Scene #8955: Elegy Two

Owner	Pose
Kale Hearthward	SE-1367 (unnamed Soft Expanse world #1367) In eight days, this world is due to exit the multiverse. Is it going somewhere? Is it simply being entirely erased from existence? Nobody is quite sure. But it's going to no longer be here, anyway. There's a village here. There was a village here, albeit not a real one even so - it was holograms, projected from a giant face that'd burrowed out of the stone wall. There were six scenes on display, showing a world-ending event and the ancient civilization's failure to stop it... and the explorers had to put the scenes in the correct order, after which the illusory village disappeared and the giant face opened. Inside the giant face... a pocket dimension. Forests and meadows and pleasant little rivers. And, further in, some dilapidated buildings... and the graves of the six survivors the group had been hoping to find. ... And a stone staircase in the middle of the ruins, leading downwards. "There's not a lot of information on these, but this does seem to be a Mystery Dungeon," says Kale, when the group assembles again. "I've only found a few instances of these before now, and they were all clustered in one particular world. Which might or might not be some sort of shared dream or involve time travel or an alternate dimension, or-." "... That part isn't important, though." "It should be relatively safe to explore. Relatively. You're going to need to fight, but it shouldn't collapse on you, I mean. Even so, we're going to split into two groups, one to send in, the other to hang back as reinforcements in case the first group gets into trouble." The second group is Kale Hearthward and Hazelthistle. The first group is... everyone else. Including Kale's pilot. "Wait, why am I going?" she complains. "Because you need combat practice," says Kale, pushing a sword and sheath kit into her hands. "Everyone else will keep you from getting too hurt." "Ugh, really..." she complains as she gets the sword equipped. "I'm a pilot. My job is supposed to involve sitting down, not running around some sort of puzzle dungeon." "Mystery Dungeon," corrects Hazelthistle, brightly. "Whatever." The songbird turns to the rest of the group. "Let's just make this quick, alright?" The stairs leading down into the non-puzzle-yes-mysterious Mystery Dungeon await!
Ishirou	"The more important question is why are just the two of you staying by yourselves..?" Ishirou asks, knowing that it'll be something hair-brained or delightfully insightful from Kale. There would be no in-between. Regardless, he turns towards the put-upon pilot and nods. "Sure sure... just stay behind us and it should go smoothly if you're that worried about combat!" he says, trying to boost her morale. It is, actually, insightful, which surprises and makes Ishirou happy. "Alright, we'll go on ahead!" Ishirou, with RESCUE still equipped, but the flight unit detached slips down the stairs, with POD, a floating box with small arms, on his right. He chooses to go down the stairs carefully, using his scanners to try and keep a head out. He lets anyone else who wants to go first go first.
Aidan Proudpick	The second group is Kale Hearthward and Hazelthistle. The first group is... everyone else. There's a raised set of eyebrows from Aidan, but he just seems to take it at face value. Skye needs practice. Aidan moves up next to Skye(Aidan has changed his mental relationship diagram from 'generically hostile' to 'friendly', regardless of actual intent), wearing his battle gear, arm guards, leg guards, half chest plate, his two bucklers. He flashes her a grin, "Come on. It'll be easy." A brief memory of a patrat getting utterly demolished by Regirock in a single hit, smashed across the room. "Okay, it might not be easy. But, Ishirou is the best support in the multiverse and you've got great fighters! I'd go out into the middle of a storm if he was supporting. And if anything attacks us, one insult from you will kill it." Knowing now that it is NOT some sort of weird sci-fi dungeon or cursed, he flashes the others a smile and a nod and takes the steps two at a time to jump in.
Hellwarming Trio	"Another dungeon?" "Huh. We didn't transform this time, though." "That makes things easier. We won't have to worry about Mister Hearthward arguing with himself." The trio, as always, takes all of the strangeness from this new world in stride. Although two of the three have already been traipsing about on the surface for quite some time, Satori is still getting used to the stranger things she's seeing. She's all too willing to let Utsuho and Rin lead her along, and they're all too willing to get into fights to show off. Naturally, Utsuho and Rin stay right up at the front (or front-ish) (Rin's still kind of hiding behind Utsuho and Aidan). Utsuho's got her control rod covering her arm, Rin's eyes are darting all over the place to watch out for traps and oncoming enemies, and Satori's got her eyes peeled for weird stuff lying around to direct the first two at or just float over to pick up herself. Despite seeming so scattered, however, they're all keeping each other in their line of sight, ready to regroup at a moment's notice!
Kale Hearthward	> "The more important question is why are just the two of you staying by yourselves..?" "Because I'm the strongest fighter here and she's my support," says Kale. " > "...just stay behind us and it should go smoothly if you're that worried about combat!" "Good!" says Hazelthistle. "No, not good! Make sure she gets at least a little bit of frontline time!" calls Kale. Skye rolls her eyes. > "One insult from you will kill it." "You really don't know how to keep your muzzle shut, huh." Down the group goes, the trio leading. They arrive at... B1F ... actually, this place doesn't look all that different than the pocket dimension they were just in. The layout is a lot more clustered, though, instead of a relatively open area here is effectively a maze, with pseudo-walls of thick trees that reach all the way to the skybox. Not too long after the group enters, they're set upon by more holograms - though these are much more solid, and instead of any one species there's representation from all of the six people in the party, with human-androids and squirrels and songbirds and lots of youkai. They're also armed with thick staves, which they swing violently! Hitting one hard enough causes it to dissolve into nothingness.
Ishirou	"Huh, it's just like the surface..." Ishirou says, scanning ahead until the hologram people, now less hologrammy come at them. Ishirou tries to dance out of the way, but these dancers are barely faster than he is, and staffs clang against his armor as he keeps from being directly hit. Rubbing at his arms, he answers back! That is, with lasers. POD releases a barrage of energy blasts toward the closest group of staff wielding holograms, trying to pick them off or suppress them with weapon fire so that others can get in, dealing with their attacks. This will, hopefully, keep the holograms from staging a defense against them.
Aidan Proudpick	"You really don't know how to keep your muzzle shut, huh." A blink from Aidan, "It was a compliment! You gotta be clever to come up with a good insult, right?" "We won't have to worry about Mister Hearthward arguing with himself." "Yea, that was... a little disturbing now that I think about it." Once they are in the dungeon proper, Aidan does immediately try to cheat. A squeeze through the trees, a climb up into the trees to see if there's a way around it, then a hop down. "Nothing. Guess we gotta do this for real." Holograms suddenly appear. Aidan squints a look at them. "Seems weird that they are everyone. Or that they would be shaped like us at all." He scratches at his head, "I guess it's weird to make a trap like this down here if it wasn't guarding something. Just wonder if it's another metaphor." A move into action. A swift lift of the bucklers, trying to swat down the first staff impact. A parry, a push, only for the staff to come around from the other side and smash into his waist, forcing out a sharp loss of breath. He brings his arm around, taking a step and then twisting his entire form like he was swinging an axe to drive the shield through two at once.
Hellwarming Trio	"The strongest, you say." "Yeah? Hehe... I'll have to take you up on that challenge sometime!" "Ain't that gonna be somethin'? Aaah, but we gotta figure out this mess before gettin' into more fights!" "I suppose. Come now, Miss Skye. We'll learn more group combat tactics together." Satori's actually pretty careful to not get in front of Skye as the fighting begins, instead floating above the group as best she can to get a better view of the oncoming holograms. From there, she can call out oncoming attackers, helping Utsuho and Rin know where to aim their shots... In theory. There's not a lot of space, a heck of a lot of people, and even more holograms swinging all manner of heavy-ish weapons at them. Utsuho aims massive lasers down the center of the oncoming swarm while also weather their blows alongside Aidan, Rin hovers around Ishirou with a spread of targeted bursts of flame at those staves and the holograms, and Satori... "Youkai, robots, humans, animals... You think any of them burn better than others?" "Does it really matter? Just blast 'em all!" "I can't say I've ever seen a wild animal that enjoys being set on fire..." Satori's still calling out targets. She's mostly directing the girls' focus towards those closest to the group for now.
Kale Hearthward	Skye just chills in the back as everyone else does all the fighting and all the work, only fighting when one of the holograms gets past the other fighters. "Hey, could you hurry it up any?" she says. The holograms aren't holding back much, but at least they all poof in about one hit. Aidan gets to work on his followthrough, while Ishirou's laser blasts clean them up, and danmaku arsenals are quite effective against massed opponents in tight spaces. A few more packs of foes, a few more corridors, and... there, there's the stone stairs again. There's some writing carved on the edges of the stone staircase... WE GATHERED OUR WORLD TO HERE AS OUR GIFT AND OUR WARNING TO WHOEVER FOLLOWS "... What's that mean," says Skye. Down the stairs, to... something new. A city. A city full of alien architecture. Skyscrapers in unknown styles line either side of roads made of unfamiliar asphalts, upon which are drawn indecipherable traffic markings. Most of the buildings don't have entrances. Or windows. Or rather, the ones that did have doors or windows have been sealed shut. The buildings that do have open entrances turn out to be part of the mystery dungeon maze, requiring the party to path into and out of buildings as they search for the next exit. ... The holograms now are using a lot more than just sticks. They're using your weapons. Aidan's now facing down a youkai with laser pods, while Ishirou's fighting a squirrel throwing fireballs, and the trio are facing androids with bucklers!
Ishirou	The staff wielding holograms give way and are wiped out. They travel down the path, and eventually down a level to the cityscape. Skyscrapers in styles he doesn't recognize. "Maybe these are the cities that they built before the end... sad that they don't know people are only able to see it as it's disappearing.." Of course, this is before he's caught off guard by a squirrel with a firebolt, smashing into his chest and melting away his armor. Ishirou nearly crumples from the blast, forced on the back foot and trying to get some room, but this time, Ishirou picks up a laser sword, attempting to swing it in a mightly overhead slam to try and force the hologram back. "Ow...ow ow..." he complains, checking his chest and trying to get back to his feet, in case there were more fire-wielding rodents. Ishirou also uses this time to send telemetry data over to Satori, because she has a better time organizing the other two than he has ever had.
Aidan Proudpick	"Hey, could you hurry it up any?" "Do you want one of us to carry you, too?" His tone still jovial. He's not as jovial as he gets to the next floor, welts and bruises growing on his stomach and arms. Aidan runs his fingertips against the words. "Oooh, wow." His eyes slowly drift back and forth over the buildings. "This is their world! Up there was a history. This is what everything looked like!" He takes his time, pulling up his tablet to take a few pictures. "This is..." A silent sullen pause, Aidan's voice falling. "This is all gonna disappear. No one is gonna remember this place. No one knows about it. And it's just gonna be... gone." "Sad that they don't know people are only able to see it as it's disappearing.." A turn towards Ishirou, "I uh, do you think you can get as much recording as you can? We can put it on the internet!" Laser PODs, Aidan's eyes immediately widening. He swings out with his hand, forcing a wave of wind at them, a hurricane blast. He lifts one arm, buckler and armguards in front of his face, blocking some of the laser shots as Aidan fires his breath like bullets at the youkai! "Youkai, robots, humans, animals... You think any of them burn better than others?" "Do holograms burn?" He looks over at Ishirou.
Hellwarming Trio	"Hurry it up? Hm." "Hmmm." "Hmmmmm." That's a surefire way to get the trio to be pickier about where they hold the defensive line... Later. First comes reading some weird writing. Utsuho and Rin are useless for even attempting to figure it out, but Satori gives it a shot as she peers closely at the writing. "Perhaps it has something to do with those recordings we saw earlier on the outside. Their gift of foreknowledge, and a warning about that melting thing, perhaps?" She guesses, shrugging after a moment before waving her pair of loyal followers onward. The entrance-less buildings get their attention almost immediately, and they have to split the difference when it comes to investigating those buildings and also fighting the oncoming androids. Utsuho, as usual, takes the oncoming charge head on (literally, with a large bruise forming on her forehead) with Rin drop-kicking a flanking android before it can get the jump on her, and Satori somewhat clumsily crashes into another android before slipping off to get to Utsuho and help brace her. Up close now, they all exchange glances, and... Utsuho breaks off to start blasting holes into the buildings without entrances and windows, leaving Rin and Satori to focus on fighting. With Ishirou's telemetry data in her head, Satori starts firing colorful magic blasts between gaps in Rin's offense as the kasha launches expanding waves of flaming wisps. Although they might not have the same raw power as Utsuho's blasts that are currently being focused on carving through walls, they do have the advantage of being controllable enough to converge on the most dangerous targets first while (ideally) keeping the lesser minions at bay. It is also later. Rin's patterns and Satori's extra coverage, conveniently enough, leave just enough of a gap in their counterattack that the clearest path through it all just happens to be closer to Skye. She needs the combat experience, after all!
Kale Hearthward	> "Do you want one of us to carry you, too?" "Yeah, actually, that'd be nice," says Skye. "This is a lot more walking than I was expecting." When foes just 'happen' to leak through, Skye is forced to defend herself, swinging her sword somewhat awkwardly. She gets hit a couple times for her trouble. "Ugh!" Another stairway, another engraving... CORRUPTION TOOK OUR WORLDS HEALTH BUT COMPLACENCY LET IT ROT IN THE END BOTH ACTION BUT ALSO INACTION ARE TO BLAME And down, again, into... a dance hall? An ornate dance hall. Hanging curtains and chandeliers, pathways blocked off by engraved walls, and even the enemies are dressed up. As well, the group has been finding little treasures here and there. Some of it is just random detritus, some of it is valuable materials and tools, some of it is... food? Alien fruits, mostly, somehow still seeming very fresh, if anyone feels courageous enough to try one. ... It's very tempting. The enemies aren't letting up, and a rejuvenating snack would be very welcome.
Ishirou	Down into the dance hall, and here too the dancing holograms don't let up. Laser pods open up on Ishirou, blasting away armor and knocking him nearly flat again. Plates of refreshing-looking food fly by, but Ishirou doesn't feel that bold, even as he's about to take some critical damage. Steeling himself, he once more does what he does best! Support others. More data comes to Satori, hopefully, she can keep Rin and Utsuho focused long enough to get through the next part of the dungeon, but he has faith in her ability to do this, and their ability to put holes in anything. To Aidan, he shrugs. "I could, if you want a record of what happened here to go on the net, but let's focus on getting out first!" Ishirou fires another barrage of energy blasts toward the remaining dancers, trying to keep himself going before anything else happens. 'Just a little more' he tells himself, putting his faith in Rin and Utsuho to see them through.
Aidan Proudpick	When Aidan sees Skye take more hits, he falls back, pulling up next to her to stand with her. "You gotta use your weapon as a guard, Skye. Wait for the right moment before you swing." He doesn't stop swinging, but this IS practice, and Skye isn't Aidan's princess. He's got that slot reserved. "Oooh, is this a castle? Maybe some kinda music hall? Maybe it's like an encyclopedia." He isn't looking too good, lasers blasting up against his body, fur scorched along every side. He kicks open a treasure chest. When he finds something valuable looking, he moves on, grabbing a strange tool and... oh! He hunkers down behind his armguard, bringing the strange object up to his nose. Sniff sniff. "Still smells good." Aidan bites into the strange fruit without worry, though he's having to take more and more steps back as laser shots batter against him. "I could, if you want a record of what happened here to go on the net, but let's focus on getting out first!" A bright grin, "Alright, let's save the memory of a home, then." Another energy blast, Aidan waiting carefully for Rin and Satori to move before he lets out a wide gust of wind, pushing the enemy back and away from them!
Hellwarming Trio	"You think she's gonna be okay, master?" "Do you want one of us to carry you, too?" "Yeah, actually, that'd be nice," "This is a lot more walking than I was expecting." "... She'll be fine." "Keep that sword up, lady! Just hit their stuff harder and break them before they break yours!" With the trio going in two different directions, it becomes a little harder to keep tarck of each other at first. Once they regroup, though, it becomes clearer why they did it: TREASURE. They might not know how to use most of those tools at a glance, but they do pass off some of the most weapon-y looking things to Skye. Part of it is to give her an opportunity to try throwing things, and part of it is so they don't have to carry so much heavy stuff themselves (and have more room for shinier, littler treasures in their pockets). "Courrption... Complackin..." "Complacency." "This ain't the time to play games, master." "Huh. Maybe she's catching what Skye's got." "Don't get lazy now! We got dancin' up next." "I'm going to remember this, girls." With the group back together again, they're once again able to combine their strengths for both offense and defense. Heavy walls of flame surround the three at controlled times to keep the worst dancing divekicks from reaching them while they spin in formation so Utsuho can absorb other attacks with her gleaming-hot control rod. Rin takes advantage of the chandeliers to rain down yet more passive area fire on the various enemies, and Satori coordinates the pair like some kind of conductor by doing nothing more than calling out Utsuho's and Rin's names with all of Ishirou's data still being fed right into her. Thankfully, they're not as willing to let enemies slip through to accost Skye this time, although there's also less worry about that happening once they see Aidan moving to aid her.
Kale Hearthward	> You gotta use your weapon as a guard, Skye. Wait for the right moment before you swing." "Ugh! I know!" She does adjust her grip and keep the sword up, though. > "Keep that sword up, lady! Just hit their stuff harder and break them before they break yours!" "I got it, I got it! Sheesh." Though now she's putting a bit more effort into her swings. "Huh. Maybe she's catching what Skye's got." "Hey!" The fruit... tastes decent! Not the best fruit Aidan's had, and a bit too sweet without enough tart, but he doesn't seem to be instantly poisoned either. Fighting through to another staircase, at the back of the maze of dance halls... TAKE ALL THAT YOU FIND HERE IF YOU WISH OUR ELEGY FOR OUR PAST AND OUR FUTURE And then down once again... to a barracks. A hall of warriors. The murals along the walls depict figures fighting against the dripping moon the group saw in the earlier vision, or against similarly drippy enemies of indistinct shapes. The group has momentum built up, though, and can push through the holograms here without much trouble - and Skye's starting to hold her own now, too. Starting to, at least. She ends up getting winded. "H-hold up," she says, as they reach the stairway. "Need... a moment." BUT TAKE ALSO THE TALE OF WHAT HAPPENED HERE HOLD IT AS CLOSE TO YOUR HEART AS YOU DO OUR TREASURES ... reads the engraving on the stairway here. "This is... kinda depressing, isn't it? Learning about some old people that bit it?" she says. "Like, what's the point now?"
Ishirou	Ishirou sticks to providing support and support fire for the group, they're finally able to get momentum and a formation going. This lets them push through as even Skye is turning her fighting style around. When she asks for a rest, Ishirou is obligated to give it to her, but he doesn't want to wait around /too/ long, not with the momentum they have built. 'Like, what's the point now?' "The point is that they want to warn whoever reads this against the mistakes they made. Greed and thoughtlessness give way to a future where they think of others first, and put others above personal greed... at least that's what I take away from all of this." "The idea that personal greed can't eclipse everything, and you can't ignore the problems you see until it is too late. That's the message they wanted to send into the future so that maybe it won't be too late for others."
Hellwarming Trio	"There you go. See, just put your back into it!" "If even she can do it, maybe master can-" "..." "... Sh-show her somethin' else cool later!" The progress quest continues, and it's pretty clear the trio are a well-oiled machine that shines even further with Ishirou's support to help guide their attacks and Aidan's shields to handle the defense. There's even time for them to grab some of that fruit, too, but only Satori steals a bite because... Well, because she's never done something so reckless before. Utsuho and Rin probably ate some garbage before this whole thing started, anyway. In the barracks, they peer at the images of warriors against the moon and those other dripping shapes, starting to get just a little more anxious about what else they'll see the further they go. It doesn't hamper their combat effectiveness, at least, and even they (mostly Satori) need a break every now and then, so Skye's request doesn't get any pushback from the trio. Also, because there's another engraving on the staircase. "Depressing? Uhhh. Not really." "Everyone bites it sooner or later. So what? They let us know about this drippy thing, so we'll probably be able to get away from it way better than they did!" "Or we could fight it. I doubt it'd be our problem either way, but... It could make for an interesting story, prevailing where they could not thanks to their warnings." "Not like that moon could beat us even if it got even stronger since all this happened. Or getting old, either. I'm built different."
Aidan Proudpick	"I got it, I got it! Sheesh." He doesn't press when he sees her doing better, just grinning at her as he serves as her shieldmaiden to keep them progressing forward. He pushes them back with each step, letting the Youkai do the heaviest lifting. Once at the end of the dance hall, Aidan kicks open a few more treasure chests, pocketing one or two fruits with a grin. "Hey, I bet I can grow the seeds in these, somewhere." "Need... a moment." Once towards half way through the barracks, Aidan is flagging himself. Mostly from the laser blasts dotting his torso and chest. "Cardio. Lots of cardio." "Like, what's the point now?" "The idea that personal greed can't eclipse everything." A nod from Aidan, "Sometimes you need something really hard to hit you. And this is pretty hard. I wish we could show it to everyone." Aidan presses a hand against the letters and nods. "Alright, whoever you are. I'll remember." "Not like that moon could beat us even if it got even stronger since all this happened. Or getting old, either. I'm built different." "I think the moon thing is over? It's more about... you can't have everything, you have to give something." He lets out a breath, "And sometimes you gotta stop the rich from hurting everyone else. But I guess that ain't part of the tale."
Kale Hearthward	> "That's the message they wanted to send into the future so that maybe it won't be too late for others." "... Yeah?" Skye sheathes her sword and crosses her arms. "So, what? It's already gone to shit. Quicknest got hit, and the Empire went and got its black mark by taking advantage of it. And the Empire's not about to back down from its grand plans, so things are gonna get worse, and I don't see how there's really anything to be done about it." > "Or we could fight it. I doubt it'd be our problem either way, but... " "It's not our problem to begin with. If the moon's in this world still, it'll be gone along with the rest of the world. If it's somewhere else - then, not much we can do about tracking it down, it's been out here for decades." > "Sometimes you need something really hard to hit you." "Yeah, sure. Whatever. Let's just go." Down again... ... to an apocalypse. The terrain is a mix of everything so far - the peaceful meadow, the thriving city, the dance hall, the warrior culture... ... but it's all ruined. Rusted or rotting. Falling over or burning. None of it is livable anymore. None of it is beautiful anymore. The holograms here don't make it any more palatable. They're the same diverse set of species as the party, as the holograms that were fighting before, but these are a lot more peaceful - that is, they are peaceful because they are dead. There's no intense gore or body mutilation on display, but these are quite definitely dead corpses instead of enemies on this floor. "..." Skye lingers, looking around, instead of proceeding onward.
Ishirou	Ishirou is silent when Skye goes on about the empire and the current events. The situation with those in the robots, and the Gale Empire's desire to do nothing about their plight except use them. Worse, they're about to go to war with other nations to expand... it does seem like a lot, but for someone who's home, it is... It is a lot worse. It's made worse by how this apocalypse went down. Ishirou, however, makes good use of his scanning abilities to make sure every bit of this is saved. "When this is over, Aidan, make sure to remind me to get you the raw data. Maybe you can't do anything with it, but it going online in the Empire might do something..." Ishirou isn't sure what to do, not about this place, the only path forward is to go down, but about the empire exactly. "You... have to win over the hearts and minds of our enemies..." he says to Skye, "It's the only way to make people see. Then be willing to back those words... those feelings up if you have to..."
Hellwarming Trio	A lot of the talk about the Empire and Quicknest goes right over the trio's heads. Satori tries to listen, at least, but it's clear from the look on all three of their faces that they can't quite keep track of everything Skye brings up on that topic. The idea that the dripping moon is already gone, meanwhile, gets varying responses. Rin and Satori are pleased, of course, but Utsuho looks disappointed. "Bet I could've still kicked its ass." "Do moons even have asses?" "If it turned into a person, perhaps. But I think you may be losing the thread here..." "Are you sure, master? My clothes look fine." One small exasperated breath later, and it's time to head further down! They're all prepared to blast the holograms, but the lack of life in the apocalypse zone is a real tone shift even though none of three necessarily look horrified by it. Mildly nonplussed, frowning a bit, but they're managing well enough. It certainly helps that they work with bodies on a daily basis, or this could've been much worse for them. "Winning over minds sounds easy enough. If you beat 'em, then they know in their minds that you're the winner, yeah?" "Doubt he means it like that, Orin. I think he's talking about that... You know. The.. Heart brain stuff." "Convincing the heart really would be trickier, but it could be... Well, doing that could have at least lead to a better end than all of this." "If anyone WANTS to listen first. Ain't that somethin' a lotta people got problems with?" Even though it's been such a long time, Rin wanders off to see if there's still any ghosts lingering around that she might be able to talk to.
Aidan Proudpick	"And I don't see how there's really anything to be done about it." Aidan lifts a finger, "The Emperor has got a black mark. The Gale Empire doesn't. I don't know what to do. But I ain't gonna let the Gale Empire become some kind of hated place that's gonna get attacked. It's beautiful. The people there are wonderful, I went and meet them. People who just wanna live." He returns his smile, "And it's the home of people I care about. Whatever I gotta do, I'll do. And I know everyone else will too." And figure out some way to pay the bill this time. The squirrel finds a place to sit, looking over at Skye, passing her a canteen of water and a small bag of dried mushrooms. Then back at the stage in front of them. "This. This is the fight I want. I don't want this to happen to anyone ever again." "It going online in the Empire might do something..." He nods over at Ishirou, grinning, "Mister Parsons was talking about that. Showing people how bad it can be. But." He shakes his head, "We gotta... make it more. Turn the moon into an airship. Something." He scratches at the tip of his chin, "Maybe... turn the moon in an airship, and then show the waste of Quicknest?" "You... have to win over the hearts and minds of our enemies..." Aidan nods slowly, tapping his chestplate. "Took me a while to learn that one. And not think of people as my enemies." "If anyone WANTS to listen first. Ain't that somethin' a lotta people got problems with?" A wince from Aidan.
Kale Hearthward	"You... have to win over the hearts and minds of our enemies... It's the only way to make people see. Then be willing to back those words... those feelings up if you have to..." "..." "Yeah? I ain't exactly a talker, if you hadn't noticed..." "If anyone WANTS to listen first. Ain't that somethin' a lotta people got problems with?" "Mmmhmm. Yeah. What was that saying? When your career's depending on being right, you aren't going to listen to people saying you're wrong?" "This. This is the fight I want. I don't want this to happen to anyone ever again." Skye gives Aidan a long look. "Then... step up." She takes the water from Aidan. "The Empire's my home. Not Quicknest or Skyrah. I'm out here now, I guess, and I don't go back much, but... I grew up there. And I don't like what it's doing either." "So if you're gonna fight, then - step up. Don't let it be like how Quicknest went, where you had to have someone else come in and save everyone." "Because that's my home that's up on the chopping block next, isn't it? So if you're gonna talk about saving it, if you're gonna say stuff like 'this is my fight' and hearts and minds - then be ready to back it up, and be ready to step up and do what you need to save it." "Because otherwise? If you're gonna say that stuff and then do fuck all? I don't think I'm actually going to forgive you." The water is handed back. Skye forgot to actually drink any of it. The stairs aren't hard to find, once the group gets going again. FIGHT TO SAVE YOURSELVES AT EVERY CHANCE YOU HAVE OR RISK YOUR OWN PEOPLE TO SUFFER THE FALL
Hellwarming Trio	"That's a saying? Sounds pretty careless." "Nah, nah, it makes sense. You just gotta be right, and then you can't be wrong!" "I don't think that... Mmn. " Continued exasperation notwithstanding, the three continue standing guard/resting while Skye talks to Aidan about... Kale's homeland? Some other place? Satori gets to cheat a little and pluck enough details about Skynest out to explain the barebones context of it being Aidan's home to Utsuho and Rin quietly, but she's not going to dig too deep about that or try and find out about what actually happened while the conversation is still ongoing. When they reach the stairs and the next engraving, meanwhile... "Uhh. Isn't that what we normally do, anyway?" "Right? I can't remember ever not fightin' if I had to." "The other writings were more.. Educational, I suppose. This one seems to be more of a warning, but... Why?"
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan nods. He looks at the canteen. He isn't sure he knows what the looks like. Taking down the airship? Bringing people in. How does he change the hearts and minds of the empire. Aidan feels small again. But he can't let that stop him again, can he? He takes the canteen back, taking a sip of water. "I can't exactly promise. But I'm gonna give it everything I got." He thinks about other words he can say, other promises, but they don't mean anything. Aidan stows the canteen back into his bag. He stands back up, nodding at her once again. He takes a picture of the next lines. "I think it's more about pushing people to fight back. Flamel was talking about this. You got people in the city who just are trying to get food to live on. Money to pay taxes and pay the rent. It's really hard to fight back. You can get a couple people to think about, but usually they'll just donate to the relief effort later." He frowns, "It's hard to get an entire people to push back. They've got too much stress already."
Kale Hearthward	The ghosts here... well, nobody's died here, in this pocket dimension. But the buildings are real and authentic, and there's enough ghosts clinging to the buildings specifically to do some spectral investigation. The buildings were brought here from elsewhere. The ghosts aren't exactly observant on how they got here, but two ghosts in adjacent buildings died in entirely different parts of the world. Think like, a skyscraper from New York City being next to a skyscraper from Seattle. The group heads down the stairs... And downstairs, is... a mechanical room? A smaller room than the large pocket dimensions the group has been traversing so far, about the size of a family living room. And it's one that has light coming in, from two oval spots against one of the walls. There's a staircase down, and then in addition to the staircase they just came from (which disappears once everyone passes through it, as Mystery Dungeon staircases tend to do), there's a second, permanent set of stairs leading up. ... Which Hazelthistle appears at the top of, peeking down. "Oh!" The stairs lead up back to the starting meadow, where Kale and Hazelthistle have been waiting. "These just appeared a few seconds ago," says Hazelthistle. "Maybe... some sort of shortcut?" "... whatever this room is, we've got a bit of time to figure it out still," says Kale. "Let's wrap things up for the day. And-" He looks down. Skye's standing in front of him. "... Yes?" "You don't get to mess things up either," she tells him, before pushing past him to head upwards. "... Okay?" says Kale, confused.
Aidan Proudpick	Aidan walks around the room slowly, tracing his fingers across the wall. Touching the oval spots, running his fingers back and forth. "... Okay?" says Kale, confused. "We had a lot of talking in there." He shrugs his shoulder, "About taking responsibility. And about homes." Aidan hefts the bag over his shoulder, "I got some trees to plant and some work to do." He follows Skye, lifting his hand briefly to think about patting Kale on the shoulder before moving up after her. "You were getting good with that sword at the end," he calls to Skye.
Hellwarming Trio	The illogical origins of the ghosts don't make much sense to Rin, but she's seen plenty of strange things in her line of work. The fact they didn't die here certainly catches her attention, too, but she's not sure how to piece it together just yet. Eventually, though, she just asks instead of trying to puzzle it out herself: "So howdja end up all the way out here, anyway?" Double eventually, it's time to continue deeper into the Mystery Dungeon! Until it abruptly takes them right back out of it, anyway, and takes them face to face with Kale and Hazelthistle again. "Shortcuts, eh? Could be useful if we ever need to head back in there." "Especially considering that we can't just blast through to the bottom from the top..." "... I mean, we didn't try." "Please don't." The ongoing interpersonal drama between Kale, Skye, and Aidan continues to go right over the trio's heads. Satori only taps a few things into her/the trio's shared phone about that.