(no subject)

[howarewefortime]

-

iiiiiii

iiiiiii

nnnnnn

nnnnggggg

gggggggggg

The light recedes.

The free-fall stops.

Gravity returns with a

none

too

gentle

JOLT

The sky is blue again - or as blue as it gets in Scotland in February, at any rate. The Darkgate is gone. The crack is gone. The monsters, both living and fallen, have been spirited away like breath misting in the cold spring air; the only sign that there was ever a battle at all is the churned-up earth of the field and the faint, lingering scent of ozone.

(There are still bodies, lying here and there in the dirt. But suddenly, slowly, they're beginning to pick themselves up.)

Indoors is an almighty mess, glass and furniture and patrons strewn every which way. But though the pictures hang lopsided and the rafters might be all the better for a few new reinforcements, the structure itself seems sound. The centre is holding.

From the stables, there comes the gentle whickering of horses.


In the beginning, it was a nice day.

Comments

[realmrsreynolds]

When Sallie opens her eyes, she is on the floor.

Of her apartment. Not the bar.

Her empty apartment.

She hasn't tried to get up yet.

[mnt_mike]

"Oh good, you're awake. I was beginning to get concerned."

[claudiometer]

Claudia's not sure what she was expecting,
(turn and face the strange ch-ch-changes)
but it sure as hell wasn't that. She picks herself up off the ground, sort of stares at the suddenly-clear baseball diamond, the pitcher's mound where that gate o' nastiness was a second ago... and the still-active wormhole.
(and there's one more thing: a bell in your head will ring)
She turns off the bridge device.
(and tonight's the night the world begins again)
And then she turns to Cal and glomps him, laughing and crying all at once. She'll word in a minute here, but for now, HUGS. ALL OF THEM.

[isaysimplewords]

Cal - will sort out his memories of

(the last thirty seconds?)

(the last few days?)

(the last hundred years?)

later on.

For now, he will wrap his arms around Claudia and lift her up, spinning them around as he whoops with joy.

[waco_jim]

Jim is jolted, tossed, and thrown across the plain by the insanity. He lands (?) and wakes up on the ground beside a large rock shaped like Gerald Ford's head.

Slowly, he opens his eyes one by one and bolts upright onto his rear end. He surveys his surroundings. Then he stands up and checks his wounds. The bandages are still on, but the wounds are no longer bleeding.

"I must be dead. That's the only explanation. I'm dead and this is Heaven. A very cold, Scottish-looking heaven that looks exactly like the place I was just in."

[acts_of_gord]

"I'm an atheist," says his companion, who's poking at himself with one finger just in case it causes an anomalous sensation and wakes him up. "If this is heaven, I want to meet the proprietor."

[redefinevictory]

It's dark in the lake again, dark and cool notboilingheatdeath.

(yay)

And she's surrounded by squid and other things. Things she wants to bitehunteat-

(food?)

- but there is Squid-in-Charge looking big and In Charge, so instead she squirms herself out of the darkcoolsafe place she'd been, and swims back into the lake.

She feels light and cheerful and free.

Free of everything.



(WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE)



So, if one were to look out over the lake, they may see a dark not-quite-dolphin leaping up and diving through the water.

[areyoumyjolly]

Carefully, Tamara makes her way back to the lake and Milliways. Is anything still boiling? Any more fish falling from the sky?

Nope, just a dolphin being silly, the way that they are. Cute, really.

[venusadept_2]

When Felix comes to, he's flat on the ground, on his face.

After a quick check - yes, the Stars aren't here - he decides to just stay here for a while.

(When he wakes up, he will notice his sword, looking as though it was never broken, right by his side.)

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy comes back through the door to chaos...

He looks around for injured parties and established triage to help with.

[ostro_goth]

Teja striding, long-legged, among the wreckage, holding his little grey cat on his arm. No longer covered in ichor, they still both look very much worse for wear.

[visible_sariel]

Sariel - her uniform spattered in several colors, favoring her left shoulder and sporting quite a visible black eye - is picking her way through the chaos not far inside the back door. She looks... functional, but frankly a bit dazed.

((OOC: If it's too late to tag in and Millitime this to straight after the world un-ended, let me know?))

[ostro_goth]

Teja is standing outside the stables, staring at the sky, Count still clutched to his chest, Kate beside him.

His arms tighten at the jolt, holding on to the little grey cat.

And then, he hears it.

From the stables, there comes the gentle whickering of horses.

[ikissdhimbck]

"Sam."

She blinks.

It takes her a moment to realize the jolt has sent her into His Highness's side. She holds on to him, both to steady herself and for the reassurance that this is real.

Or as real as it gets.

She blinks. Tilting her face away from the nice sky — the most glorious shade of normal Kate has ever seen — she looks at Teja.

"...Did you see what I jus' saw?"


No matter that. The soft sounds of life behind her shocks her to the soles of her boots. She pulls back, setting off down the corridor immediately.

[turn_the_wheel]

Meanwhile, on the roof, four figures sit contemplating the scene out back. A woman. A young man. Two white lions.

Nothing is said, until:

"They made it through."

"As if there was ever a shred of doubt."

Let us see if there is anyone who needs assistance.

Already on my way.

[forgottenmotley]

The Fool spots them on the roof and gives them a dramatic bow and tip of his hat.

[mogget_cat]

In that first jolt of reawakening, Yrael comes to himself on the lake shore. Tiny wavelets of cold water are wetting his feet, but he finds he doesn't mind.

He doesn't even mind that his home is a mess, because it's enough that his home exists, right now. His home and his friends.

In the light of the new day, the Bright Shiner laughs.

[forgottenmotley]

"Hello you," The Fool says.

Where was he during the fights? It's hard to say. Probably here. Probably not.

[will_scarlett]

Will opens his eyes and blinks as he realizes that he's alive and looking out over the outside of Milliways.

The ground shows the signs of the battle and his calf hurts but there's life. He laughs because it feels right.

[makesthings]

Sam wakes up when he feels Life and magic around him, it feels like the Great Charter Stones and more.

At first he doesn't want to open his eyes, because the feeling of living, existing in such creation is amazing.

Finally he opens his eyes and smiles up at the sky, there's work to be done here and in the Old Kingdom but Life has prevailed.

[claudiometer]

SURPRISE ATTACK HUG!
No, really, Claudia doesn't care if he's covered in eldritch goo or anything, they're alive. That's reason enough for now.

[hadyougoing]

Ava has staggered out, bottle of shampoo in hand, to look for the Caribbean inlet so she can take a goddamn bath. (In another continuity, she may have already showered.

Timey wimey!)


She stops and stares.

"Sam?!"

[shuuuun]

Pink and Blue huddle miserably by the lake.

"This is not fair," Blue whines.

"Blurb blurb," Pink agrees.

"The sky is blue. And I swear I put a deposit down on fire and brimstone."

"Stupid fire. Stupid brimstone." Pink makes huffy, entirely unhorse-like faces and shoves its muzzle under its hooves.






"Ring ring," Pink finally tries.

"Shut the fuck up, man."

[visible_sariel]

"Will, please!"

It's a moot point, her begging him to leave. So is her own intent to leave when the last second hits, because the last second's already blown past at warp 7 and before she can take another breath the gravity's given out in earnest, the sky's tearing apart in streamers, the air starts hissing away and then everything's tipping down toward a looming, sucking horizon, and the whole world's going

brighter, brighter, nothing they could do

clickclick clickclick clickclick click clickclickclick

God, please, this time I can think coherently, please--

bright, burning, whiting out the carnage, glaring like a supernova, like a plasma explosion, like an overhead light on a bound prisoner's face and then time

I am Crack Master, king of the cracks!

c r e e eeeeee eaks, time

then the monster crumbled to the floor

rocks, time

Je vais, je viens, j'ai appris à vivre comme si j'étais libre et en équilibre

flicker, flicker, flicker, time

stutter-steps, sways, hiccups and reverses and

J'ai tout le temps d'écrire mes mémoires

do the right thing

holds.

I think, therefore I am. And the one holding all the cards said, that's a start.

The abrupt, familiarly heavy rightness of returning gravity is enough to throw Sariel off balance. It knocks her to her knees in the mud, and it's a long, disoriented moment before she can fully process just what's happened, the meaning of the motion and the significance of the landing at its end.

Sir, auxiliary power has been restored. Emergency forcefields in place, shields up and holding. Damage control teams have been deployed.

we're gonna rock the rhythm inside you
we're gonna welcome you to Saint Lucia

Gravity? Yes, that sensation's familiar to anyone who's lived on a starship. There's gravity again. She's still breathing; there's still atmosphere. That's unscoured ground beneath her, somehow, and the--the sky, the sky is--

we're gonna dance the music inside you

blue.

Je ne suis pas notaire, C'est la faute a Voltaire;
Je suis un petit oiseau, C'est la faute a Rousseau

The act of getting to her feet takes a minute for a couple of reasons, say true. Say merci, too. What she says, both before and after she gets up--well. It's all sane, if understandably stunned and shaky. Some of it's thankful, heartfelt and directed. Some of it is decidedly less reverent. A few bits might make Kweyol speakers tell her to watch her mouth, say sorry.

There are tears mixing with the blood on her face, some seconds (or minutes, or wibbly wobbly timey wimey) old, some brand new, as she finally, cautiously - a little dazedly - heads for the back door.

There are no cracks anywhere in that doorframe.

There are no cracks, anywhere.

Je ne suis pas notaire, C'est la faute a Voltaire;
Je suis un petit oiseau, C'est la faute a Rousseau

She'll get to her blacked eye, the cut on her cheek, the gash in her shoulder - there's a cactus needle spine embedded there, remnant of a creature with too many branchlike tentacles - and her thoroughly ruined uniform in a minute. For now...

new day

they've come out the other side, and they're alive. Somehow.

They're alive. It's a start.

A good one.

[iamso_awesome]

Apollo just turns his face toward the sun (not his sun, but then, it never has been his sun, here) and grins.
(you gotta kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight)
He knew they'd make it through and things would get better, but it's still nice to actually see the part where it's better.