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.
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robowest2017-03-04 12:02 pm
HAL
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Being one of the last to board the train is a bit of an awkward sensation when you're Zacharias Barnham. He hesitates for a moment at the entrance, before he steps onto the train, head down, and tries to shuffle on without...anyone noticing??
Yeah that's not going to work and yet here he is, trying.
He doesn't really feel like he deserves to be alive right now, though, so here he is, shoulders slumped and head down. He just...wants to get on the train and be done with all of this; there are people he needs to apologize to (so many people) but he's not sure they're going to want to talk to him and it's not like he'll blame them if they don't.
Alternatively, once he makes it onto the train, he's going to find a secluded seat and sit off in the corner with his head in his hands.
Barnham is Fine, guys, don't ever think otherwise.]
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Everyone...will be safe now, right? Hal said that they would all get to go where they want to go, but departing in the order of death means knowing he'll be the last one. There's plenty of time to think of what happened.
He stays inside his room for a time, but he knows that if they're departing by deaths, Annabeth will be leaving before him. Annabeth will be leaving soon, and he can't miss her again. It's the only reason he finally heads out of his room.
And so...he's exiting his room. His head is down and his eyes are half-closed, walking through cars with one thought in mind. He has to find her first. Then the others. He knows he has several things to answer but he doesn't want to, doesn't know how to. Occasionally his hand touches the side of his head to the place he shot himself and his hands shake. He stuffs them in his pockets as he walks.
"When you're lost, stay in one place." It's something he learned as a child and now more than ever he feels lost. But if he waits...she'll find him. It's why he finally settles on a train seat, legs tucked under him and fingers idly picking a hole in the knee of his jeans, isolated and alone but able to watch from his place. He won't actively look at anyone. But he's waiting. He deserves everything everyone has to say to him now. He won't hide just yet, but he also looks ready to jump up and walk away if necessary.
It's going to be a long, long ride.]
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Strangely, a familiar chicken comes down the aisles, looking for someone and clucking gently as it goes. It flaps into the seat next to Damian and sits as if it's roosting.]
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http://i.imgur.com/ySDkC87.gif
FUCK OFF
i love u
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she's not dead but she knows exactly what she's going back to and that will be a Trip and she needs to rest up.
out of pure habit she'll be fiddling with her camp necklace, fully intact and around her neck. also i guess she's? engaged now or whatever? so she has an engagement ring on goddamnit percy jackson ]
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he's tired. of course, he's so, so tired after everything, so first and foremost, he wants to rest more. to just... take it easy. nap, eat, and try to just get his energy back, because he still has so much to do on the other side.
but all the same, he also wants to see everyone, and spend as much time with them as he can while they're still around—it's important, because he cherishes the people he's met here. so he'll definitely be seeking people out, for apologies, attempts at last laughs, and goodbyes, when it's time.
this has been a long, arduous journey, but he's going to miss everyone a lot. in a end, underneath all his carefully gelled hair and that stoic expression, he cares so much for everyone that it's only natural it would be like this to the very end. he's still a jrpg protag, after all, even if he didn't do a very good job of saving anyone here.]
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He'll just be sitting down quietly, kicking his feet every now and then -- maybe look out the window... This is going to be a long train ride, but oh well.
He'll be down to talk with anyone that wants to though! He definitely will want to say goodbyes to certain people. ]
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It's why she can often be found pacing back and forth through the train. Even when she takes a seat for a while, it's clear there's a nervous energy about her from the way she can never seem to sit still. Legs swinging idly off the edge of the seat, hands twisting together or toying with the clothing... There's hardly a moment without some kind of movement.
That doesn't mean she's averse to conversation, of course. There are people here who she's grown close to over the past weeks, and somehow, she's become the kind of person who doesn't want to let anyone she's known leave without saying goodbye. If she's approached by any such person, she'll raise a hand in greeting, somehow managing to muster a smile even if it's weary.]
Hey.
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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.) ]
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The people here are what terrify him the most, after all; why he almost chooses not to retain his memories. He can handle death and trauma, but it's caring that will break him the hardest. Those whom he's come to care for are what would make him falter, and his memories of them will only serve as distraction back home. Logically, he shouldn't need them. He shouldn't keep them. That's how he's always lived: discarding anything disadvantageous for his goal.
And yet, he's still choosing to remember, and that's part of what scares him.
... That doesn't mean he has to actually confront any of them before he leaves, however.
In a corner somewhere, tucked away out of sight, he's sitting on the floor, not doing much of anything. He's going to have to leave sometime to do things like eat and whatnot, but for now, he's hoping that anyone looking for him (if anyone at all; he's not exactly Mr. Popular) will just give up. In the meantime...
Voicelessly, he mouths to himself, again and again, the same string of words: I'll save her. I'll save her. I'll save her.
His fight is just beginning.]
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This is not the outcome he had originally hoped for, but it's not as bad as it could have been. They all died, but they're going home — and that's far better than being trapped inside that town. The only difficult task left now is, of course... saying goodbye to everyone he's met here. Perhaps even forever.
There was never even a remote chance of a perfect ending . Just a bittersweet one.
If he's not walking around the train, looking for familiar faces and greeting them as they run across each other, then he's staring out one of the windows with an unreadable expression on his face. He doesn't want to go back home. He's terrified of it, in fact. But... well. At least it'll be a while before his stop. He has time to think about it.]
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styx i laughed because i was just about to slam into your top level
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[having survived for so long, Milla's journey on this train is a long one. oddly enough, even knowing that she needs to get back home to return to her duty as the Lord of Spirits, she doesn't ask for a priority stop. she isn't quite sure why. logically, she knows that she should, especially since she's spent so much time away from home already. but illogically. . .]
[ah. well. maybe she just wanted to spend a few more quiet weeks with those she had come to care about]
[Milla's pretty social throughout the entire journey. she flags people down for company, especially those who seem to be keeping to themselves. she invites people to join her in the dining car to share in drinks and lavish meals with her. she even asks for assistance in building a pillow fort so she can learn about the sacred ritual of same!]
[but sometimes, in the evenings, she sits by herself with her cheek pressed against one of the train windows, watching the scenery zoom by. she sits with her hand pressed against her heart, her expression soft, almost wistful]
[she knows this ride won't last forever. she knows, eventually, she'll have to say good bye. and although she's done it before-- to Jude, Alvin, Leia, Rowen and Elize-- saying good bye never gets any easier]
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Goodbyes are an inevitable part of life, she knows. Hellos are, too.
She's going to see the Shinsengumi again.
She's going to see Okita again.
That, more than anything, is what keeps her eyes dry. Sei will wander the train and seek out others - particularly the ones who are leaving earlier - but there are some times, too, when she takes a seat and stares out the windows, holding onto her sword, waiting.
Just waiting.
They'll all be home soon.]
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[It's finally ended. The strange, brutal, exhausting 'game' has been won (to the extent it could be won) and they're freed. It almost seems too simple, too neat and easy. But the last seven weeks seem like some sort of mad fever dream. There's a part of her that can't quite accept everything. That it really is over, that she's been given what she wanted.]
[She'd fought for fifteen years for her humanity. She'd done unspeakable things with little to no regret, sacrificed innocents, started wars, destroyed lives...all for the chance at her humanity. A humanity she'd come to realize her master would never give her. All of that for nothing. And here...here she'd put away her blades and petulantly refused to shed blood, been taken out in a month, and was being gifted more than she'd ever dreamed? It couldn't be true.]
[But here she was, sitting on the train, heading to humanity and a fresh new life where she'd never be a tool again. She'd be human, far from any of the pathetic, tragic trappings of her homunculus life. She's parting from people she calls 'friend', and the only reason she's spared a return to her prior existence is the man who's taken her in. A man she hadn't even manipulated or tried to curry favor with.]
[So despite her paranoid fear of a happy ending being ripped away, Lust finds herself excitedly anticipating this final ride. And even leaves the private cabin she's been sharing with Eliot to say her parting words to those she'd made connections with.]
[There are some among the others she'll sorely miss.]
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Ash is a machine. He doesn't believe in the afterlife to begin with - but, if such a thing did exist, it most certainly wasn't waiting for an artificial existence like himself. Yet here he is, forced to contemplate what will happen to him after he dies. Choose to return to Earth, and be thrust into oblivion once again. Or...
He's been much quieter than usual after his arrival on the train, and he's only gotten more reticent with this announcement. Rather than lurking by himself in a corner and making catty remarks with a smug look on his face, Ash is hovering around somewhere not too close (but certainly not too far) to Noctis, arms crossed, looking down at the floor with a resigned expression. For all his bluster, it looks like he's at a loss now. ]
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He's... happy isn't the right word. Neither is relieved. He's certainly tense as he sits on the train, waiting for his stop. A part of him can't relax until he sees his uncle, and his... his friends again. He tells himself he'll go back to Monteriggioni as soon as he can to visit his mother and sister, but he also knows that isn't the truth. That's what he should be doing. He's sure the others are planning reunions or new adventures with their loved ones. Something like this is bound to have that sort of effect.
But he can't. Despite everything that's happened, everything that they've been through, he can't shake the goal he's had for 12 years now. A world where his family had never died, a world where he wasn't an Assassin, a world where he was happy... they're all perfectly fine wishes. But he can't even wish for a world where Rodrigo Borgia is dead. He must see his vengeance to completion.
It's funny, isn't it... Especially coming from someone who was so opposed to the idea of this game from the get-go. Yet here he is, simply looking over his weapons to make sure everything's in tact. That's all that matters.
He hopes the others here can have a more peaceful life, or at least some of them. But when they're gone, that will be that. That's how it has to be, if he's to move forward.]
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if you want to get one last word in about how horrible she is, or maybe try to appeal to her humanity, do your best. she'll be sitting nicely on a seat, humming to herself and rocking her legs back and forth. everyone else might be sentimental and gushy, but the sooner this is over with, the better. ]
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But he'll be keeping to himself (or rather -- with Hannibal) over the trip, sticking to their cabin in particular. Anyone's welcome to visit but, you know, do you even want to?
He'll be leaving the same time as Hannibal does instead of waiting for his own stop, since they're both getting off together. He won't be making himself... available, not really, but if anyone even wants to talk to him at all, he's not dead, at least. You just kind of have to, uh, seek him out. ]
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Over. Man, there's been a few times he'd almost started to doubt that was gonna happen.
And he sure didn't expect to come out of this with something good. Or the chance to offer something good to someone. But he's got his plans with Lust. So, alright. Crappiest vacation of all time. He can still count it as a win, for that one thing.
He's hanging out, where anyone can find him. And honestly if at this point you're expecting Eliot to look anything but kinda pissed, I don't know what to tell you. It's just his face, alright? He's still good to approach if you wanna go for it.]
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Higekiri has two things in his arms as part of his "reward" and "request". One is this short tantou blade, a dagger pretty much. The other is an elegant tachi that matches his, just green instead of maroon. Sometimes, he just sits down and holds the two swords close.
Other times... he never got to do anything fancy with a gun... You know, the twirling thing? Well, no time like the present, a knife is close enough to do tricks with, which he knows how to use, kinda. So, when he gets bored, he flips Imanotsurugi between his fingers, tossing it in the air to watch it do a flip or two.
...Don't worry, it's peace-bonded with the decorative cords on it. But seriously, that's bullying! Even if his friend is not awake. ]
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She doesn't let herself be idle, though—if she's out of conversations to have and excuses to pester, she loads a cart up with desserts and snacks and wheels it through the train, stopping at almost every cabin and occupied seats; even now, there are so few people Yuna wouldn't consider herself friendly with. Her spiel is the same each time, delivered with just as much pizzazz:] Hero Club tenet! Sleep well, [a gesture towards the cart] eat well! The snack cart's here, so what can I get you?
[And once or twice—only that; she's much too busy to let it happen anymore than that—Yuna might be found flopped on a couch somewhere where she probably promised herself just a moment to sit down. So much for a moment; this may or may not remain true if anyone comes by, but for now, Yuna Yuki is napping. Sleep well, tiny Hero.]
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So she's sitting by herself, sipping a final glass of whiskey with one hand and absently twirling her pistol (it has a knife attached to it, is that safe??) with the other, and her lips quirk occasionally as she thinks about what she's going back to.
At least she doesn't have too long to wait. ]
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