Nocturne, Second Movement ♪ Mourning

[sageprincess]

Characters: One distraught Princess of Hyrule and you.
Setting: Floor 25, morning of the 28th
Format: Action, but can switch to prose if you'd like
Summary: Zelda received a letter.
Warnings: Mentions of NPC death, so much angst, slowness on tags because of school

[Zelda,

She's read it a thousand times by now - her name in so neat, so precise script.

If you have received this, then I am dead. I can't be sure if you have all been made aware of it yet. You expressed a desire to help me, and I did appreciate that offer. I have gathered information about this place and sought to act to put a stop to everything myself, but apparently I have failed.

It was him. It was all him. The elevator being open, the worker units with damaged collars assisting them once in the administrative levels, the meeting that had kept the rest of them distracted long enough for her and the others to find the truth... It was all him. And now he has paid the ultimate price for his rebellion, the ultimate sacrifice for trying to truly save them.

I have placed this information somewhere safe in the administrative levels. Do not be hasty, but at some point please act to find this information. It will be within places only I can access, and has security as a necessity, to keep the others out, so please be careful and do not act alone.

And he knew. If nothing else, this letter proves that. He knew what the consequences of his actions would likely be, and he still fought for them, still died for them. People who never trusted him, never realized what an ally they had in him. Even now, in death, he's trying to help them.

Burn this letter, but please spread the information around. Do not use the network to pass this information on, speak of it only in person and never within range of any of the worker or retrieval units. The bathrooms and sauna levels are the safest, but as long as you are quiet and not too near the walls you should be safe.

That is why Zelda sits here, in the center of the meadow, far away from any walls that might watch her. That is why she huddles protectively around the letter, keeping it hidden from prying eyes. That is why she cries, openly, visibly, for she needs to grieve before she can get to work.

Thank you for your offer of help. I regret I was not able to help all of you.

She holds the tear-stained paper out before her, etching his words in stone in her mind and soul.

Regards,

Between her thumb and forefinger, a flame begins to catch, licking at too-neat, too-precise script. Then, in an instant, it bursts into a spark of divine flame, and nothing remains of Dax's will but a few wisps of nigh-invisible smoke. And Zelda.]

Thank you... Dax...

[It was him. It was all him.

And she must mourn before she can enact his will.]

Comments

[seekinganswers]

[It was safer in the dorms, but staying there in silence gave her too much time to think, and if she was being honest with herself thinking was something she wanted to avoid right now. Sheba's taken to wandering through the Tower by taking the stairs, and it's as she steps onto the stairway for the twenty-fifth floor that she sees what looks like a person out of the corner of her eye.

She turns. Yes, it's definitely a person - Sheba recognizes her from before they'd all split into groups after going down the elevator, though she doesn't know the young woman's name. Zelda is clearly distraught, though - not that anyone could really blame her, given the circumstances - and so Sheba steps onto the meadow floor.

She doesn't get too close. All things considered, she's not sure a stranger will be welcome right now. But she can't just leave her alone like that, either - that would be too callous, too cruel.]

Miss...? Are you going to be alright? Do you want me to go and get someone for you?

[Maybe Sheba wasn't one of Zelda's close friends, but that didn't mean she couldn't try and find one of them. After the events of the last few days, she doesn't think anyone should have to be alone.]

[sageprincess]

[The Princess slowly looks up when she's addressed, her eyes red and cheeks tear stained, and all she can really do for a moment is stare at the girl speaking to her.

Hers won't be a face Zelda will forget any time soon, even if she doesn't know her name. Not after...

Snapping out of her memories, she shakes her head, attempting to dry her eyes. Goddesses, how terrible she must look right now--]

... No, no, that is all right. I just... needed some time to mourn, that is all. [A sniffle, and she rubs at her face some more. Her voice is hoarse, tired.] I will be fine.

[Something of a lie, that - no one is ever fine here - but the sentiment is there. She will be functional again with time.]

[faithstaynight]

[Having been one of the ones left out of all the recent activity, Jeanne had no choice but to pace restlessly among the safe floors for the past few days. It angered her, and the shock she felt when she watched all the recent activity on the network was worse than anything she had felt in the tower thus far. Which was why she moves about the tower now with urgency, falling into her usual post-event routine: seeking out those close to her and trying to assess the damage.

She steps out on floor twenty-five just as Zelda sets fire to Dax's letter, and already, her chest feels tight at the sight of her friend huddled alone amongst the flowers. Slowly, she approaches.]

Princess...? [... No. Formality isn't going to help when it comes to comforting her anymore.] Zelda, what happened?

[sageprincess]

Ruler...

[As one of the few people she trusts utterly and completely, Jeanne is treated to an expression of Zelda's raw emotion. There are no attempts to hide the fact that she's hurt, grieving, and terribly tired, no attempts to look dignified or formal. There is merely a half pleading, half apologetic look before she throws her arms around the other girl, sobbing into her shoulder.]

So much, Ruler... So much, and I do not know even where to begin...

[gomu_ningen]

[He had just happened to be passing by, lost as always on his way to the cafeteria. Perhaps it was fate, as was the case with most of Luffy's adventures, or perhaps just coincidence?

Regardless of the reason, the young man had stopped when he saw a figure in the distance of the field. He didn't rush or hurry, how would he have known there was some thing urgent to attend to? However, as he grew closer his steps became more hesistant, before ceasing but a yard or two away from the girl.

He waited for her to notice him, figuring it best to not pry, so he merely watched her sulk in her tears.]

[sageprincess]

[Fortunately (?), Hylian hearing is rather sensitive, so while she's no where near a state of mind to be fully aware of her surroundings, she does pick up on some rusting amidst the flowers.

He gets a side-glance at best before she hides her teary face with her hands, partly embarrassed to be found by a stranger like this. Grieving is natural, she knows, but keeping up appearances is important, especially with what she needs to do.]

I... My apologies, but if... if you need assistance, I am not in an adequate state to give it.

[Her voice is muffled and weak, but it's clear she's still upset.]

[puppy_lancer]

[If one stood at a distance, it seems that Lancer is taking a nap. But upon closer examination, they would find that he is, in fact, only pretending. He had come here to try to relax, but no matter how tired he was, the same stress that sapped his energy also kept him up and pondering the recent events.]

[He bolts up at the sudden smell of smoke, only to let out a sigh of relief as he sees it's just Zelda burning a shred of something.]

...Wow, get a love letter you didn't like?

[sageprincess]

...

[Oh, if looks could kill. The only answer Lancer will get is a teary eyed glare, enraged and piercing.

Not cool, man. Not cool.]

[the_white_rider]

[ The reason that brought the White Wizard to step onto meadow was his loyal horse. Shadowfax, the companion he had regained months ago and had ever since then kept safe, hidden on this floor. However, upon stepping on the floor, seeing the Princess there did not surprise him in the lesser. He had feared the recent events and most specifically what happened last night would lay heavy upon her shoulders.

Like many of the residents, he had witnessed the recent the events on the network and could only imagine what despair many of their companions were going through this very moment. So instead of summoning his horse, Gandalf approached the Princess.

He would not say words immediately of course nor notify his presence at once, giving her some time. But there was never enough time. ]

Princess... [He paused but did not continue. He could say he was sorry for her-- Their loss, but that would mean nothing. As for asking her if she was alright, that would only prompt an obvious answer.]

[sageprincess]

Gandalf...

[She tries to straighten up, tries to look the part he and now Dax have given her, but she just... aches, so much. Seeing... what she has on top of knowing who was responsible for giving them the opportunity to glean a bit more of the truth about this place is just too much for one person to bear all at once. But damn, does she try, rubbing vainly at her eyes, attempt to clear away the tears that just won't stop.]

We... We need to talk, but I... I...

[Her sentence is cut off by a choked sob. She's not really in the best state of mind to talk about armies or unity or anything like that at the moment.]

[culbutiri]

[Nesir was still hunting. She had to calm down, she could feel her anger getting out of control, the need to destroy everything. The need to hurt and cause chaos.

She couldn't let it, she was leading a team in less than a week to infiltrate the administrative areas. Going to her death in order to gather information, more information. Potentially having to face that woman who... ate people...

The death hadn't bothered her at all, if the man was weak, if he was rotten like the woman had said and failed in whatever his duty was then of course he should die. The idiots who watched with tears and horror didn't understand because the light didn't work that way. They worked with forgiveness and kindness, nursing their weak instead of cutting them away.

Which was why, in the long term, they would lose. Their sadness made Nesir angrier, every time they spoke about how Dax was great, and didn't deserve to die she wanted to stab something. He had failed, was no longer useful. That's why he had died.

That wasn't the only thing making her angry. What that... troll had said about souls... what that creature speaking to Riki and Zo had said. Their souls were trapped here, which was why they came back from death...

Blasphemy. Souls were required to return to gods when you died, so they could create life anew, souls to be born again, becoming stronger. Not put in the same body to live the same life over and over trapped forever.

She had thought these people burying their dead had been wrong but this...

So lost in thought she was that she almost tripped over the woman in the meadow. She hopped to the side and realised she sort of recognised her.. from that dream...

And she was crying, Nesir forced down the irritation and made her face look worried.]

Hey, do you be alright?

[sageprincess]

[There's just barely some movement when Nesir nearly collides with her curled up form. She isn't the only one lost in their thoughts, it appears. And with all that has happened, in such a short amount of time, it's hard to blame anyone for being dazed and confused.

The seated girl unfurls slightly, wiping at her face in a half-hearted attempt to appear presentable to this vaguely familiar stranger.]

... No, not at the moment. But... I will be eventually, I suppose.

[The grief couldn't last forever-- can't last forever, with what she's been tasked with.]

[ghostytrainer]

[With the black mist gone, there's nothing to stop John from resuming his tower wandering. The dorms have always just been too confined for his liking. And having been more or less stuck inside them the past day or so, he's anxious to stretch his legs. He heads to the meadow floor, with the intention of letting his Pokemon out for some fresh air. His Litwick is already out, as usual, sitting on his shoulder as John steps off the stairs.]

[But before he can so much as reach for his belt, he notices someone huddled in the center of the room. Someone who he's only just met, yet is familiar to him all the same. You can't spend hours saving a princess and not get a little attached to her, after all. Even if it's just in a video game.]

[Let's not even get him started on what transpired on the admin floors. You'd have to be a special kind of crazy not to get a sense of camaraderie from that.]

[He comes to a halt behind her just in time to see the letter turn to smoke and hear her quiet words of thanks. Having only been here a few months, John didn't really know much about Dax. People had mostly told him about Jason and Ruana, and all in all, John thought of the admins as a group of faceless puppeteers in lab coats. They were a collective, unfeeling, unreachable, and unknowable yet all-knowing entity in his mind.]

[If there was one thing last night's broadcast had taught him, it was that he had been horribly wrong in that assumption. Also that Ruana was far more terrifying than people had made her out to be. He sincerely hopes that she never finds out who her bedroom intruders were.]

[Before John can even think of what to say beyond "Hey", Chandel leaves his shoulder and floats down and around to Zelda's face, stopping mere inches from it with a happy squeak and a smile. Though the tears make her a little wary water is scary, after all! she reaches forward and attempts to push the corners of Zelda's lips up into a smile.]

OOOOooooOO!

Oh, come on Chandel want to see Princess Zelda cry any more than you do but what have I said about respecting personal bubbles? [It's a playful scolding, John's unable to keep himself from chuckling lightly, but it gets the little candle back to his side nevertheless.]

You going to be alright, Princess?

[sageprincess]

[The Princess hardly even seems to notice John or Chandel's presence before the little candle ghost is right in front of her. She recognizes it, distantly, as one of the young boy's pet creatures from when they had infiltrated Ruana's library Goddesses, they can never speak of that again, and offers it the slightest quirk of her lips, though the attempted smile hardly reaches her eyes.

She doesn't turn to John immediately when he calls Chandel back to his side, but takes a moment to try to compose herself. It's not very effective ba-dum-chh, but hey, an attempt is made. When she finally does face him, her eyes are still red and watery, but she's trying not to openly sob too much.]

John... Yes, eventually. It is just... a lot has happened these last few days.

[cullscuttlefish]

[After everything, after finally gathering up the courage to get to one of the terminals, monsters or not, and telling everyone what had happened down there, Feferi wanted somewhere safe.

She would normally seek out the water, the fish, that were so much like home, but the first time she'd tried to go into the water after having been inside that sphere, she'd gone into a blind panic. The water didn't feel safe to her anymore, and she didn't know when it would again.

Staying in her room had worked after that, and she'd claimed that she was sick, which wasn't entirely wrong. She had been, even if it wasn't physical.

But now, she didn't want to be in her room, and the water didn't feel safe, so she let her feet take her up to the meadow. Feferi almost left, when she caught sight of that smoke, but she didn't.]

...are you...that's a silly question, isn't it? Being okay.

[sageprincess]

It certainly feels that way, does it not...?

[Feferi's voice is easily recognizable - Goddesses know she won't be able to forget her screams and cries that fateful day - so Zelda doesn't make much effort to look up or otherwise make herself presentable. If this had been before going down, she would have tried so hard to appear strong before the young troll princess, but now...

Well, she can only hope Feferi won't judge her too much.]

[notayoungkitten]

[Seeing the death of a man who she had not trusted affected her deeply. Ocelot had thought Dax as evil as the rest. But, she had been a stranger to this tower and its past.

It had come too late, the understanding that she had made a grievous error. She felt horrible, but there was nothing she could do but walk alone in her own thoughts. It wasn't until she noticed the woman that she looked up from her thoughts, expression soft and sad.

She knew at a glance what was wrong, at least in part.]

How... how are you holding up?

[sageprincess]

I...

[The young woman wipes at her cheeks and eyes, trying to rub away the tear stains that cover her face. It's a futile effort, of course, but a nagging voice preaching the importance of appearances and first impressions compels her to at least make the attempt.]

I need time. To process it all. [And mourn.] I will be all right with time.

[That's the way of this world. Grieve and break when you can, so you can put yourself back together in time for the next horrifying game or experiment.]

[imperialsun]

[Naoya had never been really good with these things. Quiet, reserved, loner had been qualities whispered by his classmates until the SEBEC incident.

At the death of his own twin brother as a child, he had run away from the funeral, terrified. While he was able to detach himself emotionally from most situations, to the point his friends hard marveled how he was able to keep a calm head through everything, this was a time to grieve. He realized that day how long he'd been in the tower, and how Dax had been the breathing room that they all needed from time to time. Now, no doubt, the other remain three would tighten the leash around them...

...But there was some hope, in the form of the visitors. There was something out there; as much as they had tried to bury that, with tales that there was nothing else, anywhere, that they'd been save. That, in itself was undeniable proof. Idly, he touched his earring; the one thing on him that served as a reminder and connection of his dead sibling.]

The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.

[Something he'd been told long ago, and had kept close to his heart. It seemed fitting greeting for the princess right now.]

[sageprincess]

[Her sobbing begins to quiet at Naoya's words, as they begin to sink in.

She wouldn't forget - she couldn't. But now there is so much more than mere memory to think about. Dax's final act had been to trust her with some amount of information about this place, information that would likely be required to beat Ruana and end the madness of the Tower of Animus. Dax's final act had been to pass off a mantle, in a sense, and while she already wears so many, so heavily, she cannot disrespect his final wish.

She nods.]

... They live on so long as we remember them, hm?

[stop_calling_me_zelda]

[Oh yeah, Tetra had seen what had happened to Dax. It was gross and left her more than a little scared but there wasn't much she could do about it. Except lose sleep over it, nobody wanted dreams like that. Especially not a ten year old kid. And she's there, coming to find Zelda after seeing it and then seeing Zelda huddled up.

Running over, the smaller princess sits in front of Zelda and looks at her tear stained face. Without a word, Tetra throws her arms around Zelda. Letting her know that they've got each other and that Tetra wasn't going to leave her.

And that there'd be no more misbehaving.]

[sageprincess]

[... So many have left her in one way or another, unintentionally or otherwise. Her father, Impa, her own Link before she arrived here, the multitude of friends and allies that have come and gone during her time in the tower... it wears on one's soul after a while.

But Tetra - her family - has remained. It might seem more like a curse than a blessing at times, with her being at risk of the horrifying games and experiments of this place, but... the truth is, she loves her more than words can describe.

Zelda holds her descendant closely, tightly, silently thanking her for being there.]

[no_longer_a_king]

Zelda?

[Arturia is tired, after all that's happened. She does not know about the Network, and therefore does not know about the post. All she sees during her usual wandering of the tower is the person who had her back down below, who made her feel like she was part of something again, is crying.

She approaches her, a hand reaching out to rest on her shoulder.]

What's the matter?

[sageprincess]

Arturia...

[She turns to the former knight-king at the touch, not quite leaning into it but not quite backing away either. It's an interesting position her team in the admin levels has occupied; she would trust any of them with her life and duty, but... her feelings? That always takes a bit of getting used to.

She rubs at her eyes and attempts to clear her throat before answering further.]

... Did... Did you see...? That video on the network...?

casually a million years late

[keepscalm]

[He'd been heading to the meadow for some peace, himself. The network bore news that he hadn't quite been ready to hear, and-- he needed some time to think, where America would not worry about him.

He's not expecting sobs to be filling the tranquil clearing.

What's even worse is that he recognises them, from the aftermath of a month he's sure they'd rather both forget.

His heart clenches at the sight of Zelda nested amongst the flowers (and it's not the only thing that does; his fingers curl and tighten into fists, and for a moment he feels quite ready to seek out vengeance in her name). He has to wait for the surge of anger to abate before he approaches her. He tries to let his footfalls be heard, so as not to alarm the young princess.

He kneels once he is next to her.] ...my dear.

casually assaulted by dadfeels

[sageprincess]

[There's a sharp intake of breath when she hears that voice, and she suddenly pauses in her sobbing, turning to its owner with no small amount of alarm. But it's not the startled sort of fright that colors her expression, but rather concern.

Before she says anything, she cups his face in her hands, staring at him intently with red, watery eyes. She searches his own desperately, looking for any trace of that distant, hollow gaze, looking for any trace of that hideous drug that turned someone she loves into little more than a mindless drone.

... When she find no trace of it (of course she doesn't; how else would they have kept the facade up so long if she could?), her concern melts away into relief, and she throws her arms around Arthur's shoulders, holding onto him fiercely.]

Arthur...

[Down there, it had been necessary to shove aside her feelings in order to continue with what they had to do. But now... now all that fear and anger and hurt is flooding back, and all she knows is that she never wants to see Arthur like that again.]