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TEST DRIVE MEME #7
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. |
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Gilgamesh flops onto his back and turns his eyes to the stars.]
A great Void encroaches upon this land. The Void shall swallow everything and everyone up in its wake, is it said, and the forces of Unseelie and Seelie squabble over how best to address it. Our Seelie would welcome this end, but the Unseelie...
[It's still hard to think of them as an enemy, even with the likes of Saber on the other side, even with all the battles he's fought. This still wasn't his war and he still resents being dragged into it, so he cannot rightfully hate his opponents as the King and Queen would have him do.
Briefly, he looks to Zack, gauging his reaction.]
The Unseelie would fight it. In either event, we are poised on the edge of apocalypse. That is the true meaning of this war.
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Zack's brow knits, and he seems more...perplexed than anything else. The end of the world, as Gilgamesh describes it, is an abstract concept to him, in the same way that the Lifestream is. Something outside the scope of human understanding.
Granted, it also sounds a bit too fantastic to be real. Certainly, the world back home had to deal with its share of destructive forces, and AVALANCHE always claimed the Mako reactors would be the death of Gaia, but something like this...
Zack frowns. ]
Why would they welcome the end?
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[Gilgamesh snaps to almost unusual seriousness with this reply. He doesn't necessarily agree with every aspect of the Seelie credo, but he does understand why the end must come. If not now, then eventually, and to delay the inevitable was nothing short of a fool's errand. He cannot agree with the Seelie in entirety, which means he can't agree with the Unseelie, either.
He also can't agree with an end to his own story quite yet—or ever—which leaves him at odds with just about everyone, forever the lonely king on the lonely path. Such was the cruel fate of Gilgamesh.]
Because the war they fight stretches across the world, across all worlds, including yours. And an ending to this one means the rebirth of many others. Like the death of a star, which releases its energy back into the universe, we restore balance with this cycle. It is simply the way of things.
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Thought Gilgamesh's tone isn't necessarily harsh, as the other elaborates on the cycle of beginnings and endings, all Zack can think about is a battle fought on a rocky hill. Rain, gunfire, and cold water mixing with warm blood. He thinks about what it felt like to walk to his own demise with a smile on his face, acceptance of that end, because it felt like right time, like he was doing the right thing.
He fought, though. He struggled, showing the same ironclad determination that had gotten him through so many other situations in his life. Zack doesn't like the idea of simply accepting one's fate, even if it is a foregone conclusion.
The fate of every world may be at stake here, but to drag him away from his own part in this apparently all-important circle of life leaves a sour taste in his mouth.
His expression shutters, and just like that, the softness and curiosity that was there evaporates. He withdraws and looks away. ]
They should have left me where I was, then.
[ A soft statement. It may be foolish, but he feels cheated in some way he can't quite define.
Then- ]
What do most people do when they come here?
[ Do they fight? Do they leave? Do they try to hide from what's happening? He doesn't know what he wants to do yet, though perhaps he will once he's been here for a little while.
It's been a very long day. ]
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[That probably comes as a slap, too, but better Zack hear this now and deal with it now than find out the much harder way, living under his personal delusions. Gilgamesh has no desire to toy with this man, who seemed so sad sitting under the stars and seems sadder still reminiscing over what he's lost. A great deal, the great King imagines, and he's softened enough towards him to leave the matter alone.
Gilgamesh shifts onto his side and peers at Zack with an expression that borders on kind. Even if he doesn't press, he yet wonders about the story behind the sword and the soldier that wields it. About the scar on his cheek and what he meant when he said there are no heroes left on his world.
He reaches out again, and the tips of his fingers graze along his wrist, only just barely. As if to bring him back to reality, away from that place where he was, away from the truth of things and away from that crushing space he's withdrawn into.]
Struggle, then find their way. Fight. Don't fight. But do something. Otherwise...
[His fingers fall to the ground, and he frowns, deeply.]
You'll go mad.
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Zack looks like he's about to curl in on himself even more, but that light touch forestalls it a bit. He doesn't pull away or act skittish this time; he just lets it be what it is.
Pulling himself together a little, he banishes what he can of the nightmares he doesn't speak of. His home and everything else he knows is far away from here. He has no choice but to adapt. ]
I'll find something.
[ He would be ashamed if he did not. ]
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There's a man here you should meet. He goes by Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, and he serves as my Knight. I believe he may provide you a measure of guidance throughout your journey and might serve you in his own way.
[Because are things he cannot do for Zack, comforts he cannot provide. He's a tyrant and a monster of a man, even under the best of circumstances, but Zack requires a gentler hand, he can tell. He requires stability and as one already driven mad long before ever coming to this realm, Gilgamesh cannot ground him.
But the Knight who leashed a King, brought him back down to earth? Perhaps he'll fare better than Gilgamesh ever could.]
Seek him out when you've sorted yourself. He'll help you find what you're searching for. [Teasingly:] You truly are like twins. It's uncanny.
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Stability and some sense of purpose will likely help in the long run, though.
Zack listens, and though he isn't entirely sure what to make of Gilgamesh's recommendation, he thinks the man means will in giving it. He makes a mental note of it -- the name, and the fact that the man he's supposed to look for is apparently is twin. ]
...I'll look for him.
[ When he's "sorted" as the other so delicately phrased it. Also, he can't really help but ask: ]
Are we that much alike?
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[Gilgamesh speaks without realizing the true depths of Zack's plight, without knowing how little honor meant to him now. Truthfully, it didn't mean much to him either, but most soldiers followed some form of code. Surely Zack isn't so different in this regard, though he suspects he'll keep to his secrets for a while longer.
That sword's huge, though. Some part of him covets it against better judgment.]
And he has no tongue for lies nor deceit. He means what he says and acts accordingly, and that is why I have placed my faith in him. He will never stray from his righteousness, even were it to bring about his undoing. Although...
[Gilgamesh leans a bit closer, paying particular attention to Zack's face.]
His eyes aren't so striking. I've not seen their equal in many years. So startlingly blue, as though stolen from the sky itself.
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The words strike at something deep inside him, and though he doesn't flinch, exactly, something flashes across his face. He does follow a code -- a code that was instilled in him by his teacher when he was young. A code he could never really strictly follow because of the company he worked for. An ideal he lived and died by.
He will never stray from his righteousness, even were it to bring about his undoing.
Gilgamesh is right in thinking they're alike. Honestly, he finds it a little disturbing.
Blinking once when the other leans in to get a better look at his eyes, Zack stares back at vivid red ones -- eyes that remind him of someone he used to know. He isn't sure how that makes him feel just yet but lets it go for now. ]
The glow comes from Mako.
[ That much was common knowledge back home so he doesn't mind sharing it. ]
All SOLDIERs have it.
[ A beat, then- ]
He sounds like a good man.
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Gilgamesh takes note of this Zack Fair, pledges the face and the name to memory. They'll run into each other again. He's sure of it.]
I'm a good king, so good men are drawn to me by nature. By my decree, all those in my employ shall be held in the highest regard.
[He announces it as though it were actual law. Mischief fleets across his face again, and when he smiles, it's full of teeth. When fingers skitter across Zack's cheek, they're warmer than they should be. It is both a welcome and a warning of what might happen if Zack lingers too long out here.]
Go back inside, soldier of the sky. Return to the revels. You will feel better with a few drinks in you. By order of the King, face the day anew tomorrow, and follow that path of righteousness. I eagerly await your progress.
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He takes what Gilgamesh says with a grain of salt (Zack doesn't know anything about kings or what makes a good ones outside fairy tales he heard as a child), but he does, at least, make up his mind to meet this Diarmuid the other spoke of.
Zack stiffens a little when those fingers drift over his cheek, and if nothing else, that convinces him more than anything else it's time to pull away.
Snagging the hilt of the Buster, Zack rises and returns the blade to its place at his back in a smooth, singular motion. He really isn't the mood for more of the revelry, but a drink or two might not be such a bad thing before he comes back out to stargaze.
He's not really sure he wants to say this (he doesn't quite know what to think of Gilgamesh yet), but he thinks he should say something. ]
...some other time, then.
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It can no longer that be doubted that in another place, another time, Gilgamesh indeed ruled over his people and occupied a mighty throne. He ruled and he commanded them, as he commands Zack now, holding to the utmost faith they will see each other again.]
Walk with pride. And know that you have been noticed by me, the great Gilgamesh.
[Gilgamesh retreats inside, or else would have, if he hadn't simply disappeared in a golden cloud of magic.]