CoLC crossover RP, main thread

The reaction from the other side of the mirror was instant, even as it differed between the two of them.

"HA, look at your face! Ser Gannon, it's likely best you aren't nobility, if that is the best that you can manage when confronted with the likes of them!"

"...cannibals?"

"It's your...glasses," Cole said, apparently needing to take just a second to think of the word. "They look like a mask."

"Spectacles, Cole, that's what those are called. They are remarkably rare, and typically only available to the very highest of the nobles. It doesn't surprise me most people have never seen them." Evangeline shook her head, apparently not interested in letting the farce continue much more. "It's irrelevant. Still...Duke de Montfort is expecting us soon enough, and...seeing as how this is all rather out of the ordinary...I suppose I do need to ask what this...summoning is all about."

Cole was quiet for a second, letting out a soft sigh, looking back up at Arcade, then back at them. "This...this was my last chance to speak to anyone back t...back in Thedas. Miss Tairee could reach anyone I asked, and...and..."

"...you wanted to speak to me."

Cole didn't make eye contact for a moment at Rhys's soft words, seeming to hunch down on himself. "It...it was so long, and...and I have...I have so much to apologize to you for...what happened in the Spire, what happened since then, almost...almost costing you everything so much..."

Evangeline's face was stern...it seemed as though the woman's face was always stern...but it softened slightly at those words, and she looked over to Rhys...who simply looked pained.

"...it was a difficult time, for all of us. It was a catalyst of much. But...Cole, you don't...you don't owe me any apology-,"

"Yes, he does." Evangeline let out a breath, glancing between the two of them. "Cole, go ahead."

Cole was quiet, before nodding a little. "She's right...I know what you wrote in the letter you wrote to the Inquisitor, I know that you said...you called me a friend. You said you never had the chance to...to forgive me, and to help me find my way back to the Fade. I know that...that means you've already forgiven me. But I was never able to apologize...to tell you everything that was wrong, to tell you everything I needed to be held responsible for. ...the war, the deaths, the Spire...it's all on me, and...you and others in Thedas had to pay for it. I'm...I'm sorry..."

Rhys grimaced a little, looking almost as though he had a bad taste in his mouth. "...right. You're telling me you're human now, but you haven't always been. All things considered, you still haven't been even very long. Cole, keep in mind, as a human, you don't always have to say something out loud for it to be understood. But...yes. I do forgive you. I forgave you long ago. I know that truly none of it was really your fault."

"My glasses?" Arcade blinked, bringing a hand up to toy with them slightly, "that's... not what I'd think of as a mask." It didn't really cover his face at all so what was even...?

He stayed quiet as Cole and Rhys had their talk, though, when Rhys identified what Cole's problem was, he seemed a little thoughtful. Maybe it would be prudent to ask a few questions before the conversation had to end.

"Uh, so, you know enough about spirits to probably answer this," Arcade hedged, trying to find the right way to word it before eventually settling on, "is there anything else I should be prepared for? I'd have preferred some warning before Cole decided that I wasn't specific enough when I told him not to do something."

Library Lobby to Outside Library

Doug chirped in approval as Rex gave him attention, but was confused about what exactly was being said. “Kyu…?” He still nodded at Rex's words as if he understood them.

“That….doesn't happen. Ever.” Sae said to Silanea and Two with a flat tone. “I'm a member of the Special Investigations Unit. If a person's case is brought to the SIU, then they're involved in an extremely serious crime, like misuse of government funds or other large scale, city or country wide scandals. We're a very elite team of police and lawyers. Suggesting that we could make such a rookie mistake like bringing the wrong person to court is almost insulting to our department's fifty year history of won cases.”

“Yeah, I'll...see you later, Two,” Makoto said with a weak smile of her own before picking up the laptop and stepping outside.

”...Is something wrong?” Sae asked as Makoto left the library.

“Um, I had to warn you about something before I came home,” Makoto said, trying to figure out how to word it. “I...may not remember”- she stopped as she noticed Lewis and a blonde robotic girl by the doors. “Oh, hey…” she mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck as she kept the laptop balanced with her free arm.

Edited by ScorpioRat on Feb 12th 2019 at 3:53:08 AM

Rhys raised his head slightly, looking a bit bewildered at Arcade's question, before he just dropped his mouth open a bit. "Oh. Maker. That's right you're...adopting him or something, yes? I don't know if I want to have all the details of this. Ah...what...do you know, thus far?"

"What do I... ah," he seemed a little overwhelmed as he tried to sort out what he actually knew before shaking his head, "you know what, let's just assume I have no idea what's going on. That seems like a better starting point."

"Weird that the 'murder hobos' would end up here all of a sudden..." Curly shook her head "Yeah, sure. I'll just..."

Another girl with a laptop came out the door Curly was about to use, so she stepped back instead "Hey, sorry about that"

Edited by BlitzTrain on Feb 13th 2019 at 1:59:15 AM

Rhys's face took on what could only be called a concerned expression, hands folded in front of his face as he seemed to be sorting that out for himself. "Right. Right. All right. ...do you know what a spirit is would be the place where I would start."

Silanea held her tongue, but she didn't bother trying to hide her narrowed eyes and disdainful expression before Makoto took the laptop and left. "Makoto's sister is dangerous, with that pride and arrogance" Silanea said flatly as she moved over to Rex. "Having it already be decided beforehand that someone is guilty; people are going to get hurt. People are going to get killed" the lamia continued, watching Makoto as she went out the doors.

Rhys was probably right to be concerned, Arcade wasn't exactly hiding how overwhelming the situation was for him. Taking a second he tried to work through everything he had figured out during his time in the city.

"Well, they're like, embodiments of emotions, right?" he replied, "Cole used to be compassion, and they could be twisted into becoming demons, like... despair." Arcade's expression darkened slightly at that, but he quickly shook it off and continued, "and there are probably other parts that I haven't really been able to wrap my head around since magic isn't a thing where I'm from."

"...Compassion!" Rhys sat up a bit more, smiling suddenly, as though some long pondered puzzle finally had a solution. "Compassion spirits which on corruption become Despair, yes that makes perfect sense...that's why Cole was drawn to those in the dungeons who were in such a state, why I was able to see him...as a spirit healer we commune with spirits of Compassion often in our work, it's what drove so many in the Spire to such levels of..."

He trailed off at a sort of withering glare from Evangeline, face taking on a bit of a kicked puppy face. "Look, we've both wondered."

"Still. You weren't exactly a standard demon of Despair at the time, Cole. You were still so very human. That's likely why things were so...emotional, in the Spire, though."

"Again, that wasn't your fault!" Rhys hurriedly said. "If I had been smart enough to figure it out sooner I could have helped you...get back to the Fade, back to what you were. Made you a spirit again."

"It wasn't your fault either, Rhys..." Cole said softly, even as he glanced up at Arcade's face, then lowered his gaze again. "I do know...what it is to be a true Despair demon now. It...it was bad either way."

Rhys glanced between him and Arcade, eyes narrowing for only a second, before he sat back again. "Well. The matter of what sort of spirit you are is wholly irrelevant. Tell me, Ser Gannon, what...what is Cole like as a...human?"

Zeus then continued with his thoughts on Herc’s predicament: “Hermes explained everything to me and your mother, she’s explaining your predicament to the others right now as we speak. So naturally they’ll know what’s going on.” Hermes? But how did he know about this? Hercules thought to himself. Who would tell him where he was? It probably was Meg seeing as she was the only one that he had told about his experience in the City.

Though she didn’t like to admit or show it, Hercules could tell Meg was worried about him but knowing what she was like she probably wasn’t going to be like that for long and now his parents were aware of his disappearance. “When I heard the news that you were gone.” Zeus then said looking at his son with a concerned expression on his face. “I feared the worst had happened to you.”

And of course he was not wrong about that, the last time Hercules had disappeared from his father was when Pain and Panic had kidnapped him when he was a baby and tried to make him mortal. “Father-“ Hercules started to say only for his father to start frowning and then: “If I were to find this “Writer” being I’d give him what for! By thunder, I would!” Zeus shouted in fury and as he said this he brought a fist down onto one of his hands to empathise the point.

Hercules was rather startled by this sudden development was now looking at his father very nervously now and he can see that his dad was just looking back with a scowl on his face. There was a pause between the two and then Zeus upon seeing his son’s nervous expression on his face then burst out in hysterics.

“Don’t worry son, I’m just pulling your leg. One of my little jokes there.” Zeus then said reliving some tension that was there. Hercules then relaxed but then looked at his dad seeing as that his father didn’t really mean what said by that statement. “Dad! Don’t scare me like that!” Herc then said in a exasperated tone that spelt not funny.

Zeus then chuckled for a bit before he settled down and then went: “Sorry I couldn’t resist.”

Arcade recoiled at the sudden exclamation, clearly not a fan of sudden loud noises. He let the three talk more about their past without commentary since he wasn't sure what he could add.

When Rhys asked him another question, he once again hesitated before responding. "Well, physically just a normal kid," he reported, "but well, we clearly don't always see things the same way. Like when this woman kept harassing me and he threatened to stab her, that was an experience. And just before this call, we had to have an in-depth conversation about why 'don't ask for a challenge' isn't the same thing as, 'but you can still ask about one'."

"Yeah, I guess what you're saying makes sense," Yuna responded to the space marine when he brought up the topic of public executions. "Still, she's a member of the hero club and a very dear friend, and we'd just turn our backs on her. Plus... we wouldn't have made it this far without her. But I do want to talk with her about what happened, so I can make sure she's okay and she won't try to do something so reckless again."

With that out of the way, the young girl made her way to the central desks. She didn't know exactly how much time had passed, but she felt that it was as good a time as any to start her call with Togo. If anything, it'd be like all those times where the girl would roll her wheelchair all the way to her house and wake her up in the mornings. To Yuna herself, at least, that felt like it would be a really nice way to start the day.

"Miss Tairee?" she called out to the librarian. "I'm ready to make my call now. Same as last time, please."

"Ah." Rhys's...and also Evangeline's mouthes quirked a little, as though they were trying not to smile. "That's not necessarily spirits, I don't think, as much as it is just Cole."

"He did the same thing to your mother in the catacombs once, when he thought she was trying to hurt me."

"You've never told me that story!"

Evangeline laughed faintly, shaking her head, before looking back at Cole. "Cole...I'm not questioning your ability, but it's different what we went through and what you went through in the Inquisition, and being a child. Children shouldn't fight, unless they have no other option."

Cole just looked very chagrined, looking to the side. "I just...I like to protect people. It helps..."

Rhys nodded faintly, looking a bit more aware at that. "Compassion spirit intent on helping. Yes, that makes sense. An intrinsic essence to your being. And you learned a lot about trying to help people by...using violence. Unfortunately quite necessary in the world lately."

"What was that about...challenge?" Evangeline said, looking as though she had only then comprehended that part of the statement.

"I don't know if that's more or less comforting," Arcade muttered, before finally shaking his head, "who am I kidding, I'm from the Wasteland, this isn't even surprising." How many kids had he seen running around with switchblades in Freeside? A lot. Definitely a lot.

It took Arcade a few seconds for Evangaline's question to sink in. With a sigh, he answered, "the... god-thing that brought us here, he'll do things in exchange for challenges. My adopting Cole is a challenge so I won't have to go back to my world. They're usually pretty excruciating, so I told him not to ask for one to bring someone else with us."

"Oh, hey," I parroted back at her like the world's most pathetic echo, slumping. "...Am I interrupting anything? Oh uh, if it's not too much a sore spot, did you two, decide something about that deal thing?" I glanced down at the special phone. "...Actually, can we talk later? I..."

"Uh, hey there! Who's this?" Arthur piped up from said phone, hard to hear since the device was obviously supposed to be against one's ear.

Outside Library

"Sorry, wasn't looking where I was going..." Makoto said, stepping out of the robot's way as she got outside. To her mild surprise, Lewis was still stuck on the challenge that she had taken.

"...I took the deal on a slightly different set of terms," she answered softly. "If I asked for it, it's only fair that I have to forget. Don't bother Rex about it, okay? Just go back to...whoever you're calling while you have the chance." He sounded familiar though when he spoke up over the phone.

"Makoto, what's this about a deal?" Sae asked, crossing her arms. Makoto looked away from the screen, slightly uncomfortable, but she only took a couple of steps away from the door before continuing.

"I was...about to bring that up. When I get back home... I'm going to forget Rex. In exchange, we can visit each other."

"What? How- Why would you even agree to something that extreme?"

"It was either take a gamble or never see him again. I'd rather have a chance than nothing at all," Makoto said, not flinching away from Sae's serious expression.

"You're not even out of high school yet, why are you so focused on him in particular?" Sae asked, a little more aggressively.

"I don't want it to end so soon, I...he makes this place happier for me. Easier to handle." It felt odd saying that out loud, but it was true and she wouldn't deny it. "I don't want to leave him alone either."

"Oh...huh." There wasn't really anything else to say, if they really thought that was worth it, but it sure still felt made of suck. Maybe it was the element of choice that made it palatable. At the very least Rex knew what he was getting into, which was better than some people got. "Sorry, I was just...reminded of something painful." Somehow I could feel Arthur glancing between his screen and Mystery with about the same level of discomfort. I lifted the phone up. "Oh uh, Arthur, this is Makoto. She's um..." Hm. Would it break anything serious to mention the future Persona character bit with...who was that anyway?...listening in? "...another friend? That doesn't sound right...Who ya got there, i-if you don't mind me asking...?" I looked at the laptop Makoto was carrying, which happened to be emitting a totally unfamiliar voice.

Evangeline made a somewhat disgruntled face at the explanation about what "challenges" were, particularly his missed meaning in his statement. "Adopting him probably is a little bit...excruciating, but I wouldn't necessarily say that in front of him," she scolded, none-too-gently.

"Evangeline let's be honest here, Cole knows what it means."

Cole just nodded solemnly. "Yes. Children are difficult. I'm probably going to be more difficult than most."

Evangeline didn't look any happier about this admission, but Rhys continued anyway. "Maybe in some ways, Cole, but not in every way. You're still showing a clarity of reason that most children your...apparent age wouldn't have. But..." Rhys turned his attention back to Arcade. "From what you said, it also sounds like he still has some mindsets of a spirit. Single-minded fixations on a purpose...in this case, helping people...what about difficulty with metaphors or parables, seeing things in extremely limited ways that don't really make sense? How well does he interact with the physical world?"

When Evangeline pointed out what it sounded like Arcade said, he groaned softly and rubbed his eyes under his glasses. "Goddammit I'm an idiot," he muttered mostly to himself before correcting, "I meant that some challenges include a lot of danger and death and I'd rather not let a kid get involved in that again. Not after last time." Watching Cole get burned to death in the mindscape wasn't his idea of fun.

At Rhys's next question, he blinked slightly, a little confused, "like, does he understand that physical things... exist? Yeah, he hasn't tried to walk through any walls that I've seen. But, when it comes to metaphors, yeah, I don't think he's quite grasped those yet."

Ben looked around after he walked away from Eve, about to go sit down in a nearby set of chairs when he saw Thomas sitting in the middle of the chairs he was about to pick.

He hesitated for a moment, looking a bit hurt, but sighed and moved to sit down in one of the neighboring chairs.

"Hey, Thomas," Ben said, sounding subdued. "I was doing a lot of thinking and talking with people today and I..." He looked at his feet and sighed again. "I decided I had to say sorry. I was being a bad hero. You were right. You and Wells and Rex were right, me and Louie were wrong. The City Knights were wrong. We're being lousy heroes."

He slumped into the chair.

"I know you probably hate me after all the mean stuff I said to you. You probably don't wanna speak to me anymore. And I get that. I'm not gonna ask you to join the City Knights again. I almost shut them down. I still don't know if I should still be the leader or not. So uh." He hesitated again. "I just had to tell you that, and hope you'll forgive me. And if you don't, I... I get it. I was being horrible to you." He got up again, looking down at the wizard.

"I'll... I'll let you keep on reading. Sorry for bothering you, Thomas. And uh... if you and the Militia need help. I can try to do whatever I can..." He started to turn and walk away from Thomas, looking back at him to gauge his reaction.

Outside Library

"This is my sister," Makoto said, even as Sae was about to respond to her declaration.

"That's...That's not the kind of thing you should say without a deep amount of thought behind it," she said, a little off balance. "You don't know where you'll be or what kind of person he's going to be as time goes on. Are you certain that this is a risk you want to take for something that may just fall apart?"

"But I can't be passive my entire life, letting everything pass me by because I'm afraid that it won't work out. Don't you have to take risks at work too? If you didn't push yourself further than what was safe, then you wouldn't be as good as you are now, right?" Makoto was aware that it was a bit manipulative to bring that up, but if that was what made Sae agree with her, then she'd do it. It was important that Sae thought she was still somewhat in the right for now, since the Phantom Thieves had plans that needed her Palace intact to pull off.

"That is...true on some level," Sae said. "If he does show up again, don't let him distract you from your own path. Though if you really do forget him, then I suppose that's not much of an issue."

"No, I guess it wouldn't be..." Makoto said with a small sigh. "Well, I should probably get going now. Sorry if I interrupted anything or caused you any trouble, but I should be back in less than a week."

"I'll have to inform the police that your missing persons case can be closed now, but at least that'll get things to settled down more here. Stay safe, Makoto. Don't do anything hasty with that boy while you're there, okay?" Makoto blushed at the insinuation being made.

"No of course not, why would I? U-um, bye Sis!" she quickly ended the call and closed the laptop, slightly embarrassed that the last part had been overheard. "Jeez..." she mumbled. At least she could attempt to relax for the rest of the day now.

Arguably the conversation between the teen and her sister was none of Curly's business, but she couldn't help but stick around out of curiosity once she heard the girl was going to forget her boyfriend and/or the city.

"Have you considered making a journal?" Curly asked once the laptop was closed.

Edited by BlitzTrain on Feb 14th 2019 at 4:53:58 AM

"If you can trust that she is no longer tainted, or would ever do such a thing again" Brother Marcus said, his tone somewhat supportive though still stern; or maybe that was just a byproduct of his deep, helmet augmented voice. He stood up, and followed the girl to the central desks.

There, Miss Tairee #2 looked to Yuna and nodded. "I think it's still pretty early there, but alright" Miss Tairee #2 said, as there was a blur in front of Yuna where a simple tablet with a single button on it appeared.

Meanwhile, Thomas didn't notice Ben's approach until Ben spoke, but Thomas didn't look over; he just stopped his writing, the second quill likewise going still. The vibes coming off the wizard didn't seem great, and he still wasn't moving even as Ben got up and turned away. "I want to hear you say it, Ben" Thomas then said, his tone low and a bit judgemental. He turned his head only a little towards Ben. "I want to hear you explain why you were wrong. Maybe then I'll believe you" the young wizard added.

Edited by FirockFinion on Feb 14th 2019 at 6:34:04 AM

Ben stopped and winced, looking back towards Thomas as he almost seemed to pierce Ben with the ice in his voice. Ben thought for a moment on how to word it.

"I was putting my anger at people ahead of what was important. I was jealous of the Militia and I was jealous of Rex. I was being selfish and stupid. I wanted to be the hero, I wanted to be the one to save the day. But I was too focused on trying to be the best hero that... I wasn't focusing on being a good hero," he explained. "But I'm not a good hero. I'm just a jerk. I just got mad at Rex and the Writer and Lt. Wells and you instead of... instead of just doing what needed to be done and being a hero!" he insisted.

He turned around again, looking glum.

"If you still don't believe me I get it. I wouldn't believe me either. I didn't really give you any reason to give me the time of day. You don't have to forgive me. You don't even have to like me. I probably don't deserve it. But this time I'm gonna try to be a real hero instead of just wanting people to treat me like a hero." He stood there silently, again trying to gauge the mood of the wizard in front of him. "So... yeah," he added, not sure how to finish off his statement.