shiningbinds | 10th sin

[Kratos has been getting hit with the echoes pretty badly. Being in house eight, he's seen Yuan pretty often--it was the first encounter that made him realize that trying to interact with any others would be absolutely pointless. Every so often, as he travels around town, he'll spot others he knew during their stay in Luceti--Estelle, Rapunzel, Patty, Silver, Misato... it's an infuriating thing, and he tries not to let it get to him.

But it's hard not to, when he also catches glimpses of his former student as well. When he catches glimpses of Lloyd out of the corner of his eye. The echoes of his son are the ones that hit him the most, the ones that hurt the most. ...even if he rightfully deserves that pain.

He's been doing things to keep his mind busy--it's a good thing he has errands to run anyway, isn't it? Feel free to catch him on the way to, during, or the way from stocking up on supplies--things for both himself and the sloth Yuan left behind, because he feels obligated. In the afternoon, he'll send a message he's been meaning to send for a while.]

[Voice, filtered to Lance, 85%]

My apologies for getting back to you so belatedly. When is a good time for us to meet up?

[Then at night, he'll sit on the roof of his home and look up at the stars. He's trying very, very hard to relax his nerves from all of this.]

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[She nods to confirm that suspicion, it was hard not to notice all the other villagers talking about it lately.]

"He has stayed with me since—" [And she falters for split second.] Zompania, but he's stayed closer recently."

[...Zompania. The most grotesque battle he had been part of since arriving in Luceti. One that had unsettled him, despite being no stranger to war. It isn't a subject he likes to think about too terribly, but it does explain a couple things.]

It's understandable that he would remain by your side during times that would be stressful for you.

[The smile she gives now is a tired one, prompting Colonel to whine softly. He really had been a comfort during this time, but there was only so much he could do against the nightmares and these apparitions.]

"Right now is stressful for nearly everyone, I believe."

[He sighs.]

I'm afraid that I cannot disagree with you on that. There's very little--if anything at all--that could have prepared us for what happened back then, and what's happened after.

[She looks at him for several moments, her expression back to neutral as she mulled over his words. She'd wondered since then what she could have done to better prevent any of what happened, even if it was pointless to think about.]

"I wasn't aware you were there too."

[He nods slightly.]

Yes, I had the... fortune of being there as well. [It's obvious that he doesn't find it to truly be that fortunate.] Of seeing one more layer of brutality our enemy possesses.

[Tear nods, stopping herself from frowning at the word 'fortunate.' She understood what he meant by it.]

"My—" [And this time she really falters, before pressing forward.] "boyfriend was on the Iron Eye mission. He described the weapon, but we still couldn't imagine this."

Hm... to be honest, I do not think that this is something any of us could have imagined.

[Even him, with all his knowledge of what happened in the human ranches. Cruxis caused a lot of cruel things, especially where the actions of the Desians were concerned, but what they had come across in Zompania... it was something else entirely.]

"Probably not. But it haunted him." [She remembers trying to comfort and reason with him the night he came home, and the look on his face once they were pulled into that draft. She shakes her head to clear away those memories, the night was cold enough as it was without thinking about that.]

"But just how far will the effects of it go?"

[He sighs in response to how troubled she seems.]

Hopefully not too much further. However, we must be prepared for anything--especially after what we've witnessed and experienced.

"We can try to be." [To which Colonel belts out a high-pitched yelp, nearly making her jump before she gives another exasperated smile.]

"Colonel seems to think so."

[For a moment, there may be faint amusement in Kratos' features. They fade away as quickly as they came, however.]

Of course. To not attempt to do so at all would be absolutely foolish.

[Tear had noticed, but knows better than to draw attention to it—if it's something he wanted to share, then that decision would be up to him.]

"But out of all the effects resulting from that time, this was the least expected."

I can only agree with that.

[As unfortunate as it is.]

[Tear nods once, now absently petting Colonel while wondering what else there was to say. She could understand the desire for solitude, but knowing he was also seeing people of the past makes her hesitant to leave him.

Then again, was it really any of her business?]

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