foolishmortals | Recuérdame.

[Those of you who wish to see those who passed on? You'll be directed outside by Zeus, where he raises his arms, and marigolds begin to float around him. They float upwards, and form into a bridge.

It's structurally sound, and it seems fitting that you can cross it.

Eventually, you'll see it. Elysium. The Land of The Dead. Gentle music plays as you cross over into the city.

It's...festive. It's always festive. The architecture is colorful and full of spirit, and your group seems to be the only ones...human in appearance. Even your old friends seem to be a bit more skeletal in appearance. You can spend as much time here as you like, but eventually, that bridge will disappear. And you'll have to leave.

But...they'll never truly be gone. Not if you remember them. And someday, you'll join them. But for now, you celebrate. You've earned your happy ending.]

(ooc: This is the last log for the three canon rounds of Foolish Mortals! Thanks for coming along for the ride - we loved having you, and we hope to see ya real soon!)

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I- [Oh this hurts. This hurts a lot. Because it suddenly hits him that he can't go back. That Pinoc will have to go home without him and survive everything all over again, without a guide by his side.

He hops over to him, his son, quickly. He has to be there for him. If he can't be there for him in the future, he has to at least be here now.]

I... I guess I'm gone Pinoc. I'm sorry.

No you're not! You didn't-- nothing happened! We made it though the whole fight, I saw you! You're fine!

[There was no murder or execution and he wasn't fried with a fireball or stabbed he was just. There. Minutes ago, and they were going to go back home and maybe things weren't going to be normal per say but--]

You- you can't stay here, anyways, we have to go home. Both of us.

[oh kid. Ohhhhh Pinoc. Oh he didn't want to have this conversation with him ever,
much less like this.]

W-Well. When a fella gets older and older they... [...He won't insult Pinoc's intelligence by dancing around the word.] Die. They die naturally. It happens to everybody, eventually.

And there's no taking it back.

You weren't- you weren't that old...

[But he doesn't. Actually know. It's been a long time since Pinocchio got to the manor and it can only have been longer since Jiminy was taken to one of the other rounds, and even though he keeps shaking his head it seems more and more possible that it's true.]

You can't be. [It suddenly feels like everything they did doesn't even matter anymore, like nothing afterwards will, either, because how could he possibly go home and just keep doing the same thing he was before without Jiminy.] What am I supposed to do?

[Jiminy doesn't know the right thing to do in most situations. But right now it seems so clear that he has to hop on Pinoc's shoulder. Just like always, the little conscience in his ear. But now, its... more important to provide comfort than a lecture. Its what the kid needs right now.]

You'll survive, Pinoc. Like you always do. Why heck, look at all the amazing things you've survived already! You hardly need a silly old goose like me anymore.

I- I guess.

[He knows he made it though a long time in the manor without him. Maybe it hadn't ended great, but he'd mostly done it, still. But-- even then, it'd seemed like it was just a matter of finding a way out to go home, where things were normal and he still had everybody he cared about. Even if he hadn't been sure what they were going to do after leaving the box and fighting all those shadows it just hadn't... seemed like that was a possibility he'd have to consider, Jiminy not being there ever again.]

But I don't want you to not be there. It's not--

[Fair, but he's already seen enough people die to know it's not fair. And even as he says it he knows it doesn't really matter what he wants, either, it's a stupid thing to say but it's all he can think.]

I'm- I'll miss you a lot.

[He... can't. He can't be Wise Gentleman Cricket right now who's just the right amount of stand-offish and friendly.

He wraps what he can of Pinoc in a big hug. If he could cry right now, he would be.]

I-I know, Pinoc. I know. I want to be there too. More than anything in the world. Any world in the great universe. I'll miss you so much.

But I promise I'll be there. Even if you don't see me, I'll always be there, keeping a watch on you from here.

You're my family, Pinoc. I'll never really leave. [Its not Quite the depths of his fatherly feelings for his wonderful amazing son, but Pinoc has a dad and everything. This is the closest thing to truth that Pinoc will get. Honestly, its the closest thing to the truth Jiminy can understand.]

[It feels like he just stays there for ages, crying like he hasn't since his very first day alive, back when he didn't think he'd ever see his father again. None of the deaths after that seemed so final as this, somehow.

They were just so close to getting home. He thought it was all okay.]

I... yeah, I- I know.

[Or at least he believes him, or maybe just wants to believe him because he doesn't want to have to think of just going back out into the world without Jiminy as a guide, even if he can't be there physically any more.]

But it's not gonna be the same. At home. [Because Jiminy's his family, too.] Why can't I just stay here?

[Ohhhh Pinoc. He's by his side the whole time, letting the tears flow easily as he supports the kid one last time. Its the least he can do for him. He could do so much more but this will have to do, for now.]

Maybe you could. I don't know how it works. But then Figaro and Cleo won't get home. And Gepetto will be worried sick about you. And you might not see them for a long, long time.

A-and there's so much more of the world for you to see, Pinoc. You've barely even scratched the surface. I wouldn't want you to miss out on all that just for me.

I... still wanna see 'em again. And I want to become real, if I still can. [He's not sure about that anymore.] But I- you were supposed to be there, too, I didn't think I'd have to choose.

[He told Louis he didn't want to and maybe there still was a way to go back and forth between home and everywhere else, but. Not wherever this is, not the land of the dead. As far as he knows there's only one way to be with people here and, despite everything, he's still not ready to die yet when he has a whole lot left to do and people he cares about who are still alive.]

They're still gonna let me see you again, right? [It's a question at first but he abruptly backtracks, more determined the second time around.] I mean, they have to. I'll have to tell you everything that happened, they can't not let me.

[Plus fighting people is okay now sometimes. He can fight Zeus over it if he has to.]

[He rubs his neck sheepishly, surprised at the skeletal bumps he feels.]

I... don't know. But it won't be forever. You will see me again. I'll knock their blocks off myself if they don't let ya!

[He just sort of sits down where he stands though, patting Pinoc's shoulder.] And when we do see each other, you gotta tell me all the sights and sounds and people you met. I'll want to know everything.

I- [And he chokes on the words and he's surprised that he's choking on the words. He's trying to desperately to be strong right now but its starting to fall apart at the seams.] I-I wanted to see you grow up so bad, Pinoc. It was all I ever wanted.

I will. I can almost write now, and I promise I'll go to school for real this time when I get home so I can get better at it. I'll make a list of stuff to tell you.

[He thinks maybe it'll help him pay more attention, anyways, and listen better and slow down. Maybe that's a start. All he knows is he has to at least prove that he learned something, that even having messed up so much he can still achieve the only thing he was meant to do from the start-- that he's good enough on his own to become real.]

And I'll visit a whole lot. Whenever I can. That way you can still sorta see, right?

[It isn't the same, not at all, and if he'd gotten a choice it's the last thing he would've wanted, but. You can't change everything, no matter how much you want to or how unfair it is. He's figured that out now, now that so much has happened. There's something to be said about learning from past mistakes but he's too tired for any sort of lesson anymore, he just wants to see him while he still can.]

Plus it's pretty here. I bet it'll be fun, I bet time will go super fast.

[It's too nice here to be sad, at least. He doesn't want him to feel bad when there's still something to be hopeful about, even if it's hard for Pinocchio to sound as optimistic as he wants to.]

Recuérdame.

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