networkinthenight | [text] @keeper; cw: character death [open]

Heyyy everybody. I'm the LH Keeper. I know you guys probably got some questions for me but like sit tight first OK? I promise I'll answer eeeeverything you wanna know in just a sec. There's a couple things I wanna say.

The first one being, hi! I'm Robin. It's SO good to finally get to chat with you all, like jeez I've been hella bored over here. That party you guys just put on looked really fun. :( I'm sad I missed it! But that's kinda how it goes when you're the Keeper. Rastus said there's been a lot of talk about like fulfilling our roles and stuff, and this is mine! I'm in the lighthouse because it let's me do a bunch of stuff to manage the town and help keep the world safe, but it means I'm stuck out here all by myself and I don't get to do the fun stuff I want to do sometimes. Which is why I'm so so SO happy that you guys and gals got me hooked up to the network again! Thank you so much!!! ❤❤❤

Oh right, and you guys have had a lot of questions about what I'm protecting the town from, haven't you? Me and Will talked and he's super sure it's best if HE gives you the skinny on all that since he said he would and he wants to make good on his promise, you feel? So he's gonna do that after the ferry gets here so all the new people can get the info too. Sound good? Sorry you gotta wait just a liiiittle bit longer but there's something else I think we should talk about first...

The forest spirits are still reporting the numbers so I don't know exactly how many we're up to yet but... A lot of people went missing and probably died from how things went down after the party. I'll put all the names in the next bulletin (sorry I didn't do one this week btw! things have been kinda crazy...) but if you want to ask about your friends and stuff in the meantime, I'll do my best to tell you what I know. Maybe some of them will come back? We just have to wait and see.

But... you guys probably saw this in that post Rosinante and Riku and Peter did, but just in case you didn't: Captain Winters died, and so did Five. I didn't see what happened exactly but I saw the spirits starting to come for them all and I tried to stop them but they didn't listen. They get really angry about people coming to the lighthouse or me trying to leave, even the ones that are usually really nice.

I hope they'll both come back but I don't know if they will, so, just in case... Winters would want you all to take care of the town for him and move on you know? He won't be around when the ferry comes so make sure you all fill the new people in on what's happened and how to survive here. All that really important stuff he's been telling people is up to you guys to spread around now.

*BIG SIGH* OK WELL I don't want to end on that super negative note but now I'm all sad sooo ask me questions and stuff, and Will will tell everyone about what I'm keeping the town safe from real soon. It really is nice to meet you all!!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[There's a pause before her next message.]

It's hard. I miss people a lot. I miss sunlight too.

That's why I'm hoping you guys can find a way to fix this place.

maybe we're going about it wrong. maybe it isn't about the right words.

[ Maybe it's a different way of speaking from the heart. The way everything from the wind in the boughs of trees, to the blades of grass bending underfoot was represented by instrumental music in that world, the slumbering Symphony of Sorcery.

Maybe he's just looking for patterns where there aren't any, like by solving something he might balm the aching hole where Kairi once was. Where Dawn was. And Daylight. ]

We're gonna try, Robin. Together.
how long has it been since there was sunlight in this place?

What do you mean?

Oh, wait, do you mean like, if you sing them a song that makes YOU happy, maybe that'll convey the right message? Hmmm. Maybe it's something like that. That's a good place to start, anyway!

Man, that's a tough question... Weird as it sounds I don't think anyone's got a super good grasp on that? There's like no one left from Ye Olden Days, but I think everything went dark like... Maybe 100 or so years ago? Maybe a little less, but no more than 100.

100 years...
Not to snoop but I saw what you told the others. 20 years up there trying to watch over everything. All those resets.
I get why someone wouldn't want to keep the job.

On top of that, you lost your friend. I'm sorry, Robin.

Yeah, it's been a pretty long time, both for me and this place! I'm kinda starting to wonder if maybe it's not all that fixable, but... We gotta keep trying, right? There's gotta be SOMETHING we can do besides just, like, sit around and accept how things are.

I mean... The nice thing about this place is that, despite everything, it's not too tough to hang onto hope? At least when it comes to stuff like people dying. Winters' lantern is out there somewhere, and maybe it's not in too rough of shape! Maybe we'll be able to revive everyone else, too!

Is it likely? Nnnnnnot really, but, like, there's a chance? And that's better than no chance.

Wait wait wait. Are you really sure you're okay?

I'd say I'm doing better than the ones who didn't make it.

[ And he could leave her question answered that vaguely, but he's reminded of Rosalind's admonishment. About how Sora used to be so open. It's been so hard on him, and there's not much Riku can do about it. Except maybe to be a little more like Sora was.

After some delay: ]

Guess I'm just sad.
I lost a few friends, too.
You're right though. There's still a chance and that's better than none.

I'm sorry. Losing people is never easy. It's important to take time to be sad about them, too. Letting yourself grieve and all.

Tell me about your friends.

I'll pass. nothing personal.

[ He really can't take his own advice. ]

Being able to progress is key to avoiding a reset, right?
For now we need to regroup. We're in no condition to charging off into the woods.
Is that going to be a problem?

Suit yourself.

It's the key, but only like, within reason. You guys need to take care of yourselves! From what I hear, Winters and Will didn't tell you some stuff because they wanted you to like get adjusted to being dead and crap first. They're right in that we have some time!

Like, there's only two reasons I would pull a reset on you guys: We run out of time as per the stuff Will's gonna tell you about, or the town devolves into, like, chaos and anarchy and there's no chance of salvaging the situation.

If we get close to either thing, trust me, you'll know. I'm not gonna just slap everyone with a reset on a whim! I don't like killing people for funsies is the main reason there, but also, it's a whole lot of work for me to start fresh again.

Tl;dr - I don't take resets lightly.

Good to know.
How did Winters and the others survive the reset?

I can tell the forest spirits to spare people. Logistically, I can't keep EVERYONE alive, but I can protect a handful to help with the transitions.

[ He burns to ask why she can't spare more than a few, but refrains. Later, after Will explains matters further, he'll realize why. ]

Thanks. You gave me a lot to think about.

I'm worried that it's just you up there, alone. No one can really visit you, huh?
The spirits don't want people getting close. I guess I understand why. The lighthouse is the town's defense you said.

Yeeeeah, it's just me! The being alone thing is definitely the worst part of the job. :/ Or maybe it's the not being able to leave... IDK, they're kind of the same thing, if you ask me!

But, yeah, they ARE protecting me, so I can't fault them too much. I'm a sitting duck out here otherwise. If I go down, it'd be real bad news for the town.

[text] @keeper; cw: character death [open]

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