faithfulflame | Cerealia IC Inbox

Good. Saves me the trouble of blowing it up.

[Rei has to smile then, patting him as she holds him, just kind of leaning against him. It's easy when you're twig.

The news isn't a surprise though, and Merlin gets a knowing, bemused look.]

And I know. The...ah...new friends we made stayed with us for a while.

Yeah.

[ At least they took the place down with them... the bright side. He just ends up resting his chin against her head though then. He goes quiet for a moment, then: ] I felt them leave. Just like I felt...

[ But he just trails off though, instead returning to the same as before. ]

I'm glad they stayed with you.

Just like me.

[Rei finishes his sentence for him, pulling away just enough to looki him square in the face. There's not an ounce of uncertainty in her eyes, only cool detachment and a kind of resignation. This was going to be hard for him, probably. Probably harder on him since he'd felt her pass.]

They kept us warm. It's funny, they were with us until we woke up. And I think they left us with something, but it's hard to say what.

Just like you.

[ It's soft, really, but as soon as Rei's pulling away his eyes are darting to the side, not looking her in the eye just yet. ]

Yu and Hyoubu didn't know what happened. I had to explain but I couldn't... get the words out. By the time I could Hyoubu was already trying to teleport us outside and... that's when it came.

[ Not warm and fluffy like Rei's own adventures, that's for sure. ]

[With him so obviously disquieted, she moves back into the hug, squeezing just a bit.]

The jailer that sucker punched me, right?

[That's what she believes.]

What was it, exactly?

Yeah. [ He lets out a breath when she moves back into the hug, an actual smile creeping up. It's helping, at least. ]

Robot. Something related to Raxxlt? Rsxxlt? It's really hard to say. We tried questioning it but it tried putting us back into the cells, so ...

A robot. Because why wouldn't it be a damn robot.

[She hates robots, okay? A lot. But since this is helping, she'll keep hugging.]

I don't know the name. But alright. So I take it you fought it and...what?

To be honest... I don't know why we didn't expect it. It seemed to have spiritual energy as well though. I don't know how much you felt before... you... But what it hit you with wasn't technological, or I wouldn't have felt it. It felt like a lightning bolt of spiritual energy, honestly. It's the closest I could compare it to.

Because it did that I think we over estimated it.

[ A cough, and really it's ironic now but-- ]

Do you know what happens to a robot when you pour over 1 billion volts into it?

Well, I felt a presence, and then something pushed passed my shield. It...probably wasn't spiritual though. My shield should have blocked that. Arcane power, maybe? I wasn't warding against that at all. [And it's about the only thing she can think of that would be able to manage that.]

And yes. Actually, one of my friends uses lightning the way I do fire. That much electrical energy would generate enough heat to melt metal. But that didn't happen, did it?

I don't know. It just felt dark. The complete opposite of how those ghosts felt. [ Still... it had hidden itself well, that's for sure. ]

Everything exploded.

It doesn't matter what it did or how. It's done, and next time I find one like it, it won't catch me off guard again.

[The resolve is there...and so is the conviction. And...now sympathy and realization.]

It was programmed to do that. Destroy itself, and presumably the prison, to prevent an escape. Is that what you think?

I don't know. It said the... the prisoners were there because they were something to do with profits falling. Not even for murder or anything.

[ He swallows. ] Its arm was missing, so we all tried to aim for that point.

...All three of us. [ THAT WAS PROBABLY THE PROBLEM. ]

Well as we've seen, CERES is more than willing to kill to keep profits high. And it wasn't allowing those ghosts to leave, either. Plus it's just a robot, it's expendable. So, why not make sure to punish anything that managed to hurt it?

[She heaves a sigh.]

That was how things worked when I broke into their headquarters.

Probably. [ Though they've been like this long enough, apparently, as he starts to feel a throbbing in the back of his head, creeping to the front. One arm keeps a hold of her, but the other moves to rub it. ]

Hopefully there aren't other prisons like it, but there probably are.

[Rei pulls out of the hug with a little frown, sensing his discomfort. Also it's getting to the more than friends level of hug.]

You want to sit? I have drinks, and if your head is hurting that might help.

[It's just a headache, man up.]

[ Eh... People died, who cares right now. They died, even. That makes it far more complicated. He does use both hands to rub at his head now though. ]

Maybe. I can give it a go, anyway. I've only had water since I got back.

[ Mostly because he's had a magnet attached to him for the most part. Ah. ]

[Well, sitting down is certainly a thing, and she holds out that tall cup.]

Try this then. I made it for us. A drink from America, Athena's home.

[ He takes it before actually sitting down, though thankfully doesn't spill any. He gives her a slightly surprised look though. ]

It is? what is it?

It's called a Long Island Iced Tea. Tea, with alcohol.

[And there's quite a bit of it there.]

[ There's a pause before his lips twitch, definitely trying to hold back a grin. His lips press together, trapped between his teeth as he just gives her a look ]

And this is supposed to help my headache, is it?

Yes. Alcohol deadens pain. It's only bad if you get dehydrated from overdoing it and not drinking water. [Which? She has bottles of.

One of those things about Cerealia is that Rei's learned a lot about drinks.]

And there's cake.

[ More than him... I mean, he's tried drinks it's just that usually it's been handled badly and copying Athena or Rapunzel's examples meant drunkenness. Trying to drink Fay under the table had failed as well and he'd ended up telekinetically hitting himself in the face with a book so......... ]

Hopefully it numbs this then. I think it's getting worse.

[ He doesn't reach for the cake just yet though, instead taking a few longer sips of the drink. ]

It just tastes like lemon tea?

[She nods cheerfully, sipping more of her own, quite pleased with how it all turned out. It meant she did it right, if the alcohol was masked by the tea.]

Just so. You never ever drink more than one, though. Because it does taste like tea, so it's hard to tell how much you've had.

[She (unlike Athena) knows her limits and tolerance, and is careful.]

[ It does taste good, but he (like Athena) does not know his limits and tolerance and is apparently starting to sip it like it's juice. Help..... ]

They taste really good though.

[ And half is gone way too quickly... will he ever listen?! ]

That's the trap. I only made two, I'll make you another some other day.

[Rei is just enough of a control freak to keep going on.]

I'm glad you like it though, it's just something I read about in a book here.

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