Session Start: Sun Apr 14 23:13:47 2002 *** GMAmy changes topic to 'Grandia: New Horizons | Chapter 25.2: Mitsuo and Jalanda Lude | Location: Tenkali village, late evening, July 5 | Lude Start' ==Lude Start== It is late evening. The clouds of the recent rainstorms have begun to drift a way, and a handful of stars twinkle through the branches of the trees above, a gentle breeze tossing them languidly. Most of the village has gone to sleep as Jalanda makes her way to the tree cottage where Mitsuo is housed... Jalanda moves quietly as she enters the building, so as not to wake its occupants. The two Tenkali guards at the door nod and let her pass, giving her sympathetic looks. Jalanda quietly pushes open the door to Mitsuo's bedroom... * Jalanda steps very lightly and methodically through the doorway, glancing around to see if a certain someone is keeping her vowed vigil. Mitsuo lies on the bed, deeply asleep, his breathing slow and his skin somewhat pale. His shirt has been removed and the healing wounds of battle treated, and a couple thin blankets have been pulled gently over him. At the side of the bed sits a small figure, head buried in her arms, also asleep... Erellisae is half slumped on the bed, not disturbing Mitsuo, but apparently unable to keep her vigil any longer without rest of her own. ^_^ Jalanda moves quietly, so as not to disturb her. * Jalanda runs her warmer hand across the blankets and the dressings, looking over Mitsuo with a calm gaze. She quietly speaks, "..for her sake I hope there is nothing painful to glean from this..." * Mitsuo's skin is somewhat cool to the touch, although it doesn't seem to be overly serious. * Jalanda scrutenizes the room carefully, seeking the vague glows of the spirit stone shards other than the one she holds in her other hand. Erellisae's shard gleams faintly from within a fold of her kimono, while Mitsuo's lies on the table, next to his glasses. * Jalanda considers a moment, not willing to disturb Erellisae's slumber, and reaches over for the one upon the table, careful not to disturb his glasses resting place. .o( I believe this should be enough, if the bond was present before... ) The shard glows faintly as she picks it up, glowing slightly brighter as it comes near to her own. * Jalanda holds them together, looking satisifed, then carefully places the cupped hand with both upon his chest. As Jalanda touches Mitsuo, she feels a slightly increased awareness of him, sensing his breath, his heartbeat, the feel of his hair falling across his face. * Jalanda slows her breathing, almost becoming deathly still. .o( He has channeled so much energy... there could be repercussions. I need to know this answer directly... ) Jalanda focuses herself and her powers, sinking her awareness into Mitsuo's subconscious slowly, gradually. After a time, she starts to catch glimpses of fleeting thoughts, images, feelings. He is deeply asleep, but restless and troubled... She can sense that although there appears to be no serious damage, his soul has been touched by the things he experienced. How, she has yet to determine. * Jalanda creases her brow slightly several times, her mouth's edge twitching as she probes deeper... * Mitsuo's thoughts at first are nothing more than fleeting feelings as she probes into his subconsious. Feelings of disorentation, fear, confusion, anger, lonliness, uncertainty... * Jalanda feels another pang of that sadness from earlier, but stifles it, half-mouthing. "Spirits... is there not a way... your heir is troubled. Act through me..." >> There is a fleeting feeling he is trying to understand what has happened...but he is tired, and things right now don't make much sense. He can't think. He simply drifts. Jalanda can feel the faint answer of the Spirits swirling around her, lending her a tiny bit of strength. Mitsuo's thoughts become clearer to her, his dreams dancing in her eyes as they drift closed and her breathing slows. * Jalanda tries to focus on Mitsuo. Nothing else. To stop his center from dirfting from her further. The world slowly slips away from her physical awareness. .o( We are do I begin, then? There are many paths beyond this threshold. ) >> The scene suddenly shifts to what appears to be a small, modest house near a city warf. Based on the bright colors and the pleasant temperature, this is probably New Parm. >> The tranquil calm is suddenly broken when the door is suddenly thrown open, and Mitsuo rushes outside, not much younger than he is now. Perhaps half a year younger or less. >> He's clearly upset, shaking, and stalks down the street, fists clenched. * Jalanda follows this thread of fate, watching the past recount itself before her. * Mitsuo growls suddenly, crying tears of fustration, and eyes what appears to be a wooden pole of some sort, now plastered with ads and pictures. * Mitsuo, without warning, suddenly rushes at the pole and begins to beat on it with his fists, mindlessly in anger, sobbing. Why...didn't...they...tell...me! Mitsuo's rage continues for the longest time, his fists hitting the pole until they are bruised and bloodied. After a time, footsteps sound behind him, and hands grab his wrists gently, stopping him from continuing to vent his anger. Nugh...! [Grandpa] Mitsuo, stop. *his voice is firm but gentle as he takes a handkerchief from his pocket and wraps it around Mitsuo's bleeding hands. * Mitsuo takes a few feeble swings, lost in his rage, but cannot go very far thanks to the restraint, and slumps, shaking his head, "...Why didn't you tell me...?" Mitsuo's grandfather sighs as he wraps the handkerchief and ties it off in a knot as a makeshift bandage, then fishes in his pocket for another for his other hand. "We didn't tell you because it didn't matter, Mitsuo. Not then. Do you think you are any less your mother's child, in her mind? Or any less my grandson in my own?" But...but...Where am I from, Grandpa...? I...I don't know... Mitsuo's grandfather sighs. [Grandpa] That's another thing that's really not important. It's a long story...but you were a refugee of the war, the conflict with Gaia. Many children were orphaned back then, you know; some of the people were restored from the warp in dimensions and being turned to stone. But some were killed outright. [Grandpa] Not all were able to return to the same life they had known, and many children were left without parents. Gaia...I was a refugee...My parents...They were...? * Mitsuo looks very lost. .o( ...so you were a drifter even then, from the shadow... ) His grandfather puts a gentle hand on his shoulder. [Grandpa] Gaia hurt many people, Mitsuo. We did our part to try to heal the wounds left it the catastrophes wake. You were there...? His grandfather nods uncomfortably. [Grandpa] I was a soldier, for a time... Will...will you tell me more? Please? * Mitsuo hiccups slightly, rubbing his eyes with his bandaged hand. [Grandpa] *Sighs* Mitsuo...you would not like to hear all I saw in the war. Gaia did many unpleasant things; panicked people did more. You are happier not knowing, trust me. *He ties off the second bandage, then pats Mitsuo's hand gently* The past is best left buried. * Mitsuo bites his lip, looking like he wants to ask, but doesn't want go against his grandfather. The conflict is clearly visible in his eyes, and then he nods mutely. Mitsuo's grandfather hugs him around the shoulders. [Grandpa] Come on, Mitsuo. Let's go home. * Mitsuo sniffles a bit, his tears abated, and nods again. Mitsuo's grandfather gently leads him back down the streets of New Parm, toward home. .o( If only you could truly bury yourself along with those terrible days. But your light could not be obscured forever... ) The vision fades into mist, and Jalanda's awareness drifts through Mitsuo's loneliness and confusion for a time... The loneliness deepens. It becomes cold and dark, and he is more alone than he has ever been. All is silent and still, and he is floating, drifting, with no knowledge of who he is or if anyone else exists in the entire world... .o( It is a lonely existence, but your life is not a lie. The light will not take away everything. Remember where you draw strength from... ) ) A power stirs within him, something he does not understand. There is a strange light from within, but it is of little use as it does not penetrate the darkness. Gradually, he becomes aware of another presence nearby...but he cannot communicate with it, he only knows its there. He takes comfort in that, knowing somehow that the other is as alone as he... Suddenly a light appears, harsh and bright. It makes him begin to cry...it feels as if his life's blood is draining away somehow. The darkness dissipates and the fear grows, and all of a sudden he is looking into a pair of uneasy eyes...showing fear, but also warmth. "...Let's go home, Mitsuo." The scene shifts to the confused mist again. .o( Those stars that join with your fate are the only constants. They struggle just like you with who they are and what they will one day be. ) >> The scene shifts quickly to the jungle ruins, with the Nightmare demon. Everything is as Jalanda recalled it. The prison walls of pure darkness, her friends, injured and terrifed, and then suddenly, the monster turns it's attention to Erellisae, picking her up by the arm with a grotesque claw. >> Mitsuo suddenly stands, and you can feel the emotions and pain rushing through him. The fear, the extreme effort to breathe, and the strange, bubbling sensation of power that threatens to burn away his very existence. The terror of it all. >> The pain becomes excruciating as his wings suddenly unfurl, and the emotions shift to terror of a different kind. "This...this isn't...I'm not..." "Scared, so scared..." .o( There was no need to fear what you are. Recall why you faced that light, that fear, that uncertainty... for their sakes. because they believed in your power. And you saved them. ) "What am...I'm not this...Don't understand..." * Mitsuo's emotions begin to become more frightened, more unsure. "Someone...please tell me...Alone...alone alone alone alone alone..." .o( You are not alone! Think of the faces this journey has brought into your life. What would you be like if you had not met them...? ) ...F--faces...? * Mitsuo's thoughts begin to soften slightly, there is a faint feeling of some form of coherancy, or at least connection, "...Who...?" .o( The girl who seeks the stars... would your wings not carry her to heaven? ) "...The stars...?" An image of Erellisae appears, drifted into sleep from her vigil by his bedside. "...Erellisae...." "I....but I can't be..." .o( You are no longer in the nightmare. Let it go... the world ticks ever onward, just like your search for identity. ) "...But...but no one told me how...how do I...?" "Wings...how do...I...?" .o( The Icarian wings are neither a blessing, nor a curse... they are part of what you are, a past that haunts you. But they do not have to consume you so... ) "...Do...you....think I'll find...the way home again?" "I'm so lost..." .o( The path to acceptance is vast. It's alright to be lost. You are only a man in the end. But you have the stars to guide you. ) "...The stars..." * Mitsuo's emotions calm, as if he understands. There is still a faint undercurrent of uncertainty, but there is a peace now that wasn't there before... "...Thank you..." .o( They will always shine wherever you go... day or night. Just take each step carefully and you will find the way home. ) "...Please wait...I'll be home...soon..." The connection between Jalanda's spirit and his thins, drifting away, as peace carries Mitsuo into more pleasant dreams. * Jalanda shievrs a moment, her strength ebbing, and coming to vaguely... * Jalanda blink several times, coming into focus. She looks over to Mitsuo. * Mitsuo's apperance is mostly unchanged...but somehow, his face looks more peaceful. * Jalanda lifts her head up that had apparently been resting on his chest over her hand, straightening. She smiles very slightly. "...I'm glad." All is very still and quiet; Erellisae's breath comes even and slow as she sleeps. Jalanda isn't sure how long she has been there, but it is now deep in the night. * Jalanda looks down, rotating her hand that holds the two glowing stones, and puts them into his limp hand, closing it around them. We'll be waiting for you, Mitsuo. Try not to oversleep too badly this time... * Jalanda arises from the bedside, and with that same calm grace, leaves him to his peace, seeking her own for this fleeting night. All is still and silent in the night, the peace wrapping itself around Mitsuo's sleeping body and soothing his mind in gentle dreams. ==Lude End== *** GMAmy changes topic to 'Grandia: New Horizons | Chapter 25.2: Mitsuo and Jalanda Lude | Location: Tenkali village, late evening, July 5 | Lude End' Session Close: Mon Apr 15 00:58:36 2002