7064/LI0: The Wisdom Of The World (Side)

LI0: The Wisdom Of The World (Side)
Date of Scene:	08 February 2020
Location:	Last Illusion
Synopsis:	Shyra and Tetra talk about the problems affecting the world. And then everything goes wrong.
Cast of Characters:	Shyra, 7209
Tinyplot:	Loop Zero
Tinyplot2:	Last Illusion

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Shyra has posed:
    At first glance, Finaria is the definition of a pastoral town. Houses are arranged in small clusters composed of a mix of wood and a beige stone that seems to blend together into a regular, easily repeated pattern. The paths of the town are dirt, a couple small patches of what look like what is supposed to be farmland nearby. The center of the town seems to be a large TAVERN. There is also an INN, MAGIC SHOP, WEAPON SHOP, ARMOR SHOP, and ITEM SHOP. It seems almost idyllic if, well...

    The place wasn't wrecked. Many of the houses are missing square-shaped chunks and are darkened by several levels of hue-tinting. The path is broken up by square chunks of ground, identical piles of rubble seem to litter the area, and several areas seem to have splatters of blood on them. It looks fresh. Two men are seen standing next to one of the houses facing it, a woman milling about randomly in the center of the town near the TAVERN. The rest of the town is deserted.

    Tetra is given directions to meet in the Tavern.

BGM: https://youtu.be/j6jxFQKG1Ps

    The Tavern is, somehow, entirely different inside than the somewhat gloomy area outside. It might be jarring for some. The music of the Tavern is a simulation of conversation, a low murmur of quiet underlaying the upbeat tune. There are people here, but they're...off. They're all the same - all the men are the same, black-eyed, with only slight hair and robe colors to differentiate them. All the women are the same, black-eyed. Most of them are sitting. One of the women moves around the tables, but it's obvious that she's on a pattern; after two or three loops she's gone right back to where she was, and started the whole thing over again. The bartender just keeps scrubbing the table endlessly, wordlessly, black-eyed. No one talks to each other. No one speaks unless spoken to. If spoken to, they just repeat the same things ad infinitum, over and over and over, the same line of dialogue in blue and white textboxes that appear with a little bwip and disappear with the same.

    It's all around a central table. A central table with four chairs. Upon the table, three drinks. At the table, a pink-haired healer-girl, Shyra, who smiles and waves to Tetra as she arrives. Over here! She calls. Looks like she even does that in person.

Tetra (7209) has posed:
    Tetra makes her way through the streets of Finaria, looking... more than a little thrown off by the state of the town. She attempts to talk to some of the people outside, but gets predictably little information from them. Thoroughly unsettled by the town's robotic-seeming citizens, she makes her way to the tavern.

    Shyra's textbox popping up is a welcome relief, and she seems... familiar with it? Odd. The Hylian girl pulls up the chair across from the mage's, and she smiles. "Miss Shyra, I presume," she says, partially facetiously. "When I said your world was running according to a script... I wasn't expecting to be so literally correct." She shifts slightly in her seat.

    Tetra's wearing a blue tunic underneath her leather chestpiece, a Japanese-looking sword sheathed at her hip. There's a long scar along her tanned cheek, and her big, expressive eyes seem to glint with perpetual mischief. "Hm. First things first, I suppose... a drink. What's good here?"

Shyra has posed:
    Tetra speaks with a couple of the villagers. They reply to her:

    Please, Hero! Save our world from the evil Discordia! You are our only hope!

    The Evil Knight Mordred did so much damage... It will take a long time to rebuild. Please avenge us, Hero!

    The Tavern, at least, seems to be less... depressing. Even so, Shyra shifts back and forth, anxious for some reason as she studiously remains looking directly at Terra and not the Tavern around her. Yes, I am Shyra of Finaria. My Sphere is Holy Healer. She says this, as if almost by rote. My world is... Well, it needs to be healed. I do not understand the full extent of the issue. It is something I have only become conscious of recently. Many people have been working to help with it afterards and I appreciate your interest in helping as well.

    She tilts her head and smiles happily to Tetra. Oh, what to drink? There's... only one thing to drink here. She gestures at the mugs. Help yourself. There is as much as you could want. The mug contains a cool and refreshing, though distinctly nondescript beverage that to her senses /says/ it would be an ale, but seems to lack any of the qualities that an ale would have other than being arbitrarily 'refreshing'.

    Perhaps also notably, the mug remains full after she drinks. Shyra remains sitting and smiling, passively waiting for Tetra to be comfortable enough to ask her first questions.

Tetra (7209) has posed:
    Tetra nods quietly. "I'm Tetra, of Kakariko Village," she introduces herself in kind. "My sphere is... hm. In general terms, I suppose I'm a spellblade. I use a mix of bow, sword, and magic," she explains, glancing down at her mug at Shyra's indication. She takes a drink, and stares into the mug, blinking once. What an odd drink. She sets her mug down.

    "This is your hometown, then. Seeing it this way, especially as you are now... it must be difficult," she says sympathetically. "My understanding is you were bound to this same script your world follows, before this Hero came and freed you with 'The End'." She says that as though she doesn't really understand what that phrase means here.

    "And... you want to do the same for the rest of your world? By finding this end again?" She takes a drink from her ale. Once you know what to expect, it's actually quite nice.

Shyra has posed:
Shyra nods and claps enthrusiastically at the description of Tetra's work. You must be incredibly talented! I'm so happy to have you here!

    The glee on her face vanishes as the topic turns to more serious matters. Her wide eyes dim as she looks down at the table a bit, her shoulders hunching slightly as she thinks about her hometown. That's correct. She confirms. We completed the quest to save the world and defeated Discordia. After that, we saw The End. At that point, some of us began to realize what has been happening, and we went our separate ways. It is only recently that we began to encounter one another and attempt to marshal some kind of response to try to do something about this.

    She looks up, nodding. That is correct. The world has been reset. I am hoping that all of your efforts will succeed in allowing us to help heal the world and make it... alive.

Tetra (7209) has posed:
    Tetra smiles at the compliment. She touches a finger to her cheek, brows falling into a thoughtful furrow as Shyra describes the situation. "... it's a story," she murmurs quietly, eyebrows lifting again, her eyes brightening. "I didn't see it before... this world is like a book, or a play. Perhaps more like a thematic fair with a story..." She rests her hand on her chin, thinking.

    "So. you, your friends, and this hero..." She mouths something to herself, clearly running something over in her head. "the End is the literal /end of the story/. You completed the story. And it freed you, yes?" The hand on her chin lowers so she can point at Shyra. "Turned you from something bound to the story and its script into an independent person. Along with Pazkar and--" She stops herself mid-sentence.

    "--Anyway. You... started the story over. To try and free the rest of the world the way you were freed, and change the story for the better... but..." She looks to the door, beyond which is a ruined town. "It's resisting."

Shyra has posed:
Tetra's ability to quickly assimilate and understand what happened causes Shyra to start in surprise... But then she nods again, slowly. You're right. It's like... a play. The entire world... She trails off.. Theatre... She shakes her head.

    You're very perceptive. That is correct. We saw The End. After that I became conscious of what was happening. I noticed things were... strange. And wrong. I looked around and noticed that everyone continued to celebrate endlessly. She gestures at the tavern. I would show you but it is still too early to show you The End.

    And Linehart. Shyra says, shuddering. Yes, I know.

    She looks to the door as Tetra does. and pauses. ... What if something bad had to happen so the play could continue? She asks Tetra. Would you do it?

Tetra (7209) has posed:
    "I can't take all the credit, I'm afraid... Staren did some writing on the matter, and I..." She pauses. "Overheard a bit. I leave my radio on fairly often." In truth, she'd met and talked to Linehart, but mentioning that wouldn't help anyone right now.

    Tetra's silent a long moment at Shyra's question, thoughtful. "... if there was no other way..." she answers somberly, "I would like to think so." She stares into her drink, eyes dark, her thoughts turning to the crisis in her own world. "But... I don't know how well I could carry that burden. Death and destruction for the greater good is still death and destruction."

    She turns her mug idly in her hands. "Even so..." She trails off. If I were in the position to, could I let someone else shoulder that burden? Could I trust someone else to do only what was needed, and no more? She leaves that unsaid, but it lingers in her mind.

Shyra has posed:
    Shyra nods. Staren has been helping a lot. I appreciate his work. She says, but that's about all she can say. He is much smarter than I am. I don't understand most of what he talks about.

    The hard question comes up, and Tetra answers it. Shyra looks back at her, and she nods. ... Thank you. She says, a sad little smile on her face. Your answer means a lot to me.

    She tilts her head, though, and she blinks, Are you all right, Tetra? Is there anything I can help you with?

Tetra (7209) has posed:
    Tetra shakes her head. "There's a... crisis in my homeworld. My people condemned another to a cursed desert a thousand years ago, and led to a deep-seated prejudice. Their revenge is coming in the form of a prophesied 'great king of evil' born among them, but his grievances, his anger, come from a valid and justifiable place."

    She looks at Shyra with a bittersweet little smile. "I want my people to be safe from that, but... I want to help pull his out of their hell. And I don't know if I can do the first without just hurting his people more. I'm afraid it'll put them in an even worse place."

Shyra has posed:
    The healer blinks at the description of Tetra's situation. That sounds terrible! She exclaims, her hands going up to her mouth as she gasps in shock. A great kind of evil... That sounds so familiar. And yet... She shakes her head. Your problems sound so much more difficult. If there is any way you believe I can help, please let met know...

Tetra (7209) has posed:
    "Mm..." Tetra smiles slightly more. "I will keep you in mind, if you'd really like. Your problem is... I don't think it's any less difficult than mine. You're talking about changing the nature of the world." She lifts her fists in front of her emphatically. "Freeing the people from slavery to the story written for them."

    She stops, thoughtful. "... Come to think of it, I suppose the core of our issues isn't so different, from a certain standpoint. Regardless, I'll tell you more about my world later, if you'd like. I'd hate to make this meeting about me. Though... I'm afraid my time's running short, regardless..."

Shyra has posed:
    Shyra smiles again warmly. You have such a lovely way of putting it. Thank you, Tetra. You're a good person... I would love to talk with you about things later. It was good to meet you. Please, come with me and we can go...

    Outside, things are... different. The music is different.

    BGM: https://youtu.be/ICwnlNitmUw

    Also, in the distance in that cloudless sky there is a lance of golden light firing into the air. In four directions, there are beams of blue, white, black, and red as well.

    Shyra stares at the golden light in horror. That... What's happening? That's the music of... Discordia! NO! That's impossible! She falls to her knees, staring at that light as she shakes her head, trying to deny it. That only happens when the seal is breached!