10/29 --- Δ Haggard Traveler’s Reprieve?????

[gluttoning]

Who: ??? & you!
What: Something's starting...
Where: Δ Haggard Traveler’s Reprieve (Twilight Shoreline)
When: Sunday, 10/29
Warnings: Will be added as needed.

( Perhaps intrigued by the mail allegedly sent by CC Corp, perhaps visiting the Shoreline by chance, gating into the Area goes as it always does, until the music stays cut for longer than it should, and the black, liminal transition screen lingers for a little too long. The seconds tick on. They near turn to minutes. You can't struggle, you can't argue— you can only simply be, and it occurs to you that maybe you'll be trapped midway here, conscious, for maybe forever.

And then you hear static. Your vision warps; pixels strain into words, blurred and unstable. You see them combat for your attention; you see— )



( And then you load in. )

( POST NAVIGATION )
( Sign-in Comment (Mandatory) • How to Play • Mechanics

Phase 1 • Round 1 • Round 2 • Round 3 • Round 4 • Round 5 • Round 6

Phase 2 • Round 7 • Round 8 • Round 9 • Round 10 •
Round 11 • Round 12

Epilogue )

Comments

[secondthoughts]

That's—

[ Without his memory, without watching the people he's loved die because of him twice, the answer comes easy. There's a weight on his chest, but he can't identify it. Sympathy, perhaps. The desire to help. Frustration that he's powerless otherwise. It could be anything. ]

That's up to you.

[ His answer is firm, decisive, despite the wishy-washiness of the words themselves. ]

You're still young, Barrett. You can make mistakes and learn from them. Think about the person you want to be and strive to be like that. If you believe the voices, then you're bending to someone else's version of you.

[ He purses his lips. ]

But I know you're stronger than that.

[gluttoning]

...

And what am I supposed to do? With this anger?

I don't... think I want to hate myself. But I don't know where else to go.

[secondthoughts]

[ That, Hector doesn't really know the answer to. His mind tries to roam, searching for examples in his own life, but he comes up empty. The amorphous blob of emotion in his chest has no description, no memory associated with them.

What would he want someone to say to him? ]

...Let it fuel something else. Passion, maybe. Or love.

[ He glances at Mithrun, then back to Misteaks. ]

Sometimes, you have to burn a forest down to let it keep growing. I don't think you should bottle it up, but...you don't have to hurt anyone anymore, Barrett. We already forgive you.

[gluttoning]

[RIP mithrun who is still just nothing but foam in this thread, so the line about love seems to just make him stutter in place. Tarvos didn't love Macha. He didn't. He didn't. But why does it still feel like agony?]

...What if I can't? If I can't follow my passion anymore. If... the people I love are gone.

I'm scared to start over.

[secondthoughts]

[ oh shit i forgot he's foamthrun, ]

I know.

[ Hector stares hard at the boy. Something about that, the fear of starting anew, strikes such a chord with him that it physically pains him that he doesn't know why. He knows that feeling. He knows it painfully well. Seeing a path ahead, enshrouded in darkness, knowing he'll be walking it by himself—it's not something he would want to wish on anyone else. Especially not Misteaks. ]

You just— [ He doesn't expect his voice to crack when he speaks, but it does. He stops, breathes deep, and continues. ] You just have to keep going.

[ He glances around at the other people talking to him. ] But you don't have to do it alone. Because these people here...they love you, too.

[gluttoning]

[...]

Do you think there's enough of me left? I don't know if anyone will ever feel safe with me again.

[His body is so fragile now, after all, despite his enormous size. Transparent and so brittle to the appearance, like he might shatter and fall away.]

Will it really be okay?

[secondthoughts]

[ Despite how big he is like this, despite his temper and the destruction he's wrought in the past few days, Hector...doesn't feel any fear. He looks at Barrett and sees a boy suffering for reasons outside of his control.

And not once was he ever afraid. ]

That you're asking means there's more than enough of you left. [ His voice is quiet, but sincere. ] They trust you. They know this isn't you. I think they'll forgive you, and work to help you heal from this.

It will be okay. [ ... ] It has to be.

[gluttoning]

...

...

If they don't forgive me... it's okay.

[Other hits have landed in the time that they've spoken - glancing, but effective, his health teetering at 5%. Leviathan is close by, sword being drawn.

The eyes against his wings start to flutter closed. Spent.]

I wish... it could have been peaceful. Me and... and the ones I love.

Maybe... it will still be okay.

[secondthoughts]

[ Something catches in Hector's throat. Mithrun's gone, Barrett's health is low, and the end is near. There's so much he wishes he could say, so much that sits on the tip of his tongue but dies as the seconds tick by.

Hector is going to miss him. ]

It will be okay. [ He says this again, because he truly believes it. Even if... Even if Barrett doesn't come back, even if he never sees him again... Hector says this for himself. ]

Love you, kiddo. You'll be fine. I promise.

[gluttoning]

[He lets out a long breath. Hollow, echoing, smoke draining from the cracks like the last embers of a fire.

His nod, when it comes, is slight. But it's there.]

Okay.

...Okay.

Thank you... thank you.

[He doesn't have enough energy to say anything else. It's left on Levi to take it from here, to deliver the final blow. But at least, for a slight moment...

...Perhaps he looks at least, momentarily, a little more at peace with himself than before.]