[limbo] // do you walk in the valley of kings

[discutio]

[To cast out the Usurper and usher in dawn's light will cost the life of the Chosen. The voice that had shaken him down to the very core of his existence still echoed in Phoenix's head, words utter nonsense to him now and yet...something about them hurt more than he could measure. Hurt like the gravest news about a dearest friend, hurt like something tearing at his heart and soul. Though the details were lost in a haze of a previous life's memories, he understood the bottom line. One life, the one dearest to the man Phoenix once was, would have to be sacrificed to protect all else-]

[Don't try to justify this! She didn't need to die!]

[Hurt like the agonized rage in that snarl, thundering fury to match the torrential rain around them. The fury of someone who had lost everything, someone--someone whose name he should have known, whose loss he understood and yet couldn't remember the source of. That woman--no, his sister, something terrible had become of her and nearly become of someone just as close to Phoenix's own heart. Everything came in flashes; a man in white and a sword flashing with lightning, faces he failed to recognize and one he knew already. The man in black that had posed briefly as another was a danger above all others, and somehow in the chaos of memory Phoenix understood his past self had known that. 'Oh, what good is a world that only ever lets you down', said the mocking tone, a knife toyed with idly above the unconscious form of...of someone. Someone that meant everything, someone that Phoenix would gladly die to protect.]

[...Maybe he would, the relic of untold power in his hand before he had fully consider what he was doing. It didn't matter. it didn't matter at all what happened to him, because he had sworn-]

[Whatever it takes...I will protect him-!]

[In a memory of rain-soaked stone, the world erupted in flames and agony before going dark forever.]

[In a kitchen in Limbo, there was a clattering of whatever Phoenix had been holding falling to the floor before he very swiftly followed it.]

Comments

[mementomoritz]

[It's not organs.]

[It appears to be a muffin, actually. Cherry flavor.]

Don't worry, it's not poisoned- I checked! [She's beaming audibly.]

[discutio]

Oh...well, thank you. Is there some occasion I'm unaware of?

[mementomoritz]

It's from the new layer! [Okay, that's... still not really an explanation, honestly.]

I was there taking samples for my research... so I thought I get something for your specialty, too. Culinary science is still science, right?

[Just because she doesn't understand other fields of study doesn't mean she can't respect them, okay.]

[discutio]

[you brought him a recipe to plagiarize. he's so touched.]

That was thoughtful of you, Medic. I could use something new to work on.

[mementomoritz]

[She's really glad he liked it- her other idea was to bring him raw meat for cooking, so we're lucky she decided on Pastry Analysis instead.]

The bakery looked nice, and everywhere else mostly seemed like bar food? [She's not old enough to drink- she's pretty sure- and frankly she's not super interested in the pub scene.] I think they just want to make sure people buy refreshments while they're gambling.

[discutio]

That does seem to make sense. They're likely to stay longer if they can do as much, after all.

[mementomoritz]

You'd think they'd charge less for it if they wanted that, though... [A brief sigh.]

I think I like the layers where we have a barter economy better, figuring out the exchange rate of goods and services to novae is kind of annoying.