Week Two

[letsplayamod]

Okay, maybe it hasn't been so easy. You've been enjoying a relatively pleasant time here with your fellow gods and Athena, only for a disgruntled Titan to seemingly pull the rug out from under that.

Despite the immediate threat from a hidden foe, you've managed to stave off their first attack. However, even if the grass may seem greener this week, or the sky a bit clearer, Athena can barely hide her troubled feelings. If this experiment is to be a success, what has to happen to make it that way?

You're all alive, though. That's worth celebrating, isn't it?

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Comments

[yourheroine]

...yeah.

[Aoi's expression crumbles in some form of understanding.]

There was a space where Aoi had a lot of time to think about how the last game ended. The way it did was my fault, so...that pain must have been guilt.

And...how much I missed them all.

[rockymountaindie]

[ He murmurs: ] So you really do know...

[ And louder— ] You...could still think about it all? Reflect? [ He sighs. ] Fuck, I don't know if that's better or worse.

[yourheroine]

[She nods.] Just think and hope SOMEONE could roll back the game.

That's when Aoi woke up here. I don't know if it's because God sent me to another game or if somebody else wanted it.

Is that...what happened to Alex too?

[rockymountaindie]

[ Someone...? ]

...Yeah. I was there. Somewhere like there. [ I was dead. ] And then...Athena reached out to me. It was a light in the darkness. How could I not take it?

That's the kinda place she found you too?

[yourheroine]

[It's vague, but the way Aoi says it feels oddly specific.

She can picture where Alex might have ended up--well, maybe not, since he's human, but how it feels is similar.]

Yep! Aoi thought it might be God taking me back. But Athena felt...warmer. I wanted to follow her.

[rockymountaindie]

[ Yeah, he can hear that much, but. He can't quite follow it to its conclusion. ]

...I just wanted to be alive. [ And, now he's here. ]

Aoi... Any God that puts you somewhere like that, that's... I don't know about that.

[yourheroine]

Boop boop...Aoi wanted that too.

[Her face falls when Alex says that.]

It wasn't God that put Aoi there. ...not completely. It was Aoi's fault.

[rockymountaindie]

Yeah, and on some level it was my fault that Death got after me. Doesn't make it okay. Whatever you did... You can't deserve something like that.

[yourheroine]

But Aoi really hurt her.

...my best friend. It makes sense that she'd hate me.

[rockymountaindie]

[ A...quiet moment. ]

Did she put you there?

[yourheroine]

[Aoi nods.]

Aoi should've known better. The route was supposed to be Miyuki's, but Aoi still...

[rockymountaindie]

What the fuck. Aoi, no, she killed you. That's-

[ He swallows hard. He remembers the warm summer night, the ambulance, a body bag, Mr. Waggner's accusatory tone— ]

That's not what a best friend's s'pposed to do.

[yourheroine]

Aoi's not a good friend!

Miyuki was supposed to be the one to end up with Shinichi. Aoi knew that, but...

[Her voice shakes and breaks into a tiny sob.]

I loved him.

[rockymountaindie]

[ Alex jumps just a little, not expecting Aoi's outburst...nor the tears that come after. ]

Aoi...

[ Gears in his head turn. Aoi's from a video game. Like Myst. Different things can happen depending on choices. She's trying to avoid a bad end. It was her friend's "route," she was the one who...

Alex lets himself get closer. Closer to the fire, closer to her, so he can kneel down beside her. ]

You loved him...and you changed things. Changed how it...should've happened. Right?

[yourheroine]

[Aoi nods, sniffling a bit.]

Aoi tried to stay away. If I just disappeared, Miyuki and Shinichi would be together like they were supposed to. But Shinichi went looking for Aoi, and...

...he said he loved me. I-it was some kind of glitch, because...I was so happy.

[It's normal for a human being to be happy at being loved, isn't it?

But Aoi looks ashamed admitting her own happiness.]

[rockymountaindie]

[ And just the sight of that breaks his heart. ]

...Your happiness isn't a glitch. Your...life, your love, it's not- it isn't something that wasn't supposed to exist.

[ In four years of high school, they'd never spoken a word to each other. And then—

Alex can't help but think of that, as well. ]

If you weren't allowed to...or supposed to change anything, that's- that's what you mean. But you could? ...You'll never find me sayin' that's bad.