no_ufo_ending | [Victory Road] Ic Inbox

I didn't want to be here. [ He can't hide the growing bitterness in his voice. ]

I wanted this to be over. Whether the Holy Mother was Awakened or you killed me, it would be over and I could rest. I know I'm not wanted here. Your friend has made that clear. And what you've gone through? That was my life.

I know you hate me. I'd be surprised if you didn't.

I know it was your life, you sick fuck!

_{[And now that Walter has brought up his 'friend', a hotness flashes into his cheeks and neck. The conversation about the cult with Heather had not been a fun one and he knows things. He's been to the prison. He's had those entries read to him. He's seen the Little Walter hurring around in search of his mommy. But he's still so steeped in hot anger that he can't look at Walter the way Eileen did. It's been too long.]}

Stay out of mine! I'm not your lamb or pig or whatever else you plan on sacrificing me as!

I'm not sacrificing you here. And you're not a pig; you were special. [ The others he chose out of anger. Chaos was the neighbour who threatened violence on others and was cheered for it. Watchfulness, the guard who had oversaw him at the prison. But Henry and Eileen, he chose not out of bitterness or hate. He chose them because they were perfect. There's a pause as he realises something ]

...How long did you say you had been here?

Special!

_{[He gets spit on his Poke'Gear screen.]}

Six. Six years. Six long years of peace. It's a shame nobody can die permanently in this world or I'd make it seven.

_{[Henry falls silent for a moment. Wow. That had come out of his mouth. Had he really been building up this much acid over the years? He shakes himself and continues.]}

If you're so hung up on Paradise, why don't you just accept Johto as a replacement? There's no war here. The air and water are clean. People and nature live in harmony. Our world is in stasis.

[ Six years. Henry claims to have been here for six years. He had been waiting with Eileen for about half at hour at most. He hadn't intended...but he hadn't thought about what happened if he died and Henry succeeded in stopping him. The world would simply move on without him. He hadn't noticed any physical difference about Henry to suggest so much time had passed. ]

Six years. How...

[ He acknowledges the death threat, bowing his head unseen. But there's something more disturbing about what Henry's just said. There's a pause as he tries to take it all in. ]

No permanent death? There must be.

There isn't. Not for us at least. The people who weren't born here. If something happens where you should have died, you suddenly wake up in a Pokemon Center.

_{[Henry's tone flattens out from sputtering rage to something a little closer to the Henry Walter knew. But only a little.]}

And as far as I know, nobody new has been born from the waves of newcomers either.

[ Walter let his head fall back, touching his neck. How could they not die...? It was God's gift, to allow them to rest from their suffering. When he was young, he had wanted his mom. When he was older, he wanted a friend. Now it was all Walter had wanted as an adult - for the pain to stop. ]

There's no suffering in Paradise. Yet the Pokemon I received mourns for his mother. He cries and... [ Sometimes, Walter cries with him. His voice has quieted. He doesn't sound like the sure, reminiscing man Henry had listened to on the steps of the Otherworld apartment. He sounds more like the young boy who had told Henry he had no family, no name, no home. ] And people continue to hurt and corrupt what is around them. Some are kind but it's not enough...

Why are we here?

Edited 2016-11-05 12:59 (UTC)

_{[A cruel smug thought perches on Henry's tongue. He probably cries because you're his trainer.]}

All Cubone are like that--it's part of how the--they come from eggs they don't even have--we're getting off topic.

_{[Henry frowns again, thinking of his time on the moon and the strange space kitten that introduced itself to them. Arceus was there. There was dance music. It was weird. He tries to think of a way to frame it so Walter can understand, and honestly it's his best guess as he thinks about that knowing gaze the mysterious white Pokemon looked at them with. And a little cartoon logic from watching TV back home before his life went to shit.]}

The Gods of this place want us to experience the joy of befriending Pokemon.

[ Funny you should think that, since you made him cry by nearly killing Walter. And he's cried quite a few times after about that. Said Cubone has returned to Walter's side after the initial YOU! outburst, entertaining himself by playing with Walter's coat. So many secret pockets...Walter permits him, too absorbed by the phone call to worry. ]

I...was brought here to feel joy? [The idea that anything wanted him to be happy is pushing it Henry. ] By God?

Not the God you're thinking of. You really have no idea how big the multiverse is, do you?

...No. I had never been outside of Silent Hill or South Ashfield. [ And he didn't exactly learn much about the rest of the world growing up, like along the idea of multiverses. ]

I'm not supposed to- I shouldn't be here. [ He wasn't allowed to feel those things, he wasn't supposed to have nice things, he didn't deserve anything besides his Otherworlds and pain and death, he couldn't have this- His hand tightens on his neck, thumb pushing against his windpipe. ]

I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be here.

There's nothing either of us can do about that. It's out of our hands. We may be here another six years. We may go home tomorrow. Nobody knows.

No. No, I need to- I don't want this, I shouldn't-! [ He can't think clearly. He's supposed to be dead, he's meant to be either awakening the Holy Mother or dying thanks to Henry. He's not meant to be alive with these creatures that act like they like him and care about him, he's meant to die alone or be returned to the Mother's embrace.

Assumption notices Walter's distress and gives a small cry, reaching up to grab and tug at his arm. Stop that :c He finally calms himself enough to complete his sentences. ]

I don't want to live. I was meant to die.

_{[Henry glares down at the device in his hand, forming various hateful things to say and shelving them for later. This is Walter Sullivan, the man who dug up his own body. This would not be the last time he heard from them, he knows it in his gut. With a sniff he wipes away the blood that's started to drip from his nose.]}

When we get home, I'll take care of that. I promise.

[ Assumption heard what was said. Just as he pushed himself into Walter's side, he heard Henry's reply. No...He looked up at Walter with wide, watery eyes. ]

I know. [ Walter calmly replied, before closing the call. He had a lot to think about, as Assumption nestled forcefully into him and getting the front of his tee shirt damp with unshed tears. ]

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