wildsaber | 01 ♪ video/action ♪ wake up sleepyhead!

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01 ♪ video/action ♪ wake up sleepyhead!

[The feed shows a nice view of absolutely nothing. There is, however, the sound of someone spitting. Very lovely. He just woke up with a mouthful of dead rotting leaves. His day is off to a great freaking start, that's what.]

Ugh, nasty! Ow--... ow... ow. [Don't let the nonchalance fool you. He's realizing he's alive. Taking in a deep breath, and letting it out.

He's alive.

... And also FREEZING COLD. But wait until he finds a way home! This is impossible, but maybe-- just maybe--]

Hahah... jeez, it's c-c-cold. Am I in K-Keterburg or something?

-- Hey, what's...

[And here's when he brushes the journal off. Hello, there's a half-naked redhead getting up close and personal, and turning it upside down, and then shaking it out a bit. What is this strange and mystifying technology? It sure as hell isn't his journal.]

Weird.

[Feeling something tickle his shoulder, he reaches over to brush it off. And then he notices the wings, red with gold tips just like his hair. He has wings. This is not a drill. Luke drops the journal in favor of screaming like the grown man he isn't.]

W-what the hell is going on!?

[NO LUKE DON'T PULL ON THOSE--] —OW! [Yeah, that hurt more than anything else in his life. Now he's curled up over his knees again, trying not to cry. He almost blacked out there.]

G-guess they're real...

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[That is the reaction he was going for, and he's simply ecstatic to witness it.

This was amusing and fun. But he'd indulged that part of knowing Luke enough. He had to talk about serious matters.]

So, Luke. Tell me the last thing you remember before waking up here.

[Luke pauses in his step, a little surprised. And then he keeps walking, but his head is ducked this time.]

... I freed Lorelei. He spoke to me and Asch, and then I...

[He doesn't continue. He feels it's pretty obvious what happened afterward. Since he doesn't know about timelines and all of that yet, he just assumes Jade wants to know Luke's last moments. And Luke, having nothing to hide, reveals them.]

[Jade winds up pausing in his step for a moment as well, as he hears the description.

That confirms it for sure. Luke has come from the same time as him. He's alive again. But what he's saying is not entirely expected, especially the mention of Asch.]

How could Asch be there with you?

[Luke chalks it up to Jade being awkward about Luke dying. Or something. He's not thinking terribly hard about this. He's perceptive, but only to a certain point. He has plenty of stuff to distract him, to make him a little more self-absorbed than usual.]

Lorelei took us down through Eldrant as it was crumbling. We went through the room where he was, so I caught him.

But... I felt Asch's presence with me before that. [A pause.] It was when we walked into Sync's trap. He stayed with me when we fought Van.

[He listens closely to try to imagine exactly what had happened to Luke after they parted.]

You found his body?

I do recall that you felt him in some manner. [It went with what he had been looking into regarding the contamination effect.] So at that time... At the end, you still felt your own presence and his?

[One had not overwritten the other. At least not yet.]

[He nods, on both counts.]

I remember thinking that Lorelei should find a way to put Asch back into his body. But that's not how it works, you know?

[He smiles sadly, painfully, and rubs at his nose.]

At least it didn't hurt.

[That's not how it works indeed.

Asch was dead. And death is permanence.

Except here.

Jade tenses as he catches that last part and looks back at him with a definite frown.]

Luke.

What happened to you? [He has to hear for sure what Luke thinks his fate was. It's instrumental in understanding this.]

[Luke doesn't meet his eyes. He's watching his feet instead.]

... I disappeared.

[Jade's still looking towards hie eyes, drawing closer to Luke as well.

'disappeared'. That could mean a number of things.]

What did that feel like?

[Maybe if he gets close enough, Luke can figure out the magic that keeps him from getting too hot or too cold. Cologne, isn't it? Damn.]

It-- it was warm. [Talking about this is understandably hard for him.] Like sinking into a hot bath.

[Like a hot bath. Not the words that Jade would associate with death... now that he had experienced it in a sense her in Luceti. He remembers cold, detached loneliness, falling away from everything... before a girl whom had been his daughter pulled him back.

Of course, Luke's circumstances are very unique. It's hard to say if the process was truly death - something connected to the big bang - or something else altogether.]

I see. And this is the last feeling you can recall before waking up in this place?

[Luke will never know. Maybe it's better that way.]

Yeah.

[He tugs on the hem of the shirt he'd been given, a little bit of a nervous habit. He doesn't want to look too terrible when he sees everyone. He missed them so much-- maybe he won't be able to keep it all together.]

If I disappeared once, do you think... it could happen again?

[He speaks a bit more somberly than usual.]

I can't tell for sure. At least not at the moment.

[He turns and continues to walk.]

But once we have you settled, I can run some tests on you, so that we can accurately ascertain your current condition.

[Luke follows almost automatically. Though his feet are moving, his mind is somewhere else. The thought of having this chance taken away from him so soon is somewhat terrifying. He doesn't...

He doesn't want to leave.]

... Okay.

[And that's all he says about it. No test he's ever gone through has given him good news. Maybe... just this once...]

Don't sound so somber, Luke. It's unbecoming of you.

[He waves a hand reassuringly while keeping the other in his pocket, eyes closed with a smug smile as he strides towards the village.]

Soon, you'll get a sense of how much more is possible in this world. Even if something is wrong, a treatment may be possible. [They even saved Ion from a miasma infection, after all.]

If you insist on sounding like you've given up already... than my, I wonder if you'd appreciate what the others would say about that.

[Jade knows exactly how to poke him.]

I-I haven't given up! I just got here. [Yeah, he's still a spitfire, especially now that he's not freezing his ass off. He's cold but steadily getting warmer and more confident, settling back into his old skin.]

I just... we've never gotten good news from a doctor's visit, you know? I can't help being a little nervous.

[He definitely missed that spirit, as irritated as it occasionally proved to be.]

Oh? I'll have you know that I'm no ordinary doctor, so you should revise your expectations. Otherwise, it's refreshing to hear you attitude. We can't allow disappearances in this world, after all.

... Weren't you a coroner?

[Jade. Jade, you are not making this better. Regardless, he huffs a bit and crosses his arms behind his head.]

Whatever. I don't plan on disappearing again.

Edited 2014-02-18 12:56 (UTC)

Now, now, this is no time to fret over details. [But he flashes a sinister smile just because.] The important point is that I know enough to be able to assess your condition.

[He does exhibit the tendency to figure out unusually educated deductions from other fields.]

You should hold yourself to that promise, Luke. [And he adjusts his glasses.] As for myself, I should see if the clothing store has any spare medical outfits. [AKA, Dr. Mambo returns.]

[Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.

Yeah, Jade is pretty smart, but why does he feel like he's about to be dissected?]

Hah. Hahah. Hah.

I should probably head there, too. One outfit isn't really enough.

[Some habits die hard.]

What about money?

I've already decided that the clothing store would be our first stop. How lucky for you.

[They should be nearing the village now, actually. Jade keeps a trolly smirk on.]

Even luckier for you, there's no form of currency here. As there are surplus supplies for everyone living under this enclosure, plus the messiness of some items already having owners among the populace, everything is offered free of charge.

So you won't have to worry about embarrassing yourself through indulging in apple thievery again anytime soon. [How did he find out about that? Probably by being Jade. He looks cheekier than ever.]

[Wow, he didn't expect Jade to bring that up. That was a hella long time ago, but it's still embarrassing enough to make his cheeks flush scarlet. Or maybe that's the cold. No, no, that's definitely embarrassment; he's huddling more into the jacket and looking away, like he's been scolded.]

You never forget anything, do you? [Dude's like an elephant.]

That's weird, though. If someone's keeping us here, why are they so happy to give us stuff?

[And he's as old as one, too. Not to mention how amused he is at Luke's reaction.]

After all this time, you should have little reason to doubt my memory. [He adjusts his glasses.]

I can't quite confirm whether or not the Malnosso are truly happy, but the number of free items seems to be linked to the vast resources at their disposal. For them, providing us with these things may just be a trivial accomplishment. Of course, they also likely prefer to keep us satiated to an extent considering the roles that they have us perform.

You're really not half as old as you pretend to be.

[Luke's lips form a line. The more he hears about these Malnosso people, the less he likes them. If they're responsible for stripping him and dumping him out in the snow with new appendages, he's already pretty unhappy, but...]

Roles? ... I don't like the sound of that.

I could say the same of yourself, Luke, but that won't get us anywhere.

[He shrugs at the seven-year old relpica.]

My, I imagine you wouldn't like the sound of that. They seem to have a certain liking for drafting residents for their war.

[He's a bit more serious now. Luke getting embroiled in a war is something which does concern Jade, despite their previous adventures being near enough to taking part in an actual war. Still, this Luke had forgotten his previous experiences in the Malnosso's war, which was an entirely different danger.]

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