broken souls

"and you think my funeral is going to take long? you're going to be the only person making a genuine speech. yue qingyuan will say something for ten minutes because he has to and it will probably be a little nice but after that everyone is going home." and honestly if yue qingyuan wanted to honor qinghua's memory the least he could do was say whatever he wanted to say with his shirt off, take his pecs out for qinghua's memory. "he wants to put your pillar in his mouth." qinghua deadpanned. qinghua wasn't actually sure if liu qingge was gay or just weird about qingqiu, but he was absolutely certain the peak lord wouldn't object to some pillar on pillar action. "and why didn't yue qingyuan show up? that's another guy who should have showed up over the power of friendship, or deep horrible trauma if nothing else, and yet he wasn't there." it wasn't the best argument, considering qinghua was pretty sure yue qingyuan would also be down for pillar on pillar action if it included shen qingqiu, but it wasn't like he actually cared if his argument made any real sense. "okay, heard, well maybe if we get you shit faced he'll have his spider sense go off and he'll know that his wife needs saving and binghe will show up. we won't know unless we try."

"i think the rest of the peak lords will at least linger to be polite, because yue qingyuan will stay, and they'll feel obligated to stay until he leaves." and even though yue qingyuan wasn't close at all with qinghua, it wasn't even confirmed that he liked the guy, but he knew that his martial brother would put in a decent amount of effort to act like they'd been as close as two men could be without it being a gay thing for qinghua's funeral. as long as he hadn't died in a way that disgraced the sect. "he does not, don't be fucking disgusting, you shameless prick!" he's sure that liu qingge would murder qinghua on the spot if he heard the way the younger man was discussing him. "yue qingyuan has a really fucked up complicated relationship with the original goods, he probably wanted to stay in his lane so the og didn't haunt his ass for getting involved." and that was fair, given the bullshit he knew about yue qingyuan's relationship with shen qingqiu. qingqiu's brow creases in thought at qinghua's suggestion, because really, it's not a bad idea at all. "sounds like a plan to me, let's go."

'I hope for his sake that he isn't around the city, I'd rather keep my memories intact," penelope laughed, shaking her head slightly. "hopefully he'll show up soon and we can be a family again, it would be nice to have him near, even though I know he'll be protected, I still worry,"

"penelope, please." odysseus replies, though he's chuckling as he says it, imagining the hell his wife would rain down on the sea god for everything that he'd done to prevent odysseus from returning home to her. "i know, my love, i worry about him too, but he's a grown man now." as much as he hated that.

"oh, interesting, i don't know much about the guqin. most of my instrument knowledge comes from a friend, who ah, wasn't the most put together." pearl had come to enjoy greg's friendship more than she ever thought possible, but he was a guy who lived out of his van and ran off chasing mysterious women into the night. "oh, you have a son? the child i raised is actually here in the city, and apparently doing college classes, which i actually really know nothing about. i'm sure he can handle himself but i should probably look into how that works."

"it isn't a very common instrument in this time, i'm not surprised you don't know it." very few people had even heard of it, and the amount of people who knew how to play was even smaller. "he's adopted, and it's a rather complicated situation, but yes, i do." sizhui's history was common knowledge by now, there was no need to hide the truth of it all. "it seems to be a fairly straightforward form of education, i wouldn't worry too much about the boy if that's what he's up to here."

"I know the feeling," penelope nodded. "I think that might be a common thing around here," she paused. "my husband had no idea who I was for a while and he thought it was just a coincidence that we both had matching names and ones that matched who he thought he was named after,"

"see, i had that working for me, but someone else we knew back home told him that i might think we're the real greek heroes, and i had to explain everything." he still wanted to hit odysseus for that, but he hadn't run into the asshole yet. "he definitely thinks i'm insane now."

"it does feel a little weird though." glinda admitted, still vaguely playing with the cat she had with her. "to know people just keep animals as pets and don't worry about it at all. i mean i saw a guy at the cafe talking to his dog like they were a real person, but from the looks people were giving that definitely has never been the norm, at least recently. wouldn't you feel weird keeping one of these guys in our home?"

"it does, yes. it feels weird to speak to them, but it also feels weird to treat them as if they can't understand, even if they don't." but at least she can do something for them in this world, even if she couldn't back home. it was something, at least. "i would. i don't think i'd ever want to keep a pet around the place, it'd feel really uncanny to wake up at three in the morning and see one of these guys in the hall."

"we are," mira nodded. "don't worry, I'm thinking of something to make them miserable," she sighed. "either that or there will be some bodies to clean up if they keepp up their shit,"

"don't murder them, mira, i do not want to handle the amount of paperwork that will land on my desk if you do." she needed to at least cover it well, but he doesn't think she'll want to hide it if she does actually kill them all.

"it was so hard," there was so many times when they'd wanted to break but he hadn't. elio had spent so long trying to run and hide and when everything caught up to him, they'd been so frightened of what would happen if they fell. "it was so strange seeing people I sort of knew being turned into something dark and warped." he paused. "and seeing my friend, I didn't want to believe it at first - they made me see things that weren't real and I thought it was another trick, but it was really them,"

"i know, of course it was. the dark is tempting in the worst ways, but i know how strong you are." if anyone could manage to fight that level of temptation, it would be elio, there's no doubt in her mind of that, though the loss of his friend is a tragedy they know he'll struggle to fully recover from. "it wasn't them anymore. those who submit to the dark are dead in all the ways that matter, elio. they aren’t the people they once were, no matter how much they resemble them."

"i don't understand what you're accusing me of here." he has no idea what shakespearean even refers to, though it's clearly some form of theatre. not that that matters in any way, shape or form right now. he's sure aelin will explain the insult in detail when she remembers him, likely laughing the entire time. "i don't think that wanting to be a present for my children and their mother is weird, aelin."

Louella nodded slowly, and bit the inside of her cheek. She was thinking on whether or not to ask Effie her next question. She didn't want to upset the other woman, but she wanted to know the truth. "Effie... Do you know how I died?" She finally asked.

"i- i thought i did, but now i worry that i don't know the true story." she replies, trying to keep her tone as gentle as she can. her panic at this revelation doesn't need to affect louella, or the other girl. it's not fair to either of them.

"there's a first time for everything, i suppose." manon chuckles, waving to the fae child teasingly as aelin seems to ready herself to walk away.

“just zelda who remembers.. and i don’t know if that’s better or worse than connor not knowing anything from home.” danika was still annoyed about it, but the last thing she wanted was to harm her pack again. even retroactively. they would simply have to find another way to fix her second’s brain other than the routine option. “right okay, i guess that’s a decent enough place to start. i mean you were a solider who had to get out.. we’ll ease them into everything else.”

"at least it gives us a chance to figure out our story before connor remembers. because we need to figure out how much we're sharing." he'd back her in whatever choice they made, it was their pack, not his, and he trusted her judgement. but he needed to know the plan, which... admittedly was one of his mate's greatest weaknesses. "yeah, it wasn't technically a lie, just... not the whole truth. she didn't recognize me in any way that mattered, but she asked if we'd met or something before, so she definitely suspects i'm someone she should know."

" You can't be . You're gone . I watched it all happen and it was all my fault . I'm so sorry , Lenore Dove . I'm so sorry . " He didn't want to end up bawling right in front of her , but it seemed as if Haymitch was going to do just that . How could he forget , the many days in which he had laid in her grave , waiting for her to come back to him , even knowing that would never happen ? It was only when he felt her hand on his arm that he looked up . Could she truly be here ? " I did . I won . But had I known what was going to be the cost , I would have wanted to go first . " Just like Louella , his sweetheart , who had escaped the arena . Knowing that his win would cost nearly everyone he loved their lives ? He would have never done it . Ever .

"you need to explain to me what you're talking about, darlin. because i'm really lost on what you're apologizing for." she really couldn't figure out what, exactly, he believed had happened. because clearly this was more than just trauma from the games, but it was something she was unaware of. and that frightened them more than she'd admit. she squeezes haymitch's arm gently, relieved that he at least seems to be looking at them, more aware of the simple fact that she really is there in spite of whatever is haunting him. "hay, i need you to talk to me, okay? i want to help you, but i can't read your mind. what was the cost? what is it that you remember that i'm missing here?"

"i'm fine." it's said really before bryce finishes the question, a knee jerk reaction. it wasn't as if they wanted to talk much about it. not with connor having no memories, and just looking at zelda was a haunting reminder of what she'd done.. "really, bryce. i'm okay. i'd rather they all be here than just a few of them, or that connor wasn't stuck with fake memories. but i'm glad to have at least some of them."

"...girl." bryce stares at her friend, torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to slap her. but that's often how she feels when danika is involved, even before all of the rebel shit had come out. her friend was notorious for brushing her feelings under the rug. "i more meant how are you handling the whole synth thing, dan. obviously."

'glad one of us is optimistic.' violet couldn't say she agreed with the sentiment, but she wouldn't stop her friends from hoping about it. it would be nice to be able to remember everything.. to feel like she was finally on the same page as everyone else. 'considering i've apparently already died before, i don't want to go through that again or for the first time, either.'

'well, if i'm not, who's going to be?' because violet seemed to be struggling with that at the moment, understandably so, given everything that had happened to her recently. 'yeah, you did tell me about some of that. it's all insane, i can't imagine what that's like, and no offense, but i hope this isn't an experience we ever share.'

"you're right, the story probably needs to keep me alive to figure out what the monster is and explain it to the audience, and then i'd definitely be dead after. thanks for the confidence boost." grace joked, shaking his head. it's not like he was actually going to take the idea personally. "i was in space, trying to solve some problem with the sun dying. i think he was there for the same reason." which was confusing considering the sun deifnitely wasn't going out here. "my memories of it are a little all over the place, but i definitely remember him."

"happy to help where i can." evie laughs a little at the descriptor that she felt was pretty accurate to how grace would do in a horror movie. he was really not going to live, but he'd be great for exposition. "the sun was dying? how was it dying? how does that even happen?" it's morbid, but she has such an insane desire to know things, she has to ask. "that's really insane, i can't believe you found something that freaky."

cardan smirked, clearly taking that as a win, though his expression softens slightly in amusement at the addition to his own concession. "fine, fine. ice cream too, god, you're asking for a lot here."

"what like an investigation?" he wasn't even sure how that could be done considering they were in some random future city with barely anyone from home to talk to. "i'm sure it has to do with wei wuxian. everything got out of control when he came back to life. i don't know if he's responsible or just pulled along in everything, but he's definitely a part of it."

"i simply wish to speak to some who were also around for all of this." namely his brother, who had likely spent a lot of time around jin guangyao after his death. "...he came back to life? how did that happen? and what did he do when he returned from the dead?" did he need to worry that the other would show his face here and cause problems?