impression left behind. She's never been consciously aware of the connection before it happens, but this time it pulls at her, tugs her away from the dream and into lucidity.

She hesitates, just for a moment, before accepting. Is this really a good idea? But -- he can just kick her out, if he hadn't actually meant to invite her. And she's pretty sure she trusts him not to repeat their first shared dream. There's still a little trepidation in their link as she reaches to accept, gets pulled into Zelos's dreamspace, but only a little.

The atmosphere of Zelos's dream helps on that front almost immediately, as she takes shape, at the foot of the hill. "Hey," she says, raising a hand in greeting with a self-conscious smile, but staying where she is for the moment, keeping a safe distance.

Sheena's acceptance and her form coalescing into the dream manifest themselves in a brief flash of light and a wave of awareness of his driver at the back Zelos' mind. The Aegis lets her talk first, out of courtesy and a freezing anxiety of how she'll react more than anything else. Thankfully, her reaction is more on the positive side, but her smile is hesitant and her distance speaks volumes about how she feels, so Zelos tightens his own mask and greets her with another smile, cheerfully raising a hand to excitedly wave at her in return. "Hey, hun!" he calls out playfully. "Nice of you to drop by!"

The hand comes back down to rest over his knee, his other one set behind him to prop his weight where he sits. He can't feel the grass without taking his gloves off and this upsets him, but any sudden movements are off the table right now, so it'll have to make do. Zelos doesn't get up. Rather, that is all he says and does, for now, and he turns his gaze over to where the sun seemingly lowers over the horizon, an eternal sunset that won't really move so long as the Aegis keeps it that way. It's... calming, though. Somewhere to set his attention to and focus. Ever since getting out it's like sunsets have gotten more and more beautiful.

It helps the smile on his face stay there.

After barely even a few seconds of keeping quiet, Zelos shrugs lazily, eyes still watching the sunlight. "You gonna stand there all dream or are you gonna come join me for the sunset?" he asks, tone high pitched and playful and as nonthreatening as possible, smiling, smiling, smiling, all peace and lies to cover for his nerves when Sheena still doesn't move. "I can't imagine you're comfortable just standing there!"

"It's a dream, it all kind of feels the same," she says, but she acquiesces anyway, taking a seat close-but-not-too-close, keeping him just at arm's reach. There's a moment of silence after that, as Sheena follows his gaze to the sunset in contemplation. If she looks hard enough, she can sort of tell that it's not real, but she can't really put her finger on the difference. She kind of wants to keep watching it, to see if she can figure it out, but-- well. That'd just be putting things off. He seems fine, anyway. She's just getting caught up in worrying over nothing, Sheena decides, as she turns back to face him.

"You don't seem surprised, so I guess you called me here, right?" she starts, stretches her legs out in front of her. "Did... you need me for something?"

Watching the sunset in silence would be super nice if it weren't for the anxious energy that bounces inside of Zelos' core, a ball of nerves that he desperately tries to keep locked inside, away from his driver and under as much control as he can. Like a lock under key being pushed at from within, the fake sun in the horizon slowly, finally starts to descend, remnants of discord in the Aegis' subconscious fighting for a way to express themselves in the empty canvas of his mind, a silent clue to his mental being while he thinks on how to go about this at all. It's a good enough distraction, at least. But for all he prides himself on his silver tongue Zelos actually has no clue how to do this, so the silence spreads, seeping into his bones, his veins, his dream.

Thankfully it doesn't last too long--Sheena breaks it first, asking about why she's here, and Zelos has the decency to laugh sheepishly at her careful tone. "Can't I just want to spend a nice sunset with my dear driver?" he jokes, but... yeah, this must be weird for her, huh. All the other times she's been here have been against her will, so Zelos can't say he blames her for being weirded out. He clears his throat. "But, yeah. Got a question about your world I'm sure you'd be able to shed some light on."

Over in the horizon, briefly, the sun flashes red as the intrusive thought of a dead opportunist comes to the Aegis' mind. He pushes it away as fast as he can, the red flash easing itself into the oranges of the sunset instead. The moment the flash comes the Aegis immediately chooses to draw attention to himself by stretching and yawning loudly, arms held up until his bones pop back in place, ever the image of lazy, casual nonchalance. "I was talking to Lloyd during our walk, earlier," he says to fill the air, voice steady, arms falling back down as he properly sits up to look at his driver, turning to her and gesturing with a hand while holding an easy, casual smile. "He said something about exspheres. I guess I got curious and wanted to ask what you know, since he says you have one, too."

"Sure, okay," she says, though a stab of uncertainty flares in her as he says it - what kind of question about her world could he have that he couldn't have asked when they were both awake? She leans forward a little over her legs, pulling one up close to her so she can rest an elbow on it.

He asks his question, and she lets out a startled little half-laugh. Really? Just that? It's kind of a relief, at least, as unexpected of a topic as it is, and a little of the tension vanishes from her posture. "I'm not sure I really know any more about them than he does, but alright," she says, reaching with her free hand to pull the glove off of her right hand and revealing the red jewel underneath it, in its plain golden setting. Sheena stares down at it for a moment, thinking about all it represents - wondering, not for the first time, what the person whose life was trapped in it had been like - before she angles it so he can see it if he wants.

Looking at it reminds her that she really has no idea where to start, though, with something like this. "It's... kind of a broad topic," she continues, looking back up at him. "What'd Lloyd tell you about them?"

Sheena angling her hand so Zelos can get a better look at her exsphere invites the Aegis to lean forward a little closer to get a good look at it, hovering for a second before he stops, glances shyly at Sheena, and then gently reaches over to grab her hand when he thinks he receives permission to do it, holding her palm flush against his as he brings it closer to inspect it.

He's careful with her hand, as if he were afraid of fucking this up simply by moving the wrong way or something. Zelos is pretty sure that exspheres and core crystals, for all their shared similarities, are really not a 1:1 equivalent to each other, but he still avoids touching it out of a general decency and courtesy. Instead he holds up his other hand close to the jewel itself, hovering as he feels for the mana-ether's flow in the air surrounding it and the concentration under it, gathered in Sheena's palm. It's not snappy like Lloyd's, but it's not still, either. Huh. And it's--it's a lot like Lloyd's flow, really, except where Lloyd's feels a lot more like a raging sea barely concentrated in one spot, Sheena's feels more like the mouth of a river carrying many different types of water in itself, finally debouching into the oceans of her reserves. Not really at ease, but ready, even if sort of inactive for now. What does it even mean?

It's interesting enough that Zelos almost gets lost in the sensation of it before he remembers Sheena asked him a question.

Oh--right. The Aegis doesn't let go of her hand, still feeling at her mana-ether reserves, more out of curiosity and a desire to familiarize himself with it than anything else. "Just the broad generals of it, I think," he begins, carefully and deliberately not meeting his driver's eyes. "Something about them enhancing your abilities, utilizing your world's mana to give you powers, blah blah blah. I mean, he says the wings back at the cave came from his exsphere. So I guess," he laughs, "what I wanna know is what the logistics behind them are, and if being surrounded by ether instead of mana will cause any problems."

She'd invited it, had kind of expected Zelos to want to get a closer look, but she still freezes briefly in surprise when he takes hold of her hand. It's only for a second, and she doesn't try to stop him from it in any way, but she still winces. At least he doesn't seem to notice.

The weight of his attention is surprisingly heavy, intense in a way she's not used to having fixed on her, and it's a relief when he speaks again. "Alright," she says, letting out a slow breath as she gathers her thoughts. "Exspheres do that, but they're... parasitic beings?" That had been the phrasing, right? "They can't make their user stronger without leeching off of a human life, first."

That never stops being fucked up, as long as she's been aware of it, and her face definitely makes it clear how much she hates it. "We've been working to round up all of them, but - it's hard to do that without continuing to use exspheres ourselves." She'll miss the abilities they offer, when they do finally give them up, but. They deserve to rest, too. Sheena shakes her head. "Anyway, if anything, it feels like it's been giving me more power here. Maybe making me more sensitive to the ether here, too? I don't know if that's the exsphere or just my body not being used to it." Is she rambling? Maybe a little. She tilts her hand gently in his grasp, watching the exsphere catch the fading sunlight.

Edited 2019-08-02 09:59 (UTC)

The second that Sheena mentions the parasite thing, Zelos' attentions stop. When she mentions them leeching off of human life, his gaze rises to meet hers, and the sun in the horizon once again flashes red for a second as he doesn't attempt to hide the wide eyed stare that statement brings to his face. He lets her keep talking, though, listening carefully to her words and not really paying attention to the mana-ether flow in her hand anymore.

And then she mentions her newfound sensitivities to ether, and that wide-eyed stare turns into a frown, Zelos' attention returning halfway to the streaming ether-mana in Sheena's palm. He looks down when she tilts her hand, watches the glare of fake sunlight dance on the surface of the jewel. He thinks of teal wings and burned ether channels, of a resonance that feels steady, but strange, somewhat wavering, and his mind starts wandering.

Considering that Sheena's world is primarily made out of mana, and if exspheres are parasitic in nature and they feed off a host's mana, Zelos assumes that maybe her body readjusting to ether instead of mana is probably causing the exsphere to behave erratically in its power output--like a core crystal in a highly concentrated ether atmosphere, such as an ether crystal mine. Similar concepts, but applied differently. But perhaps, he thinks, the difference in atmospheric compositions and biological processes between worlds is what's affecting the way the stone processes the substances. It's not such a crazy leap to make, he thinks. It would explain a lot, but the how or why still eludes him; what's the main difference between ether and mana that would push Lloyd and Sheena to feel like this and for their mana use to be thrown off so completely? How come they're mostly alright until they start using their abilities?

They're not blades, but something about this feels... strikingly familiar. As if their worlds were much more adjacent than what they think. But... how?

He's still staring at the stone. The sun flashes red again, lowering behind the horizon slowly, but making its way out of the picture regardless. Zelos barely registers wondering if maybe the moon will rise in this fabricated mirror of a world, thoughts drowned by him remembering another thing Sheena's mentioned. So he lets go of her hand and pushes himself back to rest his weight on his palms, decides to breach two subjects at once, smiling as gently as he can. "Well, okay. Considering you don't sound at all concerned about having a parasite kind of leeching off your life, I'm just gonna roll with it and assume you don't mind and that's just how it is in your world. Which, okay, that's fucking weird, but. Whatever, right?"

Oh, it bothers him, though. It bothers him, and it will keep bothering him, but without more information to observe, he has no idea how to go about the parasite and what that means for the both of them now, intertwined as they are. So he just makes a mental note to keep an eye on their shared ether and lets that go, sighing and returning his gaze to the sky. "I'm curious, though," he starts. "Is that a thing you're born with, or do you just... get one?"

Sheena doesn't even realize what she'd forgotten to mention until Zelos's voice lifts in that incredulous way.

"Oh," she says. Right, that's kind of an important detail, huh? She hadn't meant to make it sound like it was something he'd need to worry about, and there's a sheepish note in her voice as she continues. "No, I'm not in any danger from it. That's what the key crest is for," she says, traces the metal of it with a finger. "Lloyd would be better at explaining how they work, since he's the one who knows how to make them, but exspheres can't hurt their user with one equipped." She pulls a face, something like a rueful grin before he looks away. "It is pretty messed up, though."

With her hand freed she relaxes a little further, more comfortable than curled in on herself as she leans back onto her other hand, attention still on Zelos rather than the setting sun.

Sheena shakes her head at his question. "We're not born with them," she says. Since it's a dream, she sits up again, twists the key crest just so that it detaches from her skin. She'd rather not do this in the waking world - after over a year of use she's used to the sensation of the exsphere and key crest actually being embedded in her skin - but it's fine here, just a faint echo of what it had felt like to put it on in the first place rather than any real discomfort. Sheena lifts it free, shows it to Zelos. That's the biggest difference between exspheres and core crystals, she thinks, and this is the best way to show that.

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sorry he got heavy on main

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anna /please/

he's dead, anna look another lloyd fucking died

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I LEAVE FOR A COUPLE DAYS AND YOU KILL LLOYD? AND AFTER THEIR NICE DATE? SMFH I'M TIMESKIPPING

COUNTDOWN TO GOD GATECRASHING BEGINS NOW

I'M EXCITED

SAME

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Thanks he got fuckored and rambly

Soon they'll both be fuckored