zerotohiro | Some Legends Are Told, Some Turn To Dust Or To Gold [CEREALIA INBOX]

[ It’d been three days by her CEREVice’s clock since the incident. It wasn’t something Rei was particularly upset about, all things considered. What had happened was just something that had happened, and it was her fault for not weaving tighter defenses, really. It was not a pleasant feeling, knowing that she’d been gone, but it was less the actual cessation itself and more the ripple effect it would have on the people who knew her. She’d always been the strong one, someone that the colonists could rely on and take comfort in. Now she wasn’t sure how they’d react. Could she be that person, or would their viewpoint change when they learned what happened? Hopefully not.

Like always though, she isn’t going to do things by half measures. So once she’s changed into comfortable shoes she heads out to see friends and compatriots, sending a simple text to let them know she’s on her way.

Hiro is the first person she visits, because she knows that he, more than anyone save Usagi, is probably going to have noticed her absence first. Her text is brief, just a request.]

Meet me in the usual spot, please.

[Meaning of course their little glade.]

[He's not even going to text her back. He'd sent her a few short messages, especially in the time he knew finally that she had died, but the moment she reaches out to him he's immediately grabbing his shoes and his CereVice and booking it for their meeting spot. How it became theirs he still doesn't quite know, but it's always been an unspoken agreement.

He's been worried about her. Knowing Rei, Mars had been the one who was present in this whole situation, so what had happened to her? These are questions he has as he runs up to their secluded space, dizzy spells completely gone by now.]

Rei! [She'd beat him there, and she might be surprised to find that she's going to be attacked by a fast blur of small teenager who seems to practically teleport to her side to hug her. Oh well.]

[Rei's actually taken the time to ward it and kept it secret from everyone else. There are no murderous plants, no cameras, no nothing. It's just a place for them, much like her couch was the space she had with Usagi, and the rooftop deck-chair setup was her spot with Athena, and that one particular table at a cafe was her's and Edgeworth's. It was just how she operated. Set in her ways.

And honestly she expected to be tackle hugged, and instead caught Hiro in her arms and spun him around in a hug. She's smiling too, if he can believe it, and laughing.]

You'd think I'd been gone a month, with that reaction. Hah. How are you, Hiro?

[Definitely playing this one cool.]

[It's just better for everyone that she reciprocates and when she returns the gesture he keeps himself attached at her side for the time being.]

Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? I got back three days ago. [It's subtle, yes, but it's a way of sharing with her that he, too, had disappeared for some short time.] But...I'm okay. I'm better.

[It's a hint she doesn't miss, and she hardly minds the contact. She does, however, sit down and ruffle his hair. Because he's short. And honestly she knows he probably needs it more than her.]

You could ask that. But there's no real need. Yes. I died. I died doing something that was right. Something took offense to that and sucker punched me. I didn't have the right kind of shielding in place, and it did something to my sailor crystal. I don't know what but it didn't hurt.

[She shrugs.]

And then I woke up in a hospital bed with an adorable blanket. And hell, it's the most sleep I've had since Minako vanished. I honestly feel better than I did before.

[Auuuugh. She's not wrong. He likes the reassurance that she's here and that she's alive even if what she says still perplexes him a small bit.]

I'm glad you slept but I think you've gotta back up and explain the rest of that to me. What did you do that something was offended by? And who was "something"?

I honestly can't explain too much. It happened so quickly that I couldn't react. [And she's precognitive, so think about that for a second.] Starting at the beginning though.

I was taken to a prison. Literally an old dungeon with some other people. Yu-kun, Merlin, someone named Hyoubu-san, and Yuri-chan. We got out of that cage pretty easily, though there was someone's skeleton in it. Once we started exploring, we found a huge room, and it was filled with ghosts.

[True. Look everything's sort of a mess thanks to the last couple of days. He's not thinking too clearly. His eyebrows lift as she describes the prison and he bites his lip when she explains Yu was there, too. Yu should be back soon, too, he hopes. But he blinks in surprise as she continues.]

Why is is always you and ghosts? [Like. Always.] Were they the same ghosts as before or new ones again?

[Rei lifts her shoulders in a half-hearted shrug. That’s a good question, but one she doesn’t have an answer for.] Maybe it’s just my luck. I do like ghosts, after all. But no, these were not the five that I’ve talked to before. There’s no way they could be. They were trapped. It was a prison for ghosts, as well as people. If someone died there, they…[Her voice finally cracks a little, fist clenching.] they don’t leave. Ever. It’s a prison meant to keep even souls from leaving. [And what could be more horrible than being denied your final rest?]

So it has some kind of powers that denies the ghosts a chance to pass on. [That's pretty messed up.] How's that even possible? I always thought ghosts didn't move on by choice...did they get a chance to tell you who trapped them? Or why?

[He's weirdly sympathetic of that, but only because he can't imagine having his freedom stripped away like that.]

It's possible with some wards, or Necromancy. Magic meant to bind the dead. [Though, he may know it via video games.] It's evil. Probably the worst thing you can do to a soul. The dead earned their rest.

[Her jaw clenches, and she has to look away, a shimmering wave of heat beginning to surround her.] Merlin told me that the jailer said the people there were lowering company profits. That's why they were imprisoned. I...didn't get to ask the ghost myself. I was already gone.

[He knows about it, sure, but it's still hard sometimes to really wrap his head around the fact that these things sure do exist in a place like this. That's not what he fixates on though. It's the rest of the sentence that has him worried. Rei, please don't blow up...even though he thinks he can understand why.]

Company profits like...CERES's profits. Right? How could those people lower profits? That doesn't make any sense.

[That's just what she's expecting him to focus on, and it's what stuck in her head too. It was awful but they were free. The why, though?]

Right. CERES profits. It's the only company on the planet. And they very well could have lowered profits. If they were aggressive, or natives. There's any number of things that they could have done that would harm CERES business practices, and you've seen just how they regard the importance of profit.

CERES...deals with energy, right? If less people are on the planet using energy then there's more of it to profit from. [Once he talks it out it makes perfect sense. It's everything before that that he dislikes.] I don't get it though. CERES was the company that came here and took over from the natives. They should have been the ones outnumbered and unable to actually do anything.

The natives could have been unfriendly, terrorists or something acting against the deals made by their leader spirit? Which was it that agreed to work with CERES again?

[Because she has a thought.]

Also, who said that? They have access to all kinds of technology. Numbers aren't everything.

Some of Ardeo's people and some of Occidi's from what I remember. But that's still not all of them. Maris's people flat-out said no and Caeli's people disappeared completely.

...but point. Maybe CERES really did blow them all up or something.

Would it shock you to make me think that these people were some of Maris's? They were natives, they had to be, unless CERES is keeping political prisoners.

It wouldn't shock me at all, but what makes you think they were his specifically?

The blanket. It was covered in turtles, and a sea motif. Just a feeling. Is it a huge leap of logic?

Probably, but sometimes you have to take a few huge leaps. I'm just surprised you are. [He grins. He's actually pretty happy about that.] If Maris's people refused then...I could see them being taken prisoner against their will and being grateful that you helped them. I'd say "let's ask Maris" but he also kinda hates us.

Does he? Or is it CERES he hates? I think, maybe it's worth trying to contact him. If those were his people, he may change his mind.

...I think they're getting more angry. [He shifts his weight from foot to foot. There's something he should probably tell her.] Um. Athena, Edgeworth and I went to see Occidi a few days before all of this happened. It went about as well as you could expect. She kinda told us to bug off and that they don't need our help with anything.

[Is he pouting? Maybe.] I just wanted to warn her about the Bridge...

[Considering both him and Athena said they'd tell her before they talked to Occidi? Yes. He should. And it should be no surprise when she leans back in her seat and fixes him with a sharp look. Not quite a glare, but not happy, either.]

You didn't tell me that conversation had already happened...

[Look blame Athena, she's the one who picked the date. He's pretty sullen about the whole thing, too, given how that went.]

Kinda didn't get a lot of time. [At least he looks guilty about it and he's owning up to it now.] Athena picked the date and the three of us headed for the shrine. Merlin magic'd up some flowers in a bouquet as an offering but Occidi didn't like that because they were dead flowers that were cut at the stems. She shriveled them up...and Athena got mad. And Occidi got mad at us for assuming that she needed our help. [He looks at his feet instead.]

I didn't want to assume anything. I wanted to talk to her because we were told she was the one who was interested in peace while the Bridge was chaos. Shouldn't peace know about pending chaos?

Send me a message next time, even if it's short notice you can manage that.

[Rei exhales slowly, reaching an arm out for his shoulder. That girl. That girl...]

Because she also forgot to tell me. Despite promising. That girl...needs to be put on a leash, I swear. She's going to get herself killed again. [Sliding around to his back, she hugged him. That face was impossible to deny.]

I know why you wanted to talk to her. We did discuss that, you know. And she should. But you have to go about those things in the right way, and it sounds like Athena's big mouth caused the message to get lost.

3 Days after Interlude

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