TEST DRIVE MEME #7

[fairyfoes]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping to EACHDRAIDH? Why not give the setting a test run here! OPTIONAL SCENARIOS 01. ARRIVING IN THE DRABWURLD. The Seelie and Unseelie courts welcome you not with mirthful revelry, this time around dear friends. There is a seriousness in the air, though the food is still hearty and the imps still mischievous. After you have been briefed on your purpose here, you will find an endless feast and a night filled with entertainment to placate your concerns. Mingle with new arrivals, sneak down the castle halls and make sure your eyes are always on your glass; fairies and imps have no bias when it comes to tricks! 02. THE STATION. Looking for a little slice of home? The Station gives you all that and more. Take advantage of the wifi, have a cup of fairy-brewed coffee (the one they didn't spit in) or sit back and relax on the patio. You can even move your things into one of the available rooms! 03. WILDCARD. Your own scenario! Explore the Drabwurld or simply take advantage of your Locket! Be mindful, though -- the monarchs are watching and cross court communication should be done with the utmost secrecy.

Comments

[heralding]

Consider it an apology. [Lightning pants out an agitated breath.] Something like ... "we need to use you, but here's something for what you've just gone through." [She finishes, making a thoughtful sound.]

That sounds about right.

[colecomfort]

I don't eat.

[So the offered apology has no meaning to him, even if it's meant as hospitality. And yes, he's heard the reason he's here — there was one imp left alive when he'd finished, and it managed to get a word in.

He keeps on talking. There's a haunted tone to it.]

Why didn't they ask? Layers of worlds collapsing, boundaries breaking. I might have come willingly.

[heralding]

Beings like them, they don't see why they have to ask. It's just the way these things go. Probably means they can't fight for themselves, either. That's how it usually is. There are ... rules involved, and they dictate their behavior. [The cynicism bleeds into all of her words. Though Lightning has no confirmation that the monarchs are like the fal'Cie or Bhunivelze, it sure as hell seems like it.]

But now that you're here, I bet they figure ... well, it's not like they'll do nothing.

It all works out.

[colecomfort]

Because we can't go back.

[Pressed into service. If they'd really wanted his obedience, they could have bound him. He should be thankful that they overlooked that detail.

Indeed, he is. He may not be able to go home, but as far as he can tell, there's nothing holding him within the castle walls. And he requires neither food nor sleep. He can go elsewhere, if he wishes...

...but what about the people here? The other ones who've been taken? Who will help them?]

So many of them are scared... [Up there in the hall. Some aren't. Many are hiding their fear, hiding themselves.

And then — there's her.]

You're not.

[heralding]

[Once upon a time, she had been too torn up by the loss of her sister to be afraid. Now, Lightning is an old hand at this.

In response to his remark, she seems to shuffle her feet and angle her body ever-so-slightly in a dismissive way. It's not to his remark, but about her perceived lack of fear. She's afraid of some things. She's afraid of what this world means for her own, especially if it's in danger. They just got it started, so what does it mean in the end? She's afraid of what this all means for Serah. If she fails here, will they ever meet again? At most, they've fought together for a brief time, and now she's caught elsewhere again, and from what it looks like, she'll have no chance of contacting her—none at all.

It's frustrating ... and a little infuriating. Fear feeds into that. But when it comes to the situation, she isn't unsettled like she should be. She's really been around this block before.]

It's not my first time through this. [But she was hoping she had been done.]

Let's just say that I might be wrong about some of my guesses, but I doubt that I am. They all tend to be the same way, the types of beings that throw people into conflicts like this.

And I bet there's a whole lot they won't ever let us know about it. [Even being brought against their will—like she spelled out—likely has a reason behind it.]

[colecomfort]

[The last thing she says rings especially true. When leaders keep secrets and expect others to follow blindly... it can go from bad to worse, and the ones that ask questions are either abandoned or dealt with. It happened at Therinfal. It might be happening here.]

The Void is swallowing everything. This world is so... small. I can feel to the edges. Beyond, everything stops. Hush, harsh, sudden, more than silence — silence needs noise to make itself known. It's just — nothing.

[He shudders. Despite his doubts about their captors, he knows that much. But that's the catch, isn't it? They expect that to be enough.]

[heralding]

You can feel it, huh? [Lightning is surprised by that piece of information. The surprise leads to interest, in part because their ... leaders insist that they can stop it.]

Think there's any truth in us being able to push it back? I have my doubts. [Because she's seen something like the Void destroy a world. It's hard to believe that it can be any simpler here.]

[colecomfort]

[Honestly? He doesn't know. So he has to wonder:]

How do you stop something that doesn't exist?

[heralding]

You mean because of its name? There's always a source of something that powerful. You might not be able to see it, but something gives birth to it. [From what she's learned, at any rate. It had been Yeul's countless births that had led to the breaking point with Etro's miracles that day, and it had been the unseen chaos as a result that washed over the world and began to slowly swallow it whole.

Here, she thinks there might be a source.]

But in my opinion, you can't just push back at something like that. [That's why she said she had her doubts. Those are her doubts.]

[colecomfort]

Not the name. The nature. An end to everything, death with no life to follow. If it exists to end, how can anything touch it without being eaten? If it came from anywhere, wouldn't it devour its own maker?

[heralding]

Not from my experience. Its maker might be behind making sure that the other side gets what they want—a new start. Or something like it. I'm not too clear on the details. [For her, that makes it a matter of guess work, and uncomfortable guesswork at that.]

[colecomfort]

[On that point, they're on the same page.]

I need to know what I can do. How I can help. I need to know what it is.

[heralding]

Well, for a start, don't buy what they say about killing people to make a world better. No good comes from that. [She's determined to believe this.]

[colecomfort]

No. I won't kill anyone who isn't past hope.

[He's just as resolute. And that's two things they've agreed on so far.

He realizes he hasn't introduced himself. It's something he doesn't do with everyone, especially when most people don't remember him anyway.]

I'm Cole.

[heralding]

[Cole's initial words hit her like a whip. She visibly throws her shoulders back, somewhat startled. The idea of someone—something—being past hope is not something she's unfamiliar with. All of the gods she's faced along the way had been like that. Caius had been, too, but he had been happy to be there for Yeul, to be there for her many incarnations, and to be everything she wanted him to be, free and bound. In a way, that had been his own version of ... hope, albeit a terribly dire one.

The statement nearly makes her forget his introduction. She shakes it off, bowing her head.]

It's a pleasure, Cole. I'm Lightning. [She lets that hang in the air, introductions being important and all.

But she doesn't let it go on too long. There's something she has to know.]

How do you decide if someone's past hope? [Again, she doesn't think it's impossible, but there are truly unique cases in her experience. Even those she might have labeled differently changed their tune. People were dynamic creatures, and in the end, they were all capable of hope.

But not all beings were people, necessarily; she doesn't know where he's coming from, and that's why she's asked her question.]

[colecomfort]

[Not all beings are people, no. And sometimes, people are beyond the control of anyone or anything.]

No mind, no me, the red has pushed me out and all that's left is rage. Breath bubbling, fog, fading at the edges, pain pulls me back to life, Maker, I am ready. I...

[But there are those he's killed before they reached that point. Enemies in the field who had tried to hurt him, but it can't be denied they died by his hand. Men and women with lovers and families.

He killed them for the sake of the Inquisition. And that only reminds him of how alone he is, here.]

...I need someone to tell me, otherwise. But everyone else is... [He tenses.] I won't kill for them. I won't be a weapon for someone else.

[heralding]

Someone to tell you. [Someone he trusts, she assumes. It sounds as if he has someone like that, somewhere. As a soldier, she understands the necessity to strike in battle. She understands the necessity to take a life. But it doesn't mean she likes it. These days, she hates every aspect of it. With every soul she strikes down, she can imagine that there is something more behind the brief encounter. That person has a family, a life where they smiled and they had memories to share with others. Killing them takes all of that away.

Is it that necessary when that's the result? She's come to also hate the word "necessary."]

Be careful about who that someone is. I've been a weapon before. [Too many times. In fact, the only time she had been a weapon of her own making had been when she joined the Guardian Corps long ago. She shed the name Claire to be someone else. She had embraced her roles after that, as well as the new ways she had been forged into a weapon, but she always knew precisely what she happened to be.

The scenery may have changed, but the end results rarely did.]

There's always someone looking for another one to take up, to guide, and to command. [Isn't that what the monarchs are doing now? She doesn't backtrack to her earlier doubts, but it definitely brings things full circle in her mind.

It also gives her some resolve. If she's going to fight here, it's going to be on her terms.]

[colecomfort]

I am me. I will go where I can help people.

[He looks into the fire, arms crossed, resolute.]

Thank you. [If she hadn't come, he might still be lingering here, feeling lost and confused.]

[heralding]

It's a good plan, [she says decisively, punctuating it with a nod. Lightning is pleased that he'll keep that from happening.]

And—you're welcome. [She doesn't know for what, not entirely, but she's pleased to help just the same.

Sometimes, she's just herself. Without being able to see someone's soul now, she can only guess at these things again.

But is that so bad? She doesn't think so.]