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If you would like to. Also, please tell me if there are any problems with the body.

I'm not sure. I know that you are aware we have no control over the Door - we really know very little about it. It may be possible to create something that could do that, but it would take time and experimentation.

[Which is to say, it's not really something he can focus on right now, with everything else going on.]

I will think about it, though.

As much as I hate to admit it, this is almost normal where I come from. But, you're welcome. Just do your best to stay safe and we'll do our best to keep you that way.

Okay, that's good.

[Having some support in a situation like this is important, and he thinks that probably goes for the gods too.]

Yeah, um, with any luck it won't come down to that. Is there any way that like... You can just hide wherever you go when you're not wandering around in person?

Thank you. The person whose world I wanted to go to...the Door sent him back early.

[She offers that simple explanation as to why she asked for such a thing. She wants to go there, find him, and be remembered.

Then it's right back to business.]

Do you know of a way to destroy the Null weapons?

I will.

I will try to. I can't simply remain hidden away for however long this lasts, but I am trying to keep from showing myself unless necessary. Especially to those I do not trust.

I could, yeah. You got like a temple, or...? Yeah, yeah, you got a temple somewhere. I can do offerings, I got, uh, I got prayers, sacrifices. Don't have a bible that covers your domain. Still, there's worse things to do than get into servin' hope!

[ It's double-timing Pan a little, but there's not much else to be done. Pan turned to other pastures, he's not even a blip on the radar here. Things are unsettling. He really kinda wants to be able to fight stuff and/or other people if they start getting fresh on his family, though. ]

Now, this is gonna be a temporary setup. I've gotten around a few times, uh, godly speaking, but I got prior commitments to think about.

Yeah, um, good plan.

[He gets not being able to just hide though; none of them had managed to do the same at home either, and the track record here hasn't been great either.]

I'll um, let you get back to dealing with everything, though. Be careful, okay?

I am sorry to hear that. He may come here again, one day.

[The Door tends to do as it pleases, after all.]

I believe they can be destroyed with sufficient force, like nearly anything.

I would need you to spread hope for me, as much as possible. Prayers and sacrifices are useless, they provide no power - but hope, created in others, will give me all that I need. And I can pass it on to you.

A temporary arrangement is fine.

Thank you. You should be careful as well, Chris.

I'll try, yeah. Thanks.

[And with a small smile and a little wave, he'll do as he said and head out.]

[No matter how much she misses him, he's likely happier where he is. But she does wish he could be here to fight by her side in battle like they'd talked about. There was something thrilling about destroying things that even gods feared. And on that note...]

My magic may be able to manage it.

[It's then that she realizes that she's never actually told Hope what she can do, specifically. She's been open about having plenty of battle experience, and it shows even in the way she talks about strategy, but this is more relevant.]

I can cut nearly anything. Magical armor, energy attacks, dimensional barriers...I have managed to cut all of those things without difficulty.

[She pauses for a moment.]

I assume the Null have ensured their own weapons cannot harm them?

If that's the case, I have no doubt you will be able to cut them as well.

[Hope looks a bit blank at the question.]

Some of their weapons have no effect on a creature like them. Others might. As I have said, I'm not a fighter.

Perhaps when I am no longer playing double agent, I can teach you some techniques that you could use to defend yourself. Purely non-lethal, if you would prefer.

[She's already taken enough of a liking to Hope to offer tips on strategy. She might as well make him one of her combat students, too.]

You already have extensive enough knowledge of the body to restore people. It would just be a matter of helping you apply that knowledge toward defensive combat.

I believe that combat for the two of us would be very different. However, I would be interested in watching you.

[Since, after all, the gods are actually clouds of energy.]

[Lance knows this is a long shot, and one he doesn't really want to even try, but at this point there's very little choice. He can't just do nothing, and he hasn't been able to come up with anything else.

So he'd managed to convince himself to leave his apartment for the first time in a few days, and it doesn't hurt that he needs more water anyway. Hope's temple seems like the best place for that even if he didn't have a reason to go there, because now that they'd figured out that the water has an effect on mood, he can definitely use whatever hope he can get.

But first thing's first, and he shows up at Hope's temple during the brief patch of night, generally trying to avoid running into anyone else and deciding that would be the best time for that. It's cold, after all, though he prefers that to the heat.

The aura of the temple is apparent as soon as he enters, and he does his best to let it affect him and believe that maybe this will work out, and maybe everything else will too. It's worth a try, and he finds a place to lead back against a wall and take a deep breath while he decides exactly how to start.]

I know you're probably dealing with a lot right now, and so I'm sorry to have to ask something of you, but it can't wait.

[He goes quiet again for a few seconds, not sure if Hope might appear but not really expecting him to, so it's no surprise when nothing happens. It does make Lance question if Hope can hear what he's saying right now, but ultimately it doesn't matter; somehow he can't imagine calling him would be more effective, so either this works or it doesn't. It's worth a try.]

Drake said that you and he had a standing arrangement, about his condition, and it's understandable that your priorities have been elsewhere, but it's... Time is really running out. If it's a matter of making an arrangement with a different god for a time, while you're recovering, then we could work that out, just...

[Just let him know what to do, because he has no real idea. The feeling of hope in this temple or not, it's a struggle to stay positive at the moment, although he's doing what he can and he just has to believe it'll be enough.]

That's all, except that... I'm sorry for your loss.

[Regarding both Sorrow and Delight. The losses are very different, but Delight's betrayal is just as significant as Sorrow's death; Lance remembers just how badly what happened with Zack affected Brennan and the others and he imagines it might be similar--although worse--for Hope and the other gods right now. And as much as Lance is not feeling too favorable toward any of them other than Hope, after everything that happened, he can still empathize.

He's quiet another moment or two, before gathering the will to move again and leaves the temple without another word, stopping at the pool outside of it to refill a few water bottles before returning home. All he can really do now is hope.]

「Early that day, Atem makes it back into the temple, for the first time not entering for shelter or relief during the fight with the Null, nor because he's waiting for people to be returned to them, he enters because he wants to.

The young man heads to the altar, stopping but a couple of steps away from it, then he goes on one knee and prays...

No, he doesn't pray to Hope, he can't, he instead sends his prayers to his own gods, just as he used to ever since he was but a child, back then, before he would forget everything. He hopes they might hear him, but somehow trusting that the so called god of Hadriel could use his sentiment.

When he's done, he doesn't stand, instead he simply whispers.」

Thank you, for bringing them back... Thank you... for giving them a second chance.

「Gilbert, Whistler, Michael, Harlan and Kain, probably many more he didn't hear of... he's thankful all the same.

He wishes he could do more, help more, say more, he knows about betrayal, he knows about loss, but the words get stuck instead, he doesn't know what else he can do to help but actually go out there and help others rebuild and get supplies and food. After a moment, the young Pharaoh stands and leaves the temple.」

You can take solid forms when you choose to, yes? I recall Sorrow sparing a few minutes at the ball to dance with Rosie.

[Solid enough to make that happen, at least.]

Or if you prefer to watch, you would be welcome to join me when I go hunting the cave monsters for dinner. I would be interested in trying to figure out how to adapt combat to an energy being like yourself, though. It would be an interesting challenge for me as a teacher.

I am sure Rage would be interested in that, as well. I am not suited to combat, though I will watch what you do - it may be useful to know. However, I will never be a warrior.

One need not be a warrior to learn basic self-defense and improve their reaction time. Sometimes simply knowing how to react rather than freezing up from shock can make all the difference in the world.

[She doesn't trust Rage as much as she trusts Hope, but she supposes it would be a good way to make a somewhat positive impression on a warrior goddess.]

I was not a warrior when I got into my first fight. I was nothing more than a little girl who wanted to protect herself and her mother.

Er... yes, so...

[ Who has two thumbs and doesn't remember every speaking to a god before?? ]

Sorry. I'm not sure if we've spoken before, but I sort of... died, a bit ago, and I came back - that is, I think you brought me back - without any of my memories. I know you've got a lot on your mind, what with... everything, but I thought I should ask if there's anything that you would... recommend I do in order to get them back. It's disorienting, the way I am now.

[ h e l p ]

And were you able to?

Yes. My magic manifested in that moment. I wanted nothing more for my toy sword to be real so I could save us. Imagine my shock when I was able to cut down our attackers with that little toy of mine.

[She smiles a bit, although it's a slightly sad smile.]

When it was all over, I even tried to comfort my mother and tell her everything was all right now. Children that young normally think their parents can protect them from all harm.

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