cancry | post-dungeon regroup

post-dungeon regroup

[Obviously, they had to pull back and recover; Phoenix thought it would be best to head to the pseudo-headquarters in Invidia and settle back into the mansion to recover as well as consolidate what they all knew. There was a lot to get through, and a lot of recovery to be done by some of them. He'd need to talk to Etoile, thank Ariel, thank Medic again--]

[...But for now, he just about immediately collapsed on a couch and decided he would exist there for a while. You're on your own for food this time, kids.]

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...Achilles, I set myself on magical fire and proceeded to cut that girl's arm off as soon as I realized Chiron was injured. And I heard how you sounded when you spoke to him back in the Underside.

I think we're both a little past the 'denial' stage at this point.

I would have been upset if it had happened to any… most of you. [ then what’s with that pouty tone, huh?? ]

…But I suppose you are right. If anything the regret in my chest is most indicative of that.

Likewise.

...I don't intend on getting in the way, once this current predicament is dealt with. Astrals forbid this turn into a competition, when we've vastly more important matters to deal with. But if the situation should arise...I think we can likely see some manner of compromise.

[...after all, it was very abundantly clear he didn't exactly dislike Achilles, considering he was currently being used as a pillow.]

[ Achilles is quiet for a moment, mostly because he’s still pouting a little over being called out like this, but also because he’s mulling over what words to say next. ]

I also have no interest in turning such things into a competition. After all, when I was alive Orpheus and I—

…Pardon me, but I’m afraid we need to back up a little.

You set yourself on fire?!

It isn't as though I exactly planned to. [well, it wasn't going to be much of a secret anyway.] I heard Chiron fall, and...well, I feared she would kill the three of us and then the rest of you. The next thing I knew, everything was on fire.

It's...something similar happened when I was still alive. He--I made a magical contract with some great and terrible force for the power to save someone. It came at a particularly high price, something I seem fortunate enough to not have had to pay again.

[ He sighs heavily. ] Goddess… no wonder you were concerned about frightening Etoile… and here I thought you’d been hit with some sort of curse like whatever has been afflicting Chiron for so long…

[ A high price to save someone important to you though… why does something about that not sit particularly well with him…? ]

Well, I am even more thankful that you are still with us then, knowing that transpired.

She seemed distressed, for good reason. I doubt it would have killed me, I'm just glad I didn't have to pay with more than my sight this time.

[ Ah… so that’s how that happened, huh. ]

I am also glad for that. Hopefully you do not need to use such a power again.

[ Though if mystery girl shows back up again it may be needed… oof ]

I'm not going to hesitate, if the situation should arise. Least of all when we encounter that girl again. I made a mistake taking her arm rather than her head.

[ At the mention of the girl his tone turns cold as ice. ]

I would hardly blame you for it in that case.

[ He pauses for a moment though. ]

…Are you… truly certain we can undo whatever she has done?

[ To You Know Who of course. ]

I think it possible, at the very least. Why--are you concerned it isn't?

Of course I am. Wolfsbane seems certain of her butterfly theory but… many of her ideas have turned out to be completely wrong in the past. We have even less of an idea of what’s going on than we usually do, and I’m truly worried this may be irreversible given what we’ve seen happen to some of the specters here…

And… also…

[ ……… ]

Phoenix… about a thing you said earlier…

May I… could I share with you a concerning thought I’ve been having lately?

You can tell me anything you feel you need to, Achilles. I'm listening.

[ He does a quick look around, makes sure no one else can hear this, especially the person in question, before: ]

Are we truly recovering Rei’s memories?

...If not hers, then whose do you believe they are?

I don’t know.

But… ever we started experiencing the loops in that school layer and considering the possibility of them not all being hers I have been… finding myself in a spiral of doubt. Especially because…

[ He furrows his eyebrows for a moment, thinking carefully about this before swallowing what felt like a heavy lump growing in his throat. ]

Back in Avaritia… I was the one who later caught the butterfly that had been in the casino. I didn’t share what I saw with everyone else at the time because… well what I had seen was especially terrible and I felt it was something that, if it truly was Rei’s, was a private thing that she should be the one to tell others about.

But her reaction to me telling her what I had seen… when I think about it now, it’s a little strange that I had to tell her at all. Either the memories don’t actually return to their original owner, which wouldn’t help us much with Chiron, or we’ve been wrong this whole time about what they even are.

[Phoenix was silent at first, to the point where one might be forgiven for thinking he'd outright fallen asleep. But he was just thinking the idea over, trying to find sense in something that made very little.]

Given those two options, I might lean towards the latter. All of us well know by now that memory is a somewhat...shifting and uncertain thing in this place. Perhaps it is highly likely we misunderstood something to do with the butterflies and their overall relevance to Rei specifically, but that does not necessarily mean that either Rei's or Chiron's memories are fully lost to them.

[ It’s Achilles’ turn now to go quiet again. ]

…I truly hope that’s the case. I want… Rei to not be so turmoiled by mysteries left behind by the gaps she still has, and I want Chiron…

[ … ]

Whatever my feelings may be, more than anything I just want my friend.

[ He’s still his friend now, to him anyway, but will the other even think the same without those memories of all this time together? ]

It’s… always been the three of us. The eldest and the closest thing to guardians this group has… trying to take care of the others and working together, even with the bumps along the way.

[ If they had actually died in there today…

He can’t help hunching over a little, his voice getting softer. Shakier. ]

I… I would fall apart without the both of you here with me.

...We were enemies, once. When both of us were vastly different people. He was the one I was fighting when I lost my sight. Even knowing that now and understanding how much I don't know of who I was and what I was fighting for, I...don't care. I'm not that person, and I don't believe he is either.

[Phoenix reached up to brush a hand against Achilles' face, voice quiet and likely more openly honest than he had been in a while.]

I need both of you more than you know. Looking after the others and keeping everything in relative working order...I can't do any of it on my own. So we're going to fix this, one way or another.

[ Achilles is quiet but does not shy away from Phoenix's hand. On the contrary, he finds his own hand going to Phoenix's, pressing it closer as he leans his cheek against it in a sort of gentle desperation.

...There's a wetness on said cheek that betrays the silent crying that had started during all this.

He doesn't say anything else though. He just shakily nods, knowing that at least like this Phoenix will know that's what he's doing. ]

...It's going to be alright, Achilles. We're not alone in this. We'll get his memory back even if I have to smack him in the head with my cane until he remembers.

[ That gets a breathless laugh out of him. ]

I would almost like to see that.

…Thank you, Phoenix.

I… must apologize. For becoming so sentimental.

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