[Voice | Unprotected]

[songofthedeep]

[It's not necessarily the crows transmitting this... with his Powers at higher strength, Cerceus is more than capable of making himself heard through all of Sheol, though the echo of it through the crow gives it an odd sort of stereo effect. His song is wordless and powerful, haunting on the wind, an expression of crushing grief strong enough to

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[priorpyro]

[Axel's voice is quiet, and hard to read; he has his hood up so you can't see if he's crying or not. (He is.)]

Would you like to be alone, Cy?

[songofthedeep]

.... No.

[priorpyro]

[Slips out of the trees, soon enough that it's clear he probably wasn't far away to begin with, moving to stand at Cy's side.]

[songofthedeep]

[he's lying face-down in the heather, slightly curled-up, eyes half open and staring at nothing. He looks... comatose. Lost.]

[priorpyro]

[That look strikes a nerve for Axel, but he doesn't show it - he just very slowly lowers himself to the heather, draping his arms over his knees and staring out at the lake from within the impenetrable shadows of his hood.]

...Riku's gone.

[songofthedeep]

[He's still for a long moment... then the one eye that Axel can see closes.]

So's my father.

[priorpyro]

[The biggest clue that Axel is suffering, too - although it's not something Cy could be expected to pick up on - is how he doesn't place his hand on Cy's shoulder the way he usually would, as if to say, 'I'm here for you, buddy'.]

...I would tell you that the alternative to feeling bad is worse, but I've realized it's not something that can be 'told'.

[a pause]

...would you rather be gone?

[songofthedeep]

[not twigging]

Gone?

[priorpyro]

Would you rather be here, and feel like this, or be gone - like Riku, like the others who came before him - tossed to an uncertain fate?

[songofthedeep]

[a world of bitterness and pain is in his words]

I'd rather go HOME. But if I can't... then, yeah. I'd rather be gone. I know you've been there and done that and you think I'm a fucking idiot, but I'd rather NOT FEEL than feel like this ALL the TIME. I don't even fucking know who I am anymore!

[voice cracks, and now there are tears]

[priorpyro]

[quietly]

I don't think you're an idiot, Cy. [And now, finally, he does place his hand on Cy's shoulder, although it's sheathed in its glove and it's probably not very comforting, anyway.]

If I could help... if I could give you that fate... I would.

[songofthedeep]

[he shudders deeply, pressing his face into the heather... when he speaks, his tone is dull]

..... It's been four years. One year for me... four years back home.

....... I have a baby brother now. I'll never see him.

[priorpyro]

[There's nothing that can be said to that, so Axel doesn't even try.]

[songofthedeep]

[humorless laugh]

I dunno if I mentioned this. I always wanted a little brother. They named him Taliesin... great Welsh poet... he's, like, two months old right now... just starting to smile and learning to swim. I mean, technically, we can swim from birth, but REALLY swim, in a controlled way, that takes a little time....

[he's babbling and he knows it, but he's just so dazed right now, he's barely THERE]

[priorpyro]

[Axel lets him ramble. He's listening to what Cerceus says, but under the listening he's thinking, gears turning; it's rare, even since coming here, that he's felt so totally out of control in a situation.]

[songofthedeep]

And Papa said you can already tell he's going to be a sarcastic little bastard, he's got this way of looking at people like he knows you're an idiot and he's not amused, and it's so cute...

[he's crying now, but he laughs anyway]

And... and.... they... Tak, he found this girl and he's proposed to her already, and I won't be there for my brother's wedding, and I wasn't there when my little brother was born, and I won't get to play with him or teach him anything, and it fucking CRUSHED my parents when I died, and I tried to hold on to him, but there was nothing I could do, he just disappeared out of my ARMS like there was nothing there, and I've NEVER seen Papa cry, ever....

[by this time, his voice is cracking too much to continue, so he just hides his face and shakes, sobbing softly]