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Post by Shark a' Pult on Nov 17, 2014 2:13:51 GMT -5
"If you don't take it, you'll lock up. Not like I care though, it'd be funny to see you turned into a statue."
"I know what will happen, I just wish you'd have told me before we left."
As usual, Kaede hobbled about with the help of a new crutch she had gotten since a prior mishap. It was always an uphill battle though since the streets of Water 7 were uneven and most of the time not level. If her crutch didn't get stuck in some space between cobblestones, then she had to move at a snails pace up or down stairs. She was becoming more used to it with time, but the fact that she relied on the small service droid with her to survive, was never far from her mind, Today in fact, it was very much on her mind, since she had been informed that she was close to losing function of her body.
"And anyway, isn't it your job-"
"No. No it isn't."
"Well it can wait till we're inside at least, people might freak out otherwise."
Chances were the Andersons wouldn't take kindly to it either, but she hoped they would understand once they let her in. Or rather, if they let her in, considering she had made it to their current place of residence but didn't make an effort to just let herself in. That said, she was too busy conversing with the machine to remember to knock on the door or otherwise announce her presence.
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Post by CJ on Nov 18, 2014 1:15:08 GMT -5
Apparently someone had heard the conversation, as the door opened to reveal Connor, who looked rather devastated to see Kaede. His face quickly changed to a smile of pity. It seemed he still hadn’t gotten used to her appearance after all that time. Guilt practically radiated off of him.
"Hello Kaede," he said. "Thanks for coming all the way out here. Come on in."
Inside the small, dingy first floor apartment sat Beth in one of their cozy, second hand chairs. Meek played nearby with a rather impressive set of different trains, making cute noises as he bashed them together. Beth watched him closely, but seemed entirely distant emotionally. It seemed the fight with Devastis hadn’t just affected her physically. Apparently she hadn't left the apartment since arriving there from their journey.
Having lost her beautiful long hair to Connor’s misguided blast, it was now cropped to her earlobes and was cut to include bangs that hung over the bandages on her head. Her hand was still wrapped from a nasty stab wound.
It look her a few seconds to look up and notice that Kaede was there. Her eyes went wide for a moment, but then she soon regained her solemn attitude.
"Hey."
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Nov 18, 2014 22:49:35 GMT -5
"Oh, hey Connor. I'm just happy to h-help."
"What, I don't get a hello?"
She was a little taken aback when the door opened so appropriately, but she was glad to see who it was. She even attempted a wave, but gave up when she needed her hand to help get inside. It was odd though, even though she was more used to climbing steps than she had been after the accident, she suddenly found it much harder to do than she had ever felt. Or rather, she started to realize, it was a difficulty in moving her joints. Perhaps Bader was right, and she had now run out.
"Act-tually... I-I think I might need it soone-rrrrrr..."
She tried to laugh it off as she made it through the doorway, but her arm had locked up so that she couldn't even move her crutch. She nearly fell back out the doorway if it weren't for a gargantuan effort (at least on her part) to lurch forward with whatever else she could move. She ended up hitting the wall opposite the door without much a sound since her jaw had locked up as her neck followed suit.
"Whelp, there she goes. Told her she needed it before we left, but oh, she wanted to see those Andersons so badly!"
Bit by bit her body continued to lock up, after she lost feeling to it. Her small figure shook for a few moments as she slowly collapsed to the floor alongside her crutch, then remained completely still. Even though her eye was still open, it was unclear if she was even conscious. There was nothing stopping anyone from interacting with her, and together they could probably lift her up (she was much, much heavier than she looked, or her size implied), but it would be extremely difficult if possible to actually change the position she had ended up in. Like her joints had fused stiff, which in actuality was more or less what had happened.
"The first time is always the worst. Of course you should never go that long without any to start with."
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Post by CJ on Nov 19, 2014 3:13:02 GMT -5
Connor raised his hand rather slowly toward Bader and waved. It was clear he wasn't really sure how to interact with the tiny robot. The two never really had a good relationship, even when they traveled together with Arch. Unbeknownst to Connor or the robot, it was probably a good thing he kept his distance. If witch "magic" could cause Connor to manipulate simple electronic machines, what could he do to something like Bader?
He watched in horror as Kaede smacked against the wall just beyond the door. He turned to Bader with wide eyes.
"What do you mean, 'needed it?'"
He rushed forward to catch her as she fell. He groaned as he struggled to hold her up. She felt like a terrible weight.
"Kaede!" Connor yelped. "What's going on?"
"She hasn't been taking care of herself," Beth said matter of factly. She didn't seem surprised by the sudden developement, nor did she rush to help the girl as Connor had.
It took a great effort on Connor's part to lift and drag her to the bedroom. If it wasn't for his experience in the Grand Path fights, such a feat would have been impossible. Still, the effort took terribly long, given that Beth really didn't move to help at all.
Connor did his best to lay Kaede face up on the bed. He sat on it beside her and heaved in exhaustion. He looked up at Beth, who had entered the room and brought Meek with her. The child reached his one arm out to Bader in curiosity and swatted at him to no avail.
"How could this have happened?" Connor asked. "She was fine when I saw her at the door."
"I don't know how these things work but it's been clear since we went to that damn city that Kaede hasn't been listening to those damn scientists."
Beth stepped forward and looked down at the girl with strange contempt. It was like she was a totally different person, removed entirely from the situation.
"Listen, kid. Those scientists told us what happened. You could have made it out of that city a lot better than you are now if you hadn't forgone your own treatment to rush Connor's. I appreciate what you did, but you've got a commitment to make now. You're not doing a service to Connor or anyone else by not taking care of yourself. You're hurting every one who gives a damn about you. You're smart. Use your brain for once. I'm done pitying you."
As she left to go back to her place in the living room, Connor shook his head rapidly. He was trying his best to comfort her but failing altogether.
"She doesn't mean that. She doesn't mean it, Kaede. We're going to get you back just right. Right, Bader? We can get her back to the way she was?"
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Nov 19, 2014 13:53:49 GMT -5
A la the Creation of Adam, Bader reached out a clamper to try and meet hands with baby Meek, but lost the chance when Beth stepped forward. The robot did seem to like her little speech though.
"That's the spirit! You sound just like Solaine now!"
As soon as she left though, things got progressively less interesting, at least for the robot.
"She doesn't mean that. She doesn't mean it, Kaede. We're going to get you back just right. Right, Bader? We can get her back to the way she was?"
"Back the way she was, like when she was made entirely of meat? Only the good Doc that made her like she is, and made you like you are can do that. If you mean just moving around again though, that's easy as taking candy from a baby... yes..."
Zipping over to the bed, the little droid lowered to the point where it could reach Kaede with its extendable arm. Moving her shirt so that it could get at her back, particularly her shoulder blades, it began to make a light humming noise.
"Before transferring my ownership to the living statue here, the eggheads kitted my array to suit her medical needs. An overdose of biurificane should get her mobile again, though it'll feel worse than any hangover AND I SHOULD KNOW."
Momentarily, the droid (with a little ding sound and some chill mist) produced what looked like a modified pair of hypodermic syringes. Tapping at the intended spots on her back to make sure, the robot stuck her with both and began the process of administering a light blue liquid. In effect, Bader was functioning as a makeshift dialysis machine, though it was possible that the entire process was lost on Connor. To that however, even Kaede wasn't herself entirely sure how it worked. Robotics and medicine were never her areas of focus.
"Shouldn't take too long, since it's just the first time. She'll be a sight worse than paralyzed if it happens again though. Actually that might be fun to watch..."
---
It was a little over an hour and a half before Kaede began to stir. Not that it took that long for the process to take effect, but it seemed she was actually waking up from having fallen asleep at some indeterminate point while paralyzed. She tried to sit up but needed to take a moment and move about a little, her body still stiff in places, and as well she made the effort to adjust her clothes if it hadn't already been done.
"Oh... hey Connor, sorry about that. Didn't mean to steal your bed for... how long was I out for? Well anyway, how are you guys doing? Finally got to ask, haha..."
With a nervous laugh, she reached for her neck, feeling at the mark there. She was wondering where Bader was, but figured it might be a blessing, since the droid had gone out after becoming bored of waiting for her after roughly three minutes since completing the administration.
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Post by CJ on Nov 20, 2014 0:43:14 GMT -5
The bedroom was barely big enough to fit a full size bed and crib, so Connor sat on the floor nearby after Bader left out of boredom. He hummed to himself and listened to Meek squeaking and squealing as he played with his trains just on the other wall. What little light that leaked in through the window didn't touch Connor's face. He was obscured in shadow, but his nearly pale green eyes looked as though they were lit up like a neon sign when Kaede finally woke up.
"Good," he said with a hesitant smile. "Great! I'm great. You weren't out for that long. No worries."
His mind thought back to what Bader had said just an hour before. Only the people back at Seven Gates could fix her now. Their past experience with the place proved that solution wouldn't be reliable though. Connor's mere presence there insighted disease and class warfare. And the scientists didn't care at all about Kaede's well being, despite her commitment to resolving the very key to their populace's nightmare. They would never take her back now. Not as a pity case. There was nothing to be gained.
It's only a matter of time before she's gone, he thought to himself grimly. He couldn't blame Beth for being so cold. Why become attached to someone you know isn't going to be with you very long, especially when they're not doing anything to help themselves? Connor couldn't see it that way. He had an obligation to help Kaede, especially since her condition was brought about by his situation in the first place.
"Have you been doing OK lately? Bader said that you weren't taking some kind of medicine."
He paused and tried to focus his thoughts.
"I know what it's like to live in a body that's not your own. Sometimes... sometimes I still wake up at night thinking I'm back in the machine. I know it sounds childish but I get so scared at even the possibility of being that way again. Beth doesn't understand what we went through... what you're going through right now. I guess what I'm saying is that if you need to talk to someone, I'm here."
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Nov 20, 2014 1:29:48 GMT -5
"Oh I just missed out on taking it so far today. I have to take it up to three times a day, or well... you saw what happened. Bader says it helps my body to accept all the metal parts, something like that. I was just too busy today for him to give it to me like normal, and well... I kind of wanted to see how long I could go without taking it, what would happen. Try to feel normal again I guess."
She had more or less regained her regular faculties by now, and managed to sit up with only the typical difficulty of missing some limbs. She wasn't so sure she liked what Bader might have told them, but she supposed there wasn't much harm when she could properly explain it herself. Or at least, as well as she understood it. She had trouble speaking about exactly why she had skipped the medication for the day, and wasn't able to articulate her thoughts well, but she hoped Connor would understand anyway.
"I wish I could tell you how much I appreciate that Connor. I don't want to impose, but if you don't mind me saying, you guys are about the closest thing I have to a family anymore. At least, after I lost my brother, and the old crew split up. I always used to feel like I preferred to live alone, but more and more I think now, how wrong I might have been. That's why... I'm sorry." It was the strangest thing, but she couldn't seem to look him in the eyes anymore, no matter how hard she tried. Hopefully though, he wouldn't mind. "I'm trying to help you guys with this whole mess, and I would never want to be a burden. So I'm sorry, if you worry about me a lot, but I'm still getting used to things. This place, this work, this life... heck, this body. I'm glad though, I have you and Beth to help me cope with it."
She tried to think how things would be, if the situation were the same but with her past friends and family instead of the Andersons. Truth be told she would probably not be as she was now, but she never blamed them for that. If she did end up like this though, how would the others have responded? She wanted to imagine that her brother would act to help her like the Andersons did, that Sam and Kalendra and Jean would be as understanding as Connor was. She couldn't be entirely sure though, she could never be sure. At least, not as sure as she was, with this family here.
"That's why I came here, on short notice. I... I don't want to rush it, you know, but I want to help you guys finally get out of this situation once and for all. Sooner rather than later. We can all get through this, not just you and Beth, but Jean as well."
She stumbled over her words towards the end, having felt more and more self conscious the longer she had been talking. Personal interaction was never her strong suit, and as said, she had always been more used to being alone so this was something of a new challenge for her.
"I-I'm sorry, if that sounded stupid. I tried to say how I feel, but I'm afraid I might have come off as desperate or something..."
Again, she nervously tried to laugh it off and buried her face in her hands if only for a moment.
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Post by CJ on Nov 24, 2014 22:21:19 GMT -5
"Normal? I know how you feel."
Even before his travels with Arch, he never felt normal. He was always a piece of another puzzle. It wasn't until he married Beth that he felt like he was part of something. Here was Kaede, in exactly the same situation he had been in before.
"You don't need to apologize for anything. I'm here because I care about you and I want to . And for what it's worth, you're my family too. When our time with the Grand Path is over, we'll still see each other, just like we always have."
He could hardly believe the words he was saying. Did he even have the time to be Kaede's friend? To be anyone's friend? What was life going to be like if they beat Jean? He thought back on what Martin had told him. There were those who didn't want him and Beth to make it through the rankings. What if they were merely entering another disaster?
"Yeah, Beth told me the next fight is against Jean. I haven't seen her since the party. I been wondering for a while... so Jean is the first rank. Why isn't she an Emperor yet? Is there another challenge? Is there a trial period? I want to get out of the Grand Path. Not stay in it. Though maybe I shouldn't be worrying about this now. After all, we still have to survive Jean and make sure she gets out of it too..."
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Nov 30, 2014 16:02:56 GMT -5
Connor's words made Kaede feel much better about the situation, but she still had some concerns that he might just be saying what she wanted to hear. She wouldn't tell him, but she had been conscious when Beth said her piece, and she had the unmistakable feeling that she was butting in somehow even if Connor didn't feel so.
"No, there's no trial period, she could have gone on by now if she wanted to. The truth is... no one knows where she is. Not even Solaine, and you know her, she's particular about that. I can find her though since we both have the mark from the old crew, that's why Solaine got me involved in the first place, she wants to find her as well. I just need to know when you guys want to finish this, since I can't do it on my own."
Everything else he said, she'd already heard before and understood. She wasn't entirely sure though to what extent he meant when he said 'get out', but at any rate she was sure Solaine wouldn't keep him and Beth stuck in the game if they made it that far.
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Post by CJ on Dec 2, 2014 0:39:18 GMT -5
"It'll have to be soon, but I think I'll let Beth decide the date. It's been hard to lay low with our ridiculous bounties and this apartment isn't going to last much longer with Aqua Laguna coming soon. We're almost there. If we can just get past Jean..."
Connor didn't seem very confident. Then again, he never was. It was a miracle they had gotten to this point. Could they make one more happen before the end?
He sat up slightly and scooted forward to get closer to Kaede. His near neon eyes looked up at her in the darkness of the room, hidden in the shadow of the daylight that crept in.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but that mark connects your old crew together. When you touch it, you share experiences and feel what the others are feeling too. But what if Jean didn't want anyone to know where she was? I get it's your job to find her, but I wouldn't want to invade her privacy, especially if there was a terrible reason she was hiding.
"When the time comes to find her, could you promise not to tell me the circumstance if it's private? I don't know Jean very well, so I'd especially hate to bother her like that."
Even this far, it appeared that Connor kept some of his humanity. But as Kaede witnessed before, the question still remained as to whether Beth was still herself.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Dec 18, 2014 2:19:31 GMT -5
"That's right, it connects us. It was so that if any of us ever needed help, or needed to find one another again, we could without the need of a bunch of vivre cards or anything like that. It's entirely by choice though, someone can only put out what they're feeling... or experiencing, if they want to. The same with the other end, a person will only pick up on that if they want to. It's all done by touching."
In the past she might have become uncomfortable when Connor neared and tried to put a little distance between them, but by this point it barely crossed her mind. As if it wasn't obvious enough, and he didn't already know, she demonstrated by sweeping her hand across the mark on her neck. She hadn't thought of it herself before then, but she realized how lucky she was back at Colyne after the accident. Of course it wasn't lucky that it happened, but she was fortunate to have been able to keep her natural skin while most everything else had been destroyed. If it weren't for that, she might not even have the mark anymore.
"Jean though... she's been projecting her feelings constantly, night and day. There almost isn't a time where she's not, and it's always the same. Pain, anguish. I don't know why, she's only sharing what she's feeling, but it's always bad. If she didn't want anyone to know, anyone to find her, she wouldn't keep doing it. That's why it makes me think... it's a distress signal."
She went to take one of his hands with her own, looking him in the eyes in an effort to get her point across. Of course she couldn't actually know what the truth was, but in her mind it was the most reasonable conclusion. She knew Jean about as well as anyone, she had always acted as a mentor and even an older sister perhaps to her, Sam and Kalendra. That's why she knew that Jean would never normally ask for help, so this must have been very serious.
"She's probably the strongest person I've ever known, but for her to be in distress like this, you can see why I'm worried. I'm ready to do this whenever you are, if you say we go tomorrow then we go tomorrow. I just want to make sure that when we do go, you're ready for what might happen. There's a reason, whatever it is, that Jean is in the situation she's in."
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Post by CJ on Dec 23, 2014 11:05:45 GMT -5
"You've been feeling that every day? Kaede, how do live with something like that? I like to think that I'm there for Beth, but our minds aren't wholly connected like that. I suppose that if you took that burden, then you must really love your friends. I'd say that what you have is closer than family."
It was incredible. Kaede was constantly feeling these kinds of emotions? He couldn't imagine such a life, to have to live with not only your own feelings, but the feelings of others.
His mind wandered. Over the course of his return to humanity, he was slowly starting to realize that his own relationship with Beth had changed for the worse. Things were more distant between them. The unique circumstance of raising Meek combined with the stress of the Grand Path and giving up the restaurant was starting to weigh down upon them. If they were able to get out of the Grand Path, where would they go? There was no end of the road. There would only be struggle after struggle.
His thoughts continued. If Jean was distressed, wouldn't it be easier to defeat her now? All they would have to do was push her to surrender, help her pick up the pieces later and finally finish this ordeal and move on to whatever awaited them in the end.
"Then let's go and see how she's doing," he said with a solemn smile. "Back when I first started the Grand Path, I ended my fight with Doc Super by saving his life. Maybe we can do the same for Jean. Or, at the very least, we can go and see if we can do anything. I don't know much about anything... but you saved my life. I can't see why you can't help her too."
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Dec 29, 2014 1:41:54 GMT -5
It had been some time before they even departed, enough at least that Solaine and Joe had actually made it back from their vacation trip abroad. Even though she was back though, Solaine seemed a bit weary from the travel (or perhaps something that had occurred while away), but not enough to keep her from accompanying the group to their final destination. After all, it was her job and she wanted to see things to the end, not to mention her own reasons for wanting to find Jean.
The travel wasn't particularly difficult, and finding the island was made very much easier thanks to Kaede's mark. Although it showed up on maps, it didn't seem to have a common name, which might have seemed a bit odd since there was clearly visible signs of civilization. Something, probably a city towards the interior, though largely obscured by all the overgrowth of the island's foliage. On the approach though, soon apparent was Jean's ship. Some of the group might have seen it before, though how recently was questionable. Either way it stood out quite a bit, from it's size and distinctive figurehead of a greyhound.
---
"Hold up a bit Andon, I'm not sure we want to approach them."
Solaine stood towards the prow of the ship, trying to see what she could of the island and the other boat. She called back to the fellow at the helm, one of the hired crew to man the ship during the voyage. Kaede stood by as well, having had to give the occasional directions to the helmsman along the way.
"What do you guys think?"
"Wherever Jean is, she's not on the ship, it feels like she's on the island... but they might know something about what's going on?"
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Post by CJ on Dec 31, 2014 2:02:15 GMT -5
Connor wasn't too hard to find. He had been proactive in helping out on the ship where he could. Currently, he was mopping the deck. He put aside his mop to get a better view of the island.
"I think you've probably got the best idea, Kaede," he said with a sigh. "We should talk to someone who knows what's going on. Our priority here is making sure Jean is safe. The fight can come later."
He adjusted his hair, making sure that all of it was tied back. It had gotten long enough to get in the way. It was somewhat ironic, given that Beth's own long hair had been lost in the previous fight.
Unlike Connor, Beth had stuck to herself and hardly spoke to anyone. When she did speak, it was only to Connor and Kaede. She coldly ignored Solaine, though for what reason she would not say.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jan 16, 2015 4:43:15 GMT -5
"Ho! Hold fast there, don't expect to board us! We've got cannons trained and- oh it's just Solaine."
On the approach, the hired crew did a good enough job of slowing things down so they didn't just ram into the other ship, and aimed to pull alongside it. The crew on the other boat though had different plans in mind and made clear with a fellow hanging from the rigging with a particularly loud voice. Solaine herself didn't have to do anything but when they caught sight of her, they eased up on the hostility. It could be guessed that they were familiar with her, which made sense since Jean was as much a member of the game as anyone so in the past she probably got to know Jean's crew by association, kind of like how she got to know the Twins despite them not being in the game.
"Another ship so soon? What's that, five in the last hour? People are just coming and going these days!"
Talking amongst themselves, it could be seen pretty obviously that they were quite surprised to see the arrival of the new ship. Certainly it could be heard well enough, the murmurs amongst them, as if they didn't really care about who heard. Whereupon the smaller boat managed to sidle up to the larger, a more professional-looking crewmate leaned over the side to survey the newcomers, a rope ladder in hand.
"Hello again, Davith. Seen some other ships before us?"
"Aye, that we have. More than fifty so far and that's no exaggeration. Ever since we reached the island this morning, and Jean made her way inland."
At first Solaine had acted her usual chatty self on the approach, and even gestured for the rope ladder, which she caught when Davith dropped it down. Something he said though caused a very visible change in her, like she had seen a ghost, and she started to back away from the man, the ladder, and the other ship as well. He didn't seem to notice or care all that much though, and turned his attention to the others.
"So what's your business here? Need something of the Captain, or just sightseeing? Ah who am I kidding, if she's here with you, it'll have to do with the Captain." he gestured towards Solaine as he spoke.
Kaede meanwhile, whom had made herself scarce on the approach, only now emerged from below deck. It seemed during her short time absent, she had put on a turtleneck sweater. Although she didn't say anything, the others could probably guess why.
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