meridio | (Awash & Hugtopia) IC contact

[ He transitions so smoothly from speaking of himself to the greater topic of finding a way home, she can't help but privately praise him for it. ]

We, meaning.... You and your brother. [ She guides the topic back to the two of them. ] Since the two of you have such a strong bond already, you two might be among the few who contribute most to this world.

[ Strong bonds like that... she envies them, she supposes. It's something she can't quite form, apparently. ]

[ We, meaning him and her. While the bond between brothers may be strong for all the wrong reasons, it is love that the world has forgotten. Knowing this, Somnus must compensate in other areas, and his brother won't help him there; but Pyra, ever devoted to those around her, will. ]

All the more reason to seek answers elsewhere. Bonds alone are insufficient.

[ ...She's going to assume he means him and his brother unless he says otherwise. Especially when he mentions that they must "seek answers elsewhere". ]

Then will you two be going into forest?

[ Pyra.

Somnus shakes his head once. The only way they'll be going into the forest is if his brother were to approach him with the idea first, and that's unlikely to happen. ]

He was not the one I offered to accompany.

[ ....Oh.

There's a slight flush of embarrassment at that. That totally went over her head, oops. ]

[ Her eyes dart away from him. ]

D-did you have... anything you wished to investigate more?

[ Among the myriad of mysteries that currently remain.... ]

Is there another means of locating the hen?

[ Pursuing any of the mysteries would be progress, but Mythra seemed particularly invested in that one. ]

[ Does. Does this mean he wants to spend time with her???

No, he just wants to Get Things Done. ]

When we all traveled to the location the hen had appeared, we got the feeling that something important would happen in that place-- only back then, it wasn't the right time.

That could mean that... [ Ah, she can't believe she hadn't thought of this possibility until now: ] Maybe there's no way to find the hen ourselves. It has to have some sort of event or trigger. The right sort of bond, the right people.

[ Given their limited knowledge, her reasoning is sound enough. Bonds and people are, however, vague. There are no more quests. Are the items in hand now meant to be utilized for the creation of such an event? ]

And the right tools, if any.

[ The right time, place, people, bonds, and tools. They are fighting a losing battle, only because they are all ignorant of what needs to be done. It paints a dismal, ominous future. ]

...We have the quill. But the other items from those quests, such as the pendant, the spear, and the shield? I think they can only be used once before they vanish, much like the grimoire.

[ It's up to them to choose what they might be used for. Cairngorm refused using their pendant for Mythra's idea, which is well within their right. ] I don't... want to believe that it is all helpless, though. There must be a way home for all-- or... the choice to stay, for those who do not have a place to return.

[ He wonders if a part of that urgency stems from the deep-seated desire to remove herself, be it in this world or hers. If it were up to him, everyone would be returned to their rightful place. Either way, it's not the priority and he will say as much. ]

The world's restoration comes first. Time is short, but you must not stray from the present.

[ Folding his arms, Somnus lowers his head in thought.

The matter of the guardian is being attended to by another group. There isn't enough information on the hen to warrant another blind search. As for the individual items, there is a similar lack of data to effectively apply them, and they could very well go to waste with one false move. It's much the same for the book.

The biggest hindrance, in his mind, is the disorganization across town. ]

There is little the two of us can do alone.

[ Even when she had spoken with Cairngorm, they had been giving (what sounded like to her) excuses after excuses of contributing information to others.

If this is really out of their hands, it sounds more and more like... Mythra’s suggestion actually seems valid. ]

Would you like to share a drink with me, Your Majesty?

[ It's time to get black-out drunk!

Somnus can't recall a time he ever drank that much in one sitting. He would get tipsy, certainly. But not to the point of blacking out. ]

I make for a poor companion. If that doesn't dissuade you, very well.

[ That! That was a joke! But just one drink, what’s the harm in that? She still has rice wine left over from a wish from a while ago; it would go bad anyway.

At his comment that he is a poor companion, though: ]

...Have you ever had a day in your life, in which you only relaxed...?

[ She begins to walk, motioning for him to follow. ]

[ At times like this, it's better to step back and reassess the situation. A drink isn't a bad idea (though it remains to be seen if it is a good one). He follows. ]

There were plenty. I was a falconer in my mortal days.

[ He also napped. A lot. It proved a highly difficult habit to kick once he became king.

At their root, both are independent hobbies. Leisure took him away from company, not to it. ]

[ A falconer...

Also: mortal days. Meaning he hasn't done it since; that's... really sad. ]

...I suppose you wouldn't be able to pick that hobby back up again with mutated falcons here, hmm?

[ Falconry is a practical sport. There's the thrill of the hunt, then the prize of the game. As a spirit, though, he doesn't require sustenance, and so this is the first time that he's even given it a thought in Chroma. ]

There's no need for me to hunt here.

Yes but... it's a hobby. One that you must have enjoyed all those years ago.

[ He must have had fun at one point in his life, right. RIGHT?

She peers at him, leaning in a little more closely as they walk. ]

...When is the last time you smiled, Your Majesty?

[ His eyes briefly narrow as he looks ahead. What a pointless question. He isn't like Pyra, who wears a smile with tears in her eyes and sorrow in her words.

He could ask her the same. When was the last time she truly smiled? But he won't. ]

Your question is irrelevant.

There is... "no need" to hunt here.

My question is irrelevant....

[ She clasps her hands behind her, her tone still light. ]

New question:

When is the last time you did something because... you wanted to, and not because of the gods?

[ His choices are to answer or deflect. Perhaps what he has in mind conflates the two as he stops walking to reply: ]

Everything in the world is preordained. In the end, all is as the gods want.

[ He lingers for a moment, then begins to walk again. ]

But this is not the world of my gods.

[ She continues to walk ahead of him, even as he stops briefly.

Everything in the world is preordained to him, and yet... He blames himself, his own actions, his vices, his sins-- his envy-- for what happened between him and his brother.

Pyra turns around to face him just as he rejoins her. ]

What do you wish for, Somnus?

[ She asks once more, dropping his title. ]

[ She's used his name, and only his name. In recognition of that, his gaze meets hers momentarily. ]

To break the curse that binds this world and those in it.

[ Somnus has no delusions of grandeur about his place in this ordeal. He's but one of many with a limited number of possibilities. And yet, those are more possibilities than he's had in so many years, even as he continues to choose the same path the gods had first led him down. ]

[ And the best way, most likely, to break this curse and restore the color is to form bonds! Repeating that now seems useless, though; he might be a hero in his world, but he's ill-equipped, emotionally speaking, to have any such arsenal in forming meaningful bonds here.

But maybe that is the mark of a hero: overcoming odds stacked against him.

That's not to say that she isn't trying her damnedest to help him, either. With that, she continues to walk. Time to get that drink! ] Have you been forming bonds with others?

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