transport log » ❝ welcome to Exsilium ❞

[initiates]

Date: January 3rd
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports have all arrived and have been led to a banquet room within the Hold.
Warnings: None.

You've just been hustled and bustled through mazes of information and literal, wide corridors of the Initiative Hold and you've been equipped with your weapon—be it a gun, a sword, or even your existing powers. They've handed you this light netbook and a small pouch of coins (or a debit card, if you're more inclined), and there are several Transports before and after you going through the very same motions. You can hear the Greeter's voice as she walks alongside large groups, telling them all about the history of this place and sharing with you your purpose here in a hurried and urgent tone. "You're in luck that we have enough rooms for all of you; the housing building is getting awfully full. Please, let me show you into the courtyard."

You pass what looks like huge gymnasiums, all with dummies and targets strewn and splayed around the room. Training areas. There are even classrooms, and a few small offices. You're rushed past a large library while the Greeter informs you that you can find almost all your information there, if you've got the time to look—and trust her, you'll have time. You don't spend a lot of time in the bank, and it's a bit of a blur of exchanges with more and more of these strangely-accented and oddly polite-seeming members of the Initiative.

Soon enough, you're in a massive courtyard bustling with all the other Transports. It's not exactly what you'd expect, and it looks more like barracks than anything—huge walls of concrete and stone, separating you from all of the hallways you'd just passed through. It's raining heavily, and dark clouds loom in the air, though it hasn't turned to snow. It's a chill cold, and there are shelters—long cloth hangings that extend from the walls of concrete to house you from the rain, but not enough. Most notably, the courtyard is filled with a marketplace. Even in the cold and the rain, there are several citizens seated at their covered booths and tables, bundled up against the weather. They're selling all manner of their own handmade goods and foods, and citizens and Transports alike are traveling from one small covered shop to another in search of all manner of necessities.

The Greeter's voice has become so faint now, but you swear you can make it out in the back of the crowds as she tells you, "Good luck. Be safe!"

Her voice is drowned out by the busy marketplace, though even the transactions taking place are somewhat subdued. Nobody is overly happy, really, though most citizens can be found with smiles on their faces. It doesn't seem like they're that shocked to see you, either; even if you're not bound in tattered rags and wrapped in heavy shawls as they are. You're welcome to walk up to a shop, and find yourself something to eat—hey, maybe you'll even find something akin to a raincoat. Or, you can join the others under the coverings against the walls. Where am I? What war? She was talking so fast, and it didn't all make very much sense… did anyone else catch it all?

Welcome to the courtyard. Welcome to the Initiative Hold—and most importantly, welcome to Exsilium

Comments

[struckout]

[ And there you go- any thoughts Lightning might have had suggesting that this is wrong, that this could be anything less than real, are utterly destroyed the moment Serah is near enough to touch. For all that she feels stunned beyond the ability to react properly, she manages to lift her arms anyway, wrapping them around her automatically and - to nobody's surprise - finding it very, very difficult to parse the idea of letting go.

For that matter, she doesn't even care that from what she knows of how time works here, this could turn out complicated. Outside of this situation, she could admit perfectly well that even if Serah shows up, that doesn't mean she'll know what Lightning knows, the reasons behind the guilt still threatening to eat her alive...

Right now all she's concerned about is this and... well, trying her best to not just burst into relieved tears over it. After all, they're still being rained on and everything. ]

[rescuer]

[ Unlike Lightning, she makes no effort to hold back all the emotions this reuinion is giving her. Tears stream down her cheeks, mixing with raindrops as she looks up into her eyes. There was no doubting it now – this really was Lightning. Not a hollow copy like the one from her dream. She could just tell.

This entire situation may be happening sooner than she expected, but Serah certainly isn't going to complain. Who knows, perhaps time just works differently for the dead. What seemed like a short while for her may have been an eternity for Lightning. Not that it mattered, anyway; the important thing is that they were together once again.

And this fact made her sure of one thing: however long it had been since they last saw each other, Lightning hadn't forgotten her. The thought makes her smile, even as the tears continue to flow from her eyes. ]

I knew you'd keep your promise.

[struckout]

[ Lightning immediately assumes she knows which 'promise' is being referred to, naturally, but does she know for sure? Not 100%, but- ]

Of course.

[ It almost hurts to think Serah could imagine she wouldn't, regardless of the content of said promise. It makes no difference- if Serah asked her to do something, not even death would come anywhere close to getting in her way of trying to fulfill it. End of the world? End of reality as they knew it? Doesn't matter.

She shifts but still makes no sign of releasing the girl, looking down as she assesses her, gathers what thoughts she can at the moment... ]

[rescuer]

[ Serah peers back, content just to look at Lightning rather than ask about their surroundings. They were safe. They were together. Questions could wait. She had gotten the gist of the situation already, anyway.

After a while of quiet embrace, her stomach begins to growl involuntarily. Her journey was a long one and she didn't really get to make any pit stops along the way. Saying she's hungry would be an understatement. Pulling away a bit, she looks toward the covered part of the courtyard. ]

We should probably get out of the rain.

[ And get something to eat. That would be great. ]

[struckout]

[ ... Well, if that's not proof that the young woman is very much alive, nothing is. Pulling away is reluctant on Lightning's part, but then... miraculously, she takes a breath, straightens, and promptly seems to manage sorting herself out. For all of the shock, if there's one thing she's good at, it's snagging hold of all her thoughts and emotions and moving forward anyway- no matter how overwhelmed she feels.

Call it not just a talent but something she's almost depressingly practiced at by now; when she manages to speak again, her tone is just as steady as ever, her movements more or less completely natural as she steps to the side. Yes, getting out of the rain's prooobably a good idea. ]

There's little reason to stay out here for long.

[ After they've found something to eat, likely. She feels through her pockets, that scarf from before totally forgotten by now. ]