descent

[cancrymods]

growing heavy for the vintage

Like flakes of snow, the days spent in the Sloth Layer slowly but surely begin piling up. Life here is quiet and easy, even with the anxiety that comes with needing to move onto the next layer. But as the days drag out, so do the mysteries at play here – with the gradual uncovering of the odd doppelgangers and the seeming lack of any way to proceed to the next layer, it leaves the Executors at a loss for what to do. Until one day, everything changes. It comes entirely without warning – the ground lurches under everyone's feet in a sickeningly familiar way as a brief but violent earthquake rattles through the town. Then all of you feel it; a snapping sensation deep from the very foundations of Purgatory followed by the most cataclysmic impact any of you have experienced in your lives – or unlives. Snow explodes up from the ground, houses creak and lurch and the whole layer seems as though it might shatter apart under your feet. It seems like it's going to last forever. Then, finally, it stops. The silence that follows is even more pronounced in comparison to the hell-rattling noise from before, but as some semblance of calm starts to return, you realize several things. First is how eerily quiet the town is. Surely after all that, you'd hear a Specter or two... but there's nothing. Secondly – a splash of something wet strikes your cheek. Then again. Until it becomes clear that the weather has taken a sudden drastic turn and in place of the gentle snowfall from before, the heavens have opened with a torrential rainfall. Why? Possibly because of the steadily growing heat you suddenly feel burning up through the foundation of the layer and radiating out through the town. Will you investigate?

Comments

[twibeast]

[ He flinches having that sneer aimed at him for once but otherwise doesn't visibly react while Ardyn speaks. Eventually his own hand lowers and he finds his eyes drifting to the ground, looking probably the most dog like he ever has in this form.

It wasn't like he hadn't expected this response. He'd said himself that what dominated his siblings' remains were all those negative feelings. He's sure Chimera's crystal still pulses with rage and jealousy, that Hydra's is still weighed down with an immeasurable grief and depression, that Cerberus... well, he'll never know what happened to Cerberus. Maybe she regrets ever taking him in now. Who knows. But of course if this was how things were for them then if human souls truly worked the same that's also certainly the way it'd be for Ardyn. He knew this could be the response, but he chose to speak his feelings anyway, to bear his heart.

That doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt though. It hurts a lot. ]

...I'm sorry.

[ For the terrible circumstances that brought them here. For not siding with him like Phoenix did. For having been more fortunate in the end that he could say any of that and mean it. For being a naive fool. For saying anything at all.

This whole conversation has been reminiscent of his last time speaking to Odysseus, but in this moment in particular he feels the most reminded of her. Reminded of the moment where he realized it was over, that nothing he could say would be the right thing to say to her.

...It's the same now, isn't it? There's things he could say, wishes he could make... but what good would they do? What good would it do now to wish they'd met while alive, to wish he could have stopped what happened, given him better, give him what he actually deserved instead of such a cruel hand... but he can't. Even if any of it were possible it makes him the person he is now, the same person he doesn't want to lose. So he doesn't speak it, lest he make matters worse. ]

Again, I don't begrudge you. I... understand. I truly want the best for you - even if I don't know what that might be - I want there to be some way for you to be happy and for no one else to suffer or become a Revenant unable to move on. I wish I could say whatever it is that you want me to say right now, agree to stay here with you forever if that's what it is...

...But I can't, Ardyn. I just can't.

[ He's going to move on at some point, even if he's a little unsure of it now. He knows he will. ]