a thing; w/ ruinsprofessor & conductingresistance

[simulsimul]

universe list
canon
breached
confessed
dadly
future
grigori
mercenary
MEover
origin
reversal
titans


scenario list
canon: Kratos needs to stop running off
confessed: wing reflex
confessed: actual wingpull
confessed: turning Renegade
confessed: son meets father
dadliness: confrontation
dadliness: awakening
dadliness: illness
dadliness: a fundamental lack of understanding on the word 'abducted'
dadliness: updating parameters
dadliness: assassination assignation
mercenary: hiding in the library
mercenary: aftermath of librarian saviour
reversal: oracle destroyed
titans: storming the tower
titans: safety in the canyon
titans: night horrors


canon
- combo of Kratos and Zelos ending
- Zelos does the stupid thing, but not so far as his death, and is still the eighth member of the party to Derris-Kharlan.

scenarios
scenario one: Yuan tracks Kratos down at Dirk's.


breached
- canon right up until after Botta’s death
- no one uses Yuan’s name around Mithos so Mithos walks right into the Triet base with them
- cue an epic OH SHIT in which Yuan gets a lil bit beat up while covering the evacuation of the rest of the base
- until Kratos appears to intervene and have the Chosen group get Yuan out of there
- Mithos gets Kratos tho and he’s a bit mad cos, yanno, traitor and all
- time to be locked up and punished and need to be rescued
- kind of puts a crimp in the creation of the Eternal Ring plans
- mostly cos Mithos turns Kratos lifeless, with some armour to regulate his mana so he remains a seraph. can't have the seal becoming less powerful, yo
- it does mean he can only obey orders tho
- the first rescue fails miserably but at least no one dies and they know they need to reforge his key-crest
- the second rescue attempt (circumstances of canon-point under percolation) goes a little better, though Yuan almost gets killed by Kratos trying to attach the key-crest
- luckily that and the first telepathy in a while gets through and Kratos manages to break out a la Colette, and heal Yuan enough for Raine to get there
- after which, angreh father-son beatdown on Mithos.

scenarios
None yet.


confessed
- almost successful assassination lands Kratos as an injured stranger in Iselia (1-2 years pre-canon)
- recuperation leads to accidental-on-purpose 'holiday' in Iselia
- doubts result in a request for Dirk to make a key-crest like Kratos' own
- oracle room undergoes some stealth sabotage
- regeneration journey is slightly delayed, prompted by Genis and Lloyd being discovered at the ranch
- Triet is awkward. so very awkward. for the Renegades -- whose side is Kratos even on these days and why was he vanished for two years?
- initial overall journey similar to canon, save that Kratos is a bit less circumspect about advising Colette on how to cope with angel transformations
- there are more overt Dun Wanna Feelings
- then Luin, wherein things happen and the group is in town during the Desian attack. the others naturally want to fight but tis a mite difficult against an army and building-destroying magitech. luckily, angel on their side. unluckily, wingpulls in order to muster the power to cover the townspeoples' retreat
- questions and confessions ensue
- Colette rejects the key crest (for the moment) so there's still hopefully maybe ambiguity about Kratos's position re the last seal
- it wouldn't fit anyway, it's modelled for the hand like Kratos's is because he was a derp and did not specify otherwise, so Lloyd needs to make a thing to make it fit
- slow protective retreat toward Asgard.

scenarios
scenario one: Kratos confesses before Salvation; Raine wants to follow up.
scenario two: Raine's examination of an angel; and also Kratos realises how far he's put his foot in it.
scenario three: Kratos goes to taunt Yuan a little, and also ask for his help.
scenario four: in which Raine makes Kratos tell the children all the things, and Yuan takes too much amusement from it.


dadliness
- Kratos retires in Iselia under the name Irving to raise Lloyd after the death of his wife
- no exsphere. ageing occurs! so does a beard and a braid
- teaches Lloyd swordplay, but on the sly, to avoid the other villagers noticing. his daytime job is weaving
- Lloyd finds the box of their exspheres and wants details. after some prodding by Dirk, Kratos explains how exspheres are made and that one is Anna's life. Lloyd is too young yet, but when Lloyd comes of age (~15) Kratos lets him make his own decision re wearing it
- Lloyd chooses not to wear the exsphere
- Genis befriends Marble and Lloyd meets her, as in canon; this happens before the journey begins, with the fallout
- difference being that Colette is still in the village so they can't be too horrible, so they just demand Lloyd be turned over for a flogging
- Kratos stands in his stead because natch. luckily, they're only mooks and don't recognise the bearded weaver as anyone important
- gives Lloyd his guilt complex early tho
- the oracle happens much the same way except Botta doesn't quite recognise the weirdly familiar bearded swordsman
- he does when he's reporting to Yuan tho
      'there was an exceptionally skilled human'
      /brief physical description/
      /did x other faintly recognizable thing/
      and both he and Yuan are aware that Kratos has been awol for a while, so there's a moment of pure silence and dawning 'no, it couldn't be'
- but then obviously one of them has to go make sure
- cue an interruption just out of Triet.

scenarios
scenario one: Yuan feels the need to investigate; this results in Kratos injured and abducted.
scenario two: Yuan realises he can't kill Kratos with his own two hands; Kratos gets mothered.
scenario three: Kratos gets sick on the heels of his recovery. Yuan mothers him some more. Botta disapproves.
scenario four: Kratos recovers and makes an escape attempt. Sort-of.
scenario five: Kratos recovers more and talks to Botta, when not needling Yuan about his lack of preparedness.
scenario six: Sheena's contract takes a slight shift into undercover instead of assassination work.


future
- Aselia is Earth ~10,000 years in the past
- all is peachy-keen except the tree is now underground and the elvens/half-elves/some humans are in hiding in the centre of the planet, hidden thanks to the summon spirits
- Colette is working with humanitarian aid in various impoverished nations
- Zelos is a diplomat in West Asia / Middle East trying to keep the peace
- Yuan is a crotchety lecturer at Cambridge who's also HUGE into environmentalism
- Lloyd and Kratos are having family time in space
- occasionally the trio on Earth meet reincarnations of people they used to know
- but rarely at the same time and almost never in a position where they meet
- but then they start meeting them
- lots of them
- all in the same span of years
- they're starting to think something's hinky
- until the space-elves attack
- and then they know something is hinky.


scenarios
None yet.


grigori
- at some point significantly before canon, Kratos actually calls it quits
- the Church's institution calls him a fallen angel of vengeance
- really he's just going around trying to help people and avoiding being taken back to Cruxis
- assigns himself to the Chosen parties whenever he can, up to Colette
- ????? idk some kind of profit somewhere

scenarios
None yet.


mercenary
- when Yuan visits Kratos at the beach when Lloyd is 3 months old, he does not manage to escape before Anna and Lloyd return
- accidental attachment to this kidlet who likes pulling his hair
- three years later, Yuan can't stand to hold back while Kratos fights Kvar, so he throws caution to the wind to help
- Anna is still killed but they rescue Lloyd and Noishe and both are branded as traitors
- Lloyd is raised as a Renegade with Dad, Uncle Yuan and the extremely reticent Uncle Botta (how dare)
- meanwhile in Tethe'alla Yuan infiltrates the castle as the library archivist
- stays out of sight, mostly, but has a good ear around the politics thanks to recruiting Princess Hilda
- also happens to stumble on Zelos hiding in the library right after his mother's death
- look he's got a 'nephew' he can't just do nothing (even if all he meant was to recommend a book)
- unwittingly accidentally 'adopts' the Tethe'allan Chosen by virtue of being the only one who doesn't treat him like the Chosen
- sometimes Kratos brings Lloyd to visit and basically they're all separate pairs of exasperated bros
- by canon Lloyd and Kratos are wandering mercenaries, helping people on the sly while gathering intel to send back to the Renegades
- Yuan and Zelos are actively building resistance to the Church using inside knowledge
- the ninja are all Renegades
- Colette is escorted by Raine and by the priests
- yes the 'chain up the Chosen and drag her to every seal if necessary' priests
- she meets Lloyd randomly in Triet but Lloyd doesn't know her as the Chosen. they're a bit out of touch on the Journey of Regen timeline
- stuff happens and they keep missing each other up until Palmacosta, which is a warzone between the Desians (and Dorr as their figurehead) and the Renegades (with Neil as their leader)
- Colette wants to help; priests say no
- out come the chains
- Raine objects, but she has no exsphere so what can she do
- btw Genis got caught in the Iselian ranch and tossed in as a traitor to be made a host
- he gets sent to the Palmacosta ranch
- right after Neil manages to take the city, after Colette and Raine leave it, Botta takes the Palmacosta ranch and rescues Genis, among others
- Genis becomes his little shadow and is much preferable to Lloyd, in Botta's opinion
- Lloyd and Kratos are still trying to catch up to Colette to rescue her when they drop by
- Genis hears what they're trying to do and insists on coming along.


scenarios
scenario one: in which Yuan accidentally adopts a Chosen instead of a book from a library.
scenario two: in which Yuan is accidentally-deliberately adopted by the Meltokio Castle Knights.


MEover
- Mass Effect crossover someplace in the realm of 15,000 years after TOS canon
- except started before then, cos elves are really from Feros, planet of the cranky telepathic plant
- got decimated by the protheans trying to assimilate them into their empire
- elves objected, got killed a lot, fled Feros and got stuck in Aselia's orbit
- kinda forgot a few things but planted a seed from the Ferosian mother plant on Aselia
- Origin hasn't forgotten tho, kinda has a grudge against grumblegrumbleprotheansgrumble
- the entirety of TOS happened, and then some
- Kratos, Yuan, Lloyd, Colette and Zelos are the only ones left, but tis okay, they have each other
- somethingsomething natural space disaster, Aselia is destroyed but they manage to move Yggdrasill onto Derris-Kharlan and do a quarian by becoming a roaming ship
- mana is a variant of eezo lbr
- Derris-Kharlan's too big to use the mass relays, but c'mon it generates its own mass effect field so they develop tech to do hops on their own
- they're in no hurry tho, i mean lbr primarily angelic, elf and half-elf population
- so they're just bumming around their local clusters doing thorough investigations on all the things
- so much eezo on their ship
- so much
- suddenly the Normandy running from a reapers comes along to hide behind them
- reapers start shooting
- everyone on Derris-Kharlan objects
- JUDGEMENT IN SPACE
- so much profit and judging of reapers.


scenarios
None yet.


origin
- Kratos tells Lloyd the dad thing in Triet
- dad and son feelings ensue
- they culminate at the Tower of Salvation in Kratos stabbing Yggdrasill in the back
- unfortunately he does not quite die but impales Kratos against a wall and goes berserk on the Chosen party to the point of Yuan stepping in to help
- that is, by threatening to stab Kratos in the back while he's vulnerable (with Kratos's permission)
- Yggdrasill calls his bluff and fails, and Yuan does the thing
- while Yggdrasill is distracted the Chosen's group nail him but good and he retreats
- luckily while heart-stabbing happened, Kratos's cruxis crystal is still intact, and between Raine's healing and Yuan's mana transfusion he survives long enough to be taken to the Triet base and a refresher
- stuff happens in some fashion or other up until opening Origin's seal
- as it turns out, the mana tranfusion has fused the lock, so to speak, and Kratos can't unlock the seal even voluntarily
- only way to get Origin out at this point is to let him fuse with Kratos, so Kratos becomes Origin
- stipulation of this: Kratos refuses to let go of his humanity
- luckily Yuan already has a literal bond with him thanks to the mana transfusion, so with him as his summoner Kratos can keep his humanity, and only use Origin's powers when Yuan summons them
- commitment like woah for a literal eternity
- but hey, they messed up but good and it's the only way they can reunite the worlds.

scenarios
none yet.


reversal
~ 2000 years in, Kratos and Yuan conspire to kill Mithos and succeed, sorta
- he's stuck inside his exsphere, possessing people
- but he manages to survive and while Kratos and Yuan claim Derris-Kharlan for their base, he takes most of the angels as 'fallen', as well as the Eternal Sword
- most of his bases are hidden behind dimensional slips created by the sword - Iselia included
- Origin refuses to trust either Kratos or Yuan with the job, anyhow, and they don't have a summoner
- instead they're forced to fight Cruxis, embroiling the worlds in an angelic war between Cruxis and the new organisation of Chayim
- the Chosen bloodlines are more important to Cruxis than Chayim, but Mithos seals the seals so only the Chosen bloodline can flip the mana switch. Kratos and Yuan need someone to do that until they can reunite them, so the Journey remains an institution, just without compulsory death at the end
- there is angelification tho, if only so Chayim gets more soldiers and so the Chosen can defend themselves against Cruxis
- Kratos sends Anna and Lloyd to Iselia, because even though enemy territory, it's the safest place there is for them
- Anna get word to Kratos that the Desians are using Iselia as a long-term cruxis crystal cultivation location, and that the sword is held there
- her spy succeeds but is intercepted, and Mithos locks down the dimensional slip to prevent exit and access by angels for ~15 years
- Lloyd grows up in a town with a heavy half-elf population and believing he's training to help the good guys
- he has his own cruxis crystal as a host, but doesn't tell his mother due to the faith-based propaganda encouraging hosts not to bring it up or risk the powers not taking
- he wants to help though, so he steals a key-crest to ensure he can fight
- Yuan and Kratos plan to assault the town and shrine but Mithos uses the sword to interrupt travel between worlds, keeping Yuan in Tethe'alla and forcing Kratos to attack Iselia alone.

scenarios
scenario one: Iselia is attacked by Chayim to claim the sword, with the sword already gone


titans
- Yggdrasill captures Kratos before Kvar finds Anna and Lloyd, but after Kratos makes an Eternal Ring
- Yuan figures hell no and raises the Renegades to try and take Derris-Kharlan, rescue Kratos and solve the split-world problem
- the attack fails. a lot.
- Renegades are wiped out, Kratos is still in Cruxis's hands, but Yuan manages to escape with the Eternal Ring
- Cruxis follows him to Triet base, which gets destroyed and the few remaining Renegades scatter
- Botta is still around tho, helping out how he can
- mostly Yuan just goes searching for Lloyd and Anna
- doesn't manage to find them before Kvar does tho, and Kratos hears from Yggdrasill that they're dead
- this is slightly inaccurate, cos Lloyd still winds up rescued by Dirk in Iselia
- where Yuan eventually finds him, not knowing that he's 'supposed' to be dead
- so Yuan settles in Iselia for a bit to watch Lloyd and the Chosen
- cuts and dyes his hair, the whole shebang
- learns how to carpentry, invents a new use of magic lightning and light can totally become a laserbeam amirite
- winds up being Genis's role model just because scholar and magic-user and half-elf who can pass but also takes no shit from people
- is one of Colette's companions on the Journey when it starts
- he's been challenging their understanding of the Church's institution this whole time lbr
- Sheena is still a thing because the ninja have taken over the Tethe'allan base, which has survived, somewhat
- a grilling ensues
- sometime just after the Asgard Ranch Yuan does have to drop the bombshell
- about how the Journey is just a front, he and his bestie are angels, btw his bestie is Lloyd's dad
- how they're out to topple the institution of religion
- forget sacrificing Colette for the Regeneration, when they get to the seal they can do that without anyone dying
- and then move straight on to rescuing Kratos in Derris-Kharlan
- then they get to the Tower and realise Yggdrasill has Kratos under a Prometheusesque punishment a la 'impaled on the Eternal Sword to suffer the Seed's pain and watch the Chosen get murdered'
- luckily this does not happen, as they manage to rescue him and escape Yggdrasill instead, barely
- retreat to Botta's hiding-place in Asgard so Kratos can recover
- and also find out that Lloyd is actually alive
- the Chosen group goes around to make as many pacts as they can while in Sylvarant
- they get up to Aska when Yggdrasill sends his angels to attack Asgard
- cue Yuan and Kratos being unstoppable battle gods together


scenarios
scenario one: in which Yuan leads the Chosen's party to the Tower of Salvation to dismantle all the traditions ever, and find Kratos waiting for them in serious need of a rescue.
scenario two: in which being in safety reveals that Kratos is not precisely unscathed, but he's doing his best.
scenario three: in which Kratos is emphatically not okay, but with Yuan's help, could be.

Comments

[conductingresistance]

I grew it out.

[Yuan provides this flatly. It is technically true, despite the fact that most people don't grow quite so much hair at once.]

[And you do have your sensations disabled. I just pinched you. Perhaps in the mix of things Raine won't even notice that her not-quite question hasn't been answered.]

We should take this somewhere a little more open, instead of remaining near the stairs.

[Genis is still staring a little, but then he shakes himself and actually properly looks at Kratos.]

I guess I should have expected it'd be a different color. You're Lloyd's other dad, right? I'm Genis.

[There's a ladle in his hand, which he notices again when he folds his arms.]

--Oops. I left something on the stove.

[He uses that as an excuse to dart out of the way, for his part planning to come back when nothing is in danger of burning any longer. His query for Raine, originally about the number of people eating, can go unanswered for the moment. He'll just put out extra dishes. It may be a little bit being awkward around the new adult. But definitely only a little. Maybe.]

[simulsimul]

[... Oh. That's not good. Probably. Maybe. Nothing here was going to hurt him, surely? Yet when Kratos tries to think how to turn it back on again, nothing comes to him; something that should have been second-nature is a blank. Possibly because it's second nature. Possibly because the thought of turning it on again fills him with dread.

[Luckily, Genis provides something else to focus on, even while Kratos lets Yuan lead him away from the stairs.]

Other dad?

[You didn't --? Yuan didn't raise Lloyd? Kratos had thought -- what with knowing his childhood -- this, of all things, makes Kratos feel even more discombobulated, and his chest feels tight with an emotion he can't quite recognise.]

Um ...

[This is Lloyd, hopping the last step and jogging around them, now there's space. He looks worried, but he reaches out to take Kratos's hand, siding close so they all fit in the passage.]

I was raised by a dwarf named Dirk. He rescued me from the attack that killed Mum. Uncle Yuan only found me a few years later.

[conductingresistance]

[You can't...? Yuan half-wonders, hoping he's misunderstood the nebulous thought. That isn't good. Understandable, maybe, after that long impaled on the damned sword, but it says worrying things for Kratos's control, and Yuan can only hope this isn't going to do worse things to him.]

[Yuan nudges Kratos away from the stairs and handles the next thought. I didn't know where to start looking for your family, and it took me a little time to get to Iselia. I was a fugitive at the time. Dirk had adopted Lloyd by the time I got there. Given the situation, there was nothing else I could do. So I stayed. And helped.]

[He thinks he helped, anyway. Nothing else he could do to help Kratos; nothing else he could do for the worlds, at that point.]

There are three others here. Colette and Sheena, and Botta. I don't know if you remember him.

[Yuan stops a little ways into the more open room, giving Kratos the chance to look around. It's comfortably furnished, for a bolt-hole; sturdy, but with the understanding that people could be here for a long time. Raine trails silently, watchful but not offering any input yet.]

[simulsimul]

[I don't remember how, is more a sensation of lostness, being caught out of time. Being impaled on the Sword had been both one moment and an eternity. Kratos isn't sure how he's meant to reacclimatise to being aware of time passing -- being able to change while that time passes.

[That potential difficulty is superseded by Yuan's explanation, anyway. Kratos absorbs both Lloyd and Yuan's words in silence, submitting to being moved. He feels -- something. He isn't sure anymore. He should be glad that Lloyd has so obviously been raised well, but at the same time part of him rebels at the thought that he was raised by anyone else. (Yuan doesn't count, apparently.)

[Belatedly: Thank you. For the fact that Yuan did stay, did help. For the fact that Lloyd knows him.

[Silently he looks around. The room has everything Kratos would expect from a home in Asgard; a surprising amount of space, for being inside stone, with furnishings to offset the hardness of the surrounds. There's a door opposite, with voices drifting out, and the mana of more people.

[Colette's. Martel. Someone else's which prods a familiarity more akin to remembering a dream, from that long-ago attempt to break him out of Derris-Kharlan. Genis's. Someone else he doesn't know at all.

[Too many people, half-remembered or unknown.]

Dad?

[Lloyd's voice makes Kratos shake his head and start to pull back from the entrance to the kitchen. To Yuan, he sends a feeling of being suffocated, overwhelmed; it's all suddenly a bit too much to try and approach that door.]

Can we -- stop. I just need to stop for a while.

[conductingresistance]

[Apology is what Kratos gets back, even after that thanks; not even a worded sentiment, just Yuan's sorrow for how wrong everything has gone. Rawer than even Yuan means it to be, and he looks away from Kratos. When he speaks his voice is just a little bit rougher.]

Of course.

[He passes Botta a quick thought, to keep everyone in the kitchen for now, and he loosens his hold on Kratos just a fraction. An out, not a cessation of support. Botta can't return it, of course; but Botta will do it.]

We aren't going anywhere.

[simulsimul]

[There are chairs in this area, fortunately; one even near a window. Kratos shifts toward that, and though his step is cautious and precise, it is at least more stable than it had been upstairs. He still feels almost as if he'll fall over at any moment -- but that's the lingering sensation of a different balance.

[He sits by the window, looks out along the ledge which looks over the cliff-side paths of the city proper. It looks different than he remembers, but he'd never been in this area of Asgard before. Too quiet, though. He can see the effects of the wind, feel it against the stone; then he belatedly realises that he's not feeling the boom of the wind, but the distant echo of the worlds against his soul.

[Abruptly he turns to Raine.]

You wanted to perform an examination.

[Now's as good a time as any, and if he can't even tell whether his augments are turned on or not ... there's no point in waiting, and it's better than getting lost inside his own head. Or -- out of it, as it were.]

[conductingresistance]

[Kratos's balance seems better; after a few paces Yuan lets him find his own way. Kratos can manage, and Yuan can catch if he really needs to, but this seems more likely to alleviate that suffocated feeling.]

[Raine trails Kratos a little bit, though, evidently not quite as confident in his skills as Yuan is. When he turns to her she startles, though recovers it quickly.]

--yes, I did. I'll be brief.

[She takes that as an invitation, coming the rest of the way over to Kratos with brisk strides.]

Your shirt, please, I want to see how that healing is holding up. Lloyd, my staff is in the other room.

[This is at least partially to spare Lloyd the haunted look he was wearing the last time he saw the scar that remains. Raine doesn't anticipate she'll need her staff, unless what's wrong with his mana is something she can fix with Resurrection. She isn't sure about that yet.]

Your best baseline for any sort of comparison is likely me, despite the fact that Kratos is human.

[Yuan is sort of helping. He stands some several paces away, following Kratos's gaze out the window, only occasionally slanting his gaze sideways as though to check that Kratos is still there.]

[simulsimul]

I've got it!

[Lloyd almost trips over himself in his eagerness to help, and Kratos hears voices responding to Lloyd's sudden appearance in the kitchen. He doesn't listen to the words, though, dulling his hearing; that, at least, he remembers how to do. (To keep from having to hear himself scream.)

[It takes a second for Raine's request to sink in, but then Kratos pulls up his shirt enough for Raine to be able to see the scar. Kratos hasn't seen it yet himself, and fingers it gingerly; it's a large thing, much larger than any scar he's worn before. Most angels don't keep their scars. He isn't sure he'd be able to get rid of this one.]

I -- had my pain turned off without realising it, just before.

[It's still turned off. It's said a bit awkwardly, since Kratos isn't sure what Raine might find relevant or not. He does pull his hand away, glancing back out the window so he doesn't have to look at the scar any longer.]

Do what you need.

[Whatever that might be.]

[conductingresistance]

I see.

[Raine's eyes are sharp. She can't quite guess what Kratos isn't saying, but she knows there is something unsaid.]

...as much as I'm sure you're averse to it right now, pain can be important to acknowledge. It's the body's basest signal that something is wrong.

[But she kneels to examine the scar carefully; and the surrounding tissue, and Kratos himself. No mortal person she knows of could have borne fifteen years of torture. With Kratos, but for the scar, he appears largely whole. It's impressive. Perhaps a little concerning. Her hands are businesslike but gentle, and when she takes to a magical scan it's only warm.]

The two of you might be interested in talking about healing artes, one of these days.

[Yuan offers that almost absently, a point for connection between old friends and new. Raine sits back on her heels.]

There's something strange about your mana still that I can't place, but apart from that, you seem to be fine.

[simulsimul]

I know.

[Kratos does know. It's one of the things which had made he and Yuan different from Mithos, in the end; that they had been willing to embrace pain, for the benefit it brought them, no matter how it made them feel. But knowing, understanding, having that philosophy doesn't change that, right now, Kratos can't.]

I don't remember how to turn it back on.

[It's been a very long time since he's had it turned on. Yuan's remark does make Kratos glance toward him, but the notion of comparing healing artes with an actual healer is very nearly strange. You're comparing me to her?]

I'm not a healer. I just -- know some artes. Or ... did.

[He's not sure he remembers them either. Kratos waits for a beat to be sure Raine is finished, and then lowers the shirt again. ]

Strange ... how?

[conductingresistance]

I'm sure I don't have to tell you that probably isn't a good sign.

[But Raine glances toward Yuan, unsure of how correct she is. Angelic physiology is still slightly new territory, despite Yuan and Colette.]

[Still, she isn't wrong. She turns her attention back to Kratos with a curious eye.]

Usually, I'd say that one doesn't learn healing artes without desiring to heal others. That qualifies you so far as I'm concerned.

[Ah. Yes. The mana problem. Raine backtracks.]

It's not like anything I've encountered before. Something about the flow, I think. It both... is and isn't yours. It's possible Master Boltzmann's arte might do something for you, but I don't know if this is precisely wrong.

[She's frowning. Where she can't see, Yuan grimaces faintly. I can't make this decision for you.]

[simulsimul]

[Kratos has already glanced toward Yuan when Yuan denies responsibility for that choice. Once more, Kratos flounders; but Yuan obviously trusts Raine, and it's far more effort to pretend that he doesn't know the cause than to reveal it.

[He has pain turned off, after all.]

Probably not.

[Without thinking, he's pressed a hand to his chest, over that scar; and his gaze has turned toward the window once more, as if he can see the Tower of Salvation in the distance. He can certainly feel it.]

My mana isn't entirely mine. I'm the seal linked to the Tower of Salvation.

[Sort of ... mostly. The seal is essentially split between multiple locations.]

[conductingresistance]

You're--

[Raine has to take a moment or three to process that.]

--that would... certainly explain what I'm feeling, I suppose, but how does a person become a seal?

[Yuan has rarely seen her so bemused. He follows Kratos's gaze again, and though the Tower isn't there Yuan can make a reasonable guess at why Kratos has picked that direction. Distant eyes paired with the press at the scar...]

[You can still feel some part of it, can't you?]

[simulsimul]

[It's not so much a word, which Kratos sends back, so much as a current sensation; that distant pulse, the sound of a distant avalanche which is the worlds grinding together. Yes, he still feels it.]

It was necessary. The seal is split, in a fashion, which makes sense because the spirit it binds has dominion over time and space. His part of the seal is deep in a sacred forest in Tethe'alla. It extends over the Sword, wherever it lies; and it lies at the Tower of Salvation, the crux where the worlds are split. The two are bound together in me.

[Yes, this is easier; speaking without thinking, without effort. It's the most he's said since he's awoken, though, and his voice has become raw again by the end of it. It doesn't hurt, but he can hear it in his tone, so he stops.]

[conductingresistance]

[He's never felt anything quite like that. Even distant, Yuan sways just a little.]

[It may be a minor miracle Kratos is at all sane.]

...I see.

[Raine is frowning at Kratos now, and she gets up to pace and think about that, murmuring to herself.]

A sacred forest... why does that sound familiar? That certainly explains the irregularities...

[Yuan glances from her to Kratos, and manages a hint of a wry smile.]

[She'll be at this for a while, barring any questions. I think you'll be fine.]

[simulsimul]

[The way Yuan's thoughts pull back in shock makes Kratos flinch and withdraw himself, curling in a touch before he realises it. The other angels had always pulled back. He isn't sure which was worse; when they ignored him, or when they pulled back.

[Kratos only realises belatedly that Yuan might have different reasons for drawing back, and turns to check him visually. By that point Yuan seems to have recovered; at least, he doesn't show much sign of discomfort.

[She's-- Enthusiastic? Close enough. Kratos glances toward Raine once more, watching her mutter to herself. I'm sorry. If I hurt you. It hadn't occurred to him that even the distant thrum might be painful to someone who hadn't felt it before.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan exhales softly, and comes over to lean against the back of the chair Kratos is sitting in.]

[She gets carried away with herself sometimes, yes.]

[I'm not hurt. Only... Yuan himself isn't sure what he is, at the moment, and he trails off with a slight frown of his own. Eventually he gives up and pushes the raw material of it at the link between them; the magnitude of the feeling, the wonder at Kratos's endurance. The renewed determination to end Yggdrasill.]

[Raine is content to pace and think, currently oblivious to the conversation going on nearby.]

[simulsimul]

[The wonder makes Kratos laugh, a short, humourless bark which takes him by surprise enough that it cuts off a moment later. He sends back amused disbelief, something along the lines of look at me; and I can barely string two thoughts together; and I can't even ...

[That last feeling trails off vaguely. Can barely talk. Possibly can't use his mana. Can't make decisions for himself. And that's now, after he's away from the Sword; if Yuan only knew how many times he'd begged himself hoarse ...

[And Mithos -- Yggdrasill -- Mithos -- had laughed.]

Sit down. I'll do your hair.

[He doesn't want to think about this anymore.]

[conductingresistance]

[Raine is distracted enough she doesn't even look over for the sound. You survived, Yuan fills in, blunt and uncompromising. He shifts, bows over the back of the chair with shoulders slumped, as though he plans to rest his head atop Kratos's. He stops short of it, though, and in the end rests one hand gentle on Kratos's hair. Unruly auburn, the same as it ever was.]

[He doesn't catch much: but he catches the sound of Mithos's laugh, and the only reason he doesn't shiver is his control.]

[I should have been there sooner, he thinks, quiet and intent. All those years, and you were right there. I'm sorry.]

[Yuan takes a breath he doesn't need to take and then, as though nothing has happened, comes around the chair and sinks down in front of Kratos, pulling the tie from his hair as he does. There's the barest fringe of black at the ends of his hair, where he missed stripping the pigment out when he shifted it, but other than that it should be exactly as Kratos remembers.]

[simulsimul]

[But at what cost ...? is whispered, a thought forgotten as soon as Yuan leans over him. Without consciously realising it Kratos leans into the weight of Yuan's hand, and for all that he can't feel pain, for a moment the emotions in him rise to a lump in his throat and blur his vision.

[You didn't know.

[By the time Kratos opens his eyes again Yuan has lifted his hand and come around the chair. Wordlessly Kratos reaches out to gather up Yuan's hair, running his fingers through it, remembering the texture and how it moves. Pain is off; touch is only scaled.

[Remembering the braids takes more time, and Kratos begins and aborts a few attempts before finally settling on something he does remember. He works slowly, meticulously, reacquainting himself with the use of his fingers and the fine control needed to keep the threads of hair together.

[Talking aloud is too difficult while he's concentrating on this, though. Instead, through the link: What did you do in Iselia?]

[conductingresistance]

[He didn't know. Yuan knows, too, that it's foolish to borrow guilt. He has more than enough of his own to be getting on with. All the same...]

[Well. Kratos is here now, and as safe as can be. He doesn't shake his head, mostly because Kratos is working at remembering braids. Yuan stays still and patient. He can't quite tell what Kratos is doing, apart from the obvious, and he doesn't particularly care, beyond that it has Kratos focusing on something different.]

[And he can't help but think Kratos is going to laugh. I took up carpentry, he provides in the same way, without a hint of irony. Staying on the outskirts of Iselia was safer, all things considered, but I needed a trade. Mercenaries don't settle the same way. There were more factors, but the list isn't necessary; and he had set aside his exsphere, but the difference in years hardly shows on him.]

[simulsimul]

[Carpentry? There is definitely an edge of laughter there, though Kratos barely smiles on the outside. It's duller than it should be, given Kratos has something to relearn about emotions, but it's there. It does bear a relation to your taste for interior decorating, I suppose. I can only imagine what your house must have looked like.]

Hmh.

[Kratos pauses with the braid hardly begun. He's missing something. Not a braid -- ah. Ribbons. For a moment he's still, figuring out how he's meant to get some, before glancing toward Raine.

[Talking to explain that he needs ribbons, and why, and what he's doing, takes too long. He isn't sure of the words. Instead he sends a gentle, hesitant query to her mind, half words and half an image. Black and white, please?]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan himself laughs very softly in return. It's true, he wouldn't have expected it of himself.]

[I started by keeping my practice pieces, but I couldn't leave them alone. Controlled lasers can be used to create intricate patterns, however. And Yuan didn't let people see him work, given that he was more or less passing for human. The Sages got a pass, as did Dirk. As time had gone on, he'd grown more lax about it.]

[At first, when Kratos stops, Yuan simply waits; but there's something different.]

[The question is answered before he can ask it when Raine startles from her thoughts and looks around. She herself isn't entirely unfamiliar with mental contact, having had Yuan do so especially in battle, but Kratos is new and unusual.]

Ribbons? I believe among us we might have some, yes.

[She doesn't actually have to ask for any further clarification, after seeing how the two of them are sitting. Raine turns to go looking. She's sure Colette has something like that she wouldn't mind, or--]

[There are some in my things, Yuan provides. It had been just a moment of sentiment when he packed them, and he's been wearing braids in the old style without them, but... he's certainly not about to object.]

[simulsimul]

[The threads of amusement become more pronounced, carrying with them intonations of you're saying that you invented a new arte to make your house prettier and I am not even surprised.

[He sends a sense of gratitude to Raine, along with a suggestion to look in Yuan's things; Yuan is more likely to have ribbons of suitable length. In the meantime, Kratos starts picking apart the braid he's already begun. By the time Raine returns he's got the lengths of Yuan's hair ready.

[This braid begins with a flat, four-way knot which leaves all four ends for his use, pinning some of Yuan's bangs back. The ribbons twined with the four-threaded plait down Yuan's back, though Kratos takes it slowly to ensure the right amount of pressure, and doesn't hesitate to redo the braid if need be. It's still not to his best, but he's still remembering some degree of fine motor control.

[The braid ends with the white ribbons wrapped in the place of the tie, in a similar flat knot and with the ends tucked into the binding. The black ribbons were left free at the end of the braid, nearly a foot left loose. Black and white for balance. Black, for the one who mourns.

[There.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan can't even really deny it, though he does pass mild irritation back. He can't quite work the fondness out of it, though, which rather detracts from his impact.]

[Raine, as she is going back to do just that, laughs aloud. It's a bewildered sound. Both of them, separately, have mentally told her nearly the exact same thing.]

[The ribbons are easy to find, though, and Raine brings them back with some bemusement. There's rather a lot of them, and she's not clear why Yuan would be carrying them.]

The two of you could perhaps benefit from speaking aloud. Here.

[She passes what she's found to Kratos, and doesn't leave, but settles in to observe with undisguised curiosity. She doesn't say anything, though, until Kratos is done and Yuan is running a hand back over the plait with a peculiar expression on his face.]

This seems... unnecessarily elaborate. What does it mean?

[It's the only thing Raine can conclude, that there's some meaning to it beyond the aesthetic. Yuan likes fine things well enough, but he has practicality in him as well.]

[Yuan, who's brought the braid over his shoulder to eye the black ribbons trailing at the end, says nothing.]