summonerd | i just wanna know: who broke it?

[Fucking shit, that's like the second time someone directly asks Zelos what he wants to do, and the second time that he draws a complete and total blank. Leave him alone, damn it! He doesn't know! Zelos dramatically sighs and hums, directing his eyes to the ceiling and tapping at his chin with one finger, letting the seconds roll by. One, two, three, then another three just to be an annoyance.

Then he scoffs, shrugs, and paints an 'oh well' smile on his face, eyes closed.] "No idea! I mean, technically I've only been alive for like, less than a day," [he laughs,] "which means that I haven't really given that much thought. So for now I'm just gonna go with whatever my darling driver says."

[He crosses his arms again, hits Malos with another grin, though there's something more mischievous about it now that reflects the calculating look he levels Malos with. There is something in Zelos' mind, if he's honest, but he doesn't know whether to spill the beans now or keep it to himself until the time feels right. Because despite the fact that the two of them are blades, Malos is still connected to Anna, and Zelos would prefer knowing what their intentions are regarding the war and the Aegis before he makes any bold move. It'd be stupid to play his cards when he can't even see his opponents' decks, after all.

So:] "But what about you guys?" [he ends up saying, tilting his head. Curiosity sings in his head, brightens his grin.] "Now that we're all fugitives, we're pretty much bound to work together. I'm sure there's something up your sleeve to get us out of the frying pan, right?"

Malos raises his eyebrows at the bullshit pie Zelos just offered him, but ignores it for a second. Zelos asked him a question, so the least he can do is answer-- especially since it has to do with Zelos' safety.

"Well, if we're looking for some place to safely harbor an Aegis, there's really only one place to go, right?" he says, carefully, mouth twisting a little in disgust. "Sure, the other free Aegis on this planet might be a little brat, but... if Mithos has managed to hide away from humanity for 500 years, surely he can hide you, too." And it won't be so bad seeing Kratos again, either.

"Also..." Malos shakes his head, laughs. "Real cute that you think you can get away with the whole 'only been alive a day' spiel, but come on, Zelos, I know Aegises keep their memories between lifetimes." That's THE most important distinction between Aegises and regular blades, honestly, other than that Aegises are significantly stronger. "How long've you really been alive? At least a couple decades now, right? More than that? You can't tell me in all that time you haven't thought even once about what you'd do with your freedom if only you could get it."

[Malos lays out their plans and Zelos allows himself a tiny little laugh, surprisingly satisfied when his plans and Malos' line up almost perfectly. Meeting up with Mithos and begging him to listen to Zelos' case is the one way to go if Zelos wants to get out of humanity's hands unharmed, after all. And, who knows? Maybe Mithos will have a way to help Zelos finally break free. Either that, or...

Well.

The smug smile on Zelos is a welcome change from his usual fakeness and the anxieties that have been resting in his core since he awoke and escaped, so it's a little upsetting when it's wiped out entirely to be replaced by a glare and even more anxiety when Malos next speaks, calling Zelos out on all of his bullshit without a care in the world. Just like that Zelos bristles, feels all of his defensive walls rise so high up that they block out even the starlight sneaking in through the window he stands by. Because this is the behaviour he'd been expecting when he came here, the questioning and the tension, the eventual confrontation.

Still, at least he has something on this situation: Malos doesn't have to know exactly what it is that Zelos plans, but he can, and perhaps should, play along.] "Well, well, well. We're quite well-versed on Aegis history here, aren't we?" [Zelos laughs, still satisfied yet on edge, and settles back against the wall a little more comfortably now. The grin is back on his face, though he still glares at Malos.] "Okay, I'll yield. I guess you'll be happy to know that you pretty much read my mind, old man." [Zelos pauses, squints. He taps a rhythm against his forearm, hums, says:] "I want to go to Mithos."

[While Sheena's still trying to decide what she should do, Malos heads over to talk to Zelos. That's probably better, actually. He seems alright, and he's a blade - it's not like she really has any ideas for how to help, or even where to go. If Malos and Anna's intentions are as good as they seem, it's probably better to let them take the lead rather than blunder her way through another world she barely knows. She leans against a wall, close enough to hear some of their conversation if not really trying to eavesdrop.

"I want to go to Mithos" is hard to miss, though.

Haaaaa. Oh, Sheena doesn't like the sound of that. On the one hand, there's no sign of Cruxis, and this world is neither split nor built on the backs of thousands of years of sacrificial Chosen, and Mithos... could easily have been so much better than what he was. On the other... the Mithos of their world left countless scars that won't heal soon, on her friends and on the world itself. Even if she'd been in resonance for longer than a day, she probably would have had a hard time hiding the spike of something like panic, or the general anxiety it settles down into. Sheena flinches, looks away as she tries to get her reaction under control. She can ask about this world's Mithos in a second. This isn't going to be a repeat of what happened in the Tower of Salvation, no matter what happens.]

Edited 2019-03-17 02:34 (UTC)

[As soon as Zelos says that, there is a sudden spike of panic and anxiety that pops in his throat and causes the rest of his words to die out. Zelos chokes on it and flinches instinctively, fingers curling into his gloves as he blinks it away, tries to regulate his breathing. He frowns. Well, that was unexpected. Sure, Zelos is nervous, but this is the first semblance of control he's felt over the situation all day, so why...

Oh.

He turns his head and finds Sheena leaning against a wall, definitely closer than she'd been before, with Anna and Lloyd now completely left to their own devices. Zelos smiles when Sheena looks away, amused as he watches his driver seal her fate and expose herself as an eavesdropper.]

"Honestly, honey," [he says, voice now louder for her to hear and laughing incredulously, raising an eyebrow at her,] "if you wanted to be part of the conversation so badly, you could've joined. And here I thought you knew that eavesdropping was rude."

I wasn't trying to-- [she starts to snap, more mortified than anything, but stops herself. Really, though, it was either hang out awkwardly in the same room or wander through a stranger's house, and this option had at least had the benefit of keeping Zelos in her line of sight.] ...Sorry. You guys started talking, and I didn't want to interrupt.

[Is disappearing into the floor an option? Sometimes using her smoke bombs for terrible ideas is tempting as all hell.]

Malos offers a small shrug, a little surprised but mostly unbothered.

"Hey, I don't mind. At this point, the conversation probably needs your input, as well." Malos turns to Sheena, eyebrows raised. "Wha'd'ya say? Any objections?"

[Well. Alright. She straightens up, heading over a little closer to the two of them so there isn't a whole half a room between them. Sheena lets out a slow breath, trying to think of how best to sum up all of Mithos's shit.]

There was someone named Mithos in our world. He was responsible for... a lot of people's suffering. [That still feels like an understatement, but where do you even start with Mithos?] But... this world's pretty different from the one me and Lloyd came from, so far. So if you guys think it's not a bad idea, then maybe the Mithos here is different. Can't say I'm crazy about the idea, though.

[Oh, that's a riot to hear. Zelos actually laughs at that, a bubbling and mocking sound that's shaped like little knives aimed outwards in a fan-shape.] "Darling, he's an Aegis," [Zelos says, shooting Sheena an incredulous look as he throws his head back to rest against the wall, trying to feel taller so he can look down at her, smirking, arms still crossed over his chest and shielding his orange core.] "One of the original two, in fact," [he adds. Then he goes silent, waiting. As if that would explain anything. As if he were actually providing answers.]

[Sheena flushes red at his tone, bristling as she sets a hand on her hip. She doesn't know shit, Zelos! Not a fuck!]

Alright, he's an Aegis. That doesn't mean he couldn't want the same things that the one in our world did.

[Though surely if he was the same, there'd be some sign of it in this world's state, right? There hasn't been anything Sheena's seen, at least. With Zelos's differences and he and Anna both being alive... Sheena scowls, shakes her head a little and sets that train of thought aside.]

But... if he is like you, that'd make him safer for you than Mizuho or anywhere else, right?

[Jackpot.]

"Well!" [Zelos beams, turning to Malos this time, head tilted.] "Unless you and your driver know of anywhere else, Mithos has my vote. Us Aegises gotta stick together, y'know? Besides," [he grins,] "you don't wanna get caught in the crossfire when the countries eventually come to blows, now do ya?"

[The fact that everyone seems to agree on going to Mithos makes Zelos a little more excited than he has any right to be, honestly. But, Zelos does have to play it a bit safe, so he turns to Sheena, says,] "I think maybe someone should tell those two over there about the new plans, hm?"

Edited 2019-03-18 16:25 (UTC)

"Exactly," Malos says. Then, for Sheena's benefit, he adds: "Mithos has spent the past couple hundred years hiding away from humanity. If anyone's gonna know how to keep Zelos away from them, it's him."

And then, since Sheena also mentioned a few reservations about Mithos, he continues: "I mean, I can't say I'm thrilled about meeting up with him, either-- he's a little rat bastard." (Most of what he remembers of Mithos is nothing but the brat being rude, biting, and making no effort at all to hide the hatred in his bones.) "But... I don't think he's dangerous. Mostly? I think he's just scared."

(More than the rudeness, Malos remembers Mithos' wide-eyes, constantly watching every angle, every corner of the room. Remembers how the brat had all-but clung to Kratos, only relaxing when his old driver was within reach, and even then, only barely.)

"...Can't say I blame him," Malos muses. Then he claps his hands together once, pushes the thought out of his mind. "Anyway! Anna already knows about the plan, but I guess we should tell Lloyd, huh?" He sends a look towards the other room-- he can't really see Anna and Lloyd from this angle, but he can feel that Anna's there, along with the emotion bleed and... Actually.

"Maybe we should give them a minute."

Edited 2019-03-18 17:36 (UTC)

['Rat bastard' surprises a soft laugh out of Sheena. That's not phrasing she expected to hear used to describe Mithos, but it's not wrong, exactly.]

If you both think that's the best idea, I'm fine with it. Not like I have anything better to offer. [...and if it comes to it, how hard could it be to beat Mithos a second time, with a party composed of no healers? She just nods at Malos's suggestion, not really wanting to be the one to interrupt their reunion. She's missed Lloyd, but she can stand to wait a few more minutes to talk to him.] There's no rush for now anyway, right?

I'm Sheena, by the way. [Did she really forget to introduce herself until now?? Sheena where are your manners. She offers out a hand to Malos.]

"Oh shit," Malos says, taking Sheena's hand and shaking it. His grip is firm, but a little awkward, considering fine control of his hand is off the table for him now. "Sorry, got so distracted by the fact most of us already know each other I didn't think to ask for the one name I didn't know. I'm Malos."

He hesitates a second, but he's too curious. "You good friends with Lloyd?" He guesses she is, but is curious regarding the details. "From the same world as him, I'm guessing."

[Sheena waves that off with her free hand and a small shrug. It's the middle of the night and her friend's having a tearful reunion with the alternate universe version of his dead mom on the floor in the other room; maybe it's not that weird that they're just getting around to this.]

I owe a lot to him. [She sounds impossibly fond.] But yeah. We were travelling together with a couple friends when I somehow wound up here. I didn't expect him to follow, though. [If anyone's gonna transcend space and time for friendship, it's going to be Lloyd, she guesses.]

You're... Lloyd's mom's dad, right? [He absolutely does not look old enough to be a grandfather, but that's clearly just a running theme in Lloyd's family members, huh.]

Edited 2019-03-18 20:44 (UTC)

Malos considers Sheena for a second, then makes a call. "Hey, that's just what you do for family, you know?" He knows he'd follow Anna to another universe if it came to that-- provided being in separate universes didn't snap their resonance, first. Hell, he'd do it for any member for his family, not just his daughter.

He laughs a little, at Sheena's uncertainty.

"Yeah, I am," he answers, unable to keep the grin off his face. He's talking about his daughter, of course he's grinning. "Anna's adopted, if that you helps any. I mean, 'course she is, blades can't have kids. Unless you're Kratos." He laughs, louder. He's the only one listening who gets the joke but it still brings him endless joy. "We never did figure that one out!"

Edited 2019-03-19 03:01 (UTC)

[... oh. Now that she thinks about it, that tracks, huh? She smiles back at Malos, a little more (pleasantly) surprised by the revelation than she would have expected to be.] ...yeah, I guess you're right.

Unless you're Kratos? [Sheena is definitely not up on blade biology, but she's filing all of this away, intent. She looks sheepish about her lack of knowledge, at least.] Sorry, this is still all kind of new to me.

"Nah, don't apologize. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me either." He'll explain what he knows, but honestly it isn't a lot. "'Cuz like, blades can't have children. That's not how blades are born. That's not how blades work. And as far as anyone in the history of ever was concerned, blades and humans can't have kids together, either..."

He shrugs.

"But, well, Lloyd exists. Even though his father's a blade."

Was a blade. Same difference, really. Malos doesn't care what Akhos says, if it was just the flesh eater thing, there'd be way more kids like Lloyd in the world.

Fuck, he misses his grandson. When Anna's done over there, he definitely needs to talk to her about-- His thoughts derail, a little, when he looks at the clock on the wall. Architect, is that the time!? Not tonight, then. He'll have to out-stubborn Anna tomorrow.

"Anyway, fuck, it's getting late," Malos says, sending an apologetic look at Sheena for having to end this converastion early. "Y'all should probably get some sleep, huh? We got a big day tomorrow."

Malos makes his way over to where Anna and Lloyd are, rapping his knuckles on the wall to get their attention. "Hey, kids, hate to interrupt," he drawls. "But it's bedtime."

Edited 2019-03-21 17:10 (UTC)

[Zelos watches the exchange with crossed arms and a smile on his face, tucking away the information they share and building himself a nifty little relationship chart in his head. So far the dynamics seem awfully close: Malos, a blade, adopted Anna, his driver, and at some point gave him part of his core crystal to turn her into a blade eater. That sheer amount of trust is something foreign to Zelos, but, hey, with everything that a blade eater's connection to their blade implies, he guesses he could probably work with that information somehow.

Lloyd and Sheena are friends and hail from the same world. Out of the corner of his eye, Zelos spares a glance to Lloyd and Anna's general direction, hums, and then looks down to the floor, pensive. He vaguely remembers someone dressed in red in that memory he'd seen. Just in case, Zelos should probably be careful around this Lloyd guy, then, if Sheena's reaction to him is anything to go by. God. Zelos pouts a little, mentally cursing his alternate self for leaving him his mess to deal with. And it hits him, then, how odd it is to think of himself as dead in another universe, but...

He blinks when Malos moves, hears him call out to the humans in the house and call for bedtime, and laughs. Well, at least someone here has the right idea. Blades are always smarter than humans like that.]

"You know what? I agree," [he says to Sheena, a shit-eating grin on his face. He shrugs.] "You humans are sooo delicate when you don't sleep!"

Honestly, Lloyd stopped crying like fifteen minutes ago but Anna is still holding him in a hug and he can't really bring himself to pull away. It feels so weird to finally be able to hug his mother, a mother he never really got the chance to talk to, and now that he has the ability to do so, he's. Well, he's hesitant, the feeling that he's going to stand and blink and all of this will be ripped away from him pressing deep into his chest, an anvil on any sort of mood he could carry. So he just ignores it for as long as he can, keeps curled up on Anna and talks to her.

He can hear the others in the distance, and he enhances his hearing just the slightest bit when Sheena speaks, making sure she's doing alright, but he just - can't focus on them when he's enjoying something he's never been able to call his before: Anna's presence.

He doesn't actually talk to Anna about what he knows she's curious or worried about, doesn't bring up exspheres or his own Anna, doesn't even acknowledge Kratos' existence because the last thing he wants to do is to show her how fucked up her alternate universe son's life is, how badly he wishes he could turn back time and start all over because it's hard to wake up in the morning and hard to sleep during the night.

Instead, he talks about small things. He loves red but hates tomatoes, adores walking through nature after a fresh rain but hates the rain itself, loves his friends more than he could ever really describe. No, he never finished school, but his best friend's sister was an excellent teacher and helped him learn what he needed to know to survive in their world.

Small things, tidbits about himself that anyone who saw him grow up would know, but. This Anna didn't see him grow up, and neither did his own, so instead they just share little fun facts about themselves. It's like a game of twenty questions, he asks a question, she answers, she asks a question, he answers.

Malos does come, eventually, and Lloyd decides that yeah, I should probably try to sleep. Now that he knows Sheena is alright, that she's here and he can reach out to her, he thinks maybe he'll have a little bit more luck than he did for the week prior to today. He tries to stand up, unwrapping himself from Anna's hug, but finds resistance.

Lloyd laughs. "Mooommmmm. I gotta get up."

Anna knows she should have let go of Lloyd ages ago, but it's hard. He's her son, even if he's not, even if the son she should be holding is-- elsewhere. But Anna knows how to be selfish better than anything else, so she holds Lloyd, because he lets her, and it seems like maybe he needed this, too. (So it's not all selfish, okay?)

He hates tomatoes like his father. She laughs and tells him her favorite color is red, too (specifically the bright rust-red of Kratos' eyes, but she doesn't need to get that sappy on main), tells him that hey it's not like she ever finished school as a girl, either. She didn't even go to school. Learned just enough from her grandma to get by, and then Lora and Jin helped fill in the rest. She tells him she likes her coffee so doctored up it doesn't even taste like coffee anymore, tells him stories of some of the dumb shit she's put Malos through.

She listens to his stories, fond and delighted to see herself in him, though it's easy to see someone else, too. Someone who she somehow doubts is Kratos. He hasn't mentioned Kratos. Should Anna assume the worst, then? Can she assume anything better?

It makes her think of her Lloyd, raised by someone else for the past five years. Guilt stirs in the depths of her soul and makes her stomach clench with regret. She drinks in everything this Lloyd tells her, eager to know more about the son she didn't get to watch grow up, but the delight is somewhat overshadowed.

She's used to being selfish. She isn't used to regretting it this deeply.

(The only person she has to blame for not getting to watch her son grow up is herself.)

Malos calls and-- fuck him, he's right, especially since Anna can't even calculate how long it's been since she last slept. Too long, probably. She doesn't want this to end so she holds Lloyd, for just a second longer--

The way he whines, exasperated, makes her unbearably fond and breaks her heart at the same time.

"Fiiiiine," she sighs back, over-dramatic, trying to push down the longing she will likely never stop feeling, not until she's held her real son in her arms. (She's not even sure she made the right choice, any more.) She squeezes Lloyd one last time before she lets him go. "I guess you should listen to your grandpa."

"You should listen too, young lady," Malos shoots at her, mostly smug. She sticks her tongue out at him.

Having a grandpa to listen to is weird, Lloyd thinks as he watches Anna and Malos interact with each other, but there is definitely a grin on his face and he knows he's rapidly becoming accustomed to having them around him. It's scary how fast he's become attached, knowing that this will come to an end at some point, that he'll have to say goodbye because this world already has a Lloyd Irving and it isn't him.

But he ignores it for now. Right now, Lloyd has a mom and a grandpa. Right now, they're standing in front of him, cracking jokes and being family. He'll think about this tomorrow when he's at least a little more rested, ready to take on the day. For now, he stands up, stretching, because sitting on the floor for that long was a little uncomfortable but it's Fine, it was worth it, and yawns a little.

He really hopes he can sleep today. For one, he's cried two times today and came rather close a handful of other times, and he's going to attribute that to the fact that the longer he stays awake without rest, the easier it is for him to lose control of his emotions like that. Ugh, being an angel fucking sucks. Lloyd can't even wait out sleep until exhaustion overtakes him, because unless he expends way more mana than he's supposed to he's never going to feel physically exhausted.

Whatever. He's too emotionally tired to acknowledge his transformation more than that.

Lloyd holds a hand out for Anna so he can help her up and scans the room for Sheena, vaguely remembering a joke she had made about knocking him out if he couldn't sleep and being somewhat tempted to take her up on that offer. She's standing by ~~not his~~ Zelos, so there is a bit of fear that leeches onto his heart, making him wonder if he should really walk over there, if he could take being that close to a Zelos that isn't his own.

The ring hanging on the chain tucked under his shirt burns hot on his chest, so he looks away, deciding to wait until Sheena comes closer to talk to her. He can't handle properly introducing himself to Zelos right now, not when his mind is still racing and he wants nothing more than to just chill out with the one person in this world who truly knows him. Lloyd wants to know what happened to her, why she just disappeared. (He knows it wasn't her choice. Sheena is as crazy over Colette as he was over -)

"I could use some sleep, to be honest," Lloyd says, running his free hand through his bangs, "where should we plop ourselves for the night? I can sleep anywhere."

Malos considers the question as long as he needs to, which is about half a second.

"There's two beds and a couch," he says. "Anna and I can share, and I'll let the rest of y'all duke it out over the rest. We do have blankets and shit if one of y'all needs to sleep on the floor."

"Do you have a basement?" [Zelos calls out from where he stands, one hand raised. He scoffs.] "I mean, I don't think you wanna attract unnecessary attention to yourself by having an Aegis glowing like a sun inside your house. You should hide me in your basement until tomorrow."

[He's smirking mischievously and trying to pass it off as a joke, though annoyance and a general dislike for the situation as it is course through his veins, countered by a vague threat hiding in his words. Zelos is the Aegis. Zelos has been stolen, and his driver is a fugitive. These are facts that no one here can afford to ignore. It won't be until they leave Meltokio's general territory that he lets himself relax even a bit, but, in the meantime, his new keepers should at least make sure he's out of harm's way.

Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick. The little bird has spent enough time inside cages to recognize one even when its stripped of all its luxuries. For now, at least, he'll have to pray this cage is as temporary as they say.]

[Sheena takes in Malos's explanation with a thoughtful but intent look, trying to keep it all together. Kratos is a blade, so this world's Lloyd is... half blade? But Anna has that crystal that... doesn't seem to be the same as a blade's. Alright. Maybe this will all make more sense in the morning. She just nods at Malos's suggestion, not really having any arguments.]

That... might be a good idea. The sooner we can get out of here, the better.

[She turns to Zelos when he speaks, that thoughtful look back on her face.]

What about you? You don't need to sleep? [Well, he'd heard those officials coming when she couldn't, earlier - Aegises are like angels, she guesses. Hm.

She sticks by Zelos's side for the moment as Malos collects Lloyd and Anna, though she's not really sure what to say. The last few hours have given her plenty to process, and it is late.]

I'm fine anywhere, too, [she says, after a pause to take in Zelos's words. The stressful feeling that's keeping her on edge is definitely not entirely her own, and she can see it in Zelos's stance when she looks for it. It's a pretty stark reminder that this Zelos hadn't even been allowed outside the castle before, nevermind the city, and her tone comes out gentler than it would have without that reminder.] So long as we keep the curtains closed, it should be okay, right? You're not glowing that much. [It's just his shoulders and core crystal that are visible, really, now that his wound is closing. It'd be a problem if anyone looked in to see her or Zelos's faces, but that's easy enough to prevent.]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

curb your enthusiasm coming out of malos' eyes

you got speakers in there my dude?

i didn't think so but at this point i'm too afraid to ask

Guys I'm still here

[lloyd voice] mmmmoooooooommmmmmm

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject