Introduction Log || It's Happening Again (Again!)

[eternitymods]

Who: All characters (New Arrivals, Previous Arrivals, and Native OCs) When: June 5th Where: The Dream Width (Airship), the Curti Center, and the Housing District What: It is happening again. More outworlders have arrived in the Dream Width and must be rescued and brought back to their new homes on Vaikuntha Warnings/Notes: Only new players can put up a toplevel. Previous arrivals and native characters can respond to new characters' toplevel posts. MEMORY [ You've been here before...? No, wait, why would you think that? You're here in the moment, everything is as it should be...(?) The memory you are trapped in has completely enthralled you. You stop questioning and accept, you relive and repeat. Luckily, you are not alone. Others have arrived to help you. The travelers in the airships will enter the nebula formed by your memories and attempt to wake you up and bring you back to the present. The dreamer's mind will shape how these newcomers are perceived and how the NPCs in the memory respond to them. For more details on the mechanics, please refer to this post] ARRIVAL [ You wake from your dreams, from your memories, on a narrow cot. There are fleeting impressions- recycled air, humming machinery, movement, strangers waking around you. The room you wake in is lined with cots, with barely enough space between them to walk to the door, though not all of them show signs of having been occupied. The makeshift infirmary seems like it was prepared to hold many more than are here. Stepping out, there is a lobby space that bears the signs of having once held some furniture, now cleared away to make space. Your footsteps echo in the emptiness. As the automatic door slides shut on the infirmary, a light flashes on the far side of the room. A flickering holographic projection of a man’s face and gloved hand appears projected in the space above the arrivals’ heads. He backs up so his upper body is in frame for the recording. An arm, covered in the same orange flightsuit sleeve, hands him a tablet. The man begins to read. A written version of the message scrolls along the bottom of the projection as he speaks. ] ’Welcome travelers’… That’s way too formal. Hey everyone. Hi! [ The second man leans into the frame to add his greeting. ] Don’t panic. You were floating out there, but we pulled you in and rescued you. Yeah, we’re heroic AND handsome. And also the only ones crazy enough to come out here to get you. [ A woman’s voice calls from out of frame. ] Can you two be serious for ONE moment and stick to your scripts? [ The two men give each other a conspiratorial eyeroll. This does not appear to be their first take. ] Anyways, no need to panic. Seriously, don’t do anything reckless. We got our fill of that with Skywalker. [A huff is heard offscreen, and the men finally spare the tablet another glance.] ‘Your pilots will be navigating treacherous environs as this message plays…’ Claire, seriously? Nobody talks like this! [ The tablet is tossed to the side and lands with a thunk offscreen. ] We’re gonna wing it. Look, everyone, we’re workin’ hard to get you planetside safely, and it’s gonna take some tricky flying to do it. So the door to the cockpit is locked so we can focus on not getting us all killed. Don’t try to open it, unless you want to be stardust. We promise you’ll get answers about what’s going on once we land. But for now, please trust us. Right now, we’re your only hope. [ The second man leans forward, close to the recording device, and presses a button. The projection freezes for a moment, and then the message starts on the next recorded message. ] CURTI CENTER [ Finally after hours of flight, you arrive at the Curti Center. The other NPCs await you having been notified of your retrieval in the Dream Width. Cid gives a short and to the point welcome speech, explaining what the situation is: you were lost in a space called the Dream Width. You are now on a planet called Vaikuntha: for ages, the people of this world have used Airships to rescue people lost in the Dream Width, with one person being found roughly every ten years. No one knows why this happens, but this has been a mutually beneficial exchange, with the people from Vaikutha rescuing people lost in the Dream Width and the rescued ones sharing their wisdom with the people of Vaikuntha. Ten years ago, something unusual happened: two people were found at once, Biggs and Wedge. But that was nothing compared to what happened two months ago. And now, here you are. No one knows why such a large number of people has arriving lately, but the Curti Center is a place dedicated to piercing the Dream Width's secrets. Cid also introduces the other ones: his assistant Jessie, a young woman fascinated by the new arrivals, Claire, the woman sighing and writing in her schedule book upon being pointed out as the bookkeeper, Kupoto and Mogaruru, their Mognet representatives and finally the Native OCs: those brave and kind souls who have accepted to help you all on a daily basis. After Cid finishes (and Claire grumbles at her work never being done), the employees, including the Native OCs, provide a tour of the facility and help the newcomers navigate their future lives. Now is the time to ask questions and look over pamphlets regarding locations, Jobs, life in Vaikuntha... ] [ If you want to contact an NPC, you can do so on the NPC Contact Page. ] A BALL OF FLUFF NAMED MOOGLE [ It has been a long day, perhaps now you would like to find your way to a place to sleep? Or perhaps you'd like to get some answers, but you can't be bothered to go seek people out? And lo, just as despair begins settles in, a Moogle slams into you! Or stops by your side if their aim is decent... It's the Moogle Cid mentioned in his speech earlier! And they'll be informing you that now, they will stick to you like your shadow and help you in anyway they can! They're also giving you your iMog Slate- Now you can get onto Mognet! Isn't it great? ] A QUICK CHECK-UP [ Whether it's your Moogle, Native OCs or NPCs, all will urge you to stop by the hospital wing for a basic check-up. You may disagree, but listen. You've just been thrown into a space between worlds, rescued, and brought to another world. For your own sake, that's a good idea. Should you give in and go (or should you be dragged by your Moogle or a Native OC), you will find yourself in the cold and white space very reminiscent of an hospital. For characters with specific medical conditions necessitating help, this is where they will receive it if asked. The doctors and nurses are all White Mages or Chemists, with various levels into their Job as well as medical knowledge. Don't mind the confused looks if you look like nothing they've ever seen before... It's hard for a doctor to be unable to give a proper diagnosis to a patient! For everyone else though, they'll be let go with smiles and be given a candy as they leave. No one likes medical check-ups, but it's a very quick and basic one: testing reflexes, taking your temperature and the likes. On the bright side, while you're grumpily sitting on a bed with a thermometer on your forehead or in your mouth, it might be a good time to socialize with your fellow new arrival who's having lights flashed into their eyes by a doctor. Misery loves company, after all. ] PRETTY SIGHTS [ There's plenty of rooms to wander about in, with several points of interest apart from the offices. The Airship Hangar is where the airships are kept and the first room you entered. Workers keep guard to prevent the outworlders from getting too close to the vehicles. Airships are expensive and they don't want you messing with them, after all. Venturing into the Research Section, you can walk through public exhibitions on astronomy, airship design, and asterisk studies. A good place to get used to the basic science of this world. The laboratories lie behind a thick locked door with a sign reading "EMPLOYEES ONLY". No going there, for now anyway. Not too far from there are the Employee Quarters - work stations, apartments, and lounge areas. The latter are available to the public, whereas the rest is locked to Native OCs. But if you get them to be friends with you, perhaps they'll let you visit? Also open to all is a Cafeteria - a standard food court with stalls serving all types of Vaikunthan cuisine. The Chef is a very jovial and absent-minded Hypello. Beware of long lines and crowded tables. Should you prefer open spaces, then the gardens are for you! There are different sections in the gardens around the center. One boasts a wide array of blooming flowers, another more practical with herbs commonly used in Vaikunthan cooking. One had been cultivated for butterflies and hummingbirds to visit. Paths have been laid through so that visitors can safely navigate, and moogles will swoop down and shout at anyone who strays into the flower beds. Or perhaps, you want to wait till the sunset. Dusk on a new world, but a beginning of a new life... The sea shines bright in the orange light. A good moment for quiet contemplation. ] HOUSING [The housing accommodations are the best the Curti staff could provide, given that they are still also sheltering most of the previous arrivals from the Dream Width. The keys have been entrusted to the moogles who will be guiding the new arrivals. The new arrivals can stop by the Curti Center storage room to collect some essential supplies that have been donated by charity organizations from around the world (there are boxes of toothbrushes and whitening toothpaste sent from the Zora, hair brushes from the Elezen, quick-drying towels from the Hypello, among the various donations of clothes, toiletries, and blankets), before heading to their temporary homes. The people of Vaikuntha have done their best to provide for their new neighbors and help them get on their feet. Still, things will be a little cramped until the off-worlders can find employment and move into better housing. The staff hopes they can get along with one another until alternate arrangements can be made. You can survive living with roommates for a few months, right?] THE JOB FOR YOU [An important part of life on Vaikuntha is the Job (or Jobs) you choose to take. No, not the way you earn your living. Your Job Class. Most Natives only choose one or two, but you'll have an opportunity to take on more Job Asterisks after you master your first Jobs. The Curti Center's resident Job Master, Ganeshan, is more than happy to arrange transportation to the various Guilds so that you can claim your first Asterisks. ]

Comments

[euphemia]

[ She's seen so much already. Death, other realities, haunted nightmares. Just when she believed nothing else could possibly stun her, it was the sight of "Zero" that did. It was ... startling to see. She thought the back of his cape was familiar, but it was the helmet that did it when he faced her finally.

Her heart stopped briefly at the sight of the once beacon and icon for Japan's freedom. Here and staring right at her. Of course he was. Slowly, her brows furrowed as she studied him in stunned silence. In one hand her fingers clutched at a small collection of pamphlets she was handing out for newcomers, while in the other a very familiar Knight Pin. Somehow, in all that madness in the Dream Width, there came at least one blessing. One she wasn't letting go of ever again. It's not like Lelouch would notice or have an opinion on it. Maybe. ]

Did they find your outfit? [ That's the only thing she can surmise from this meeting. It wasn't a very funny joke, either. But. ]

Well, I really don't think Zero is needed here. You can take it off at the house.

[promisedtolive]

[ He lets out a laugh that sounds more like a sob. Of course she would make that mistake; Lelouch confirmed there is so much she doesn't know.

Without yet speaking, he gestures for her to follow him to somewhere more secluded -- if she believes he is Lelouch, hopefully she will humor him. Once safely around the corner, he sinks down to one knee before removing the mask. With his head bowed, all she can see is the top of his head. He squeezes his eyes shut against the threat of tears -- his eyes are burning, throat nearly closed. ]

... Euphy.

1/2

[euphemia]

[ A laugh? A sob? It was difficult to tell with the mask and its distortion, but she doesn't like his initial response regardless. Nevertheless, she doesn't protest when he seems to insist upon her following. Always with the need for discretion and privacy, and who was she to argue? ]

Lelouch? Nobody will know who you are.

[ If this was the reason for their relocating, then she wanted to that very clear. No one would understand. Wel, all except for one possibility. In fact, now that she found him, it seemed like a perfectly good time to bring up the fact that she did find Sister. One of which she intended to meet up with again at her assigned home. She knows Lelouch has a rather critical opinion about her, but ... ]

[ But... ]

...

[ He knelt. ]

[euphemia]

[ She didn't think anything else could stun her today. Not after Cornelia. That meeting felt like knives pulled from the heart; relief yet pain. But this? It felt worse. Burning hot with emotions made raw just by the sight of his top head. Her expression not only flushed but impossibly expressive with a kaleidoscope of emotions. This was not what she was expecting when the mask came off. She was expecting Lelouch. She was expecting to talk to Lelouch.

Yet instead, Zero turned into— ]

Su— .... Suzaku?

[promisedtolive]

I'm so sorry, Euphy. I'm so, so sorry.

[ Speaking with Lelouch had broken enough inside him that he doesn't lose himself in front of her. Doesn't babble or break down at the sound of his (former) name said in such a way.

But there's nothing he can even begin to say before the apology tumbles out. Apologies for not protecting her. For lying to her. For not finding a way to keep her from dying. For every awful thing he did using her name as justification. For not being anything resembling the man she thought he was. ]

[euphemia]

[ Never in her life did she ever think a punch could be felt emotionally but today did her a good solid in the most literal sense. The trip to the Dream Width brought surprises on its return voyage. A reunion with her sister, and now with her Knight. Or was he a Knight anymore? No, not from the looks of it. This was Zero. And Zero was talking to her? No, it was Suzaku. This was Suzaku. In Zero's outfit. Why was he in Zero's outfit? Why was he in Zero's outfit and apologizing? Apologizing? Why was he apologizing at all?

What did he ever do wrong except not exist in this world? ]

Suzaku...

[ More than anything she wants nothing more than to throw her arms around him. And she nearly does it. It takes everything to fight that urge as her arms pull back. Even here, is it really appropriate? So ... she lowers to sit on her own knees before him. She's not wearing anything fancy so she can do it. It made it easier to reach a hand over and place it on top of one of his. ]

It's ... okay. [ Because she missed him so much and— ] It'll be alright. You don't have to explain. [ Not yet. Not until her brain can process. Because he's here and he's Zero and... ]

[promisedtolive]

[ Thank the gods he still has his gloves on, or the touch of her hand would make him recoil. As it is, he has to suppress the flinch at her getting even that close to his filthy hands. ]

I'm so glad you're all right. [ He lifts his head, a little, and forces himself to look at her despite every shred of him screaming he's unworthy. He is pale and thin, with dark circles under his eyes. Gods, she looks healthy and whole, worried and sad, but full of color and life.

A tear streaks down his cheek before he can stop it. His smile is like a gash, but he can't stop that either. ] I'm so glad.

[euphemia]

[ This hurts. On a different level of pain from her sister who she missed more than life itself. Yet this pain was brutal because of the state Suzaku was in. Tears, he was in tears. And for a moment, her memory jolts just for a second when she last recalls that. A brief memory. A somber memory. The last time she recalls this she couldn't see his face at all. All she had was his voice. That strained, pained voice. Just like right now. No wonder he sounded like that on that uneventful day.

He was crying when she passed. ]

...Suzaku. [ Manners and properness be damned because even if he was Zero, there was no reason she couldn't throw her arms around his neck for a sudden and impulsive embrace. Can she at least have that? It will likely be the only time it might be permitted from the way things were shaping out. ]

It's okay. We can go to school now. I enrolled in a school, and ... and we can finish school together maybe? Wouldn't that be wonderful?

[promisedtolive]

[ She really is so much better than any of them. Miles above him, and yet she is trying to comfort him. He doesn't hug her back, though he wishes he could. But he gently touches the arms around him, and eases her backward so they are once again face to face. ]

It would be wonderful, Euphy. You deserve to be happy here. [ His voice is gentler than he can remember it being for a very long time, despite being pretty shaky. He's going to do his best not to lie to her again. To tell her whatever she wants to know, eventually. That's all he can promise her. ]

[euphemia]

[ It's one thing that he doesn't return the embrace. She can forgive that. He doesn't seem to be in any condition to do it. This was just as shocking for him as it was for her. But his reply. So ... resigned. 'It would be wonderful', he said. It was a nice thought, was what she heard. She deserved to be happy, he said. Yet did he forget he did, too? There were so many reasons she pushed for SAZ. He may not have been the final reason, but he was certainly a part of it. And now... ]

...you must be tired.

[ Drawing back, her gaze finds him and is unable to keep her eyes from watering. But she can at least speak with as much firmness as necessary. ]

Please, go to the medics. Trust me when I say it is necessary. And the rest ... the rest I can explain later? I promise they won't do anything you don't want. There's so much I wish I could say, but ... you can trust me on this. [ And she knows this is hard on him. She doesn't like seeing that at all. ]

[promisedtolive]

[ Her disappointment is painful to see, and he regrets having to cause it. And he knows it won't be the last expectations of hers that he damages or destroys. He forces himself to take her hand -- the one holding that pin; he had kept it close to him for so long, but it had made its way back to her -- in both of his gloved ones. ]

I trust you, Euphy. And I promise... I will answer anything you ask, if I can. [ "She'll ask you about Kingsley, Suzaku. I hope you're prepared for that." His stomach makes an uneasy roll, but he will have to face that sooner or later. ]

[euphemia]

[ The pin. The Pin. In that moment she even forgot it was still in her hands. Perhaps because the one it symbolized was now standing right before her. Now even her memories of Suzaku are scarred by the image she has of him now. But the touch is kind and one she returns with warmth as another hand rests atop the one that grips her first one. ]

Suzaku ... [ She can't ask anything of him. Even if she does have questions, a plethora of them, she wouldn't dare ] I reside at B-08. Will you come to visit today once you have finished the medical review? I'm sure someone else there will be happy to see you, too. [ Since she won't be there. ]

Tonight? I know you will be assigned a house and will have to settle in, but ... if you could make the stop, it would mean a lot to me. [ To him. ]

[promisedtolive]

[ The edges of the wings in the pin dig into his fingers -- a reminder of so many things. ]

I would be happy to visit. [ As soon as he knows where he is winding up, and skirts the check-up as much as he can. Now that she's asked him to submit to it, he will have to. But his expression shifts slightly, so a softer sadness as she speaks around the name of the person she lives with.

There really can only be one person she's talking about. He imagines she would be more open with any other name, since she doesn't know. ]

Is it Lelouch? If it is, I'm glad you have had each other. [ As sad or difficult it must have been, he's grateful neither of them has been alone. ]

[euphemia]

[ Seeing him like this makes it difficult to not break into questions right there and then. Namely the reason behind his appearance. Just like how she judged Lelouch’s. But Suzaku did not seem to be in any state for that, especially not here out in the open where others could likely find them. Now she was beginning to understand why Lelouch was so insistent upon privacy. It’s not that she suspects anyone of wanting to listen in, but there was something so private about all this that it made her look about as if expecting to see someone watching. ]

[ Steadying herself to stand to her feet, her hands attempt to get him to do the same so that they were no longer kneeling. At the mention of Lelouch, her eyes widen. Did he just ... know? How? It startles her how easy that name came to him. Then again, perhaps he would have to assume it's him. After all, there was some sort of link between them, a powerful one for him to be entrusted to become Zero. Knowing they were even working together manages to make her smile. It dims, however. Because. Well. To become Zero ... what did he sacrifice? ]

Suzaku. Let me walk you to the clinic. I’ll go with you and keep you company through the process. [ Just so he can pass it without any issues. Worried. ] The sooner that’s done the sooner you can get some much-needed rest. [ Staring hard now, because... ] ... and food.

[promisedtolive]

[ He stands as she does, still holding her hand until they're both solid on their feet. Even if she doesn't confirm it verbally, he can see he's guessed right. ]

I saw him earlier, at the Center. He looks well. [ Nothing in his voice shakes or catches as he says such a thing so easily. Thank the gods. He even manages a very faint smile. ]

He worried about my health, too. [ Again, he thinks they're both overreacting, but there's no point in arguing. ] I would be honored if you'd walk with me.

[ But he does have to let her hands go, now. And pick up the mask. ]

But, Euphy... just for now, if you could call me "Zero" in public. Please?

[euphemia]

[ The appearance of his smile brings her own, but it doesn't stay on her lips long when he goes on to mention his health. That only confirms she isn't just seeing things. He looks ... awful. It makes her just a touch sad to see, and it's something she's trying to keep from impacting her mood entirely. ]

Zero... [ Stuck to using that name again but this time for Suzaku? It felt strange. The release of their hands draws her eyes back to the ones still clutching the pin. A Knight now Zero. It was impossible not to ask. She has to. So before they depart: ]

Why are you Zero?

[promisedtolive]

[ Pulls the cowl up over his mouth and nose, and puts the mask back on. Shamefully, he is almost relieved to have that barrier up against (Euphy) the world, even for a little while.

Especially when she asks about being Zero. Not because he's surprised she asked -- only surprised it took her so long. -- but because he is certain his face just looks awful when he answers. ]

Lelouch and I had a plan to try and bring about a more peaceful world, and it worked. Zero protects that world, now.

[euphemia]

[ 'Lelouch vi Britannia can't exist' ]

... I see. [ A frown smile. ] Shall we be off then, Zero?

[promisedtolive]

[ Oh gods... can he really do this? ]

Yes, thank you.

[ He follows her to the clinic. ]