(Untitled)

[imthefavorite]

[The words appear in the journal of anyone who is still around to read it. Aim...Lockon...Neil (or whatever you wish to call him) has again appeared in the Sphere, similar to the last time: no birth, just a miraculous appearance out of no where...but this time is different for him. He retains his memories from his world and regains what he had of

Comments

[feathered_earth]

[Is this Neil? It looks like his handwriting, but she's never heard him talk like this before. Atrocities and hatred and bitterness...

She ought to be stunned and elated by this entry, but she's just stunned now.]

N Lockon?

It is a possibility. Edensphere's changed, too. And I'm here.

[cross_haros]

[[His heart melts a little bit when he sees her handwriting, and he immediately regrets writing those things. But that regret is somewhere washed up in a relief that she is okay. Of course she is. And now he has given her another reason to worry. Well..there is reason to worry, but that still doesn't mean people should know about it.]]

Hey, you.

[Now to utterly ignore breech that awkwardness he just created.]

What happened here? Where is everyone?

[feathered_earth]

[Well. She's a princess, so it's officially her job to worry now, not just habit.]

A lot. But it's okay. [insert a lot of curlicues.] Fugue's gone, we remember everything and [doodle.]

Most people went back home. I'm actually in Castle Bal, but I'll be there in a jiff.

[cross_haros]

Wait, you're home, but you can go back and forth? Do you know if anyone can do that?

[feathered_earth]

Yeah, all of us. It's strange, no machines or teleportation. You just think really hard about going back to the Tree.

[cross_haros]

Does it work the same way going back home?

[feathered_earth]

Yes, except you have to go to the veil of shards where the glass used to be. It's not sharp.

But since you don't know where Bal is, I'll come back. I wouldn't want you getting lost in some other world.

[cross_haros]

Thanks. It'll be good to see you.

[quicklog]

[feathered_earth]

[Going back and forth is frankly bizarre. It seems wrong that it doesn't require a warp panel or a meteor. Not that she would actually want to deal with the hassle of a meteor, but the warp panel would make her feel better.

But that's far beside the point. The point is that Neil is back and even if he's in a very strange mood, she doesn't want to do anything else now but go see him.

She arrives at the edge of Edensphere with a bell at her belt in the same spot a sword ought to be and immediately begins looking around. Neil's tall; he shouldn't be hard to find.]

[quicklog]

[cross_haros]

[He doesn't exactly know what is the best way to find her, especially since things look a good bit different. He opts to find a nice spot out in the open that is easily seen. That in itself is a strange feeling. Other than space, he isn't used to open spaces anymore, and he especially isn't used to making himself easily visible. So both of them are left with a strange feeling.]

[Part of him wonders if he is ready to see anyone yet, but this is a friend. A friend he feels like he hasn't seen in a long time, but there is no telling how much time has actually passed. Especially worrying is how she will react at his obvious physical change: The eyepatch over his right eye is the only thing different from the last time he was here. Everything else about him is surprisingly in tact. Except maybe his sanity, but time would tell for that one.]

[quicklog]

[feathered_earth]

[It doesn't take long to spot him. At first her face breaks out into a smile. Now that Fugue isn't around, grabbing and discarding people like toys, she isn't worried that he'll vanish again.

But she notices the eyepatch in the same instant, and the smile is replaced by concern as she runs over.]

Neil! I'm so glad to see you--what happened to your eye?!

[What happened to the rest of him, too? Not physically; the patch is the only sign of visible injury. But the way he wrote... she'd never heardhim say anything like that before at all.]

[quicklog]

[cross_haros]

[When he notices her running over, he does the same towards her, and the smile on his face doesn't faulter, despite the tug at his heart when it hits him that she isn't smiling. He kneils down to pull her in to a strong hug.]

I'm glad to see you too.

[He didn't answer the question right away, and despite his attempts, there was obviously something different about him. Something more subdued.]

As for this. [He gestures to the patch.] It's a long story. The short of it though, I was protecting a friend.

[quicklog]

[feathered_earth]

[She hugs him back tightly--she can feel a few tears on the way, to her dismay because she really needs to learn how to keep that from happening every time. But maybe that doesn't matter right now. It's not like anyone from Bal is here to see her.

And she can tell that he... isn't like he used to be. Not quite. She wants to only think about how wonderful it is to see him again, but the worry won't go.]

Protecting a friend... [Boy howdy, that sounds familiar. Why does she only befriend people who won't stay out of trouble?] Guess it's a good thing that's all you got from it. Are you okay now?

Re: [quicklog]

[cross_haros]

[Is he okay now? That is a good question. Apparently so...here anyway. But he is part extremely anxious and part terrified to try this whole 'going home' thing. But he won't thinka about that right now. He's here with his friend now.]

Yeah. [He says with a hearty nod.] Actually in my world they have the technology to...

[Regenerate his eye. He trails off without finishing. He can't tell her that. What if she insists on him going home immediatly to fix it, and he can't go back...or worse, can't come back here. Now he has to come up with something else. And fast. Quick...anything is good. It doesn't even have to be true.]

To... [Shit. He can't think of anything.]

Too late. [He scratches the back of his head and he shakes it with a chuckle.] Nevermind.

Re: [quicklog]

[feathered_earth]

[...what? They have the technology to 'too late?' Why are you suddenly so FISHY about everything, Neil.]

[Also, if this was FFV, she'd have a little speech bubble with a question mark over her head right now. Should she try getting a sensible answer out of him or not? It's probably something that's hard for him to talk about.]

Are you sure? You're... [uhhh.] You're acting kind of strange.

['Kind of.' Yup, that's diplomatic.]

Re: [quicklog]

[cross_haros]

[He was about ready to give up at least a little bit. Not all the way. He would probably never be able to tell her the full truth.]

[Still, he sighed heavily and the smile he had melted from his lips.]

I was going to say that they have the technology to regenrate my eye, but it is probably too late now. [He shook his head again.]

Sorry. Things in my world just weren't what I'd hoped. And considering I hadn't hoped for all that much? ..I guess I'm just not myself right now, but I'll snap out of it soon enough, I'm sure.

Anywho...how are you? You look as good as always, if not better.