thebastion | Event: Day 355 [OPEN]

[Throughout this event, Zulf has been on the tightrope balancing between amused and bemused- two very different states of mind. He hadn't understood why such a party had been going on, but that was the Bastion for you. It's full of strange but well intentioned people. Even Colin of all people.]

[However, when the crowd had started to part- when Zahi had taken the lead- he'd fallen off straight into confusion. He hadn't understood- perhaps hadn't wanted to- what was going on. And when it hits...]

[Hidden in the crowd, nearly indistinguishable from the numerous new faces they have, Zulf looks nothing short like he's been stabbed through the stomach. His face is pale as pure chalk, and he can feel his knees shake.]

[Everyone had known there was at least one suspicious person in the Bastion. A thief. Of course. But this...]

[This is worse than any thief.]

[The thought strikes him, pierces him to the bone, of Was Zayna in on this?

[Was I just being used?]

[Zulf can't stop shaking. It's like the last time around, all over again, only he thinks this is worse than feeling a pure crimson blade slice through his skin. Back then, he'd deserved it. He'd been so arrogant and angry and foolish, he'd deserved nothing less than the Mother's sweet embrace. Raile's back beneath his empty chest had been an offer contrary to everything else.]

[Has he deserved this, too?]

[He thought Zahi was...]

[It's hard to breathe. He wants very much to fall apart and just give up, because this is simply too much and he has had enough. His people are everything, and twice now they've turned on him. First, united. Second, now, so much more personal.]

[He wants to be done.]

[A burning in his chest murmurs Not yet.]

[Zulf isn't sure where he gets any strength from, to pull the shattered shards of his self together, but before he knows it, he's shoving through the crowd to get to the side.]

How do you know!?

[The newcomers to the Bastion haven't gotten a chance to be introduced to Zulf properly, or the depths of his lung capacity. They have that chance now, as his voice cuts through the cheering. He's pushed his way in front of the crowd and come to stand right in the middle of the path between Colin and Zahi. He's still pale, but he's forced his shaking to stop. With his shoulders pushed back and his hands folded neatly in front of himself, one over the other, he looks every bit the proper Ura diplomat he was once upon a time. There's a fury in his dark eyes, but it's not at Zahi. It's at himself.]

[What a fool he is. This must have been obvious to everyone besides himself.]

You speak so confidently on how easy this must be to fix, sir. You speak of time itself, of the most disastrous event to ever strike our world and many others, as though both are merely a wheel to be replaced on a wagon. You talk of it so easily even though you have never done such a thing before in your life!

Everyone! [He addresses the crowd, now.] Instead of a man giving you promises with nothing to back them as truth, listen to someone who has: myself!

This is not the first time a Calamity of this nature has ravaged at least one world. The first, it was Caelondia and the Tazal Terminals, and only four ever made it to this Bastion. Back then, with struggle, the Monument was brought to full power and we were given that choice! Restoring all that had been lost was a temptation no one could resist. Who wouldn't want to bring back so many lives lost? Lovers, family, friends, so many more- just like all of you now, we had lost so much and wanted to see it again. We would have given anything to stop another Calamity! We tried! Yet look around you. What do you think happened?

Some of you are Caels, others Ura. You know what Caelondia was like before this all happened: an enormous city guarded by walls which could not be pierced, with a military force so large it had to be divided into nine different groups. Trying to do something upfront would just create another Point Lemaign War, would cause just as much suffering and start another Calamity all over again. For you others, think on that information, and think of how useless you would be in your home away from doing any sort of help!

Perhaps you think, in contrast, something more subtle and long term could be te solution. Consider this: the Mancers who started the Calamity both times were such a paranoid and panicked lot that they only needed the slightest provocation to press the button that's twice now destroyed the lives of so many! The first Calamity happened because of a teenage girl sneaking out with a boyfriend. Anything at all could have them push that button, whether it is based in fact or not!

Would any of you attempt to fight an earthquake? Go hand to hand with a tsunami? No!

Sometimes, nothing can be fixed. Sometimes all we can do is move forward. There is nothing wrong with that!

None of us need to play as though we are better than Gods, messing with a past that may only become worse with our meddling, in order to make a better future! You can do that here, with the Bastion as it is! We can do it together, and only then when will we be able to move past the wounds that the Calamity bore onto us.

[She doesn't have the most complete grasp of what's going on, but she can smell the emotion in the air - the tension. Something's going to break soon.]

[And she's subtly moving closer to Ibuki, her senses and all the rest of her going on higher alert. If anything's set to go foul, her friend isn't going to be a part of it.]

[What are you all doing?]

[There's a quiet presence, moving through the crowd. He's aware that being a talking hawk won't endear him to a lot of people, but he has to say something. He can't just give up on his planet, on every planet. He pushes his way through the crowd, but when he speaks to Zulf it's with a soft voice, not an angry one.]

I understand that you went back. That you tried and it happened again. But... will it happen again? Changing a tiny thing can change a lot. And you're asking all of us to give up on all of our worlds.

... I'm not saying you're wrong. But I... I don't know if you realize what you're asking of everyone...

[Zulf just looks exhausted when Tobias speaks up.]

I'm well aware of what I'm asking. What tiny thing do you think could change that would stop this from happening all over again? From making this just another loop of tragedy and disaster?

[He understands that feeling, but...]

... I think you would know that better than I would. The last time I was in a time loop, I had to sabotage something so that a bomb wouldn't go off. I know how things can come down to the wire. If someone doesn't act in just the right way, it's all for nothing.

I just... I have a war to fight. I have my planet and a lot of other planets hanging in the balance. I don't know if I can just... walk away from that.

[It's surprising, to see Zulf's outburst like this. Surprising, but not unexpected. Zulf has always been the emotional one.

With Zulf, Zahi adopts a much more friendly tone. He is also speaking a lot more genuinely than he did with Colin, because Zahi actually does like Zulf.]

Come now, I do not mean to say that we shall simply go back and hope for the best. We shall all be working together, for the benefit of everyone.

[He steps towards Zulf, his hands extended outward in a friendly gesture.]

You had only four the first time, and you came so close to preventing it. Imagine what we could do with four thousand, or even more! I have armies at my disposal, all of whom will do whatever I ask of them. I have a plan, a solid plan that will get us to the observatory and to the weapon itself.

I am truly sorry, that you had to live through the Calamity twice. But you have my word, you won't have to again. And I would be honored, if you would come with us and help.

[For all his lies he has been saying, he honestly believes the words he is speaking now.]

Yeah, that'll work well. Thousands of Ura marching on Caelondia's walls or better yet, through her streets. Nothing will get them to NOT fire a super weapon like that. Brilliant deduction.

[Colin's still walking for his workshop, he's actually walking backwards now, watching Zahi, grinning.]

[Zahi, why do you have to be right in the middle of an enormous crowd, she needs to get your hair or something and that's more difficult to do with an audience.

For now she'll settle for joining the argument, her voice particularly spiteful. She can't believe she told you you were sweet.]

You're not just a liar, you're an idiot. You really think one mortal can flawlessly mastermind some way to turn back time and prevent a disaster that's affected this many dimensions? You aren't even considering the price. There is always a price, and it isn't just great shards of rock.

And please, tell us more about how you're interested in working together and how you've kept us all so well informed about your activities these past eight months.

[Maybe people have seen him. It'd be hard to miss him, the giant figure hanging near the back of the crowd. But now he steps forward, Golurk, Torkoal, Sigilyph, Umbreon, and Floette all around him. He stands behind Colin, large face somewhat scowling down at Zahi.]

Colin is correct. Take it from someone experienced - those who have weapons like that will find excuses to fire them, or build more and more destructive weapons. What you suggest will only lead to cycles of violence. Violence, bloodshed, and the repetition of history, literally or figuratively.

[His voice starts off quiet, but as he sweeps an arm to indicate the crowd around him, it grows louder, and he straightens up even taller. Even beneath his shabby clothing, there's a regal bearing there, a confidence that seems to firm up his movements and keep his speech clear and precise. He turns as he speaks, addressing the crowd as a whole.]

People of this world, of other worlds, we are at a crossroads. We can continue cycles of violence, of despair, of bloodshed and death for yourselves and your fellows, even beyond simple war - cycles of pain and loss, of losing people again and again and again. Of eventually dishonoring your bonds with the ones you care about most, with the ones that would be ashamed to see you spill the blood they so dearly cherish!

Or... we can build a new society together. Where we are not just Cael and Ura, natives and newcomers, where we work together and prove to every universe that our differences do not make us separate. Where we honor those who have fallen not with blood, not with anger, but with compassion and caring for each and every creature we can find.

Maybe you would call me an old fool for saying so. Maybe you think I've gone a bit crazy. But this is what I believe in my heart - that the bonds we share are best served with love and not hatred, with looking to the future and not the past. We can learn from the past, but if we ignore the lessons we have learned, we will repeat it over and over again.

[He falls silent, and hunches over a bit again. It's been a while since he's spoken like that.]

[Zayna is there, for the record, but she's being oddly quiet for some one who is blood related to the one vying for attention and calling for action from those still uncertain.

She has a good reason for it, though. She went along with her father's plan with every intention of helping him carry it out until the end. She had known what was at stake long before this moment, and it should have been enough to keep her from straying.

But then she met Zulf... and with the truths he told her she began to realize, painfully, what such a thing would do to not only him but to everyone else around them.

It was never easy to come to grips with knowing, understanding that some one you love and trust is completely, utterly, absolutely wrong. Nor is it easy to know what to do at that point, either.

Zayna listened, watched, intensely quiet and practically shaking with energy she didn't know what to do with. She stared at Zahi, at her father interacting with the one she had fallen so desperately in love with, terrified with each passing second that a hand would reach out in violence rather than admiration and affection.

What do I do...]

Bloodshed is not what I want, nor is it what I will push for. Everyone here has suffered so much already, I would not ask them to march to their deaths again.

No, my plan involves diplomacy, and a bit of diplomatic force. We couldn't do anything before, because we did not know that this weapon existed. With that knowledge, our game plan changes, and negotiations can happen. And failing that...

[He looks around at the Bastion members who have lived there for a while.]

Well, help from those with amazing powers would certainly be appreciated. Not for an attack, but to sneak in and destroy the weapon, or at least make it unusable. Minimal fuss, no harm to anyone, and every world is saved.

[And, to Anya specifically.]

It took a lot of coordination on my part to get everyone here in the first place. I have no doubts that we would have reached this conclusion eventually, I was just speeding up the process a bit.

Besides, without my help, this large group of allies and friends would have never made it here in the first place.

Edited 2015-10-16 03:12 (UTC)

And we are grateful that you helped to bring so many people to us so that we can help them in this time of need. However...

[He tilts his head a little bit, watching Zahi curiously. Umbreon drops into a fighting stance, growling softly.]

We've been told about the tension between the two nations. What reason do we have that any sort of attack on the machine would not raise alarm, and bring down an even worse weapon, a further wall between the two nations. From what I've heard this has been tried already with a smaller force. A larger force will only scare those who have their fingers on the button, not gently ask them to stop.

A band of people is worrisome. A group this large is war. Even if you succeed... what then? The hatred is still there. The plans for the machine are still there. What makes you think someone will not try it again?

[Zuko found her way into the crowd towards the end of Zulf's speech and she's been trying to get a handle on the discussion. Listening to Zahi now, she finds it hard to be outright angry with him, and she can't help thinking of her sister. She's always been a fantastic actress. She's fooled Zuko an embarrassing number of times, despite the mantra she's repeated at so many of their encounters. Azula always lies. Does Zahi?

Why bring all these people here if he's just arguing to use the reset function right away? To have the threat of force behind it, is the only answer Zuko can think of. When does he decide to "speed up the process" towards that?]

Whatever decision we make about what to do with the Bastion, we only have one shot at it. There's too many people who haven't even had the chance to think over the options. Since we don't know all the details of your plan, I'd say none of us have.

I know it's tempting, the idea of just going back to the way things were. It's been hard here. But if we do go back, most of us won't be able to do anything. We won't even be in the same world as Caelondia. Asking us to trust you with stopping the Calamity... It's a lot to ask. Maybe too much to ask.

[Her expression says it's definitely too much. She doesn't trust what Zahi is saying now, so why would she trust him with saving her world?]

[Rin wasn't far behind her at all. It was hard to look at Zahi now without feeling her stomach twist with worry and anxiety. She had worked so hard to become friends with all of the people here... to feed them and keep them as safe as she could. She didn't always succeed, but that didn't stop her from continuing to move forward even after so much loss.]

She's right, you know. Just because you have an army here doesn't mean they're gonna believe you when-- if you make it back. The rest of us would go back to our worlds and be stuck just... waitin'. Waitin' for it to happen all over again.

... if... if we all get sent back to our worlds...

[Ibuki's voice was loud and clear, because she was still near the microphone she'd set up for her concert]

[She looked over at Ikuri, the person standing closest to her, before just clinging onto her suddenly]

I... I can't... I don't...

I... I can't go back...

[She had just wanted to continue playing her music... and she was disappointed that her concert had been cut short to argue what they would do with the completed Bastion...]

[... but this was it. This was seriously the final discussion, wasn't it? She couldn't help the tears as she considered just what might happen next. If they decided to select restore... there was no guarantee she'd remember anything. It was likely she'd have to re-live those years of despair all over again...]

... Ikuri-chan... Ippo-chan...

... everybody...

The idea of losing all of you... of never seeing any of you ever again, I...

[... it was unfair to her friends that she'd lost in the calamity but...]

I can't ... please don't make me lose everything here... please!

... don't... don't send me back to the world I came from... that world full of despair...!

[This...this was a bit beyond Ippo's usual straightforward tendencies. It was a lot to take in, all things considered, but as per his usual, he decided to take care of what he could see in front of him, and right now that was Ibuki.

He took a few steps forward on the stage and placed a hand on her shoulder, even if just to let her know that he was there while he tried to find the right words. Admittedly it took him a few seconds, but he did finally figure out what he wanted to say to her.]

Hey...you don't have to cry okay? We're together, remember? We can handle anything if we put our minds to it and this situation isn't any different. Besides...I promised I wasn't going to leave you on your own, and you know I don't break my promises.

[He was hoping his smile would make her feel a little better...but considering the situation, it might only do so much. It was worth a shot though!]

[On the whole, this situation had moved a little fast for her. Before she knew it, they'd been swept up in the final decision for the Bastion - the fate-deciding course she'd hoped would not be for a long while yet. It felt too surreal.]

[Well, that element did. But much like Ippo, her heart was most drawn to what was closest to her - physically and otherwise; the part of all this she did understand, that she could respond to. Ibuki's tears would have pierced her on their own, but this...everything Ibuki was saying...it felt as though they were being pulled from Ikuri's own heart.]

[She didn't want to go back. A world of despair awaited...and it would not allow her to escape again, that much she knew. Nothing in Otherworld could have answered the threat that the infection possessed; there wasn't even a hypothetical response, no plan of action. If Ikuri was drawn back...it would be the death of her in every sense. And so much worse it would be, knowing what love had felt like, what family had felt like...]

[Being able to keep what was human; only starting to appreciate it, too late. And even if her memory were rewritten...all that meant was forgetting everything wonderful about the Bastion and her life here. Zuko, Ibuki, Colin, Ippo, Megaera...Otoha, Parthuurnax...]

[...it would be just like every other illusion she suffered back home. Hope for a better life, for an escape from the nightmare... only to find herself back where she started. No, she would not go back there. She couldn't. Especially not now...knowing that Ibuki feared return to her homeworld also, hearing that it too was a place of despair.]

[She didn't want that. Not for herself, not for the one she loved most.]

[If any doubt remained about what their course must be, Ibuki swept it away. Simply going back to the past, revisiting everything horrible about it... that will not do. This man may have been convinced he could fix what went wrong in his own world, but he knew nothing of the horrors that had engulfed hers.]

[She would like see him partake of those horrors, the darker part of her thought. See him shiver and wince after feeling them taste him. Where would his confidence be then?]

[Her arms had been around Ibuki ever since it had become clear that the poor girl was upset...but for all the prior thoughts, her hold's that much tighter - protective now, even vaguely hostile, as though she expects some menace to come from the crowd at any moment.]

No. We cannot go back.

Our worlds are different. Mine alone...was broken by something mightier than you, capable of surpassing all your best weapons and intelligence. You may be intent on saving your own world, but I cannot allow it at the cost of what we have built.

[But for all that tough talk, she seems to hesitate...and then, unexpected to her, she softens.]

I know what it is to want back what you knew. I know that pain...I understand it. I mourn for those who have left me even now. Sometimes, still, I wake at night...and I will cry for them. I will pray with my heart to get them back; I will offer up anything, so I believe...

But I realize then that I cannot offer up the happiness of others. I cannot give her happiness away, [she says, obviously meaning Ibuki but making no outward indication of it,] even if it means my home and those I cared for must stay dead.

We have a home now. All of us do. The Bastion is that... it's a home for those without any. A place for the lost. If we sacrifice that, for this restoration you speak of...we would destroy the hope we've found, for a hope that may be impossible in the end. We would forfeit everything we've worked for, everything we were fortunate enough to find, strong enough to build, and brave enough to defend. Our hope...our family...our community... our future.

I still mourn those I lost. But every day, I find the strength to rejoice in who I have. This place and these people, they healed me. They took me in and accepted me when I was nearly too shattered to ever belong anywhere. They returned my humanity to me.

And you would erase that? Erase my love, my family, and send me back to hell?

You cannot, Zahi. You cannot.

Edited 2015-10-17 16:27 (UTC)

If you want to stay together, then stay here, in the Bastion.

The Bastion itself is causing time to go backwards, so it would need to keep itself 'the same', so to speak, to fulfill it's process. That is, I believe, why Zulf and the others were able to keep their memories of past events, instead of forgetting them along with everyone else. They were in the Bastion at the time.

If I am correct, then everyone who is currently within the Bastion would be taken to Caelondia along with the Bastion itself, and retain their memories of what happened. Those outside of it would be sent back to where they came from, just like all the monsters from last time. So those who wanted to help me, or those who wanted to stay together, they could come with us to the past of Caelondia.

I know many of you are ambivalent to the idea of going back, but it is really our best choice. At the absolute worst, we end up back where we are now. It is very little risk for the chance to fix everything.

Edited 2015-10-17 22:12 (UTC)

Monsters From "Last Time"?

Do you have anything to back up your statement? Or do you just want everyone to believe that you know what you're talking about?

Because so far, I can prove that at least two bits of what you're saying are wrong.,

One of which is absolutely, catastrophically wrong.

Edited 2015-10-17 23:30 (UTC)

[Going back would have brought so much lost to Rin, like her sister and all of the friends her and Ryuji left behind. She would see people she had missed for so long, be able to hug them again, and tell them how special they were to her...

There was a part of her that ached for that, so much so that she nearly considered what Zahi was trying to do as something worth doing.

But hearing Ibuki cry, hearing Ikuri stand her ground, even Colin's words of distrust and uncertainty brought her back to where she had been before all that. She shook her head, squaring her shoulders as she stood with the others.]

You can't promise anything! You can't! All you're doin' is goin' on the assumption that this is even gonna work, let alone actually let us stay here while everythin' is bein' changed!

Why are you willin' to risk so damn much on this?! You said so yourself, that the worst possible outcome is that we wind up back here! Do you even understand how much pain that would cause so many of us?!

[This time she addressed the rest of them, hoping to sway those who were still uncertain.]

How many of you have lost people you cared about here?! How many of you have watched some one you loved fall to the monsters on the skyway, to starvation and illness and everythin' else that has hit us here?! Do you really want those people to return only to suffer again?! That is this man's "worst case scenario" if his plan fails! Think about that!

[Ryu's been silent through all of this, trying to be a solid pillar of strength and hope and determination, but as everyone speaks, he just... seems to crumple. To turn inward. He doesn't want to hurt people, and he doesn't want this to happen again... but to abandon his world? To allow everyone to simply die, without a chance to bring them back?]

[To abandon half his soul and continue with this horrible emptiness in his heart?]

[... He doesn't know what to do. He just wavers there, keeping his mouth shut as tears start to stream down his cheeks.]

They will not die again, because this time we would have more information to go on, and we could save them!

[He is getting more insistent now.]

What of your sister? Or even the other version of her, from another world? You cannot tell me that you would not take the risk for her sake!

And for all of you- [He is addressing the whole crowd now, not just the PCs. Because he has to win them over too.] -yes, it is a risk. But aren't your loved ones worth it? That is what I am fighting for, so that my daughters and grandchildren may survive the Calamity and live on. Don't you want that too?

This is our best option.

[Zahi please stop trying to appeal to sentiment. She gets wanting to but that doesn't make it the right choice. Zuko's made some very wrong choices based on what she wanted, instead of the facts.]

We don't know enough to say that it's our best option.

There aren't any experts here on how the Bastion works. Or how the Calamity works either.

Winding up back where we are now isn't the worst possible outcome. The first time it happened, only people from this world wound up here, right? We don't know if it hit any other worlds before. Maybe repeating it made it worse. Trying again could just make the Calamity spread. And then all of us would be responsible for that much more destruction.

What the Bastion can do has already been tried. I don't want to give up on our worlds, but I think it makes more sense to keep moving forward. We have a lot of smart people here. If we all work together so we don't have to worry about fighting each other or just surviving, we might be able to find another way.

1/2

2/2 tl;dr you stop that

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SPEEEEECH

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