[It's early evening on the day of the fight at True North. Neria has been busy since the fight, healing the injured - including Ao - and checking on the status of things. She's finally about to get a chance to catch her breath, when she literally picks up a stray thought.] [Curious, she follows the thought to the walkway on the top of her roof. (She usually leaves the door to it unlocked.) And there she finds Isaac, who's likely been there for a while.] [Session Start!] ( *hands him the thought* Hi, is this yours? ) (It certainly is.) * Isaac is sitting there looking down at the ground. He's in a pseudo- curled up position, with his chin on his knees. [Neria calls out. "Isaac?"] * Isaac doesn't even look over. ~Huh?~ [Neria walks over to him. If she's surprised that he's up here, she doesn't show it. "Isaac. Please do not torture yourself like this."] ~But I killed someone. I killed lots of people. And I let others almost die too...~ [Neria sits down next to him. "You did not let anyone almost die. You fought well." She sighs. "I am sorry that you had to go through that."] ["Perhaps it is my fault, sending you out there. Warrior though you are, you are still quite young."] * Isaac looks over at Neria. His eyes are pretty wet, he's been crying for a while. ~Yes I did! You almost got killed, and Deryk's unconcious, and now Mela's gone, and they could have gotten through and...~ ["You are not the sole defender of this village, Isaac. This is not your fault. Deryk will recover, and we *will* get Mela back."] ~But I don't want to lose it, and I should have known it was up! Something was fishy and I blew it...~ ~I don't want to lose anybody...~ ["Isaac, Delinara managed to spirit away my closest friend. Someone who I have known all my life. And I did not realize it. I do not want to lose anyone, either. This is my home and my people. I care for them. But I had to send them out to battle earlier. I had to trust that they would do the best they could. And they did."] ~Yeah, but... I didn't stay calm. I went off and killed someone. I never wanted to kill her... And because I let that get to me, I wasn't there to get back to you...~ ["I know all too well the consequences of letting one's power get out of hand. But you did not intend to kill her. You are a very good person, Isaac. You would not be feeling half so miserable now if you were not. You already *have* helped me. Possibly more than you realize."] * Isaac sniffles. Funny, it's one of the few sounds he does make. ~But it wouldn't have mattered if we got here later...~ ["But you did not. You arrived in time. Worrying about what might have been is a very, very good way to drive yourself mad. Trust me. I have been there. You have seen it." She points to where the Crystal Forest used to be.] ~But if I can't do it now, how will I be able to do it later? We got lucky...~ ~And second chances almost never come. Goodness knows, I wish I had one...~ ["Perhaps this is your second chance, then."] ~Yeah, but I can't spend all my time here, can I? My team needs me too.~ ["You will always be welcome here."] ~I know, but how long?~ ["That, I do not know. I will miss all of you when you leave, and hope that you may return when things are far less... unsettled."] ~I hope so...~ * Isaac looks up at the sky. ~It feels good to be in a body again. I can feel things, hear them... Everything's so much clearer.~ ["Is your world different from this?"] ~I'm not alive in my world, but I may have told you that already. It's much more modern too... Not as much magic.~ [Neria hmms softly. "I think I would find it hard to live in a world without much magic. Then again, that is not an option for me."] ~But there is magic. Just... not a lot. Mariah uses magic, for instance.~ ["She is one of your teammates?"] * Isaac nods. ~She can use all the elements.~ ["That is something different. Here, there are the three elements, and you learn to use one."] * Isaac looks horizontally ahead again. ~Yeah. Maybe that's why Ao surprised you so much, huh?~ ["Yes. Such a thing is... unheard of, here. We follow the traditions of our ancestors. But it may very well be possible that we could learn to wield multiple elements."] ~It's really effective. I even slow down time with some of my abilities.~ ^^; ["Very impressive. Although messing with time can have its consequences."] ~Yeah, I guess so...~ ["It is how my people came to this world. Or so it is said."] * Isaac looks over at Neria again. ~Really?~ ["Really. Our ancestors came from another world, thrown here because their leader tried to take power from a being beyond space and time."] ~Huh. That's weird. So you're all aliens?~ ["Everyone is an alien at first. This is a nexus. It takes beings from many universes. Some choose to stay, some cannot leave. But my people have been here for many years."] ~Because this place really reminds me of a game I played called Chrono Trigger.~ ["A game? What kind of a game? How does it remind you of that?"] ~The elements are the same, the feel of the place... And last time I asked about Zeal right before I left and someone sounded surprised or something.~ [Neria blinks. Then blinks again. "Isaac... how do you know the name of the homeland of our ancestors?"] ("Sorry, Neria, but you're from a video game.) (She isn't! She's the descendent of someone who is!) ~'cuz it was a place in the game.~ ["Well, I suppose that when the people of Zeal were scattered among the worlds, some of them could have ended up in yours, and made this... game as their way of remembering what happened."] ["This still strikes me as very strange, though."] ~Maybe. But this place is kinda fun. I mean, it's like I'm there only not.~ ["I believe I see what you mean. When I was younger, I wished that I were a character in my favorite stories."] ~You too?~ ^_^ [Neria smiles back. "Yes. Mela and I used to act them out."] * Isaac sighs. ~I never had anyone to act it out with. Nobody wanted to play with the 'mute'.~ ["They could not hear you in their minds?"] ~That happened only after I died...~ ["Ahh. But you are alive here, and I can still hear you."] * Isaac pulls himself in a little. ~Ironic... I could only speak to people after I had nothing in common with them anymore...~ ["Did you stop being able to feel emotions after you died? I do not think so. You still have much in common with people, spirit or no."] ~I stopped feeling when I died, though... Everything became numb.~ [Neria puts her hand on his shoulder. "Here."] ~Huh?~ ["If I could find a way to bring you back in your world, I would. I am afraid it is beyond me, however. But here..."] ~But?~ ["Why not make the most of your time here?"] * Isaac blinks, then leap-hugs Neria. ~Thanks for making me remember that.~ [Neria hugs him back and smiles. "You are welcome, Isaac."] * Isaac lets go, rubbing his eyes. ~Thanks again. You said I should make the most of my time here, though... What should I do?~ ^_^ ["What do you want to do?"] ~I dunno.~ ^^; [Neria laughs. "Think about it, then. In the meantime, I believe it is time to eat. And the young man - Amir, was it? - deserves an explanation as to exactly what is going on here." She stands up and offers a hand to Isaac.] * Isaac takes the hand and is helped up. ~I guess he does.~ ["Then he shall have it. Let us go." Neria heads for the way back down.] ~'kay!~ * Isaac walks back down as well. [And off they went, for dinner and explanations, which will likely happen in the next mini!] [Session End!]