A Whole New World

[tidesnpc]

Characters: Anyone and everyone from all three ships.
Content: The clouds are gone, revealing the long-sought world below.
Setting: The edge of the continent, near the blast site.
Time: After all the monsters have been fought and the ships head southeast.
Warnings: What you bring with you.

Comments

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth stepped into the festivities, if they could be called that, with a heavy heart full of conflicted emotion. They had won. The monsters had been defeated, the continent was whole and in tact, and, hope against hope, he and his new crew had made it out of the mess alive.

...most of them, at least. His head hung low in remembrance of those who had been lost, both on the Convoy and in the towns, cities, and villages of the Badlands. There had been too much loss, too many hurt, too many left destitute, and too many who weren't quite so fortunate as him.

However, there was no time to think on such things, not yet. First, there were a few people he needed to see. So, with a heavy heart tinged with both hope and apprehension, he made his way towards the Amestris. He looked different than the last time he set foot on that ship; his uniform and frills were replaced with simple slacks and a plain, unadorned shirt, and his left arm, once flesh and blood, was replaced by a rough, simplistic automail arm. It was only a prototype

[mayovice]

Finally, it was over

[edge_of_honor]

as Edgeworth walked towards his former ship, he saw an officer, beaten and bruised, out of the corner of his eye. He froze immediately, his heart clenched in fear, until he remembered: the impostor, and Bradley, had been revealed, their cohorts scattered and their allies lost. He had nothing to worry about anymore. He was free.

He took a deep breath to steal himself and turned around to get a better look at him. Who knows, perhaps he could point him towards-

His jaw dropped as soon as he saw who it was. Was that...

"Lieutenant?"

[mayovice]

The voice brought Hijikata out from his reverie, and the (former) boatswain glanced up to see the sight of Edgeworth, after all this time. Perhaps just a few months earlier he would have been shocked, but after everything (and knowing that Edgeworth had been alive for a while already), all the samurai could do was to make a small snort and turn his head back to stare at something else.

"Major again, soon," he replied, voice impassive. "Apparently I'm going to be promoted back to my original rank for 'services rendered to the nation' or some bullshit like that anyway." Personally, the officer hardly cared at all - but it was Kondo who got it for him, so Hijikata certainly wasn't going to complain.

[edge_of_honor]

As cold as always, I see...

While Hijikata corrected him, Edgeworth looked over the other man's injuries. He was certainly worse for wear, but his injuries were far from the most terrible he had seen. Still, he couldn't suppress a shudder and a slight stare when he caught sight of that eyepatch. He glanced away quickly after that; the last thing Hijikata needed was his pity.

"You seem rather calm about all this," he replied, his tone cool and impassive.

[mayovice]

A snort escaped the man at Edgeworth's words. "What do you want me to do instead, freak out and run around like an idiot?" He would admit that yes he was uncertain as well about the future, and the strange new world below, but what could he do about it? Nothing was going to change the fact that they were there, no matter how he reacted; just like how he was going to have to need a bloody eyepatch after everything.

"Still, its going to be annoying," Hijikata muttered, giving the former officer a glance. "Even now that we're safe from the idiots of Denouncement or whatever the hell their name was again, its only going to be the beginning of something completely different." There wasn't much to guess as to what the boatswain meant, considering it was all right below them.

[edge_of_honor]

"Denouement," he corrected. "And it is going to be different - but that's not necessarily a bad thing."

[mayovice]

"Denouement, Denoucnement, whatever," the boatswain went with another snort. "They're gone now, and that's what matters." No longer were there going to be idiots like them who hurt others, caused others suffering and ruined lives that never deserved to be ruined...

The samurai stopped himself there before he could go on with his train of thought, lone eye closing as he sighed and wished he had a cigarette with him at this moment. Or maybe a whole pack of them, god knows how much he needed a smoke now with all of this. "You're right though. It's not a bad thing."

Not at all.

[edge_of_honor]

"So," he asked, after a brief pause. "What are you going to do now?"

[mayovice]

Hijikata shrugged. "I'll just go with wherever Kondo-san goes, like always." Even after everything, his loyalty to his benefactor was not going to change - he was the man who helped Hijikata led to where he was now, and he was going to continue the one who saved him no matter what. "I guess I'll be out of commission first though, what with my injuries. After that, who knows."

This whole incident had changed things quite a bit now - Ivona was going to be in shambles, and everything was going to need serious rebuilding right from the foundation. Kondo might decide to help, or perhaps he might not; regardless, Hijikata was just going to follow whatever the elder man wished for eventually. Although if he had to be honest, the office had an inkling of what would happen, judging from what Kondo was going on earlier...

Well. It didn't matter to him regardless. As long as it was what Kondo wanted, then he had nothing to say about it.

[edge_of_honor]

"Do you think you'll go down there?" he asked. "I'd be surprised if the military didn't try to investigate. Or..."

He tilted his head, and asked, "Would Kondo rather stay and clean things up here?"

[mayovice]

"Who knows?" the boatswain returned, shrugging once more. "Though knowing him, he'll want to go down once he has the chance to from Ivona, regardless of the danger." And when Kondo-san was going to leap into danger like that, it was just going to be up to him to make sure that his benefactor wasn't going to die like the idiot he usually was.

Giving the silver-haired man a glance, Hijikata then asked back in return. "What about you? What are your plans now?"

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth gave him a wry smile, and said, "I'm afraid the navy will have to make due without my...talents. As soon as things calm down, I intend on turning in my resignation. If I do go down there, it will be as a civilian."

[mayovice]

The samurai only snorted in return, somehow managing to sound amused - even if it was just a little. "Then that means I'll need to protect your sorry ass one day. That'll be fun."

Not that he minded; after all, it was his duty and always would be - to protect the citizens of Ivona.

[edge_of_honor]

"Hmph!" Edgeworth crossed his arms (strange, how long it had been since he was able to do even that), and said, "Civilian or not, I'm still perfectly capable of taking care of myself, I'll have you know."

[mayovice]

"Well you are a civilian, and I'm an officer of the law," Hijikata returned somewhat bluntly, complete with a rather impassive look on his face. "I have an obligation to make sure you don't lose your other arm, you realize." He wasn't a samurai - the once Demon of Solare - for nothing; he could tell the magitech arm out quite easily, especially when he's fought against his fair share of people with them before.