azume | with knowledge comes great responsibility

with knowledge comes great responsibility

[What an absolute ordeal all of that was.

Today was certainly one hell of a day, that's for sure; they've managed to take care of another Guardian and gain it's trust (or at the very least, something resembling it), they managed to find Candice and manage to...well, maybe not get her back in a state that's altogether wanted, but ensure they managed to get her at least into a place where she could possibly regain herself. It will likely be a process, as such things are, but they've done their best, and they should have no regrets.

The center is definitely going to be a welcome reprieve for all of their suffering, at the very least. The Kompot is certainly more than enough to likely get everyone warmed back up and in a stable condition, along with the copious amount of blankets the locals have provided. They've got the time to rest and get ready for their next adventure.

Rest well, ye merry band of travelers. You've earned it.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[...Camilla's never been very good at leaving well enough alone. Raking her nails through Arion's fur is nice at first, but she finds herself leaving somewhat later on and wandering around the town herself. She's...not sure when she started hearing sounds being carried by the wind, stuff that sounds like it could really be bad, and--

...Well, hopefully her footsteps don't give her away instantly, but jesus christ he's going to town over there. But...on the other hand, it does look like fun, honestly. And a much better way to vent out aggression. She contemplates her options a bit, but...

She'll be a little bit of a distance away, but hopefully he doesn't mind a very similar sound coming from a little bit away, at another one of those containers. She's going to be kicking the goddamn thing about as hard as she can manage--it's not a lot, really, but...

Well, she may just be trying to keep an eye on him along with that. Don't break your hands over there, Jake.]

[He'll look over after a bit, see her just kind of venting over there. Tips his head a little.]

You should be inside, Camilla.

[It's light, though, almost flippant in tone; she's gonna do whatever it is she decides to do, and honestly he's kinda glad for the company.]

Aren't you sick or something?

You act like sickness has ever stopped me a day in my life.

[Honestly, that much is a bit light in and of itself, if a tad...wired, for sure. Gods, this is absolutely fun, why didn't she think of this earlier? It's not quite the same as beating the shit out of someone, but god damn if it isn't close to it.]

And you know, I could say the same to you. [...] But...I think a bit of much needed stress relief after all of that is an acceptable reason to come out here, really. Good on you for making a racket.

I figured the metal wouldn't bitch too much if I beat it up. For some reason people around here have problems with people beating the shit out of each other.

[That gets a slight noise out of her, honestly.]

...It can be a tad too pacifistic for it's own good, I can agree with that much.

[She punctuates that with a very swift kick to the metal--she kind of can't help but envy Jake's strength, honestly, lord.]

...I take it that's bothering you quite a bit, then.

...Yeah.

[God, just. Let him punch the stupid thing again for good measure.]

The...people in the cavern looked a little too much like some shit we've got back home. I wasn't bothered by them being dead, I just couldn't make myself stop freaking the hell out because I was convinced they were going to do something. And I don't really like helping the Lake Guardians all that much, it reminds me of some other shit I've been trying to forget about.

So this was just one big bad-memories clusterfuck.

[...aha. God, yeah, that's a mood. Camilla stops her rather rampant kick-spree to focus her attention on him. She's still rather pent up herself, but it's more that she's trying to kind of...visualize what could have happened. She remembers him being quite still, even before she just dropped off, but...]

...I can understand that. The bad memories, I mean.

[That's. Not quite a start, but it's something. She's not sure if she wants to elaborate, but...]

Not to the extent that you experienced them, of course, but... [How the fuck does she put this...] The paranoia, it sounds like it ate at you quite a bit. Really, now that you mention it, something like that may as well have happened. Between the guardian's abilities that it already demonstrated and the fact that other creature seemed so in control of the situation, it was a plausible fear to have.

[Considering Uxie's abilities and all that fucking ice, like. She wouldn't be surprised at this point? She's not sure if she's helping, though, and she doesn't quite have a comment about the Lake Guardians. She likes them well enough, but she's...not in an arguing sort of mood, really.]

...I quite disliked this whole mess myself, despite accomplishing what we were asked of.

...Yeah, something like that.

[Mmm.]

I...was experimented on for a long time. Not as long as the Lake Guardians, but for half a year. They used what they got from me to fuck up a lot of people. They might still be using it to fuck people up, I don't know.

So all that stuff Uxie was screaming about really got to my head.

[...Oh.

Camilla's eyes go very wide at that, her hand covering her mouth before she just. Kind of respectfully averts her gaze? Because holy shit, what...what the hell can you even say to that? Hell, if anything, it sounds like he understands the creature's thoughts a little better than most, and...]

...It's not hard to see why. It sounds like you understood their situation even more than any of us could hope to, whether you wanted to or not.

[She doesn't sound very happy about that, but really, she's been a little angry at this in general. The reason why is just...making her angrier, really.]

Both of you were used.

Yeah, we were.

[He sees no need to not be blunt about it; it's just kind of how things were.]

I know I should fuckin' hate Cyrus for doing this shit, but my thoughts on that guy are all fucking stupid. So I just try not to think about him too much.

[...wait, what.

Hold the fuck up, you just went from point A to point B to point Q and now she's really fucking lost? What? She's trying not to look entirely thrown when the subject of Cyrus comes up.]

...I imagine that's for the best, really. If I may, however, what...do you think about him, then?

[Jake, she likes you, please don't tell her you're starting to turn into Saturn.]

[Holy shit, no.]

I should be pissed at him for using people like that. [Because Pokémon are people here.] Fuck knows he's done enough to warrant it. But I...dunno, I keep wanting to hope it's more complicated than that and he's not some kind of unfathomably evil asshole.

Even if it is, we're gonna kill him. I'm pretty sure that's the one way this can end, and I'm okay with that. I'll do it myself if I have to, I don't give a fuck. But I can't be as pissed at him as I want to be, and that's annoying the fuck out of me.

[...]

God, do you ever wonder what the fuck this place is doing to you, because I swear to god this wouldn't have been half that stupid if I were back home.

[...Okay, that. That gets a real goddamn pause out of Camilla, but to her credit, she listens. If she tilts her head sideways and acts like a person with halfway functioning empathy, maybe she can understand it. It's...honestly, she's pretty sure this is reminding her of goddamn Xander at this point; the stubborn, loyal, "maybe if I wish hard enough and do all of this stupid shit Dad will be back to normal" side, but...

It's a lot more realistic than she was expecting, and she's kind of glad that she's still covering her mouth a bit--mostly to just kind of. Politely not act like the idea of this disgusts her, that he could have any sort of sympathetic qualities, because she swears to god if that man proves to be sympathetic in any regard that she's gonna go above Cynthia's head just to push him off a cliff. Really, it should be so simple, and it's...probably a little clear that while she's listening, she doesn't quite get some of it?]

...Believe me, I wonder on a daily basis why I just haven't killed some of the people we've come across on sight. This place has a way of making people soft.

[She. She starts with that because dude, that there is a Mood. Give her a second to breathe here, this is a lot to unpack.]

You really do say the most confusing things sometimes. [...] I can't understand that sort of optimism, if it could even be called that. I almost wish I could, but...you want to know that he's actually human deep down. Is that it, perhaps?

[She's. She's trying. She'll tackle the other part in a bit but she's honestly trying to wrap her head around why any of this.]

He...

[...Mnngh.]

You know how I told you that my dad was never around, but I heard that he was a shitty person? From what I know about both of them, he and Cyrus have a lot of overlap in the shitty-person department. So he kind of...reminds me of my dad, I guess, and I'm not really a reasonable person about my dad's bullshit.

[...It is not quite Xander but it's sort of Xander. More reasonable and less blindly loyal Xander?]

[...said, just very slightly under her breath with something resembling a smile]

Gods help me, you really are like him...

[Okay, this is. She can actually work a little better under these conditions. Like, it's still fucking stupid, but it's a stupid she can work with because it's stupid faith and optimism and also kind of her brother's idiot thought process but not blind to the fact that the fucker gotta go.]

...Alright, that's a tad more understandable. And it's not unreasonable to want such a thing, to know that he's more than the reprehensible human being that everyone says he is, and that history will likely make him out to be. If it helps you make peace with such things, then I don't see anything wrong with it.

[Like. Quite frankly, she's just kind of saying "it's okay man, i ain't gonna judge", and she's kind of a giant projector in her own goddamn right, so hey. Misery, company, etc.]

As long as you're reasonable about the fact that he needs to go, then quite frankly, you're leagues above Cynthia, and that's...perhaps not saying much, but I'm willing to believe that you're being reasonable about it.

[You're the best, Camilla.]

Trust me, it's like I said. I could kill Cyrus myself if I had to.

[He does sound like he means it.]

I'm not gonna do anything to dissuade that, because he needs to be gone.

Good; I do have faith in your abilities, of course. But I do hope you realize that you absolutely aren't doing that all by yourself.

[...because one, please don't go up to the man with a full Ubers metagame team and decide that a Knife type move is gonna be the most effective, since that's. Really about all we have.

And two, excuse you, you aren't having all of the fun]

Well, yeah, at this point I'd be kinda pissed if I had to.

[Y'ALL DON'T SHUT UP ABOUT THE GO FIGHT WIN BULLSHIT, YOU'D BETTER STEP UP AND PUNCH GOD]

[This is exceedingly fair, and honestly, it gets Camilla to chuckle.]

I'm simply saying to save some of the fun for the others. I imagine they'll want a shot or three at him when we're strong enough.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

with knowledge comes great responsibility

Docks

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject