Video, backdated to 8/10

[hythlodaeus]

[The video is trained on cracked open Cofagrigus, the flashlight from the 'gear turned on to try to illuminate the contents. Even still, they are difficult to discern.]

I hope everyone is having a fine time in Sinnoh, and this is quite the impossible time for a little emergency... Solus went missing, but I was able to find him. The Cofagrigus is being quite disagreeable—

[And as if to make Hythlodaeus look like an asshole, it opens up wide enough to get his hand in. And he does. With the light and camera on Solus' face, he doesn't even stir.]

[Hythlodaeus' muffled voice comes from outside the Cofagrigus.]

How does he loo— Ah!

[The only warning that the Cofagrigus gives that he's about to slam shut is a low pitched groan and a slight widening of his lid. Hythlodaeus drops his phone to slide his hand out in time. The phone lands beside Solus, giving everyone a weird angle of him unmoving save for his breathing.]

[This continues for several minutes, until there's the sound of coins on stone. The Cofagrigus snaps open again, and Hythlodaeus retrieves his phone just in time for it to close and the Cofagrigus to scurry onto the ceiling. He swaps the camera back to his face.]

... Did you happen to get a good look at him?

Comments

[stardiving]

[Estinien is taking a moment to check in when he sees Hythlodaeus' message--he pauses to watch.

It's...a little disturbing, the fact that he's in a coffin, but.]

It seems as if he is sleeping.

[hythlodaeus]

[Coffin, sarcophagus, whatever. It's fine. He's fine.]

It does, does it not? He's been like this for hours. He enjoys his rest, but... This is a little extreme, even for him. When did you speak with him last?

[stardiving]

Afore we left.

Are you unable to wake him?

[Estinien looks slightly worried, at least, but it's not like there's a lot he can do about it, since he's. Not in the area.]

[hythlodaeus]

He's a heavy sleeper, but I would think with the cacophonous snapping of the Cofagrigus' lid he would have stirred by now.

[Hythlodaeus frowns.]

I wonder if he's fallen ill.

[stardiving]

His breathing did not seem labored or otherwise obstructed.

[Though if there was anything wrong with his aether, such signs would not necessarily show as such. But this place's rules are different. Surely they still have aether, but no one seems to think it anything to watch for.]

With a serious illness, there would surely have been signs leading up to it. Do you recall anything amiss?

[hythlodaeus]

I appreciate that, for my notes. [There's definitely aether of some sort, but everything here is definitely fuuuucked up, huh.]

...Not that I can put my finger on. He was perhaps a little more irritable, but that was likely in response to my own actions.

You went along to Sinnoh, did you not? I went over to clean, but you are away often enough as it is...

[stardiving]

You could tell a difference?

[Isn't he irritable like, all the time?]

I did, Ardbert as well. You need not worry about the state of things, tis not for you to be our housekeep.

[He doesn't exactly keep a lot there, as you've probably noticed. Not that he keeps a lot in general.]

[hythlodaeus]

But of course! There is nuance and subtlety to his moods. It would do you well to learn them, though he seems to have quite the soft spot for you.

[ Plus Estinien didn’t go out of his way to annoy him. ]

Ah, but someone has to clean! Is it not quite nice to come back to a clean home and a stocked pantry? Which... When will you two be arriving once again.

You are traveling with him, then? I’ve managed to miss him nearly every time. I really must give him a proper welcome.

[stardiving]

[Estinien just looks skeptical about that comment. Sure, he doesn't antagonize the man, but...that hardly means they're friends.]

It shall be yet a fortnight. Tis no way for us to return earlier.

[So, you're going to be alone in the house with a sleeping Emet-Selch. To be honest, that's somewhat worrisome. He's gotten better, to be sure, but Hythlodaeus' fundamental lack of understanding of how capitalism works has bitten the man before.]

Aye. We are not in each other's pockets, but we are staying together.

[hythlodaeus]

[ It’s a really low bar sometimes, Estinien ]

We will be fine, you needn’t worry about us. If you happen to return with a few keepsakes for him, they won’t go amiss.

[ Excuse you, just because without supervision Hythlodaeus has bought every fat percentage and type of milk alternative all at once— ]

Is that what they call it nowadays?

[ As if anything either of them say could be called nowadays. ]

[stardiving]

[Did you dig a trench and bury it?]

Tis for the best that you and he stayed behind, mayhap. The trip over would have been difficult for a man of your height.

[Airplanes are awful, he is decidedly not a fan.]

I hardly know. Most would call our manner of speech antiquated.

[hythlodaeus]

Difficult... How so?

[ He would have laid in the aisle and who could have stopped him? ]

To be thirty-two and an antique, how tragic.

[stardiving]

They seem to see fit to cram as many of us in the death traps they call "airplanes" as possible. I imagine tis not as much of a problem for those of what passes for average height here, that being anyone less than six fulms.

[He shrugs. He's not as tall as you are, but he's Well Over That.

At the second comment, he rolls his eyes.]

Weren't you the one who said they had food in their desk drawers older than I?

[hythlodaeus]

My, my! Well, I will be sure to claim more than one seat for myself. I could simply offer to hold children to make up for it.

[He said, coming from a time and place where this wasn't strange.]

And that is why it is so tragic! Such a dutiful young man. Ah yes, will you be bringing Solus some souvenirs?

[video]

[paladinlost]

[Such trouble, while nearly everyone flew off to Sinnoh? Cecil is no proper white mage, but he can at least try to help.]

Breathing evenly enough, but no reaction at all to the noise made by your broadcast... In such a short time, it's difficult to tell if he is merely asleep, or...

[There is that other option, but he'll need more clues.]

How long has he been in there? Do you know if he willingly climbed in, or if the Cofagrigus was responsible for this?

[video]

[hythlodaeus]

A day at least. And... knowing the cofagrigus, it likely chose this. It is protective of him, even if it is difficult to control.

[He looks at the other, trying to just... put together as much information as he can with such a brief exchange.]

Yet I have no confirmation one way or the other. No evidence, no explanation. I fear there is little I can do but wait.

[video]

[paladinlost]

Unless he'd been ill previously, no natural sleep would last so long... Likely a home coma, then. He'll wake up after a full week, but be warned. Depending on what he's lived through, he may wake up upset and disoriented.

[Hopefully, this somewhat strange and alarming diagnostic is offset but Cecil's calm tone and almost relieved expression.]

[hythlodaeus]

No, no. No illness that I noticed nor that he complained of. [And he would have definitely complained about it.]

...Explain the "home coma", if you would.

[paladinlost]

It's... somewhat difficult to explain, but it's something that can happen to any of us during our stay, perhaps barring those who were brought here after their death.

[For reasons that should become very clear very soon.]

Those who are afflicted fall in a week-long coma. But while their bodies sleep in this world, their minds return home. They might go through a single day, or perhaps a few years instead, before they wake here again with those new memories.

[He taps his fingers thoughtfully.]

When it happened to me, I lived through... a few days? A week, perhaps? Hidden from the sun as we were, it was difficult to tell. Simultaneously, I recalled events that had occured nearly two decades prior, and been actively suppressed by a divine power. Unless a person from their future is already present here and knows what to expect, it's difficult to tell how someone will react upon waking up.

[hythlodaeus]

That is.... as fascinating as it is worrying. Or perhaps relieving. I may only know once he wakes.

[But these leading details quite do their job of serving him a distraction.]

Then I have little choice but to wait this week. This sounds to be a harrowing experience, though you state that your body had not left. Has this adjustment been difficult for you?

[paladinlost]

With any luck, he'll have had a pleasant time. A lovely year spent meeting new people and discovering new hobbies, perhaps.

[Yes, that is most certainly it.]

Frankly, though it was disorienting, it was also a relief. When I was first brought to this world, my home was at risk of being consumed by the True Moon. My temporary return allowed me to confirm that we would save it; thus, I can now properly enjoy this land without worrying about its fate.

[hythlodaeus]

... Would that could be true.

[And remembering that he’s not supposed to know what happens— ]

Yet it is fully possible. I should not give in to my worry.

[Even if his general demeanor seems rather unbothered... ]

You have lived here for quite some time, then?

[paladinlost]

There'd be no point in it, considering that there's nothing that can be done about the situation. Other than keeping his body safe, but I believe that Cofagrigus has that covered.

[In a very literal manner.]

Ten years at the end of the month. Far above average, yet this land still has plenty of surprises to share.