[closed]

[likethestars]

Who: Yuja Wightshade, Erichthonios, & Elidibus
Where: Yuja's Campsite outside town
What: Catching up (pre-event)
Warnings: Spoilers for Endwalker and Pandaemonium raids



[ Given the lack of lodging in town, Yuja's taken to setting up a camp somewhere outside of town near one of the smaller rivers. Not only is it a source of water but fish. Why ever would she need to stay in town if this is here?

Well, there is the fact she's lacking in the majority of her supplies. That has made her camp rather meager. She's managed to barter for a few supplies but she's nowhere near having what was left behind on her chocobo. She supposes it wouldn't be much of a prison if she had all her conveniences from home.

Luckily, Erichthonios offered to bring her some supplies if he could find them. In exchange, she offered him a place to rest away from the infirmary. When he arrives, hopefully with Elidibus in tow, they'll find her sitting next to a small fire watching a pot. ]

Comments

[beshackled]

[Erichthonios can imagine why Themis might want to clear his name. Yet, he does not offer up any resolve to clear his own.]

...If need be, the internment spell should work... assuming we have not been enervated to the point of being unable to use it.

[He looks into his stew thoughtfully, though he does not yet resume eating.]

[likethestars]

[ Yuja blinks in surprise at Elidibus before playfully wrinkling her nose at him. ]

If it comes to that. [ Only time would tell how things will go with Emet-Selch. She hasn't had much of a chance to speak to him just yet, though she plans to change that. She believes they could get along... eventually. ]

I see. [ She supposes that would be important to him, even if she sees nothing wrong with it. ] I wonder what we need to do to clear our names or whatever and if doing so means we return home.

[ Not that she's denying her crime, but she is curious how one returns home from this place. ]

[heartofsalvation]

[That question draws Elidibus into silence. Return home, huh... Yuja should want to go home, naturally, but he has to wonder if it would simply mean returning to the Aetherial Sea in his case. He doesn't know if it's a good or bad thing that he finds it difficult to decide if living like this is preferable or not. In moments like these, yes, but on a grander scale...]

How would one clear their name if they were actually guilty of the crime, however? If some are, yet some aren't... Like Erichthonios, for example. I cannot imagine anyone could prove such a thing.

[A thoughtful frown that he smooths out before glancing at Erichthonios.]

And you must want to return home, right? If we are supposed to argue our cases with words alone, I would be glad to stand behind the both of you.

[Even though Yuja definitely did that. If it means going home, then perhaps a lie on her behalf isn't such a bad thing, in a justice system he's hardly invested in.]

[beshackled]

...I am truly grateful to you, my friend, for your offer of support... but I fear my case cannot be argued with words.

[At last, he returns to eating, carefully piercing the bits and ends of the stew that he might bite into them without risk of them rolling away.]

[likethestars]

[ She would very much like to return home. Despite everything in Pandæmonium being dealt with, there's still the matter of dealing with Golbez and Zeromus and hopefully freeing Azdaja. ]

It's not like I killed anyone because it was fun. I did what I needed to survive. [ That's her defense and if that means it's a crime worth keeping her here, then so be it. But if a way home can be found, then she'll try to find it.

In the meantime, she doesn't mind exploring this place. ]

I'm sure we'll find a way if this place doesn't readily provide one.

[heartofsalvation]

I know, Yuja.

[A solemn acknowledgment. He would've killed her had she not done him in first with a little help, and though she did not directly kill the rest of his people, it was either them or the current residents of Etheirys as far as his agenda went. As for Erichthonios, however... he looks at him with thinly veiled concern.]

Would you say you are guilty, then? Why? I thought you had ample justification for all that transpired?

[beshackled]

....Aye. I had justification aplenty. But the fact remains that I was... rebellious. And despite everything working out for the better in the end, I feel...

[He ceases his stabbing of the vegetables, staring gloomily into his stew.]

...I feel... guilty, for becoming so caught up in my resentment of my father that I fell under Hephaistos' spell.

[likethestars]

What would you have done differently, then?

[ Since he feels guilty about what he did, then maybe thinking about how he would change things will help. ]

[heartofsalvation]

[Phrased like that, Elidibus has to wonder what that should mean for his accusation. If the two of them are guilty, what about him? But as he's more worried about Erichthonios than himself, he decides to keep quiet about his reservations for now, allowing him the floor to answer Yuja's question.]

[beshackled]

[A weighty question indeed. Taking a deep breath, Erichthonios steels his resolve, then lifts his head with a rueful smile.]

...T'would do me little good to torture myself either what I might have done differently then. I have not the capacity to change the actions of my past... but, I can strive to do better now. And so I shall.

Although I think I shall ever be a rebellious person when it comes to defying that which I see as wrong or unjust, I can, perhaps, work on holding my temper just a little bit better... lest I end up causing my dearest friends yet more unnecessary trouble.

[likethestars]

[ Well, she supposes not wanting to think too much about the past and what one would have done differently is one perspective. The promise to learn and grow from the situation is a good one. ]

Would anyone of us be where we are now without a little rebellion? I don't really see it as a bad thing.

And as for your temper, I've found taking a breath and counting can help the moment the pass.

[heartofsalvation]

[It's true Erichthonios inherited a fiery temper from his father, but Elidibus sees it more as a strong sense of justice, a proper set of ideals, than a tendency to grow frustrated when things don't go his way. He nods slowly.]

I think the context here is more important than anything: if the rebellion at Pandaemonium hadn't happened, the entire star would have likely been in danger, between your parents and the creations within left to run rampant without keywards to control them. If the mere fact you fought against Hephaistos means you deserve a crueler fate... then I suppose so do we.

[He looks to Yuja for solidarity.]

Wouldn't you say?

[beshackled]

[The point Themis brings up is an entirely valid one. While Erichthonios may have rebelled against Lahabrea, he had also rebelled against Hephaistos... and to a much greater extent at that. And yet...

And yet it is those final words that strike Erichthonios most to his core, that cause his lips to part and his eyes to widen, touched... and a little lost for words.]

...I...

[likethestars]

[ Elidibus doesn't need to look to her for support, she's ready to agree with him the moment he's done speaking. ]

Of course. [ She bobs her head in a nod. ]

If things had been left as is, the Final Days might have been an entirely different situation.

[heartofsalvation]

Rather, it would have gone from bad to worse very quickly. Beyond the half that sacrificed themselves for Zodiark, we would have lost many more to dangerous creations running free.

[And it likely would have still been the case had Erichthonios not stayed behind to watch over Pandaemonium while he and Lahabrea were committed to Zodiark's cause. That much, he thinks, is as heroic an act as any other. He leans his weight forward, looking into Erichthonios's eyes to drive the point home.]

I have learned in my time as Elidibus that just because you have done something others would call wrong, it does not mean the circumstances of the matter can be so easily discarded. Yuja killed in self-defense, like as not. I judged Yuja harshly in order to protect the star as I knew it, and I did the same to Emet-Selch to protect her later on. You rebelled because it would have turned into a very bad situation if Hephaistos had been allowed to do as he pleased, and you knew that.

Fairness is never so black and white. If one sin is enough to taint us, then we all ought to be condemned.

[beshackled]

[There is nothing Erichthonios can say in the face of their assertions, he listening and hanging onto their words with a sentiment bordering on desperation. When Themis seeks to meet his eyes, he does not -- cannot -- look away.

It starts as a slight tremor to his hands, dark fingers clutching into the still-darker fabric of his robes gathered over his knees as it runs up his arms, then his shoulders, until his whole body is trembling with emotion.]

I-If you are to be condemned... then whatever punishment you may face, I'll not let you do it alone!

[likethestars]

[ Yuja smiles as she moves over to place a hand on Erichthonios' shoulder. ]

You're such a good friend, I'm sure I speak for both of us when I say we're glad to have you along.

[heartofsalvation]

And you'll never know how much I appreciate it, my friend.

[Not one to stop short at just a hand on his shoulder, Elidibus rises from his seat and sets himself down next to Erichthonios, perfectly comfortable.]

Truly. Despite our strained history together, I will remain with you both for as long as I can. As long as you will have me, of course.

[beshackled]

[As his friends touch his shoulder and draw closer to his side, Erichthonios is suffused with warmth. Truly, he feels as though his heart could burst.

Yet, overwhelmed though he may be by the force of his own emotions, he speaks with resolution firm.]

I will have you. [For all his life, and the next, and the next, should he have any say in the matter.] I shall never tire of you. Either of you, my dear, dear friends.

[likethestars]

Good, now eat up before it gets cold.

[ Yuja wiggles over to give him a bit of space and goes back to her meal. ]