Haven't seen old Forden either, to be fair, but s'pose maybe he didn't make the guest list.
[ he sure as fuck wouldn't have invited him anywhere. if there's a separate hell he hopes the bastard's burning in it.
anyway. he shakes his head. ]
Bas and me remember things the same, at least up 'til I snuffed it. Happened at the opera house the day after you lot made your assassination attempt. Can't speak to much after that, but you were still around then, in any case. All of you were.
[ Looking between them. Forden dead??? And the day after? She was so sure she was going to have to explain the assassination attempt, and the deception leading up to it... ]
But, it was the night of that attempt when it all went wrong... Louis confronted us on the rooftop, and... we were bested.
[ ... ]
You were witnesses, I thought. He told you not to interfere...
He did more than enough to get himself booted off any guest lists.
[ forden got in the proverbial elevator and went down, that's for sure. once eupha's done talking though, basilio's eyes slide sideways to look at fidelio, before looking back at eupha. ]
We were witnesses, yeah. You won. Or-- "won", the bastard had plans on top of plans and y'played into them.
[ ... ]
Pretty sure the whole event went wrong by the end, but it weren't you lot who ended up dead. [ his voice has gone pretty quiet at the end there, but the point still stands. ]
Edited (how many times can i say 'pretty sure') 2025-02-08 17:29 (UTC)
he nods along as basilio gives his account of events. ]
Yeah. We all thought he was dead after you sent him crashing through the ceiling, but turned out Zorba was still around to pull him through it.
[ not that she has any idea who that is, he figures, even if he was part mustari. ]
Showed up the next day and killed Forden with your lance. [ ... ] Then he took aim at some unrelated people in the audience and we decided we'd get in his way.
Then... what you saw was a completely different outcome?
[ She's trying to wrap her head around the question of how is that possible? while trying to follow along. Louis, defeated but ultimately successful in his scheme. Forden, dead. Who's Zorba.
Sounds like it. It all went down like our Del said.
[ he goes a little quiet after that. it's a bit like picking at a scab on a wound that's healing over, just a little. and he's been picking at it since he got here, it feels like. ]
We got involved. Threw up a barrier 'til they got away. [ ... ] Didn't hold forever though.
[ it had just been a basic igniter with a shield spell; it could only do so much. shame their own awakening hadn't come sooner, but maybe it always had to be that way.
he briefly glances at basilio, feeling a little guilty at walking him through this memory again. he won't drag it out any more than he has to in order to get the main point across, at least; he'll just keep it succinct and matter-of-fact. ]
Eventually the blast broke through, and obviously I wasn't about to let Bas take it. So I shoved him out of its path and took the fatal hit meself.
[ there's not really a lot to say about that. basilio just keeps quiet while fidelio and eupha talk, up until the point she apologises. ]
Not like it was your fault.
'Sides, you're the one who spelled it out to me I Awakened after all that. Probably would've been lost for a while if you lot hadn't taken me along too.
[ he shrugs off the courage remark, not quite comfortable with accepting it as a compliment. ]
Yeah. Sorry things apparently ended so badly for you too, 'specially when you just got dragged into that whole mess.
[ the others had all been lying to them since the very beginning (which he still has complicated feelings about even now), but eupha hadn't had anything to do with it until they'd come to her home to take her relic. ]
...Still don't really understand how we have two separate versions of what happened, but it seems like that's what we're lookin' at here.
[ Sympathy from Fidelio...... she feels blessed. ]
Yes, I think that must be the case. Although... as terrible as all of this is, [ she looks to Basilio, managing a small smile despite the weighty topic at hand. ] hearing that there was a future where we were able to become friends does make me a little happy.
Last I saw you, you were still alive. So. What happened t'you doesn't match. [ it makes sense? honestly. but the idea of many different versions of one place gives him a headache something fierce. ]
Far as I'm concerned, we still are. Pretty sure you can get to know me again-- sounds like we've got the time for it.
[ ... ]
Still. Everythin' up to that point was the same for you? We showed up on your island. Del got hurt. Somethin' happened in that temple of yours and a Human showed up...
[ he's checking things off on his fingers as he goes. ]
[ ...and then saint rella came by to check up on him, but he's not going to bring that part up. ]
Then... what, the village held that festival and we all went off to Altabury. Where you lot handed off that phony lance, plannin' to take out Count Louis during Lady Junah's performance. All of which led up to that duel on the roof of the opera house. That right?
Everythin' but that's the same, more or less. I know there's loads of people here from different places, but people from the same place but it's different too?
[ he has to wonder what happened after that in eupha's version of things. with will out of the picture, would they have just stuck with louis? even if he'd killed lady junah with the rest of them? he doesn't think he would have stood for that, but... ]
Weird to think we might still be runnin' around our world in some other timeline.
[ maybe even that utopia from the book exists somewhere, huh. things would've been a hell of a lot different if they'd been born into that world.
the silence feels heavy, and he looks over to basilio. it's probably been well over a decade since fidelio's been the one who's needed to cheer him up. he wasn't great at it then, and that was when it was simple. it's not just a couple of bullies or a skinned knee now, and he doesn't know what the hell he's supposed to do. ]
...Right. Well. Probably no sense thinkin' too hard about it now, yeah? However it works, it's the three of us here now. Oughtta make the best of it.
[ well, made that awkward for everyone didn't he? as soon as he realises they've all gone silent, and that silent is weighted like a ten ton stone, he shakes he head. like he's snapping himself out of a trance. ]
Yeah. It's what's happenin' now that matters.
Not sure what any of that actually is, but-- there's gotta be some way t'find out, right?
[ seeing basilio shake himself back out of it, fidelio silently exhales in relief. ]
Don't seem like there's any way for us to contact whoever's runnin' things here unsolicited. Figure they're bound to find the pile of pamphlets they never gave us eventually, though. Maybe that'll remind 'em to come and tell us what's what.
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That's a good sign, at least. [ he does look genuinely relieved. ]
Don't explain how you think you're dead, though. When you weren't.
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[ he sure as fuck wouldn't have invited him anywhere. if there's a separate hell he hopes the bastard's burning in it.
anyway. he shakes his head. ]
Bas and me remember things the same, at least up 'til I snuffed it. Happened at the opera house the day after you lot made your assassination attempt. Can't speak to much after that, but you were still around then, in any case. All of you were.
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[ Looking between them. Forden dead??? And the day after? She was so sure she was going to have to explain the assassination attempt, and the deception leading up to it... ]
But, it was the night of that attempt when it all went wrong... Louis confronted us on the rooftop, and... we were bested.
[ ... ]
You were witnesses, I thought. He told you not to interfere...
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[ forden got in the proverbial elevator and went down, that's for sure. once eupha's done talking though, basilio's eyes slide sideways to look at fidelio, before looking back at eupha. ]
We were witnesses, yeah. You won. Or-- "won", the bastard had plans on top of plans and y'played into them.
[ ... ]
Pretty sure the whole event went wrong by the end, but it weren't you lot who ended up dead. [ his voice has gone pretty quiet at the end there, but the point still stands. ]
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he nods along as basilio gives his account of events. ]
Yeah. We all thought he was dead after you sent him crashing through the ceiling, but turned out Zorba was still around to pull him through it.
[ not that she has any idea who that is, he figures, even if he was part mustari. ]
Showed up the next day and killed Forden with your lance. [ ... ] Then he took aim at some unrelated people in the audience and we decided we'd get in his way.
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[ She's trying to wrap her head around the question of how is that possible? while trying to follow along. Louis, defeated but ultimately successful in his scheme. Forden, dead. Who's Zorba.
And these two, turning against their lord... ]
What happened then?
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Sounds like it. It all went down like our Del said.
[ he goes a little quiet after that. it's a bit like picking at a scab on a wound that's healing over, just a little. and he's been picking at it since he got here, it feels like. ]
We got involved. Threw up a barrier 'til they got away. [ ... ] Didn't hold forever though.
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[ it had just been a basic igniter with a shield spell; it could only do so much. shame their own awakening hadn't come sooner, but maybe it always had to be that way.
he briefly glances at basilio, feeling a little guilty at walking him through this memory again. he won't drag it out any more than he has to in order to get the main point across, at least; he'll just keep it succinct and matter-of-fact. ]
Eventually the blast broke through, and obviously I wasn't about to let Bas take it. So I shoved him out of its path and took the fatal hit meself.
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What you did took immense courage.
[ And it cost Fidelio his life.
Even if this doesn't match what Eupha remembers, she has no doubt that what they're saying is true. They wouldn't lie about this. ]
... I'm so sorry that it ended that way.
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Not like it was your fault.
'Sides, you're the one who spelled it out to me I Awakened after all that. Probably would've been lost for a while if you lot hadn't taken me along too.
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Yeah. Sorry things apparently ended so badly for you too, 'specially when you just got dragged into that whole mess.
[ the others had all been lying to them since the very beginning (which he still has complicated feelings about even now), but eupha hadn't had anything to do with it until they'd come to her home to take her relic. ]
...Still don't really understand how we have two separate versions of what happened, but it seems like that's what we're lookin' at here.
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Yes, I think that must be the case. Although... as terrible as all of this is, [ she looks to Basilio, managing a small smile despite the weighty topic at hand. ] hearing that there was a future where we were able to become friends does make me a little happy.
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Last I saw you, you were still alive. So. What happened t'you doesn't match. [ it makes sense? honestly. but the idea of many different versions of one place gives him a headache something fierce. ]
Far as I'm concerned, we still are. Pretty sure you can get to know me again-- sounds like we've got the time for it.
[ ... ]
Still. Everythin' up to that point was the same for you? We showed up on your island. Del got hurt. Somethin' happened in that temple of yours and a Human showed up...
[ he's checking things off on his fingers as he goes. ]
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Then... what, the village held that festival and we all went off to Altabury. Where you lot handed off that phony lance, plannin' to take out Count Louis during Lady Junah's performance. All of which led up to that duel on the roof of the opera house. That right?
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And the two of you led the evacuation when the human attacked.
[ She won't let them breeze past that detail. ]
Yes, all of that sounds exactly right. Then, somehow, our memories diverge there...
In that duel... I saw as Will was struck down by Louis. And after that, I... froze. I'm not sure what became of the others.
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[ ... ]
Everythin' but that's the same, more or less. I know there's loads of people here from different places, but people from the same place but it's different too?
[ headache. ] How's that even work?
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[ he has to wonder what happened after that in eupha's version of things. with will out of the picture, would they have just stuck with louis? even if he'd killed lady junah with the rest of them? he doesn't think he would have stood for that, but... ]
Weird to think we might still be runnin' around our world in some other timeline.
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If there are other versions of reality, worlds where events transpired differently, it's... a lot to think about.
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it's probably not hard to figure out why. ]
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the silence feels heavy, and he looks over to basilio. it's probably been well over a decade since fidelio's been the one who's needed to cheer him up. he wasn't great at it then, and that was when it was simple. it's not just a couple of bullies or a skinned knee now, and he doesn't know what the hell he's supposed to do. ]
...Right. Well. Probably no sense thinkin' too hard about it now, yeah? However it works, it's the three of us here now. Oughtta make the best of it.
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... Yes, you're right.
I know not what is in store for us here, but it is some comfort to be able to face it with the two of you.
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Yeah. It's what's happenin' now that matters.
Not sure what any of that actually is, but-- there's gotta be some way t'find out, right?
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Don't seem like there's any way for us to contact whoever's runnin' things here unsolicited. Figure they're bound to find the pile of pamphlets they never gave us eventually, though. Maybe that'll remind 'em to come and tell us what's what.
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