azume | TEST 8.

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

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.]

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.

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

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.

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.

Is it your world or his? Is this truly the world you want to give life to? Do you think the corpses of wayward children and lost strangers who wish to see you safe and well are a foundation worth building it upon?

What would you do for yourself?

[He...doesn't have an answer for that, Emm.]

Saturn.

[sorry do you think she's gonna just leave that alone???]

You asked what I would have you do, but I am not interested in delivering orders to you, nor am I interested in Cyrus's commands. This is about you. What would you do for yourself?

[He's just...quiet, honestly. He doesn't draw back, but he shakes his head eventually.]

...

That is what I would have you do. Decide for yourself. All I have ever wanted or hoped for you since we met would be that you could find your heart and your peace as a part of this world. That you would find worth in the light, and yourself. That has not changed. It will not change.

I will never believe in lost causes or unchanging hearts. Perhaps Cyrus's orders cannot stand down, but here and now, you can.

[...]

I don't have time for this. I need to tend to Dialga.

[However, he's neither threatening you nor is he telling you to get out.]

After all that has been whiled away, I cannot imagine the extra time will cause much more strain on the deity who masters it. What is it that needs such dire attention?

[Godddddd, he doesn't want to discuss this, but you know what- ]

The chain itself. We're trying to restabilize it; it's our means of control over it, and... Well, I'm certain you've noticed the disturbances lately.

We have. We've just as much interest in seeing the flow of time restored—but I cannot imagine it can last while you have its deity in chains.

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.]

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.

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.]

...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]

[yikes?

and yet somehow he can only put on a resigned "why this" kind of expression. The kind that he normally reserves for his teammates doing something stupid. Again.]

If I wanted you to do that, I wouldn't be standing here right now...

TEST 8.

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