Time for a Break

[alphacraft]

Who: Odile and OPEN
What: Just chillin
When: After Suri-fight
Where: The cafe and/or inn
Warnings: Will add if needed

The consequences of Enciodes' little mission have been far-reaching, it seems. Odile herself is satisfied that she's learned a great deal (though grumpy that some of it had to be learned at all) and relatively un-traumatized from the whole ordeal, but people around town are clearly not doing well. So while she normally keeps mostly to herself, this week she's decided to get out and about.

It's still bitterly cold, and she still wants to just sit somewhere warm and read a book, so the inn and the cafe will have to do for "out and about".

She makes herself comfortable, sipping occassionally from a cup of tea as she reads, but makes a point to look up whenever someone comes by or starts talking and nod, or raise her eyebrows, or otherwise signal that she is open to having company.

Comments

[aneikonic]

"Why removal and not simply kill us all."

His words are more rhetoric than an actual question, frowning at the fallen Shrine. It doesn't make sense to him, but that's God's he supposes. He shakes his head and gestures for Odile to stay there, walking forward as he does, trying to gauge the distance that he knows is safe by how far away he walked when facing Bahamut.

"If it gets too hot, back up further. Let me know when you're ready."

[kingincognito]

Not being privy to Odile's thoughts, Joshua can only nod. He can see the flickers of emotion on her face, though. Surprise, maybe something stronger, but it's so quick he doesn't get too good a read on any of it.

"For Dominants, it doesn't seem like it progresses as quickly as it does with your average Bearer. To tell the truth, my brother hadn't even shown signs of it at all until we came here. Myself and our childhood friend, we both have signs, but... I'd thought him immune, perhaps, due to his nature. But after I-- after he died at the hands of that... thing, it's begun to appear."

[alphacraft]

"Evidently we just aren't worth the effort." She's not sure that it would really be any more effort to kill them than to play with them, but the fact remains that 'play' seems to be Suri's goal. But that's something to contemplate later.

"Go ahead," she calls, eyes on the ground between them. She probably shouldn't be trusting him not to burn her, if he doesn't know his range that well. At least she can trust him to rush her to medical assistance if he does.

[aneikonic]

He nods, centers himself with a soft exhale, and calls upon Ifrit. In the space of one blink and the next, the air erupts around him in flames that jettison towards the sky. Thankfully he's judged the distance properly and while she will feel a rush of heat, like standing too close to a forge, it doesn't become painful.

Ifrit slowly stands upright as if unfolding himself, mindful of the large tail as it turns back towards Odile, though it does send rubble scattering. It's flames are pacified for now, the red rocky scales of it's body looking more like magma cooling, even as 'lava' looks like it licks between them.

Then, very carefully, like an oversized canine, he lowers himself down onto his hands to bring his head down towards her, so he can hear whatever she might tell him.

[alphacraft]

She narrows her eyes, honing in on that detail.

"Is that so? How bad is it?"

[alphacraft]

She instinctively takes a step back from the heat and shields her face. It's uncomfortable, but not dangerous. Fortunate. She can't help staring at the creature as it lowers itself. She's seen it once before, but now that she has the time to look at it properly it's fascinating.

He, she reminds herself. He's fascinating. And more docile than she had been expecting, all things considered.

She tilts her head curiously.

"How well can you understand me in this form?"

[kingincognito]

"His right hand is compromised. Not entirely up to the elbow, so he still has use of his arm, but he cannot hold a sword with that hand anymore."

Assuming that she's talking about Clive's affliction. It had been the last he'd mentioned, at any rate, and he's loath to speak of his own.

[aneikonic]

As normally as before.

His mouth doesn't move as he speaks, instead it seems to echo in the air around them. Thankfully like this it prevents his voice from becoming too loud for her ears. He turns his head a little to be able to see her better, as she's small enough to him now that trying to focus this close with both eyes is ridiculous. The blue glow in his eye somehow manages to seem amused.

Is there anything you want to see? Don't ask me to juggle, though.

[alphacraft]

Fortunately that is who she was asking about. She remembers him joking about not being able to juggle, and wants very badly to smack him. She doesn't show it.

"This happened suddenly, immediately on his return?"

[alphacraft]

That is unnerving, but no more so than having Loop's voice in her head.

She grins wryly.

"No juggling? Then how about a handstand?"

This is a joke, of course, so she doesn't wait for him to answer. Instead, she looks at the trees a ways away. Ifrit seems so large now, but compared to Suri he practically looked like a toy. She frowns thoughtfully.

"Could you stand next to a tree without burning it? I'd like to get an accurate measure of your height."

[aneikonic]

I can manage that. I think.

It takes him a moment or two to cool his flames further, focusing on drawing them inwards as he stands up again. The glow of his body dims, fades, and he carefully approaches the nearest tree. When it doesn't immediately lit on fire he exhales a hot gust of air, and stands as near to it as he can.

He comes up to sixty feet or so, with his horns adding extra height but he doesn't count them. His tail sways lightly behind him, as he focuses on Odile from the distance.

[kingincognito]

Joshua nods, lips set in a grim frown.

"Yes. That was his price, I think, the Curse finally setting in. I haven't seen it progress, so I'm... not sure if it will, but I wouldn't take any risks."

[alphacraft]

She eyes the tree, then him, doing some mental math. By her estimation, when they entered the temple Suri was somewhere around 50 meters tall. She turns to survey the ruins around them- what little there is- her frown deepening.

The sizes don't really make sense.

Was the inside of the temple even here? Was it somewhere else? Was it real at all? The temple certainly was, since it left tangible remains. But what exactly happened that day? She wishes she could have seen it as an observer like she had originally intended, rather than as a participant.

Lost in thought, she has forgotten about Clive for the moment.

[alphacraft]

"No, nor would I." And she won't, from now on. Ifrit and the Phoenix were able to do some damage, but not enough to be worth it. Fire seemed to be a bad choice against Suri anyway. She makes a mental note, but she doubts she could forget about this even if she wanted to.

"I do appreciate your honesty on this matter. Is there anything else I should know about moving forward?"

[aneikonic]

She's not wrong. Clive had noticed he only came up to Suri's height while the other was sitting. Upon standing, he was overly double Clive's height. It felt like facing against Titan's evolved form.

With her attention on the ruins of the Temple, he lets himself return back to his normal self. And with her gaze elsewhere, she can't see the grimace that passes over his face, nor the way he grabs his right arm as he feels the stone creeping higher. It's agony, but he makes no sound, and by the time he approaches her again, his expression is back to normal.

"Gil for your thoughts?"

[kingincognito]

Good. It's good to know that she agrees. Joshua nods, then hums thoughtfully at her question.

"The only other thing is that... Dominants can lose control in moments of extreme distress. The Eikon senses that distress and takes over, forcing the Dominant to prime. Control can be taken back, but it's a defensive measure to save the Dominant in dangerous situations. It happened to me, once, and I've seen it happen to a friend."

[alphacraft]

She's a little startled to hear his voice so close when he was so far a moment ago, but only a little.

"Hmm? A what?" From context she can guess, given a moment, but she's guessing at a third language from the context of a second language.

"Ah, I was just thinking that the ruins are quite a bit smaller than I remember."

[alphacraft]

Ah, yes. Clive had mentioned that, but if Joshua has personal experience then he likely knows more.

"How much distress, precisely?"

[aneikonic]

"Our currency back home," he offers, smiling a little. Then blinks and looks towards the ruins as well, frowning thoughtfully. She's ... not wrong. The ruins are large enough to have held the main chambers and "rooms" from the side but-

"Huh."

Eloquent. He steps forward to step up onto the rubble again, looking around. Scorch marks from himself, recent, but there doesn't seem to be damage from their fight. He stops and turns back towards her, shrugging one shoulder gently, "It doesn't surprise me. The God I fought with back home could make his own inner world as well."

[kingincognito]

Ah... How much, indeed. He's silent for a moment.

"When the Dominant fears for their life, or their safety. With mine... Our father was killed right in front of my eyes, and those that killed him were coming for me."

[alphacraft]

She grimaces at that thought. She suspected, but hearing it said aloud makes it sound so much worse. Is it even possible to defeat a God, real or not, in their own world? They should never have stepped inside his temple.

"We should have thought of that," she notes flatly. Would they have, if they had approached this venture more thoughtfully? What basic measures did each of them fail to take because they went in planning to fail?

[alphacraft]

Oh. She looks away.

"...I'm sorry."

[kingincognito]

"It's... it's fine," he's quick to reply. "It was eighteen years ago. I've had time."

Nevermind that he was comatose for five of those eighteen years, and still occasionally has nightmares about it. He's fine.

[aneikonic]

"We should have," he agrees and while he can say it IS possible... his was only possible because he literally became a God in his own right to defeat the thing. Logos, Ultima's equal. "But we knew little to nothing about this creature, let alone the fact it could create it's own sub-world."

... Fuck, was his sword under this rubble? Did he just melt his sword? He grimaces down at the rocks beneath his feet, before sighing hard and moving back towards Odiles side.

"We know now, however, and we did enough damage to him in his own world that he started becoming serious. That's promising. But it also means we need to weaken him, or lure him out where he has the disadvantage."

[alphacraft]

It's very clearly not fine, but it would be rude to point that out. She lets it slide.

"I'm afraid we've strayed rather far from the initial subject, but this has all been very useful information."