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[gautsome]

[There's no vibrant smile when Sylvain opens the line. There isn't even a Sylvain for that matter. It's just text on a screen, a message carefully tapped out.]

Hey.
I'm looking to talk to someone who has left this place and come back again. Either actually leaving, or just that weird sleeping thing.
I... Have some questions. I could really use some help.

Comments

[gautsome]

We have a lot of magic users in our group. Annette and Lysithea are the best I know of. And Claude is brilliant.

And that's just our group. I do not doubt that there are even more powerful people here in their own rights.

... Maybe there's a chance.

[paladinlost]

My own magical ability is limited, but perhaps my experiences with multiple worlds can compensate for that. I know there are many people here who would prefer having the possibility to choose, even if they personally wish to stay.

This would be much easier with direct access to the local 'divinities', of course, but Arceus is sadly not as easy to contact as Cosmos or Materia. We'd have to manage without.

[gautsome]

I could live without being here, you know.
I just don't want to forget about it.
I've learned a lot even in a few months -- we all have. I don't want to forget it.
And I don't want other people to forget what I've told them.

I get the strangest feeling that Arceus wouldn't care, even if we tried.

[paladinlost]

From what I can tell, Arceus likes us, actually. Which hardly means communication is easy, mind you. Still, it may be sympathetic to your plight.

To ensure we can remember this land, the first step would be to find out why and how our memories are erased in the first place. Is it a side effect of traveling between worlds, is it a deliberate choice by the magic that has brought us here?

[gautsome]

If it's a deliberate choice, then that makes Arceus sound a little less friendly, even if you want to insist otherwise.
That's usually how it is with gods. They pretend to have your best interest at heart, but...
Ah, never mind. Don't worry about it.

[paladinlost]

Oh, believe me, it can be even worse when they do have your best interest in mind, but no idea how to achieve it. Cosmos' sacrifice may have allowed my comrades and I to return home safely back then, but watching an unarmed woman burn alive was still an horrifying experience.

For all of its power, Arceus remains a Pokémon. How much does it understand the hearts of humans, be they local or summoned?

[gautsome]

[Honestly, forget all of that other stuff --]

Dude.
Are you good?

[paladinlost]

Why would I not be? That happened decades ago; I've had plenty of time to make my peace with her decision, even if I wish she'd tried looking for other solutions before choosing death.

Stabbing the culprit a few times helped, mind you, but I've no doubt you can think of at least one reason why that is currently not an option for us in this world.

[gautsome]

Yeah, uh... Let's just say I know people that know people with religious trauma and... Most of them aren't "good." But I guess decades ago would help?

[Sylvain makes a note to himself: Don't fuck with Cecil.]

[paladinlost]

Ah, I must have miswritten the circumstances. There was no religion involved; she summoned us to war endlessly in her stead, grew attached to us, chose to defy the cycle and the system in order to free us from her world, and died in order to do so. We did not worship her, nor did she ever ask us to, but we always valued her advice and her attempts to counsel up.

Besides, she chose warriors as her champions. We'd all seen worse before, even the children.