seasonsrpg | 🔥 Permanent Catch-All 🔥

[ She shakes her head no. ]

I'm good. I hope you weren't waiting for me too long. I would have been here sooner, but I had a last-minute delivery.

[ She should probably be dressed in something warmer, but there wasn't really time to change. Besides--if she could manage Dragonspine's chill in just her dress, she could manage this, too. ]

How about you, are you ready?

Mm, I'm ready.

[He arrived ready and from there it was just a matter of waiting for Lumine to arrive while he fought against the instinct to regret all of his life choices at this point. Diluc would readily admit that he resents needing to do things like this when he in no way asked to be here at all, but he can also acknowledge that that is just his bitterness at having been dragged here talking.

Still not over it, sorry not sorry.]

And I wasn't waiting for too long. I can still feel my fingers and toes. [He shoots her a faint smile.] It sounds like you're keeping busy, as usual.

[ At least he's here with someone who can understand that sentiment. ]

Best way to keep myself from thinking too long about how we're being exploited by the powers that be and working myself into an enraged depression.

[ She'd do finger guns here, but she's pretty sure he wouldn't understand that gesture. ]

[At least he is... it's always refreshing to not have to defend or explain his point of view... not that he does that often anyway. People can think what they like.]

Mm, then we're of the same mind on that count.

[Sigh. He rubs the side of the bridge of his nose with his thumb for a moment, closing his eyes. It's frustrating, being here... not being able to do anything about it... He doesn't like it.]

Let's just get on with this, shall we? Before I change my mind about it.

[ She nods, the humor draining from her face and leaving her with a somber expression. ]

Let's.

[ The heels of her boots click on the stone underfoot. It's lucky that the stone is textured and her boots have a good grip, because the snowfall here has been heavy and the open air above and below has made it a tad icy. It's not long before they reach the middle. ]

I guess this is it.

[ Her words leave small clouds suspended in the air as she waits to see what will happen. ]

[He's careful in following her, making sure each step is planted firmly so there's no chance of him slipping on the icy ground, but it's easy enough to keep pace. When she draws to a stop he pauses beside her, then makes his way over to the side of the bridge and leans against the railing to look out over the view.]

It seemed they don't expect anything dangerous to happen. [Diluc says thoughtfully.] But I'm hardly inclined to take them at their word.

[He falls silent for a few moments then drops his head slightly and sighs before turning to her.]

It does make me wonder why they can't send their own people.

[ She nods. ]

I wondered too. If it's not something magical or inherently dangerous beyond icy patches, surely they're just as capable of dealing with it as we are. And yet...

[ She makes a gesture to indicate their current predicament. Sometimes she feels like maybe she's a bigger sucker than she realizes... ]

Maybe they don't believe they have the mental fortitude.

["And yet", and that really is the crux of the issue, isn't it? And yet. And yet they don't know if they can trust the people who sent them here. And yet they don't know if there are dangers to face on this bridge that they haven't been told about...

His expression turns a little wry as he glances Lumine's way.]

Maybe they don't, yet why would they believe that we - strangers to this world - would fare any better?

[He shakes his head. Trying to make sense of it could give anyone a headache and Lumine is not alone in feeling like she's been suckered into this.]

We can't do anything but wait now, if we don't intend to leave. It shouldn't be too much longer.

[ She shrugs. ]

Maybe they don't. Maybe they think there's such a large degree of failure, they'd rather see us be the canaries for their coal mine. Personally, though, I think we've probably been through things that most of the people in Elispa have never even imagined. Tougher stock.

[ It's as good a theory as any. ]

[ The light on the bridge suddenly begins to intensify--to such a degree that it's not ignorable. ]

It's happening.

Ah.

[No mistaking that light, and as it grows brighter he has to bring his arm up to shield his eyes from the glare of it. Even with that shade he still finds himself wincing but luckily it does not last so long that he needs to snap his eyes shut against it completely.]

Ngh-- Some more precise warning would have been appreciated.

[And... what now? He blinks the spots out of his eyes and looks around.]

Something ought to be happening, correct?

[ She nods. ]

They said something about people seeing things. Presumably, we ought to start having hallucinations of some sort.

[ So far, though, it's just bright lights for her. ]

Do you see anything?

[Bright lights... they'd said something about that before sending them over here. As for the hallucinations, well, he's prepared to deal with something that he knows isn't real.

At least, he thinks he is, until he looks at Lumine to answer her question and finds his voice dying in his throat.]

You--... [When he's finally able to speak, it's barely a rasp in his throat.]

You could say that.

What is it?

[ The way he's staring at her and the way his voice has gone froggy.... She turns around, looking to see if there's anything behind her. But there's nothing there but bright light and the bridge.

When she turns back around she gasps, having gotten a shock of her own. ]

... Diluc? Is that... still you?

[ It has to be. Because if it isn't... ]

It's still me.

[And it's still her, because it has to be, because if it isn't then he's finally lost his marbles completely.

Still, he does have to look away from her, because that... isn't something he can see right now without his emotions tying themselves in knots. His father standing there clear as day.]

Oh, I hate this so much.

Is everything all right?

[ She can't say that she's a fan of it herself--seeing Greater Lord Rukkhadevata when she knows she's dead is unnerving at best--but that's a considerably strong reaction. ]

What do you see?

Ah-...

[He doesn't look up, and if this was not Lumine he would be very keenly trying to find a way out of here right at this moment. It's only his trust in her that keeps him in place.]

... My father.

[Someone Lumine had never met, someone who had never been in this place, so could only have been plucked directly from his own memories.]

Crepus Ragnvindr.

Oh.... He passed away, didn't he?

[ She remembers the servants talking about his father in passing--and of course, he's the owner of the winery, so it stands to reason that Crepus is no longer of this world (or any other living world, for that matter). ]

I'm so sorry. It must be painful to see him again like this.

[ As disturbing as the late goddess is, that's nothing compared to a family member. ]

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Re: for Lumine (@glidinglight) | Bridge of the Lost

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