[voice]

[fierybluebird]

[Marco's voice starts off cheerfully enough.]

Hey everyone, I think I found the place where the cave-in for the train-thing is. The currents here are pretty weird so if we can get ... some ... strong swimmers then...

[He starts trailing off, obviously seeing something.] Pops...? [His voice is quiet, barely audible. It's not possible, he knows it's not, he watched the man die. So it's just like Luffy's food and an illusion. Has to be. But then it gets stronger.] POPS!! [He starts running, sandals hitting the wood of the deck.] Pops... [This time he just sounds anguished. And then suddenly there's a splash. Uh where did Marco go?]

Comments

[lonelyglub.livejournal.com]

Okay wwell you knoww wwhat? You be sure to let me knoww wwhen Ace sprouts fins and then we'll talk about commonalities. [Huff. As much as he admires you Marco, he doesn't want to be compared to Ace.]

[fierybluebird]

Aye, aye... sorry. Nothing in common at all Lightning, I'm sure.

[lonelyglub.livejournal.com]

No it's fine. I'm sorry I snapped at you, I'm under a lot of stress right noww.

[fierybluebird]

Eh really? You mean beyond the swimming and the angels?? [Awww poor chibi! Marco rests a reassuring hand on his head.]

[lonelyglub.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Things you probably wwouldn't understand. [Because you're an adult. Of course you won't understand.]

[fierybluebird]

Try me.

[lonelyglub.livejournal.com]

Kid stuff.

[fierybluebird]

If it's important to you, it's important to me.

[lonelyglub.livejournal.com]

The pains of growwin up. [Take that as you will, Marco.]

[fierybluebird]

[Ruffles his head.] So long as you keep growing up, eh? It's what will make you strong.

[lonelyglub.livejournal.com]

See, I don't think you understand Marco.

[fierybluebird]

Enlighten me then.

[lonelyglub.livejournal.com]

I can't help but think that maybe I can change our certain doom back at the vveil.
That maybe the angels are tryin to tell me somethin. Maybe I should be joinin Jack to spare us all. It's not like wwe'll evver be able to kill him, it's almost for certain wwe'll never be able to kill him unless we join him.

[fierybluebird]

Maybe he knows how to get you out of the Veil you're thinking?

[lonelyglub.livejournal.com]

No, I know how to get out. The banishment to the Vveil is more like a self imposed blockade for us. You knoww, to savve us? Noir might be able to travvel anywwhere and evverywwhere but he has to knoww wwhere wwe are to get to us.

He'll nevver suspect us hidin out in the Vveil. Too many asteroids to look for us. [He sighs a little and shifts away from Marco]

I wwas hopin to join him so I could havve a home again. I'm practically just sitting there at the vveil as a sittin quackbeast for him. And wwe havve no wwhere to run to.

[fierybluebird]

Are you sure he'd want to let you join, not just kill you?

[lonelyglub.livejournal.com]

im almost positivve he wwont kill me
i mean im a vvery vvaluable asset to any team

[Nope. Jack Noir won't hesitate to kill him Marco. Sob.]

[fierybluebird]

Has that stopped him from killing anyone else?

[lonelyglub.livejournal.com]

no
but i knoww itll be different for me

[fierybluebird]

Eridan.... [Sad face, doubly noted by the lack of nickname.] People like that don't make exceptions. They're like Akainu. The most they'll do is delay your death to torture you. Please don't make that mistake. You deserve a long life conquering the stars. [Affectionately nudges one of his shoulders in a manly gesture of trust.]

[lonelyglub.livejournal.com]

[He looks, really hurt to be blunt. It's written all over his face, and he knows it so he tries to shy away his face. If only he had the hair of a Makara he could hide his face. But then he looks up at Marco with a different expression. One who has come to terms with it that he will most definitely die.... and was that a bit of anger in his eyes? Or frustration that Marco couldn't understand. At least, not understand in the way that Eridan had hoped.] Maybe here, but in the vveil... there is no Hope. I know I say a lot about how this place has a lot of Hope but, you haven't seen the Vveil Marco. It's either a quick end or I could slowly starvve to death as wwe run out of food. Or, evveryone wwill go crazy from the lack of sleep and kill each other in our insanity. Cause Kar ordered us not to sleep because Jack Noir wwas killin our dream selvves too.

And wwe had a theory that he could find us through our dream selvves too so wwevve been set on makin our existence gone in the eyes of Skaia. He probably thinks wwevve perished in our lands but hes not goin to stop until he makes sure hes gotten rid of evvery Skaian hero. [There's purple welling up in the corner of his eyes but he blinks it back.]

And wwell through death or otherwwise, Noir is our ticket out of the vveil.

[fierybluebird]

Prince of Hope. I wouldn't think you'd give up.

My father's murderer, my best friend's murderer, he used to be our nakama. Right now back in my world he's going to try to hunt us down. Kill every last one of us, take Pops' lands and try to be the next Pirate King, all for power. And there is no one else in the world who could hunt us like him, he knows everything about us, all our moves, where we'd hide, what our strengths and weaknesses are; more than we know ourselves.

But we have each other, and I'll fight him with my last breath before I let him take anymore from me. You can do that too. You're stronger than you think are Lightning. Trust me on that.

[lonelyglub.livejournal.com]

[Awwahhh Marcodaddy...] I'd rather livve here and die there... besides. If the prophecies are true, and they havven't failed us yet. More of us wwill die. Our dreamselvves are already dead. My quest bed is probably destroyed so i cant get any more stronger than I already am.

God Tier is the last level of Skaia. And I won't be able to make it.

[fierybluebird]

Sometimes strength is more about know what you're fighting for. Trying to be the best, trying to find a soulmate, things like that you can't make it there by rushing directly.

The strongest men in my world are so strong because they protect their families. My Pops had to take care of 1600 of us, not to mention all our allied crews. But he was the world's strongest because he was protecting us and we protected him back. Gol D. Roger... never tell Ace about this, but he was pretty strong because he was already dying, and he knew he had nothing to lose. The only thing he could lose would be his crew and he wanted to protect them at any cost.

If you had eternal strength, the most health you could possibly have, and maybe even immortality, what would you do with it?

[lonelyglub.livejournal.com]

Wwhat wwouldn't I do? [He's going to avoid answering the what would he do with power question. Mostly because he's still in the slow process of getting over his genocidal plan of cleansing Alternia etc. etc. the revolution.]