melodiesofeternity | [Closed] Serge has a present from the Cloud

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[Closed] Serge has a present from the Cloud

Who: Serge, Kid, Corrin
When: November 2nd, Afternoon
Where: Curti Center, the Dream Width
What: Serge and Company go to space.
Warnings/Notes: As they come up!

Serge and Mochi wait patiently in the airship hangar, sitting next to a rusty old Falcon-class. Mochi's friend has graciously allowed the use of his airship, called the Phoenix, for the expedition.

"How come it's called the Phoenix, anyway?"
"I think it's 'cuz it's been totaled three times and it's still flying."
"... Oh."

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Kid's timely attack leaves Saizo no room to dodge, and he is struck by both of them. Again, even though their intent was not to kill, Saizo-or at least the memory of Saizo-reacts as though the wounds are fatal, falling to his knees with a gasp, clutching at his chest.

"I have failed...Lord Ryoma." He whispers through ragged breaths. "Though I must die...my words remain true. I will always believe in Hoshido..." He stares up at Serge and Kid with burning hate in his eyes. "We will win this war...the world will...one day...know peace..." And then he slumps forward onto the ground, and is silent.

They do not have long to reflect upon their actions however, as suddenly they hear a cry of pain from Corrin, still trapped with Ryoma. The two levers that will open the door to help her are now accessible.

Serge is panting, looking down at the dying man, and he feels ill- It wasn't me who did this. It's Corrin's Memory.

He's taken out of the moment by Corrin's cry, and already he's scrambling for the controls, pulling at them to open the gate. No time to waste. "We're coming, just hang in there, Corrin!"

With the two levers flipped, the doors that bar the way to the hall where Corrin is dueling Ryoma slide open. Rushing into the room will see their friend just barely holding off an assault from the red-armoured High Prince. With one hand she clutches Yato; the other is held to a wound on her side. The problem is apparent; Corrin is not fighting to kill, but Ryoma is.

"It's time, Corrin!" Ryoma snarls. "Show me the power that you used to slay our sister! Or does the Yato repel at your touch now that your heart and soul are dead?"

"Ryoma...brother, please, stop this!" Corrin manages through panting, heaving breaths. "I don't want to fight you! I can explain everything, even Hinoka if you'd just listen to me!"

Ryoma barks out a laugh. "As though I would allow you to distract me with false remorse. How dare you call me brother after killing Hinoka? You are nothing to me! Just a filthy coward like the rest of your kingdom. I have said all I wish to say to you. Nothing you can do will sway me. You are no sister of mine, Nohrian princess! I swear by my sacred blade, I shall take back whatever Hoshidan blood still remains in you!"

"Ryoma, no!" Corrin cries, but then she sees Serge and Kid rushing in, and she cannot stop the look of elation at her rescue. Ryoma catches it, turns, and sees them.

"Only an honourless boor would interfere with a duel!" He raises his katana, and after a moment points it...at Kid.

"Kid, watch out for the lightning!" Corrin calls to her just before the lightning that continually surrounds Raijinto's blade arcs forward at Ryoma's command towards the other girl.

But with his attention now divided, Corrin presses her attack, leaping forward to engage Ryoma, her hand dropping away from the wound as she does so. It would seem she was feigning how badly he had actually hurt her, and now with her allies here, it's time to finish this.

It's a dishonourable tactic, she knows, but she was forced into this duel against her will in the first place, and frankly, she doesn't have time for this. After all, duels of this nature are the Hoshidan way...and Corrin is no Hoshidan.

Edited 2019-01-14 05:32 (UTC)

"There's nothing honorless about fighting for a friend!" Serge charges headlong into battle, spear-first. Corrin doesn't even seem to want to fight, and this jackass is keeping her separated from them!

She could have spat at being called 'honourless'— but was quick to heed Corrin's advice and jumped to evade, thanks to that enhanced agility. There's enough momentum to send her into a forward flip— and sending her dagger flying...

She was aiming to catch at one of the ends of Ryoma's coat to pin it down, in hopes of giving them an opening— even if just for a second.

Ryoma is a master swordsman, but even he struggles against three enemies at once. He is able to deflect Serge's spear thrust, but Corrin's attack from behind catches him by surprise, causing him to stumble; especially once Kid's dagger finds its mark and pins his coat, badly restricting his movement.

"Don't kill him! He needs to live!" Corrin yells, and then she leaps in to make sure of that outcome. There's a quick exchange of blades before Corrin's free arm...changes. It takes on a silver-ish, metallic hue, and her hands become far more like claws. Similar-looking antlers seem to sprout from the sides of her head as a metallic-looking round mask with a strange sort of stylized animal-like design appears over her own, open at the back, leaving her hair trailing behind her. Corrin's mutated arm visibly extends farther than it should be able to, catching Ryoma by surprise with a clawed swipe as the claw seems to grow in size. This is followed by a swift kick from a similarly changed leg that almost seems to take on a drill-like quality that knocks the High Prince of Hoshido's leg out from underneath him, causing him to fall to one knee. And with one final swipe of her sword, Raijinto is knocked from Ryoma's hand, falling to the ground.

Having finished her [Dragon Fang] combo, Corrin's limbs return to normal and the antlered mask dissolves. Yato is pointed directly at Ryoma's throat. Ryoma's look of fierce anger says it all; he's defeated, and he knows it.

"My kingdom...my honour..." He mutters through gritted teeth, and then closes his eyes. "All is lost."

Suddenly, a thought occurs to Corrin; a very important one. "Serge, Ryoma's sword. Hand it to me, quickly." Good thing she thought of that. She hadn't last time and it-

Last time?

No, that's...Corrin shakes her head. Ryoma was a masterful swordsman, and Raijinto a powerful blade. It simply made sense to deprive him of it now that he was defeated. She was just wound up from the toll the invasion was taking on her, but it would be over soon. Ryoma's defeat was the last barrier to completing the Hoshidan conquest and getting King Garon to sit the Hoshidan throne.

Then everyone would see him for what he truly was.

Serge picks up the fallen sword, hefting it and offering it to Corrin... "Are you... okay?"

Whether he's asking if she's hurt or not is up for interpretation. This had been a particularly stressful encounter. "He was your brother, what... what happened?"

As she landed, it was from that same spot on the ground that Kid's jaw seemed to nearly hit the floor. Sure, Corrin had been up front about the fact that she could turn into some sort of dragon and that... is what this thief had to assume that was.

Finally closing her mouth now that it seemed Ryoma was subdued, picked herself up and approached the group from behind Serge, looking the other woman over to make sure she was... okay.

Corrin nods, breathlessly. "I'm all right, Serge. Thank you." She doesn't seem to hear the second part of his question, still lost in the memory as she is.

Even in defeat, Ryoma keeps his dignity. "Hoshido has fallen. I am a disgrace to my people. Corrin...Kill me. Do it now. Once you do, the war is over. Please...end my suffering and let me join Hinoka."

Corrin shakes her head. "I can't do that, Ryoma."

Ryoma looks up, fire in his eyes. "Are you really going to deny me even the mercy of a quick death?!"

Corrin kneels down so the two of them are face-to-face. "My brother..." She begins, causing Ryoma to spit to one side. Corrin carries on regardless. "To kill you now would not reunite you with Hinoka. I did not kill her Ryoma. She's still alive."

Ryoma does not for one moment look convinced by this. "This is a trick of some kind." He spits. "Another one of your lies."

"It isn't." Corrin replies earnestly. "She and I fought, but I refused to kill her, just as I refuse to kill you now. I couldn't do it. It may cost me my life and my mission, but she's too precious to me. I knew Father would not tolerate there being any survivors, so I lied. I made it seem as though she were dead and told her to hide until the war was over. That's why I took her lance as proof. If I had really killed her, don't you think we would have taken her head instead?"

Her words actually seem to give Ryoma pause. "I suppose." He admits finally. "But how can I trust you after all you've done?!"

Corrin sighs. "I'm sorry, Ryoma. I don't know what else to say." She admits. "I know you have no good reason to take me at my word, but I swear it's the truth. Sakura and Minister Yukimura were taken prisoner when Fort Jinya fell, but at least they're still alive. Takumi fell from the Great Wall of Suzanooh, but his body is missing, I'm sure he's out there somewhere. I want to save you too, Ryoma." Her voice breaks with emotion. There are tears in her eyes. "I don't want anyone else to die! Please, Brother! I would rather die than lie to you a moment longer. The truth is that I am not your enemy. All I have done has been for the good of us all."

Ryoma seems genuinely surprised by the surge of emotion coming from Corrin. And yet, from his expression, as the hardness and anger drops away, he seems moved by it as well. Almost...convinced, it appears, of Corrin's intentions. "Corrin...I-"

Corrin suddenly looks up in alarm, as though hearing a noise (though Serge and Kid hear nothing). "Quiet!" She whispers suddenly. "Father is approaching...Let me say all I need to say. I may have given up my Hoshidan birthright, but I want nothing more than to save you and this kingdom. I promised Hinoka I would." She wipes the tears from her eyes so as not to give herself away, and then gives Ryoma a sad, yet earnest smile. "You may hate me, but know that no matter what happens...you'll always be my brother."

Ryoma is silent, seemingly lost in thought. Corrin rises quickly, and turns towards the open doors, apparently hurrying to meet her "father". "I promise you, Ryoma, this time it's going to be different." She says as she walks away, a fierce determination in her voice. "This time I am going to-" She stops, halfway across the room, in sudden surprise. "-save you." She says quietly, as realization begins to set in. "Oh...that's...that's right." She says to herself. "This already happened, didn't it?" She turns to look at Serge and Kid, her face a mask of confusion. "You two...you're not Nohrian soldiers, are you? You're...my friends. You came with me..." She looks around at the room. "...This isn't real. I remember now." She realizes finally. Then she looks down at her hand.

Raijinto is gone from her grasp. "I didn't take Raijinto the first time." She says quietly. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and then forces herself to turn around.

Ryoma kneels hunched over where Corrin left him, impaled by his own katana, the blood mixing with the lightning that still continues to pulse around the blade. Even in death, his grip on the hilt is tight, and from the way he's holding it, it's clear the wound is self inflicted. He took his own life.

Corrin takes a deep, ragged breath and begins to approach the body. "King Garon ordered Ryoma's death. And that I was to be his executioner." She says slowly, her voice quiet, but level. It's clear she's fighting to keep it that way. "One last godsdamned test of my loyalty he said. But it was just to make me suffer. I was so close to unmasking him, to showing Xander and the others the monster he truly was. To hesitate then would have meant my death, and there would have been no saving Hoshido from his madness. All the lives lost, all the destruction caused...because of me, it would have all been for nothing. I had to keep going. And yet, I...he was my brother, despite everything that had come between us. I made a promise I would save him."

She's back in front of Ryoma's body now, and once again she kneels down in front of him. "In the end, he took the decision out of my hands." She says sadly. "He called it a samurai's final duty, but that wasn't it. In that last moment, he wasn't a samurai, or the High Prince of Hoshido...it was the duty of an elder brother to his sibling. To save her from pain and torment. He recognized me as such in the end, and put his trust in me to make it right."

Thank you, Corrin. Ryoma's voice has an ethereal quality to it as it wafts over the room, the Dream Width seemingly reacting to Corrin's own recollection of the event. He sounds at peace. I finally understand. It's all right. Everything is going to be all right. My beloved sister...I'm counting on you. I will trust you.

Good...bye... the voice-and the room itself, begins to fade away into darkness around them.

"Goodbye, big brother." She answers softly as Ryoma's body fades into the darkness around them. "I will see you again in the green fields."

And then they are back, floating in the Dream Width. In her hand, Corrin clutches Shadow Yato, the Sword of Salvation, the Seal of Flames. She regards it for a moment, and the sight of the blade seems to bring her peace. It's a link-her first real one-to her home.

"...Come on." She says as she turns and begins to make her way back to the ship. "We can talk more once we're back onboard."

Edited 2019-01-18 03:45 (UTC)

Serge is... at a loss, as they make their way back to the ship, reeled in by the pilot. "I... Jeez. I'm so sorry, Corrin."

What else is there to say? He'd felt... everything that'd been done by Lynx, but it hadn't happened to him. This was something Corrin'd been forced to experience herself, and it hurt to see both Kid and Corrin hurt like this.

That was... a lot to unpack, to say the least. As Kid pulled along on her tether back towards the ship, on her part, it was a mostly quiet trek back to the Phoenix. Kid didn't really know how even start offering words of comfort, if the occasional looks she shot both Corrin and Serge, then quickly averting her eyes away from them, was any indication.

"Ah—" she had started a few times, followed by a more dismissive, "Mn..." of whatever she had planned to say, she just rubbed at the back of her neck as Serge said it plainly.

Although their situations were completely different, Kid knew the pain of losing someone so close, a sibling...

"But y'know... it did seem like maybe— you guys finally understood on another there. Er— right?"

Corrin is silent, but visibly touched by their concern. She waits until they're back on the ship and a course has been plotted back to Vaikuntha before she feels ready to speak about it.

"You're right, Kid, we did." She says finally, Shadow Yato resting in her lap. "And I'm thankful for that. Ryoma wanted to believe for so long that I had been coerced into siding with my adoptive family over them, that I might somehow be brought out of it and we could be reunited as a family. Having to lie to him and pretend I had killed Hinoka broke my heart, and...well, you saw his reaction. He would have killed me if my siblings and the rest of our forces hadn't managed to get to me in time." She lets out a sigh. This has been a very long, very tiring trip.

"I suppose it must seem strange now, to know that I knowingly chose an adopted family over my true blood kin." She says. "Trying to change Nohr from within and save Hoshido was a noble goal, but...I would be lying if I said it had factored into my decision at the time. I just couldn't bear the thought of leaving the only family I had ever known, the people I had loved and who had loved me as one of their own in turn. Knowing I shared no blood with them didn't change any of that." She sighs. "My Hoshidan sisters have forgiven me, and understand my choice, but most of the country still thinks me a traitor and I can't say they're wrong to think it."

At this point she looks over at the other two. "I'm grateful for your support. And your friendship." And gives them a sad smile.

Serge grins faintly. In spite of how horrible the day had been, in spite of everything- as the rickety airship turns for home, he smiles a little.

"Well, yeah. What're friends for? You and Kid were there for me when... when all that stuff went down. It's only right."

"Eh, I dunno about that," Kid interjected, picking up especially on that part about adoptive family. "Doesn't seem to strange to me," she had to add with a shrug. She had never known anything but adoptive family and... she wasn't convinced that any blood relative could change how she felt about how she'd grown up— and the bonds that she had formed with them all.

"Just 'cause someone wants to call you a traitor to make themselves feel better doesn't make it true, so," she slide up alongside Corrin, giving her a hearty clap on the shoulder, and a big smile— even if nothing that had happened today gave any of them a reason to smile. "Chin up, right?"

Serge is quiet for a few seconds... but unbidden, he moves over to give Corrin a quick embrace. "Something my Dad said, once. He didn't really get along with his parents, but he said... family acts like family, right? If you love someone, and they love you back, then everything else is just extra. Even if they're blood related, if they treated you like that..."

Corrin is momentarily surprised by the hug, but returns it gratefully. They've seen one of the worst moments of her life, they know what she's done, and they don't think any less of her for it, and she's still their friend. In a way, that feels like more of a reward than getting back Shadow Yato. "You're right. Of course you are." Corrin may never be exactly popular in Hoshido, but that's okay; the people there who are most important to her still love and accept her, and the rest of her family is waiting for her back in Nohr, her one and only home. They break the embrace. "Thank you. Both of you." She says. "This has been a trying day for all of us, but I'm glad we faced it together." If nothing else, the three of them understand each other better now, and that is not a gift to be taken lightly.

She settles back down into her seat for the trip home. "But between the three of us, I'll be happy not to have to come back out here anytime soon." She says with a small chuckle.

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[Closed] Serge has a present from the Cloud

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