TEST 8.

[azumods]

FLOW. The feeling of pressure in here is immense. It's stronger than it was with Darkrai, something you can feel down to your core, something that you couldn't shake off even if you tried; there's nothing to do but power through it. Saturn, for his part, either isn't feeling it at all or is incapable of reacting in any sort of appropriate way even if he could; he simply continues to regard you from across the room, his words hanging heavy in the room. It's a far cry from his behavior during the first month you were here; he was civil then, willing to do you favors in exchange for the chance to talk to you. It's plain that he will be doing no such thing today; it may be difficult to know where to start, really. Especially when your Pokémon don't seem to be doing well - whatever's happening here, they seem reluctant, even unwilling, to fight anything in this room. Perhaps it's not surprising; the energy in the room is likely familiar to them, and it's the sort associated with someone deciding to take their spirit away last time it was angered. Whatever the reason, you're on your own for now; whatever happens is your choice, and yours alone.

Comments

[divinedescendant]

[Emmeryn pushes Ventus behind her. If there is any chance of a blow being survivable it will take her first. But fear simmers under hurt, first, under sympathy, under the awful knot twisting her stomach at the sight of the chains over Saturn.]

I know. [Because she had spoken to her, and she is too polite to leave him unanswered; because she does not believe in lost causes.] I know, and I forgive you.

[One slow breath, and she tries to stand tall enough to cover the boy behind her.]

We will not make you do anything, Saturn, not us. [But desperation creeps into her tone with the knowledge that the magic at work here is beyond her ken.] You know this does not have to be done.

[azumods]

I don't deserve your forgiveness. Not now.

[He's breathing kind of hard, but he still seems reasonably composed and he's standing firmly enough.]

Any opposition can't be allowed to stand - those that would impede us must be eliminated. It's how things are, whether I want it to be that way or not.

[discutio]

I don’t give a damn what you think you deserve or not, you shouldn’t have to suffer like this!

[azumods]

You don't understand - I'm not suffering anymore.

[discutio]

You’re wrong! You ran away from your own conflict rather than face it and find an answer of your own volition! You allowed Cyrus to make you a puppet, even I can practically see the strings as we speak!

I wanted to help you. I still wish that, to pull you from darkness and show you that which you chose to blind yourself to.

You’re suffering just as much as Dialga, and you can’t even see it.

[azumods]

[That seems to get something in him to snap, albeit in a weird, subdued sort of way; either way, he seems far more agitated than he has for a good portion of the day.]

I've had my imperfections removed - I've ensured that I won't suffer anymore, that I won't have to feel them dragging me down anymore, day after day -

[...god.]

This is what I wanted. I'm not afraid anymore, I'm not too...weak to fight back, I'm not worthless anymore.

[discutio]

YOU WERE NEVER WORTHLESS, YOU IMBECILE!

[azumods]

You don't know that.

[niceoppai]

We saw you! You did your best, even if you were scared! I mean, it wasn't for good things, but for you it was! Like I said before, you and us are both trying to save the world, just by going against each other. How can someone that devoted be worthless? Especially with how smart you are and how much you always pushed yourself?

[ventulus]

What do you mean?

... you're saying you're not in pain, but you don't have to be physically hurt in order to be suffering! It doesn't have to be like this. You don't have to just be someone who's just been stuck on a leash, without the ability to even enjoy life the way normal people are supposed to. Because that's what it really is at this point, even if you try to say that's not what it is!

[azumods]

I don't feel it anymore. Pain and fear and doubt, all the things that were holding me back - I don't feel them anymore, I don't need them!

[That's likewise agitated, in a way he hasn't been today.]

[semistableman]

I was... like that for a long, long time, Saturn. Still kinda am, to be honest.

Doesn't mean I'm all the better for it.

[ventulus]

Of course you need them!

[ Ventus' words sound more urgent, insistent, as a flurry of emotions run through him. ]

Everyone needs them! Without feeling any of those, can you really call yourself experiencing life as it should be? There are things you wouldn't be able to appreciate without having them -- yes, having those things hurt and maybe it feels like they're something that hold you back. But, I think that the opposite's true. That you can't go forward without feeling fear, doubt, or pain because they're what helps you grow and become a stronger person!

[azumods]

And what do you plan on doing about it?

[perfectselfie]

[Four for you, you go Ven Coco.]

[divinedescendant]

I do not believe in lost causes or unchanging hearts and I do not for a moment believe in a cruel fate that cannot be overrode by a kind choice. And I do not believe you bear the blame for this alone. Not after what has been done to you.

You spoke of wanting to become a better person after all you had done, and here you threaten to end the lives of a mass of innocents—There are children here, Saturn, who have only wished to go home.

I do not believe in lost causes. I do believe in you. If this is how things are, then they do not need to continue being this way. If you are so adamant that you do not deserve the forgiveness I will give you regardless, then take the chance to become a person worth it.

[azumods]

Nothing has been done to me.

[That's...it's sharp, it's sharp and it's agitated in a way that he hasn't been this whole time.]

This is all at my own request. Doing this to people was my idea in the first place. Nothing has been done to me, I...

[He doesn't seem to know how to finish that, though.]

[divinedescendant]

Saturn...

[Softer, now, but she stands unwavering.]

I do not believe that the same young man who boldly ignored our existence in hopes of seeing us grow enough to help this world see life anew would come to this [with a gesture towards their group, towards Ventus behind her] on his own. This is not right. None of this has been right for a long, long time. You know this.

[azumods]

It was a mistake. It was a...pointless mistake, I shouldn't have allowed it.

[divinedescendant]

You are wrong, and so is anyone who convinced you that your hope to see light and love again was ever pointless. There is nothing stronger or more worthwhile.

And you are worth so much more than the changes made to and for you. You always have been.

[azumods]

What would you have me do, then? I'm not going to stand down - as I've said, this is for my world. For Master Cyrus.

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

No, you're wrong! Something was done to you!

[It's not even just the violation of trust. The way their leader took that trust in him and used it to violate barriers he never should have crossed, that nobody should have ever crossed.]

You did this to yourself! You - you ran! And now you're looking away from what you're doing right now, telling yourself that you're not scared! How can you even say you're not afraid when you won't even face up to it!

[be a man, Saturn, gdi.]

[azumods]

I have nothing to face up to - I've told you what I've done, it's hardly my fault if you don't understand.

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

I'm talking about right now.

[And, god, he's trying so hard to not pull a Morag here, but really.]

You keep saying that you've removed all your reservations, but...if you had...

[They wouldn't be standing here right now.

He's sure of it.]

[azumods]

...Do you want me to obliterate you?

[...you know what that's easier to focus on than whatever everyone else is doing over there, holy shit]