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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.]
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.]
no subject
If he's connected with Martel, then that confirms one fact: that they both died, at some point, and they're reconfiguring down here at the bottom of the blade network together. Okay, cool. Fine. That just leaves one problem: It's not like it'll have any repercussions, but; death, even to an Aegis, is never an easy thing. Poor woman must be upset. So Zelos speaks casually and gently, information as text pushed through their connection like a gentle wave in the ocean. It's some sort of attempt to calm her. Because maybe Zelos doesn't know Martel, but as a fellow Aegis, he can still care.
And yet... and yet the fact that he's connected with Martel and not his sister still brings with it a pang of bitter disappointment. Of course, he'd been expecting it, but. Still.
Zelos quickly swallows the disappointment down and pushes it to the side, much preferring to focus on what Martel has to say instead.
Because, judging by the package she's sent, it is critical he do so.
Okay, then.
Zelos hums into their connection, gathers and sends out a small package of his own. It's mostly images of himself, of his driver, the company they keep. A small tracing of their current traversed path and estimated route into Sylvarant, a proposed meeting point where both their paths should cross.
A memory of Kratos, so insistent on rescuing Martel.
A memory of Mithos, powerful and angry, awakening in the rain. The recording of his voice singing in the white room before Zelos' death, the sound filling their weakening link.
no subject
Oh... Oh. Martel cannot believe her luck. This wasn't Mithos, no, but it was close. So very close. Colette's brother. Currently traveling with Mithos, and Kratos and-- a surprising amount of others, given how much she knows Kratos and Mithos despise company. Those can be questions for later, though. The important thing is that they're coming, oh, of course they are coming for her.
Seeing the memory of Kratos warms an ache in her core (even though a part of her wants to pause the memory, rewind, study every inch of Kratos' face because why does he look so tired, so spent, so hollow? And maybe, once this conversation is over, she'll do so anyway--). Her first driver, her oldest friend, oh how she misses him, oh how she is glad to see he's okay even after all this time. And Mithos, oh, she misses him, too. He hasn't changed a bit, it seems, though maybe he's grown a little rougher around the edges, it's hard to tell, and--
The song. The song. It's been so long since she's heard those notes. And she knows, more than anything else she knows, that Mithos does not just sing for anyone.
So this Zelos must be someone very, very special indeed.
The connection ends.
Meet you... Martel finishes in her mind, sad and somewhat shocked. Well, perhaps that is all she can ask for at the bottom of the blade network, anyway; a connection as fleeting as this.
Someone's coming. That's enough to keep her spirits up. Someone's coming.
The idea that Kainé Salvation is playing through this is killing me actually
The simulacra reacts to this as if startled in a dream, face and fingers twitching, a myriad expressions passing through his face. He settles eventually, slowly. Breathe in, breathe out. In the absence of Martel's presence, the little hum of dormant life of the blade network gets that little bit louder, just a bit more overpowering. At the back of his mind, he worries. She... She'll be fine, right? And Colette... why wasn't she with Martel?
Huh.
Right.
99% already? That's... so soon, isn't it? He must've lost track of time, or-- or maybe there wasn't really that much that needed salvaging. That train of thought brings with it an uncomfortable feeling at the bottom of Zelos' stomach, so he huffs out a bubbling breath though his nose and chooses never to think about it ever again. Guess he'll never know now. Oh well.
His port is still open. Zelos makes a quick, cautionary ping outside, and is surprised to still feel the same two signals from before within the same proximity. The simulacra smiles, and something like a laugh bubbles out between his lips. Great! How is he supposed to tell them apart now? Honestly, don't these people have anything better to do than making his life harder than it should be?
Very well, then.
no one in this thread can keep any fucking dignity
When she opens her eyes, she has no idea where she is. It's so unlike their previous meetings that she doesn't recognize the dreamspace for itself right away, taking in the pale pillars suspended in nothing, streets and buildings that begin suddenly and end just as abruptly.
There's an orange light in the thin mist, somewhere below her. She can't see what's casting it, but.
Sheena freezes, heart catching in her throat, as it hits her. She's dreaming, and if she's dreaming, then maybe --
The pillars have plenty of handholds, and she climbs a few feet down the one she'd been standing on before the full ramifications of the fact that it's a dream catch up to her. What's the worst that can happen, she wakes up?
She lets go of the pillar, letting herself fall. It's not until halfway down that she realizes that maybe falling directly towards that light hadn't been a good idea. She tries to correct, without much success, but at least she manages to slow her descent a little bit as she goes.
Still, she's going to land on what she desperately hopes is Zelos if he's not prepared for it.
Zelos has been dead for five slutty, slutty months
This place makes no sense as it is now, anyway, and he doesn't know it either, or at least not personally. It's more like a memory born from a dream, imagery at the back of his mind pulled into the smoke and mirrors of the dreamspace. Wherever this is, Zelos is sure it must exist in some form--nothing of him is wasted, nothing of him is random. Everything has a purpose, doesn't it? Otherwise, he wouldn't exist. The Aegis stands still on a thin bridge overlooking the moving pillars, white archways slowly gaining darker colours in the bright like of his crystal. It's ablaze and aglow with the effort of last minute checks and repairs, the--
Movement, in the dark. The mist opens, the air rises, sound fills his ears.
There's... something in here. A presence.
Or rather, there is someone.
Oh.
Excitement hits before Sheena's whole everything does, when Zelos turns around to greet his companion, but it doesn't really last. The grin on his face fades, making way for a quick "Woah!" as he tries and barely manages to catch his driver as she lands on him, uselessly attempting to break her fall, and in his surprise Zelos loses his footing and ends up falling right on his back with a dry oof. "Fuck," he wheezes out after a few breaths, trying to gasp the lost air back into his lungs. "What the hell, Sheena!"
it's less than a year this time! it's fine!!!
Zelos breaks her fall, as awkwardly as she deserves given that she just all but launched herself at him, and they both go down, Sheena landing on top of him.
"Sorry, sorry," she says, though she's grinning too wide to really look it. "I just --" Well, no, she doesn't know what she just. She wasn't exactly thinking. Sheena shakes her head, putting aside words to just throw her arms around him instead.
"Welcome back," she says, after a soft moment. Oh, fuck, wait. She pulls back to look at him. "I mean - you are back, right?" They're still dreaming, after all. Maybe he can do this before he can wake up again. That's okay. At least she can talk to him, this way.
HE STILL WAS DEAD AND SO WAS I
Sheena's a mess of words and thoughts and emotions, and, honestly, Zelos has to fondly breathe out a laugh to smooth the irregularities of their emotional bleed. "I mean," he says, rolling his eyes, "you're in my dreamspace. Last I checked, only the driver of an Aegis could access that. So, yes, I am back." He shrugs, gesturing with one hand around them. "Or at least, soon to be back. I'm still running some last minute repairs, but... yeah."
Zelos then waits a moment, eyes softening as he regards his driver again, and smiles. "I didn't have any problems reconfiguring. You... You kept it safe, huh?"
AAAAAAAAA
But okay, he says soon. Soon is - fine. This is nice, anyway. She isn't in a rush to wake up.
"Of course I did," she says. "I mean - that's what you said to do." Not that it really needed saying when it comes to the core of his very being, but having that memory to hold onto had definitely helped, in the moment. Sheena seems to realize she's still sitting on him and pushes herself off to the side quickly, offering him a hand up.
[Returns a month later with Starbucks] You like jazz?
Lost in how their resonance, this time being tied to someone's life force feels just like being found once again. Usually, he'd be happy to be lost in the network, at peace and ease with the quietude of his mind--his drivers were never kind, or gentle, or quiet, after all, always having something to say or do or demand from their blade.
But here, laughing at his driver as he takes her hand to pull himself up, core and ether lines glowing, the world around them slowly, slowly regaining colour, it's as if the intrusive thoughts and feelings once directed at him are but whispers of times long by. He isn't the Aegis here, a weapon to be used and discarded when his job is done. He is simply Zelos, a blade in partnership with Sheena Fujibayashi, waiting to reawaken.
And speaking of reawakening...
"Well, thank you for that, I guess," he says, gently touching his own core. He closes his eyes. The crystal is so warm and bright, eager, buzzing. He scoffs. "It won't be long now, actually. I can feel it. Maybe a few more minutes or so."
Zelos smirks, then opens his eyes to direct his amusement right at Sheena. And he can see it in his peripherals, the corners of his conscious growing fainter, receding together with the image of the world itself. White fog, the tell-tale sign of waking. Thick and all-consuming, purifying what it touches.
Before it's all consumed, before they separate, Zelos laughs again.
"Make sure my awakening is nice, okay? Some flowers would be nice."
I like trains
He wakes up on his side, facing the wall, tucked up tight against someone, and it takes him a moment to remember that he and Sheena are sharing the bed. Blinking open bleary eyes - (that feel rather difficult to open, indicating Lloyd must've cried in his sleep) - he sits up slowly, careful not to jolt Sheena awake, and stares at the wall facing him. It's still dark as hell, the blinds closed but not nearly efficient enough to block out this much light, so he guesses that it's probably still the middle of the night, and he's probably not going to go back to sleep again -
- wait. Is the wall glowing?
Lloyd squints. That certainly is an orange tint to the wall that he's sure hadn't been there before. He should investigate.
...
Nah, that's a problem for future Lloyd. He turns to make himself comfy again, only to catch more of the orange glow, half hidden by the covers, and it's bright intensity forces Lloyd to shield his eyes as they adjust to the glow. Once they do, he catches a figure around it, Sheena to their side, and -
Realization and surprise and joyous relief run Lloyd over like a stampede, and he can't help the laugh and the loud "Zelos!" that escape from his mouth, before he just throws himself on top of the sleeping blade and hugs him close. "You're back!" He exclaims, feeling the happiest he has in weeks. "You're finally back!"
[GETS RUN OVER BY A TRAIN AND DIES AGAIN]
Being pulled into a hug immediately jolts Zelos awake and he yelps, hands flailing about uselessly as he gathers his bearings. Who? What? Where? What the fuck--okay, recap. He just finished reconfiguring himself, had a conversation with Sheena. And if he's awake again and back in the real world, which he deduces from the weight on top of him and, the scent of firewood near him, and the loud laughter in his ears, then Sheena must be nearby.
Someone's on top of him, but--hold on, it's too dark to see and his ether lines aren't exactly illuminating them well enough. But this person's shoulders are way too broad to be Sheena, that's the first thing Zelos notes. And this hair, it's a mess, but in an entirely different way from Sheena's. Hm. He sets his hands on their back, and--
Oh.
There's that familiar, discordant, powerful ether-mana signature pulling itself down a right arm. He knows this signature, has already felt it once before. It's nothing like Sheena's own.
"What the hell, Lloyd!" he exclaims, tapping at Lloyd's head, trying to go for exasperated and instead managing to slip out something fond. His other hand is still on the other's back in some sort of hug. He scoffs. "I can't breathe, dumbass! And what kinda greeting is this? Where's my damn flowers!"
NOOOOOOOOO
Zelos is glowing bright against the dark, grin infectious as he looks up at Lloyd, and not for the first time Lloyd feels his heart skip a beat. He's radiant and gorgeous as he always is, but while Lloyd usually forces the sappy crush down far into his heart in order to function, he lets himself feel it for once, smiling, relieved, and so so so joyous. "I'm sorry," he laughs a little, because, well, Lloyd knows he isn't the lightest guy around and he just crushed Zelos, "I just couldn't help myself! I'm so happy you're back. We missed you!"
WHAT'S UP I FINALLY HAVE SPOONS, WANT SOME
Zelos blinks. He's the only source of light in the room, and thus the only way he can see Lloyd's joyous smile and energetic expression. The darkness in the room is just as unusual--he'd calculated it'd be morning by now, so what the hell?--as it is inviting, and he almost wants to go back to sleep, but... eh, it's been long enough.
He forces himself to sit up, pushing some hair behind his ear with his free hand and looking over his shoulder. Sheena is on the other side of the bed, waking slowly, and Zelos can't help the scoff that comes out between his smirking lips, or the glow on his cheeks from growing. So... they slept with his Core Crystal between them, huh?
That's... hm, okay. Not gonna think about that. Nope.
"Architect, you'd think my literal driver would be up and happy to see me by now," he jokes, trying in vain to will down the glowing blush and his awkward happiness. He then uses the hand he doesn't have around Lloyd's arm to gently shake Sheena awake, chuckling. "C'mon, Sheena. Don't leave an Aegis waiting! I want flowers!"