etcircenses: (reverse)
Panem Events ([personal profile] etcircenses) wrote in [community profile] thearena2016-05-10 07:54 pm

The Last Flower Girl

Who| The rebels and a scientist from the Districts. For now… (later: EVERYONE)
What| The Revival Mechanism is discovered. Things fall into place. (A Whole Lot Of Meta.)
Where| A facility nestled in the mountains between District 2 and the Capitol.
When| Now.
Warnings/Notes| Please put warnings in headers. The Scientist’s spot will unfreeze for commenting when this log reachers 20 comments or when time is up.

Regardless of whether District two became a win or a loss for the rebellion, they’ve managed to claim the most important of prizes while the Capitol and District was distracted. In the mountains just between the many cities of District two and that of the Capitol itself, a secret base has been uncovered and claimed. Offworlder-loyal rebels call for it to be investigated personally by them. Though the call itself had been vague, it’s not hard for the rebels arriving now to see why they were called.

Nestled in a cave carved out of the mountain, the secret base features a number of hovercrafts at its entrance, and inside, stark white lab rooms lit up bright with many offices to the front. A wide hall cuts straight through them with wheeled hospital beds sitting unused to the sides.The hall opens to a cavernous area, the walls and ceiling all made of the mountain’s natural stone. Desks for scientists, mechanics, and medics are all around but it’s the center of the room that truly pulls the eye.

An enormous metal machine with a circular frame sits in the center. Within it lies a vortex of such color and light it becomes difficult to look at after mere seconds. Yet for all it deters the eyes, it calls, especially to the offworlders. The closer one gets, the stronger the sense that passing through it will correct some cosmic flaw. It is for this reason that it seems to be well blocked off with clear gates. These gates can be pushed through but sticker signs upon them warn not to do so. The sign, drawn like a typical hazard warning, shows a person being disintegrated into little dots by the portal upon reaching it. A note explains that only pure energy can pass through the Revival Mechanism. Attempting to pass anything through the portal will reduce it to energy. It seems things may come out but not go in-- without being turned to energy first that is.

Over along the side of this are many rather massive machines and computers. The computers show many a near-indecipherable code. Others are a little more recognizable as showing coordinates of sorts. Upon further investigation, rebels may find these coordinates are not for any place in the Districts, but for worlds and times far beyond. It maps out like brain synapses, stretching on eternally. Certain coordinates have been marked with red and are noted hazards. The ones lit with gold seem to be ones with a missing person or two-- people that may very well be standing there and looking at said lights. Many others have a blue-ish-grey light. These seem to indicate another issue entirely; “Energy seize. Port no longer reachable”. If one takes a particularly close look they’ll notice familiar names in the blue-grey sections, people who haven’t come back for a long time. They may also notice one of the golden lights has the coordinates for… Panem itself. The name of the person is encrypted heavily.

Not everything is kept on the computers however. There are many, many complicated and detailed notes left upon the desks. Some discuss things like Tribute vital signs. There’s a long analysis written in clinical terms of how the pull-process of the Revival Mechanism essentially kills the person by reducing them and their closely associated items on pass-through to pure energy. However, in bringing them to Panem, the Revival Mechanism quickly reassembles that energy. It seems that the process of destruction and recreation is the major cause of Offworlder unconsciousness when being revived, allowing Offworlder Transport to bring them back to the Tribute Tower before they ever wake.

An electronic wipe-board over by a set of table and chairs goes over the nature of what can and cannot pass through the portal. There are scribbled words on the edges, formulas, circled sentences, and lines that criss-cross over the page. It seems that purely material items cannot be pulled into Panem. At least, not on their own. All items passing through have some strong and close connection to the spirit or “energy” that is grabbed. How this works seems a mystery even to the scientists involved but is suspected to have to do with memories. There is a hypothesis with many question marks that a memory chip, if reduced it to energy and sent through the portal, could possibly go back to the worlds offworlders came from, allowing them to keep memories even back on their world. This is noted to be untested however.

A second board looks at why bodies may duplicate but seemingly not objects. It appears inanimate objects are too identical for physics to function properly and the items simply merge, preventing a paradox, while living tissue is changed enough after being in Panem even for a short time that this only happens to non-living objects that are pulled, not people. There is further aggressively scribbled debate on whether robots count as people. The conclusion is that “they damn well must be if they’re here at all”. A paper on the table explains how most of the robots are transferred via chip to a mutt-body and the brain registers the chip to fill out personality and memories based upon it, thus making the robot essentially human. This is done for further study in reviving people.

Former Capitol-soldiers may recall that robots aren’t the only ones with muttation bodies. Some are animals and others, like Venus Dee Milo, have a portal transfer very specific to them. On one of the mechanic’s desks, blueprints lay for making much smaller portals that may be put within the mutt body and transfer the soul into it stating Venus’s name on the first prototype designs but not on the last. The blueprints note a disintegration system with these so the portal doesn’t stay within them. More blueprints can be seen for another full scale portal, using the one in the mountain there as a prototype. One final blueprint can be found, not for a portal, but for what looks like a weapon. Though it has the shape of a gun, it doesn’t appear to fire bullets. Apparently, it’s a relatively recent invention, from late december. The finalized design is dated for February.

By what looks like a station for hovercraft pilots to collect their gear is a clipboard and typed out list. The oldest ones to the back show revival deliveries from the arenas. As one flips to the front, these lists become those offworld soldiers who died in battle and were revived with all the relevant timestamps, serial numbers, and delivery location (the Tribute Tower and the Detainment Center). However, there are some anomalies, like names that have been blacked out leaving only serial numbers, timestamps, and, curiously, an entirely different location. This location is only listed as Center V. The timestamps date from the start of the war to a mass exodus very recently.

Rebels rush in to investigate the area, quickly capturing anyone working there. Despite the size and clear need for more hands in the facility, there’s only a handful of individuals left behind. One, a scientist, is ready to speak to the offworlders in charge as offworlders finish the investigation of the Facility. Something in here is sure to explain the mysterious “illness” offworlders have been facing. Hopefully rebels can find it fast, before it’s too late…
leiche: (92)

[personal profile] leiche 2016-05-21 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
He can't do it.

It feels like a coward's way out, in most respects. But it's an opportunity he can't afford to pass up, considering the risk he'd be taking otherwise - staying here in Panem could mean any number of things going wrong. More chaos, more loss, more death and pain that could be caused by his own hands if he's pulled under their control again. The more he thinks about it, the more he finds it wasn't as if he was helping the war efforts anyway. His missions failed more often than not, and he could barely lift his bow without shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. He's no good to anyone here.

That's what he keeps trying to tell himself, at least. The right thing to do would be to stay, to keeping trying to help even when there's no hope left. The rebels need everyone they can, don't they?

But when a hand is offered to him, Jeremy hesitates, his hands shaking when he finally answers. There's not much time.

"... I can't!" He hates himself for being such a pathetic coward, for thinking of himself over others, but once the thought's in his head he just can't let it go. He's going home.

"I-- I have to go."
voiceinthephone: hollow-art ([We're okay!])

[personal profile] voiceinthephone 2016-05-21 05:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Phil isn't surprised that Jeremy would choose to go home, but it doesn't take away from the pain of loss that tore his heart. Thrice he has failed this man, and it kills every sense of worth he's had up to now: once at Freddy's, second at the last arena, and now the third. But if Phone Guy were to finally be honest with himself, he knows that Jeremy has more than earned his final rest. The man has been through hell and back, and no chance for his already ailing mind to recover. To have Fitzgerald stay would be the correct thing but wildly selfish and destructive. They've made their peace with what happened at the Pizzeria, they had the chance to know each other and even bond.

Even now, Phil is looking at the silver lining: Jeremy doesn't have to die if he goes back, the Capitol probably fixed his brain damage and he'll survive the Bite. Maybe he'll get real help for the most likely case of post-traumatic stress he has. Maybe he can stop the killer before Fazbear's Fright takes place and Springtrap will never come to be.

"It's okay!" that familiar voice calls out, not from a phone but in the maelstrom around them. "Go home Jeremy! I'll see you on the flipside!" That old sign-off from nearly six years ago still rang true, maybe there is a flip side to this journey and they will meet again. If this discovery has served any purpose is that there are countless universes and infinite outcomes. The last thing Phone Guy wanted was for Fitzgerald to panic or regret his final choice. Once upon a time, Gray would've asked Jeremy to visit his grave or something but maybe it won't be necessary.

Phil smiles comfortingly at his friend, ready to finally let his former employee now friend go.
leiche: (54)

[personal profile] leiche 2016-05-27 08:22 am (UTC)(link)
For some reason, hearing Phil shout at him that it's okay for him to go, it suddenly makes it all so much easier.

He still feels like a coward, taking the easy way out to avoid further danger and harm, and even though part of it is to save those he cares about from himself, it still feels selfish. The first few moments after he says it, he thinks he should take it back and reach for the stranger's hand instead. But Phil is telling him it's okay, telling him to go home. And then it starts to feel that way.

It does occur to him that there's a chance, however slim, that he could see Phil again back home. If he somehow avoids dying there, if he goes back to a time before he meets his demise, then Phil would still be there. There's still a chance for things to turn out differently. So Jeremy nods his head in response, with a firm resolve to find him if he's given the chance. If he remembers ...

"... take care of Alby for me, okay?" Jeremy asks of him, a heavy feeling in his heart and tears forming in his eyes from the sudden rush of emotions. Alby's going to wonder where he's gone, but he trusts Phil (a considerable step forward since their first meeting here,) and Alby will be in good company with him and Foxy. As much as he wishes he could bring his little friend home with him, if Jeremy arrives at home dying or already dead, no one would be there to take care of or explain Alby's appearance at all. "And-- tell him I'm sorry ..."

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shiftingurbulls: ([Smiling along])

[personal profile] shiftingurbulls 2016-05-21 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
In a sense, Ellis knew that this was coming, that Jeremy would go home. Even the strongest of men break and he was beyond repair. He was a kind soul thrust into a war, shattered by a ruthless enemy then dealing with each crushing blow. He understood that need for peace, for the last breath to be somewhere safe.

"It's all good, Rabbit!" he shouted, tears threatening to stream his still tanned face. God, Ellis has known loss in this one year more than he had in the Green Flu. He's seen his friends unceremoniously killed and loved ones slaughtered for someone else's entertainment. But this one was different, it was a good-bye rather than a funeral. The mechanic knew that wherever Jeremy was going, he would be okay.

"Y'ALL BE GOOD NOW! AN' STAY SAFE! DON'T WANNA SEE YOU IN TROUBLE!" he added as the bright light began to pulse even brighter. He hopes Fitzgerald can forgive himself when he crossed to the other side of the portal. Hell, he hopes he can see the man again, somehow.
leiche: (73)

[personal profile] leiche 2016-05-27 08:45 am (UTC)(link)
He's scared, the longer he hesitates to take those last steps forward. Time is of the essence, he knows he has to hurry or he misses his chance forever. But the pulsating light is brighter, more intense, and more intimidating as the seconds tick by and Jeremy's afraid of it; he could go home, or he could potentially vaporize and vanish from existence all together. It wasn't that long ago when that was all he wanted.

But it's because of people like Ellis that those thoughts had started to go away - not completely, but they started. Ellis was there from day one helping build him back up, he'd taught him his combat skills and encouraged him to take up archery over other weapons, he always believed in him. Even when Jeremy never believed in himself. The moment he realizes he's never going to see Ellis again is what prompts him to move, pulling himself along the lab equipment to avoid the portal's drag so he can reach Ellis and throw his arms around him tight.

There's so much he wants to say to him, promises that he'll do his best to stay careful and think better of himself, maybe tell Ellis how much he'll miss him or how much he'd helped him all this time and please be careful too, but all he can manage in the moment is a soft, "... thank you."

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leiche: (93)

[personal profile] leiche 2016-06-06 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
This is it. This is the final step he has to take in this bizarre, horrible journey. He's said what he had to, he's made the promises he needed to (forgive myself, find Phil, somehow ...) and now there's no time left. The portal is pulsating and surging wildly and it's dragging him closer with every second he hesitates. It's terrifying - that beam of light is probably going to vaporize him into dust before he could even think about being home. But even that feels like a better alternative.

And Jeremy can still hear them encouraging him to go, that it's okay. He's not meant for this world anymore - he never was in the first place. This way, if it works, he can finally go home. He can't hurt anyone anymore.

His heart feels like it's going to beat it's way out of his chest, but one more shout from the scientists that they have to go now before it's too late, and something snaps the roots that had dug into the soles of his feet and he runs. He can't control the tears in his eyes any more than he can control the pull from the portal, but none of it matters any more.

He doesn't care what awaits him on the other side. If it's nothingness, if it's an afterlife of wandering aimlessly through his homeworld's version of purgatory, if he wakes up in a hospital bed and remembers none of it, he doesn't care. Jeremy's left Panem behind, and it's a relief. He's safe from the Capitol's clutches and the brutalities of war. And, more importantly, the people he cared about the most, and everyone else in Panem, are safe from him.
seestheman: (It's just relief)

[personal profile] seestheman 2016-05-21 07:06 pm (UTC)(link)
In the past few years, Clara's had to make some painfully hard decisions. What neighborhood their family should move to, whether David should go to a public or a private school, whether she should let OmniCorp give Alex a second chance, too many choice in Panem for her to even really think about. But this? This is the easiest choice she's ever had put in front of her.

There's a home that she's wanted to return to for two years, a son that she has thought about everyday that she's been here, the chance to actually try to make things right with Alex, if what Dr. Norton had told her in his brief time in Panem had been true.

There are reasons for her to think about staying, of course. Friends who feel more like family, friends who understand what she's been through when, if she remembers all this, no one will understand at home, James.

But really, none of that matters when David is waiting for her.

Which is the big thing that hits her when she sees a hand stretched out to her and she backs away. "I can't, I'm sorry."
inrestlessdreams: http://dioxidane.livejournal.com/1634.html#cutid1 (Letters)

[personal profile] inrestlessdreams 2016-05-22 04:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Before all this, before this decision came to be, James would've questioned Clara's reasoning to go. He was a selfish man, he knew that but talking to this woman, the one light in all of Panem in his eyes, he knew the choice was easy. A mother would never leave her child behind, and there was no denying Clara's devotion to her son. It really was the easiest choice and Sunderland understood it well. As much as he loved Clara, he let her go. He had nothing but a slow death at the bottom of Toluca Lake, she had a family to rebuild.

"Don't worry about it," James spoke up, calm in the chaos surrounding them. He would've given her one last kiss if he could but that could break the chain and put everyone else in danger. Words echoed in the broken man's mind but one phrase stood out to him. He could even hear Mary's voice, cracking under the strain of accepting her inevitable early death by disease, but he said them steady and resolute.

"Do what's best for you. Clara, you made me happy."
scoundrelhater: (Dramatic)

[personal profile] scoundrelhater 2016-05-22 04:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Laia hadn't thought that the way home would end up being so simple, so easy. Not that the past days hadn't been their own sort of hell, but she'd been so certain that she'd have to fight her way through so, so much more. It almost feels like a trap. She isn't sure that she should trust it. But when she looks about for reassurance, for a second opinion, she finds the great majority of her Capitol-side companions rushing to form that chain and save the day.

"...You guys have got this! I know it!" And she means it. It's their war to fight, not hers. Her war, if the truth has been told, is through that gate. She turns and gives a salute and a tight smile to those few she's come to know, and the bolts for it. Anyone who tries to stop her will have hell to pay.
earthborn: (Default)

[personal profile] earthborn 2016-05-22 06:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Almost from the moment she arrived in Panem, Shepard had wanted to leave.

A place like this could really get its hooks in you. Sometimes literally-- her face was still bruised, still healing. He spirit might never recover. But that didn't matter. It was another one of those moments, like waking up in Thirteen, like waking up free. They'd confiscated her gear again, but there would be armor for her on the other side. There would be a weapon to hand and a purpose to mind-- there would be peace, one way or another, if she could get through that final battle... Her mind was already in London. Dying, to go home, that had never made sense to her.

This, the shining surface of the Portal, rippling with violent light. This made sense.

"I've gotta get out of here," She said, looking neither to the left or to the right. The pull of the Portal tugged at her limbs, "I'm going."

Panem doesn't need her. Panem never needed her-- it could have done what needs doing without any of them. But the Earth needs her. And she needs to go.
justoutrunyou: (Scared eyes)

[personal profile] justoutrunyou 2016-05-22 07:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Sandy had made her choice, there was no turning back now.

But then she saw her.

For a moment one look at that muscular, determined figure cut right through the Capitol Brainwashing and Sandy felt a flutter of fear. One of the strongest people she knew was leaving...why was she leaving? They needed her!

She needed her...

Her eyes watered and she gripped the hands on either side of her tighter because if she didn't she was afraid she might let go and run after her. How many times had Sandy fantasized about joining Shepard on her adventures? Saving the universe, fighting the good fight instead of just fighting.

But it looked like that wasn't in the cards for them anymore. Even if Sandy tried to let go now and run she could already feel the brainwashing creeping back in. It wouldn't let her go. Panem needed her...

...just like Shepard's world needed her.

The videos that the Capitol had put together, hadn't Shepard said all of that was true? No...no just the most horrific parts about what was happening to Earth and the rest of the universe.

That massive beast...how many more of those things would Shepard have to face now that she no longer had the Capitol's boot on her neck?

The fight wasn't over here but wherever Shepard was going, it might just be getting started.

With fresh tears streaming down her face Sandy felt her tongue swollen in her mouth choking out the words she wanted to say. She managed out one cry.

"JANE!"

She'd never used Shepard's first name before. It felt forbidden in a way.
earthborn: (Hold out baits to entice the enemy)

[personal profile] earthborn 2016-05-24 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
She had barely stepped out when she heard it.

And that, somehow, was the worst of it. Shepard turned to look, and saw her short among the struggling hands, arms stretching, face choked with tears that she didn't have the hand spare to wipe away. Struggling against tidal forces, Shepard took the two long strides that brought her to Sandy's side, and knelt to wipe her face on Shepard's own sleeve.

"Sandy. Cassandra Marko," She choked too, on the enormity of it all. On the realization of Sandy's own internal struggle; but there wasn't time, "No matter what happens, you always remember this: I love you. And I am proud of you. You hear me?"

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voiceinthephone: ([Screw it])

[personal profile] voiceinthephone 2016-05-22 09:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Phil reasoned that Shepard would return to her world, to her own conflicts and war where she was needed. But as she heads into the portal, she must know that she has left Panem stronger than before. That she has shaped the world in a positive light, made their friends and allies stronger with her presence. She seemed like the person who influenced others, guiding them to victory alongside her.

"Good luck, Commander Shepard!" Phone Guy called out, naming her rank and surname as a proper soldier would. She made him capable, stronger and willing to fight. He never got to see the Normandy in person, only through the last Arena...but it showed just how people on her world relied on her. To keep her would be denying those people her strength, and that would be disastrous. It was the farewell Shepard deserved: head up high, crowned in light as she returned to her crew.
earthborn: (has confidence in her men)

[personal profile] earthborn 2016-05-24 02:57 am (UTC)(link)
Shepard turned back, twisted, feet planted against the fluctuating pull of the
Portal as it tried to drag her in. Gravity drew strange lines around her and she would have grinned at him, at what she had seen between this man and the sniveling, frightened rat he'd once been.

No, he'd earned this; her smile was tight-lipped, but no less giddy nor proud than the grin would have been. And she offered him a salute, as between equals, and a stern nod.

Good luck? She'd take it. In her eyes, Phil had plenty to spare, and didn't really need luck, anymore.
the_marshal: (wyattLook)

[personal profile] the_marshal 2016-05-23 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
Wyatt was firmly in the chain, his hands clamped on the doc and on Sigma (of all the damned people, who'd have thunk?) in turn. He could barely hear himself think over the machines, over the people shouting, over the desperate pounding of his own heart. So he didn't hear Shepard's decree.

But he did see her, that shock of red hair and those equally shocking eyes, as she moved away from the open hands and moved toward the light.

They'd never been what he'd call friends (maybe could have been, someday, in the new world.... maybe not), but they were allies. Had wanted the same thing.

Had shared a friendship between them in Max.

He nods to her.

"We have it. Do what'cha gotta."
earthborn: (you're damned right)

[personal profile] earthborn 2016-05-24 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
There was a vast and gaping chasm of space between their two positions on the moral compass. Always had been-- but that was Wyatt's way, was Max's, too; some people still like to think of themselves as good, despite all that happens. Some people still try to be good. There was a lot you had to respect about that particular strength, even if you thought it was futile. But Wyatt Earp had always met Shepard halfway in the places where it mattered. He was pragmatic, and a deadly shot. An ally was as dear to her heart as a friend, most days.

She's grateful for the nod, for the formality of it, and holds fast for a moment, to shout her reply. Gravity's running strangely, and that does take its toll.

"Take care of them," She tells him, not sure if he can hear over the din, and Wyatt gets a nod of his own, and a lurid sketch of a salute, as crisp as she can make it in the wildly flickering light, "And good luck!"
fusshionable: (69)

[personal profile] fusshionable 2016-05-23 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
Porrim's yet to join the line. She's not sure what's keeping her—there's not exactly another choice. Bewilderment, mostly; confusion seems to be the reigning state of mind here. But what distracts her further is the sight of a familiar red head approaching the portal. She realizes with a cold flood of sadness exactly what's happening, and even though she really should just grab a hand and fall in line, she can't bring herself to let Shepard go without saying goodbye.

"Jane." Porrim is right at her shoulder, and she tentatively places a hand on Shepard's arm. "Time for a goodbye?"
earthborn: (now is the time to fight)

[personal profile] earthborn 2016-05-24 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
"Have to make it quick," Shepard replied, and without further preamble, took Porrim by the waist, both arms strong despite her fatigue, and turned with her into a low, lingering dip-- and an equally lingering kiss.

"Goodbye, Porrim," She murmured against her mouth, and then set Porrim back on her feet and turned away, "Try not to forget me."

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pythianjudgment: (pic#10294802)

[personal profile] pythianjudgment 2016-05-26 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
Maybe Panem hadn't needed her, but Terezi couldn't say the same. Even for all the ups and downs in their relationship, Shepard was an important piece of her life here in Panem. Once upon a time, she had even considered the possibility of going back with her. But that wasn't a possibility here. These were one-way trips back to their own destinations. And Shepard was going without her.

There's no time to argue, and she doubts that Shepard would listen anyway. They were similar in that regard: Once they had made up their minds, there was very little that could change it.

But that didn't make the sudden realization that she was leaving--right now--hurt any less. And that didn't make her worry any less. If Shepard was going back home, she wanted it to be for a reason. For a future that she could look forward to.

"Are you going to be okay?" she calls over the noise that the portal is making. "Going back there?" It breaks their unspoken agreement not to touch too deeply on these emotional things, but... Well, this might be the last time that she ever speaks to her Commander. Terezi figures that Shepard can forgive her the open concern just this once.
earthborn: (it worked for han solo)

[personal profile] earthborn 2016-05-30 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's a warzone, Private," It's a warzone here, too, but in a way so very different from where she's going. Shepard's an old soldier, in the ways she wasn't before, and she can't lie to herself, even as she offers Terezi a cavalier falshood, a bit of hope to ease the transition, "Nothing I can't handle."

She could easily die, going back to her world, her fight for Earth and the Galaxy it lives in. If she's honest, Shepard's looking forward to it; the physical aspect of death no longer gives her any hesitation, there's no fear to be found in the suffocating black, the dizziness of bleed-out, or shock, or starvation, or anything else.

What there is to fear now, is life. Immortality was never a curse, until Panem gave it to her. And where she's going, dead men do truly die. Paradise, in a way.

"I'm gonna be just fine."

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futilecycle: (I know it's everybody's sin)

[personal profile] futilecycle 2016-05-30 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
For the majority of his life, Sigma has looked up to one woman; a woman he considered noble and generous and kind. He regarded the face of Akane Kurashiki like God's, all-knowing and wise.

But for reasons Sigma could not articulate, Akane Kurashiki struck terror into his heart - the red hot fear of clawing at a window while gas filled his car, unable to get out. Akane was omnipresent. Akane told him what to study, when to come and go, when to reproduce. Akane had control of his reputation and his home and his son. Akane decided when to set him free, but once he was gone, she was there on the outside, smiling at him. He had lived under Akane's command and he thought he would die under it, until he came to Panem. When Kyle buried her in the Arena, Sigma felt hopelessly lost. He thought he was incapable of being a hero without her, until he met Shepard.

Shepard was inspiring. Shepard seemed to know exactly what to do or say, and Sigma came to have faith in her judgment. He followed her lead not out of a sense of obligation but from trust. It was not a trust that made his stomach turn to stone or compelled him to do everything he hated... what Shepard did felt right. If Akane were here, she would have dragged Sigma into the portal, wrapped her influence around his neck and yanked. But Shepard had made a personal choice and expected no one to follow after her. Again, Sigma was lost. He thought Shepard would have been there until the end to give him hope.

The Gamemaker breaks through the chaos to meet her at the threshold, feet square and hard against the pavement, resisting the pull. "Commander-" Would she turn? He knew he had not made a difference in her life the way she had in his, but he wanted his goodbye to reach her. His throat is tight, his voice betrays his calm expression. "Please, just a moment-..."
earthborn: (warfare is based on deception)

[personal profile] earthborn 2016-06-04 10:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Shepard stopped, hesitated, a light-ringed human shape against the furor of the portal, a last bastion of normal space before all went to whatever hellfire lay beyond. She waited, feeling the pull, resisting, leaning back even as she moved forward, and turned her head to face him. She turned.

"A moment's all you got, Doc," the chain of bodies was flexing, the scientists shouting and working, time was running down, but not less real for all that, "They're waiting for me on the other side."

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shieldofrohan: Art by Nacholamina on dA (Assailed)

[personal profile] shieldofrohan 2016-05-22 09:23 pm (UTC)(link)
All Éowyn has wanted, since the moment she was dragged here, has been to return home. But now she has the chance, now that this whole long torment has reached its end and the gate is open... now she is unsure. She has always had a strong sense of duty, and now it tells her that it is her duty to stay, to see an end to this battle and to this crisis, to join her hands with the others and aid them. That is what honour is: to do what one must to save others, no matter what it would cost.

But what it would cost is Faramir's smile, and the wind in her hair, and the thunder of hooves over Rohan's grassland. Other things, too, less sweet but no less necessary: the work to be done in Ithilien, Théoden King's barrow to be tended, her training with the Healers. She's been too long away, and though her honour tells her to stay, to put duty above joy... she can't. For the first time in months, today, she's breathed what feels like free air, outside the confines of the Detention Center, and whoever wins now, she can't risk returning there. She can't risk being part of this world, where she has no place. She would sicken, she knows it, sicken and die as her mother did of grief, torn from the land and the people that are so deep a part of her. No, she must go, or perish trying.

But then... the Ring. Oh, why did she have to think of it now, remember that duty and that danger? Was she not torn enough, leaving her friends to an uncertain fate, without taking that information with her? It might damn this world, and all who stayed in it - and when she looks around wildly, her long hair whipping around her and the tears starting unchecked to her eyes, she sees too many she cares for in that building line of joined hands.

There is no time for this doubt, no time for shame at the tears wetting her face. She has tarried too long already. Still she fights against the pull of the portal, fearing every moment, fearing the time ticking away, but knowing she cannot leave without even a word or an embrace for those who have come to mean so much.

"I must." She says it out loud, into the raging noise, tries to find her way over to Firo and Roland, to say what has to be said. "I have to. I..." Words of grief and guilt have never been her forte.
foundafamily: (5.1)

[personal profile] foundafamily 2016-05-24 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
In the confusion, Firo's been casting about for his friends. He spies Sandy easily enough, and then there's Roland too, not too far away. And then Eowyn. When he sees she's not yet tethered with the others, he tries immediately to jump into action. They've been through so much together: all those Crownings, the lean times in the Arenas, the Detention Center, and even their acts of rebellion. They've stuck together and watched each other's backs through it all; he's not about to let anything happen to her now.

"Eowyn!" Still dazed from the blow of the debris a moment ago, he tries to free his hand to reach out for her. He doesn't yet realize that her decision has been made; he only seeks to keep her safe from the portal that he sees as the unknown.

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