abyssdressing | The apocalypse is nigh!

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characters: mieudesuno

The apocalypse is nigh!

Asch agreeing to a drink with Emperor Peony? Luke studying ~~more or less~~ willingly? Asch chuckling? Uncle Jade?

It would appear Abyss Dressing Room has inexplicably stumbled upon the four signs of the apocalypse. This must explain why there is suddenly a horde of monsters poised to attack. ~~Redheads!~~ Denizens! Defend your nexus!

...Just be careful with those artes. Looks like the apocalypse is a lot fuzzier and noisier than anticipated. As such, every arte used spawns at least two dozen cheagles. And Mystic Artes spawn about fifty.

Good luck. And welcome to ~~Luke's~~ ~~Asch's~~ anyone who isn't Tear or Ion's hell.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's... it's not as easy as that, though...

[ ooc; I-it's not his fault he wanted his friends to live a life without having to save the world all over again! ]

Finding out Tear knew about the fonon separation wasn't easy either, but it helped, knowing I wasn't alone.

[ ooc; Luke wins the award for enacting the Trope, "Nice Job Breaking It, Hero"! ]

They deserved a break and a normal life after everything, though.

[ ooc; He didn't mean to break the world, damnit! It just kind of... happened. And it's Van's fault, anyway! They wouldn't have had to stop the Planet Storm if Van hadn't used it as a shield for Eldrant! ]

It's hard to imagine anybody's life would be normal. The Outer Lands were lowered, people lost what they based their lives around... Everything had to change.

[ ooc; They should've just plugged it back in when they were done so everyone could enjoy the planet-wide ~~lava~~ fonon lamp! ]

But they could at least live without fighting. They could be as normal as anyone else rather than having to fix things again.

[ ooc; I figure there were a couple reasons why they didn't. One, it required the Sword of Lorelei to restart it, and that disappeared when Luke started the process to free Lorelei. And two, there was always the possibility that restarting the Planet Storm might have started to mutate fonons again and recreate the miasma. ]

[ At that he finally returns to looking at Luke. ] What's there to fix with Master Van being gone?

[ ooc; Option B is probably the more likely, given Tear might have been able to do something without the Sword. ]

Think of what we did to get rid of him. There aren't really that many fonons anymore, so life's not so easy for people. That's something a lot of people refuse to get used to.

[ ooc; I doubt that; even Yulia needed the Sword to create the glyphs, so the implication is that it'd require a shitton of Seventh Fonons to do it. So restarting it would need the fonons to be amplified, especially since the world wouldn't have a huge supply of them anymore. In the best case scenario, she probably would have died in the attempt if she didn't use the Sword. ]

Are they really so stubborn that the world almost ending isn't enough reason for them to change...?

[ ooc; ...I'd have to go back a reread all the little bits of history, l-lol. ]

It's difficult when a new way to power things hasn't been found, though. Kimlasca's in really bad shape. Hell, Malkuth's really only doing alright because of Engeve and St. Binah - people are always going to need food and medicine, you know? But anywhere else... mining operations are all but stopped, trade sucks because the prices on Kimlascan products are seriously inflated... Chesedonia's more a mercenary city and information crossroads than a center of trade these days. Which suits us well enough in its own way; at least Asch and I always know where to go if we need information or a good job. And we definitely need information more often than not with how things have been going...

[ ooc; Well, parts of that are my own assumption. But the game does specifically mention Yulia used the Sword to carve the glyphs at the Radiation and Absorption Gates - that's why Luke needed to use the Jewel to close them. And if the Jewel was needed to close them, there must have been some huge concentration of Seventh Fonons there that he had to disperse. So I can only assume they'd need at least as many to reopen it. :\ ]

[ Luke remains quiet during the elder's explanation of the state Auldrant's in, nodding here and there to indicate he's listening; how could he not when, once again, he'd misunderstood the entire situation? Smiling wryly, he lets out a soft, humorless laugh as he pokes at the dirt. ] Man, I thought everything would be fine once Master Van was defeated... Natalia, Jade, Guy... They were all going to do their best to help people adjust.

[ Another thought seems to occur, because after a moment he leans over to tug at a turquoise sleeve. ] What about the other replicas? Are they being treated fairly?

[ ooc; Ah, that makes sense. :o I wouldn't be surprised if one of the supplemental books goes into more detail, but alas, Japanese. \:|/ ]

They are doing their best. It's just not the easiest situation...

...

The other replicas are mostly alright. Just...

[ Urk--! He quickly waves both hands in front of himself. ] Th-that came out wrong. I didn't know the job would be too much for them...

...they can't protect them all, can they.

It's not their fault. I...

[ Luke shifts, picking up one of the cheagles and playing with it before he continues. ] Even after everything we went through, I was still too naive to think it was possible. I thought there was no way anyone could be worse than Master Van or the God-Generals or Mohs... the things they thought, the things they did. So I never really thought it was possible there'd be people who could do something worse than them. But... where I'm from, there are people who are so desperate for fonons, people who refuse to give up fontech or fonic artes and the easy benefits they give. And even though it's illegal, they still do it... they kidnap people and murder them to steal their fonons. Most of the time, they target children and replicas, but they've also gone after anyone who would be able to use the Seventh Fonon. And they've gone after soldiers and some other adults, too. Uncle and Emperor Peony have both been trying to stop it but... it's tough. Asch and I have been after them, too. That's a lot of the information we look for - any word about where they've hit or where they'll be...

With Master Van, I could understand where he was coming from about people blindly following the Score. But killing just to use fonic technology for a little while longer? I-I don't get how anyone could live with themselves after taking someone's life for such a petty reason when they could be helping find a way for everyone to live easier instead of just themselves.

...so that's how it is, huh? All our efforts were for Auldrant to suffer more...? Wonder what he'd say about all this.

I don't really care what he'd say about it; Asch and I are going to put a stop to it, no matter what it takes for us to do it.

How...? What can just the two of you working alone against a whole group hope to do? [ Hopefully Luke will forgive the kid's candidness; this is the first major bit of depressing news he's heard since arriving. ]

Hmm? And what exactly were we before we got Uncle and Emperor Peony behind us, anyway? Just six or seven people working against Master Van and all of the knights who followed him.

Yeah, but... [ That's a fairly reasonable point, though Luke still looks skeptical. ] We had a lot of help along the way. The Dark Wings, both Classes from Sheridan, plus Noelle and Ginji, even the citizens of Baticul pitched in.

We still went it alone for a lot of that, though. So the point is, we're doing what we can and we're not giving up. Or are you trying to say you don't think Asch and I have the ability to pull it off?

I don't know... It sounds like a totally different problem from what we're used to. After we found out what Master Van was planning, it was only a matter of taking him down with minimal casualties. This time you don't know who the enemy is.

Hmmm~? But we didn't know who was behind all the problems at first last time, either; that didn't stop everyone from stepping up to do something. Same thing this time. It's not like we'll never figure out who it is, right? So we'll just keep fighting and doing what we can. We'll make it work.

... [ Here Luke pauses to mull over everything, idly patting a furry head that pops up near his knee. ]

Ah, you might not believe me, but you really are amazing. I'm discouraged just from listening to what's going on with your home.

E-eh...? I'm... I'm not really...

You are! Not many people would still be fired up and determined after going through what you have.

You'd be the same way, though. I mean, if it's the choice between fighting and finding a way to fix things or letting people get hurt...

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