Second.

[azumods]

ENCOUNTER 2. Saturday evening arrives, and with it the time to follow through on that invitation. Upon entering the resort area, the group will be greeted - inasmuch as the emotionless can properly greet anyone - by staff that evidently works there. They don't appear to be affiliated with Team Galactic, at least not outwardly; they're all dressed similarly, but not in Galactic uniforms, and their hair is down and noticeably not covered in identical wigs. They seem to have retained some aspect of individuality, in other words, as opposed to being absorbed into what appears to be the Team Galactic hivemind, and while they don't seem genuinely pleased to see the lot of you, they'll smile politely as they usher you in, albeit in an odd, uncanny-valley sort of way that doesn't reach their eyes. A purely mechanical reaction, their bodies smile while they do not. It's probably a little difficult to say whether that's preferable or not to the usual blankness you may be getting accustomed to. However, they seem cordial enough as they escort all of you further into the resort proper, past several bungalows that likely contain a few rooms apiece for people to reside in for the duration of their stay. The walk will take you up a few sets of stairs built into the rock formation the resort is built upon, leading eventually to a restaurant that likely overlooks Lake Valor from the north side of the building - it certainly seems elevated enough, and the positioning is right. The seating area itself seems to have been prepared in advance for your arrival; rather than several separated tables, there's one long arrangement draped in white, with twelve chairs arranged down each side - twenty-four total - and one at the head of the table. That one appears to already be occupied with your host for the evening; the smile Saturn is offering is soft but it isn't nice, disingenuous in a way that's only slightly less unsettling than the mechanical expressions of the staff. "It's good of you to join me." His voice is likewise soft but it isn't nice; just the same, he'll gesture at the rest of the table easily. "Feel free to have a seat, and keep your Pokémon out if it pleases you; this used to be a battling establishment, so the staff is more than accustomed to things like that." Food will be brought out shortly after people are seated; there are no arranged seats, so you're free to sit wherever suits you along the table. It's likely noticeable once things are laid out that either the people here don't hunt or Saturn is aggressively vegan; either way, there's no meat involved and nothing that would insinuate that Pokémon were harmed in any way to obtain what's in front of you, though the food is still decidedly nicer and more substantial than anything you've had for the past week - high-class and freshly-prepared, and not...you know, relying on berries and nonperishable stuff from a department store shelf. "Enjoy yourselves." Saturn's voice is still even, still calm to perhaps infuriating levels regardless of whatever the atmosphere in the room may happen to be, "since I did say that this was intended at least partially to apologize for the incident at the lakefront. And of course, you're welcome to ask whatever you like, seeing as you did have questions and I'm no longer strictly on company time. After all, a peaceful solution to this entire...situation is what we're all striving toward, isn't it?"

Comments

[azumods]

I knew this would happen eventually. To her, and to me. It would just be infinitely easier if it were both of us at once, you know?

[He laughs a bit at that, tipping his head down as he does so; the sound is...odd, the sort of thing that happens because what the fuck else are you supposed to do with yourself.]

I'm not a good person. It's that kind of self-centered thinking that brought me here in the first place, I'm not a kind person and I'm not good, I'm the sort of person that Master Cyrus should have wanted to destroy on the spot and he would have been right. But he didn't, he took me in instead, and I... I wanted to see this happen because it would be different, because I was different, because the old world never suited me, and it's been like this for years and it keeps breaking, we have to re-integrate once in a while and sometimes we just wipe the whole thing and start over, and I...I remember it, and Jupiter and Mars remember it, so no one else in this world has to. So we can ensure that it never goes back to the way it used to be.

[His speech is picking up speed in a way that it usually doesn't, he isn't raising the volume or the pitch any but it's getting very, very pressured, almost manic in tone.]

I'm just...I'm so tired, and you're all just going to tell me that I don't deserve to feel that way, and you're not wrong? But it is what it is, and it's because of this...imperfection that I'm still dealing with, and this needs to succeed so I can finally join the rest and just have this taken away.

You want to know why I don't care if I get in trouble, why I don't care if Master Cyrus does find out about what I'm doing? Because I've seen what he does to those who turn their backs on Team Galactic and their cause, and right now I want that more than anything.

[eudaimonikos]

[......Michael folds his hands together.] You do remind me of myself. Not sure how anybody should feel about that.

A good person isn’t something you are, you know. It’s something you do. And you can start trying to do it at any time. You can start doing anything, but you can’t keep doing this over and over. It’s torture.

[discutio]

[Gods, it hurt to hear in a way that he couldn't define, like staring into that deep and dark emptiness that had taken root in Ignis' chest and beginning to comprehend the sheer magnitude of it.]

Zelda won't be alone in what she wishes.

[It hurt, somehow, to declare his intentions like this. Swearing an oath to stand by someone was...too familiar, and the pain caused by that endless emptiness spoke volumes that didn't show for an instant on his face.]

[His left hand curled into a fist, as resolved as the tone in his voice no matter the internal conflict. No...this couldn't stand.]

[Noctis would never have allowed it.]

Commander Saturn, you...may not be so different from myself, even should our ultimate goals be polar opposites. What I swore my life to was to reshape the world in a much different manner; to dispel darkness, rather than cast it upon the world in this apathetic haze.

The man I chose to follow wished to unify the world under a banner of peace--as flawed and temporary as the mortals who struggled to reach it, yes, but a peace we would strive for nonetheless. And that's why I can't stand for this. Why I understand what you say, and yet can not permit it. For the world's sake--for your sake--someday, we may stand against you.

If and when that day comes...I truly hope you see that what you call 'imperfection' makes the world worth saving.

[hyruglyphics]

[ . . . Man that's a lot.

She already said her big speech thing, but at this she folds her hands together and over her chest, the symbol of piety for Hylia, the goddess she was raised to always be with? It's just a comfortable position as she listens to first and then parses out that rant. ... Because no, he doesn't really deserve to be tired. The world has been reset? Wiped out? Things keep breaking, even after years?

... It's natural. It's obvious - people reject this world. The gods and ancient spirits no doubt do as well. She isn't quite sure how to respond but she does listen. She does hear the guy out, and honestly, she's tempted to go and pat him on the shoulder or some other reassurance until she remembers that they are, in a sense, enemies.

... She wonders if he's truly alone. Or if Mars and Jupiter or that fourth one, if they're still aware, have similar doubts. Or not even doubts, just... reservations. She softly exhales. ]

It isn't too late to see, if you belong in the world that is to come. You can try.

[semistableman]

[What does someone even say to something like that?

Especially because after all he's been through, Bucky's empathetic abilities are pretty limited.

But at the very least, he does understand that sort of weariness.]

This world won't last. If something doesn't change, it'll die.

[anythingforyou]

[...You know, ever since the conversation shifted this way, Camilla's done what she could to remain quiet. Sympathizing with an enemy has never suited her, and as far as she was concerned, Saturn was that and more. She wanted to just hate the man and be done with it.

She's not sure why his words are striking such a terrible cord in her, and her look seems...frustrated, almost. It angers her, really, and she's doing what she can to keep it off of her face.]

...The world can be a most dreadful place, sometimes.

[It's. About all she manages to get out because fuck you Saturn, she didn't ask for this stuff to be complicated--]

[perfectselfie]

[Aya has been very, very quiet this entire time. She's gone from frightened to worried, and now she's sympathetic. Eventually, she gets up and puts a hand on his shoulder.]

You don't have to think in terms of 'perfect' and 'not perfect'. I don't think any one of us would call ourselves perfect, and I know I certainly don't. I have a long, long way to go, and I'll be the first one to say just how far that is.

That's why I'm going to say this: it's better to think of how you are and what you want to be, rather than 'perfect' or 'not perfect'.

[heritrix]

[...oh, okay then. That just makes Rin feel furious and sad all at once. Teeth grit, her hands clench under the table. She's with Zelda and Michael on this one, but they can their points across much better than she can right now, so she'll stay silent.]

[ventulus]

...just because someone takes you in doesn't mean that you have to owe them everything.

[ .....

Okay. That sure is a thing. Yeah. ]

I think even with what you've done, it wouldn't be exactly wrong for you to feel tired. [ People can call him naive, or whatever, for it, but that's just how he feels. ] But, you should know that doing things like this by now won't work out -- and not just because it hasn't worked out before either.

[ Ventus takes a breath. He's not eloquent with words, but he wants to say his piece too. ]

I also think that it's possible and time to start things differently. Just because you're not a good person now doesn't mean you can't change, and you don't need to do it all alone either. It's not too late -- it's never too late.

[niceoppai]

Everyone here's right. I get it's hard to change, and when you don't like how the world is, you wanna give up. Maybe we won't convince you now, and maybe we'll end up still being enemies. But we gotta do what we can. Things didn't get better for you here, did they?

[divinedescendant]

[Emmeryn has retained graceful and careful composure from the first morning they came here, ever calm and poised, and while it does not break, does not quite falter, her polite smile falls as Saturn speaks and she just looks so incredibly sad.

The others speak first and she allows them (her words have already proven, a world away, to not be enough). Her expression stays soft. Her smile finds its place again.]

Saturn. [lightly, gently] It is not fair at all, is it? The weight of loneliness is too much for anyone to have to bear. I am sorry that you were left behind all this time. It is what it is, as you say—but that does not mean it is right.

...I will not tell you how to feel. Enough of that has been done to you. Your heart is your own, for better or worse, and I will not presume otherwise. But...

[she looks at the others, angry and sad and hopeful and firm, and makes a smooth gesture to the group with one arm.]

Look here. Listen. I hope so deeply that you at least understand why someone else might be willing to embrace an imperfect world, so long as that world still held hope, held love.

...I will not be so bold as to speak for the group at large, but I am confident when I say I am not the only one who is grateful you have spent this time with us and told us your story. Thank you.

[enjoymyatelier]

[wow, he didn’t even need to shove Saturn’s face in the dirt, life kind of did that to him already

...remind him to never get in a philosophical debate with these kids or he’ll come out of it feeling like he can’t just quietly eat his mushrooms over here.]

[radiantflame]

[cool motive, still brainwashed the entire world against their will.

...is what she wants to say, but it's very clear now that this man has been manipulated- conditioned like they were, but in a very different manner. And unlike them, he has not broken from it. They have to be very careful in dealing with him.]

If you continue down this path, I'm afraid you will remain our enemy, and our encounters may escalate in the future.

Unlike the people of this world, you have a choice. You may not realize it yet, but I hope in time you will.