resumed | PC: ACE 💀

[ he looks surprised, actually. ]

Did you guys get to keep your powers? [ or. have powers period? what the fuck that's not fair. ] I feel like I should responsibly scold you for playing bait but you're most suited for it and I would've done the same if it were me, so. [ he squints. ]

...a hydra?

Nope. I don't really know how he pulled it off, to be honest. We didn't have powers and our own hits weren't doing as much damage as they would've on normal creatures with everything else. Also not a hydra, it only had the one head.

[ just a fucked up looking dragon.

ALSO HE IGNORES THE MOCK SCOLDING FOR PLAYING BAIT HE IS SELECTIVELY DEAF ]

[ there's very much an expression that seems to say "what in the fuck." but maybe it's because temenos is usually a squishy mage? ]

Sounds frustrating. We didn't have access to our powers on both of the trips I went on either, I was just wondering if that changed at all. Okay. So you distracted this dragon thing and Temenos hit it with magic. Was that at the end of everything? You guys looked pretty wrecked.

Yeah, that's the last thing we did. We were in some kind of... void at that point. [ he rubs at his face where the bandages are, which is bad, but look. itchy. ] We started off at in a forest near a messed up shrine. Some... rock creatures showed up with some kind of dark aura. They weren't friendly, and we weren't doing any damage, but some other creatures showed up.

[ he goes through his pocket to show off the little gabumon plushie ]

Vane had a bunny and Temenos had a ... flying... thing? [ whatever. ] They said they came to help, and they fought them for us.

[ it's instinct to want to slap his hand away but he doesn't. ]

Rock...creatures. Okay. [ like to be fair there are grain monsters in pjo he doesn't think it's that weird. but he's listening all the same. ] So you...started off outside with no idea how you got there, got attacked by rocks, and then other creatures came to champion for you so you could keep moving. Something like that?

[ ....i need you to know that since pokemon is very realy in riordanverse i have to assume digimon is too but he is going to be selectively blind for this instance. so he's looking at the plushie with interest. ]

This isn't the dog you mentioned, is it?

Yeah. That sounds about right. They dragged us back to an abandoned school once they beat the rocks.

[ there's a pause ]

No, different dog. This one was Gabumon and he... was kind of a lizard? And then when we fought the weird dog thing he turned into a giant wolf, and said his name was Garuru...mon.

Guess that's better than having no idea where to go from there. [ he squints at the plushie harder because this is not a fucking lizard. thanks. ] So okay, where'd the weird dog come from? And how did Gabumon turn into Garurumon?

I don't really know, they just kind of... changed during fights to get stronger. But-- we regrouped at the school and talked about their world, for a little bit, and they thought we might be able to get answers or find a way home by going to this cave they knew about. The weird... dog thing was on the way there. It had the same dark aura going on as the rock guys, and its jaw was massive.

[ so obviously they fought him. ]

Our guys turned into different things mid-battle. Mine was the wolf, Vane's bunny got bigger with ... knives? And somehow Tem's little rodent thing became a full grown man with wings.

[ HE STILL DOESN'T GET THAT ]

[

he just...stares for a second. ]

...sure. Okay. That makes sense, probably. [ it does not but he spent the entirety of his last adventure running around as a pantsless wolf so what does he know. ] Sounds like they all got stronger and leveled up after enough attacks. Which is good for you guys, considering. Did you ever figure out what was causing the dark aura?

Oh, right. It identified them as... servants of the Master, or something? I don't think we met whoever that was.

[ unless it was the dragon. he'll never know. ]

Sure. Of course the aura had a personality and master. [ again, not that weird, but still weird!!! ] Quick question, did you guys actually remember everything about Oceanside while you were gone?

Yeah. Our memories weren't messed with at all.

[ which he thinks is great because he'd have been real mad if they had been!!! ]

[ that just makes him frown. ]

I can't figure out what decides who does and doesn't have false memories implanted when they go on these trips. Even last week the other group who was gone had different memories the whole time.

I have no idea. The weirdest thing about the place was that those guys knew who we were, sort of.

Like. They knew your names and that you came from here and everything?

Not where we came from. But they knew our names. I guess it's not so weird if the whole thing wasn't real.

Sounds more convenient than anything, which isn't so bad when everything's a new experience. [ ...sigh. ] It's still weird that it's real and not real all at the same time.

[ ace is really missing an eye. ]

[ again, ace kind of itches at his face with a sigh ]

No kidding. Anyway, once we beat up that other monster, it dropped some kind of... comma looking thing? And when we got to the cave there were all these drawings and a stone door where the comma looking thing fit. So I put it in.

You're gonna irritate it if you keep scratching. [ he chides lightly, but makes no move to stop it. ]

Like a key. Okay, sure. Does that mean a door opened to somewhere else or something?

It's over too much of my face, it's annoying.

[ so was the gouge, ace. live with it. ]

Sort of? Once I put the thing in, we wound up separated in this kind of... void space, I guess? We still had the talking animals with us, but that was it. After a while of walking I came across... myself. Didn't have a mustache this time though.

Yeah that happens when you lose an entire eyeball, Ace. [ drier than the sahara. ] If it's still itchy I'll ask Will about a salve that we can apply that won't irritate the healing process but at least provide a little relief.

...I'm going to guess the other two experienced something similar elsewhere. [ god. ] What was the other you doing there?

It's fine. Don't bother him with something like that.

[ just. so fast. ]

Temenos did for sure. I had to drag him away from arguing with himself for eternity. [ a little. deadpan. and he mostly seems annoyed and dismissive about the rest of it, too: ] ...I don't know. Remind me of stuff, I guess? Didn't exactly say anything new.

[ there's a blank stare for a second. ]

I understand you don't feel as though people need to help you and possibly that you might not deserve the help when it's something you consider minor. [ just. this call-out. ] But it's not bothering, he tends to get in his own head sometimes if he's not able to help.

[ anyway. ]

...sounds complicated. Or at least frustrating. [ he does not want to think of how his clone would really behave in a situation like this. ] Kind of sounds more like a subconscious than a double though. Could you defeat it?

... It's not about deserving, or anything. [ a little awkwardly because this? call out? he doesn't know what to say? so. moving on to explaining; ]

I thought about punching it. [ like. genuinely. ] But like I said, it wasn't saying anything new. So I just walked away and that's when I found Temenos. The dragon popped up not long after that, and it was guarding the way back.

[ could they have gone around the dragon. probably. will he say that? no ]

[ he decides not to press him on that part, because he understands not having words. ]

So you had a dragon blockade and you could only get past it by defeating it. Yeah, okay, I can't say I blame you. I would've turned around and fought, too, just to get back out of there. Whether my clone was saying something new or not.

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