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Nemesis and Hurricane's Ideal World: Session 2
[The sky above is a deep, unnatural crimson, filled with roiling clouds and creatures that are a sickly oil-slick black. They writhe and wriggle like something out of a Lovecraftian nightmare; they have entirely too many eyes, and entirely too many wings, and when they open their mouths, they have entirely too many teeth]
[Below them, the city of Tokyo is half-shattered; above the rooftops, mechanized suits the size of people hover in the air, darting in out of the chaos, laser blasts and explosions and wickedly sharp blades fighting tirelessly against the endless onslaught]
[Until finally, the last creature falls]
[All at once, civilians flood the streets of the city; the lights come on in all the buildings, which somehow have become whole again, safe and unharmed. A cheer goes up from the crowd. Overhead, a stunning fireworks display paints the night with light and color]
[And they all lived happily ever after]
[The end]
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[That padlock isn't the only one, though]
[One of the cabinets, tucked against the far wall, has been wrapped up in chains. A heavy padlock hangs from it]
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Anyway, Zhongli isn't good at metaphors.
And apparently he isn't too great with finesse either, because his attempt to brute force the other padlock on the cabinet is a STR: 9 ]
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[Now that he's closer, though, he can hear a sound coming from inside the cabinet]
[Someone is crying]
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UGH. Useless.
Taking a better look at that padlock to see if it can be opened with something other than brute strength. ]
Whoever is in there, please do not be alarmed.
I am trying to get you out.
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[Suddenly, there is nothing.]
[It's dark, and cold, and it's been this way for so long that it's hard to remember there used to be something better.]
[You remember sunlight, vaguely. (Do you?) You remember the way cookies tasted, if you try very hard. (Do you?) You remember, when you close your eyes and concentrate, what it feels like to have someone say your name and run their fingers through your hair.]
[(You don't. You don't, but sometimes you close your eyes, and you run your fingers through your own hair, and you pretend.)]
[Behind you, a little light comes in from the kitchen; you can see the hard chrome lines of it, still, through the window that hangs in the nothing-space.]
[You know everything about it as though the shapes have been carved into your bones.]
[It's all there is to see.]
[You have no recption here.]
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He remembers this feeling - down a dark stairwell where he met a distraught Hurricane at the bottom.
He walks further into the darkness, lifting up his aibou to attempt to shed some light. ]
Hurricane. Are you here?
It's Zhongli.
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[Time judders and shifts around you.]
[How long has it been? Months, surely. Years. Decades. A century.]
[The passage of time is like sandpaper on a raw wound; it presses in around the edges. It hurts, in a way nothing has ever hurt before. You ache for anything but this, for light and warmth and softness and the sound of another person's voice -]
[But there's nothing. Still there's nothing.]
[There will always be nothing.]
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Of his time in Imeeji.
Of his time on Heart Soldier.
Of his time with Hurricane in particular.
And interspersed with 6000 years of tales from his homeland.
The details get less accurate over time.
But still, he continues speaking. ]
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[He attacks the padlock, and it cracks and falls to the ground]
[All around you, the nothing-space flickers, shuddering in and out of vision like static on an old tv screen.]
[You blink, and it shudders. Blink again, and it's gone.]
[You're back in the kitchen, but it's all hard lines and unforgiving metal. Alizarin and Childe are here, and you've never been happier to see people before in your entire life]
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[ HAPPY RHINO NOISE. ]
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He reaches up to rub its snout with both hands.
With a voice that is a little sore: ]
Thank you, Childe.
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Ah, it seems this is the source of some trauma experienced in a game - one where he was sealed for a hundred years. When I entered this kitchen, I could hear someone crying from this cabinet.
Unfortunately, I was unable to locate him.
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I got this from her. [ holds up his laser gauntlet. ]
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Ah yes.
I have seen a few memories. It appears that she was--- not always there when Hurricane needed her.
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She seems like a bitch. She could tell me he was brave and she couldn't tell me she loved him. She'd glitch out when she tried. And then when I threw all that in her face she simply said nothing.
[ keeping zhongli close. ] Let's head back to the main room and get the hell out of this nightmareish kitchen. [ dragging him, if need be. ]
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If we run out of options, I would like the chance to speak with her.
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And I would like a chance to hear what he wants from her unfiltered.
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I'm sure you have noticed that any direct questioning about Hurricane's well-being results in an answer that is usually "I'm fine." or diverting to someone else.
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