robowest | [ DEPARTURE ]

DEPARTURE

It's time to go.

Most people are on the train by now. Settled into their cabins and among friends and loved ones. There are only three new arrivals left to board and once they do, Hal pulls a conductor's hat out from underneath the bar, tugs it on, and steps around it to the middle of the train. He opens his mouth to talk, voice filling the train.

"It's time to go. Stops happen once a day until everyone's departed and I already have your stopped listed. If you'd like to be prioritized, let me know, otherwise we'll go in order of death. Settle in and enjoy the ride. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask, folks."

This, of course, means that those who died earliest (Manfred, Higekiri) will depart first while those who died latest (Barnham, Damian, Percy) will depart last. There's a stop for everyone, though those who want to get off together are more than welcome to. Hal pulls a notepad and pen out of his pocket later and people will notice that he goes around the train confirming stops with everyone. Whatever feeling Hal may have had to a character back in town isn't noticeable here -- he is simply a robot assigned with a job.

After that, it's all a matter of settling in and enjoying the ride. If that's possible for you, at least.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ There was something that Xion was asked to do. And, by golly, for every stop along this journey that she can do it, she will. So at the very least, you can find her each day blowing the conductor's whistle that Felix gave her as needed, looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and trying her absolute hardest to have hope and a smile for everyone who comes to her.

Otherwise you'll find her around all the common areas, in plain sight, haunting the people she's come to love - especially anyone she knows she isn't going home with. But she'll make herself available, she won't hide - and she'll try to smile. If there's anything she's taken to heart over all these weeks of pain, it's that, for some reason, she's looked to as someone who needs to survive, someone who can do her best by supporting others; so that's what she'll do.

Whatever betrayals have come, however much she might still hurt, these are people she loves. Smiling for them might be the very least she can do.

Also she's got Pluto at her heel, here and happy and usually with his tongue lolling out while he pants. Pluto will probably be a lot more excitable than Xion herself, jumping around and barking excitedly at anyone he knows. (Which will be most people.) ]

Edited 2017-03-04 17:59 (UTC)

[Xion... He was hoping to speak to her before the end, so it's nice to be able to find her while also hunting down the people he's come to see as his friends.]

... Hey. [This is bittersweet.] Are you excited to go?

[With Percy and Natalie, he means. Xion's going to be in good hands.]

Hi, Jason. [ With a tilt of her head, and a little smile. ] I don't know if excited is the right word. Relieved, I guess? I'm a little nervous, too.

[ Her gaze darts away, shy and uncertain, and she tucks her hair behind her ear before looking up at him again. ]

... what will you be doing?

[it's honestly good to see Xion in such good spirits, especially considering how exhausted and broken she had looked in the last few weeks preceding her death]

[Xion is certainly one of the people Milla would seek out to spend time with as their journey continues, too]

Xion! Have you given any thought to what you're doing now that this is all over. . .?

[ Xion will beam and move to her, taking Milla's hands in her own. ]

Yeah! I ... I'm going with Natalie and Percy.

[ Nervous, scared, excited, guilty -- she feels many things about this choice. Either way, though, she's ready. ]

I'm going to live a real life!

[gives Xion's hand a squeeze, and her smile softens. she's glad, because after reading that diary, Milla thinks that's exactly what Xion deserves]

I'm happy for you. And I know that Natalie and Percy will look after you just as much as you'll look after them.

[ Geez. That gets tears to gather in her eyes, and she has to let go with one hand to scrub at her face. Milla's faith ... has always meant the world to her. ]

That's for sure! I'll never let them down.

[ There's something quiet there, hidden in her tone. A little again, tucked away, lurking with all her unspoken regrets. ]

Are you gonna go home?

[what goes unsaid, remains unsaid. . . Milla certainly doesn't pick up on it. not now. not through Xion's air of cheeriness]

Of course. There was no other option for me. I've been away for far too long; I hope things haven't crashed and burned in my absence.

[her tone is joking, but somewhere deep down, she does have that concern]

[ a laugh ]

If it's you, Milla, I know no matter what happened you'll fix it. That's just who you are! I'm positive it'll be okay.

[ A tilt of her head. ]

I never asked. What is your world like, anyway?

My home world, hmm? It's. . .

[how does she explain it without giving Xion the whole lengthy backstory]

The part I'm most familiar with is called Rieze Maxia. Nature on my world is closely linked to spirit life, and the humans of Rieze Maxia share a symbiotic relationship with said spirits. Humans produce mana from the mana lobes in their brains, which allow them to communicate with tese spirits and cast spirit artes. It's like "magic," or so I'm told.

And then, of course, there is me-- Maxwell, the Lord of Spirits, whose job it is to oversee humans and spirits alike and protect them from any threats.

[ DEPARTURE ]

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