The Seeds of Unrest: the Iconoclast Oracle

[beleos]

RUNNING OUT THE CLOCK

The situation is bleak.

The Blight - and the massive labyrinth of roots tearing both cities asunder, spreading deadly flowers wherever they penetrate - have progressed to a point beyond catastrophe. People are dying in rapid numbers. Bearers are having difficulty keeping up with the spread of infection - even among one another. The collapse of Kenos seems inevitable; a cure will not come in time. You can do nothing but watch as each new day brings further disaster, ticking down the seconds until it all falls apart.

And then, you feel something seize your Shard. As if physical fingers have wrapped around it, as if it is being clutched through you by invisible hands, you feel invaded. You feel wronged. But before you can panic, a voice enters your mind through Communion.

“Excuse the dramatics, but there isn’t much time for pleasantries. The Trees are about to hit the point of no return. But there's still work to be done. The Tree of Life will take you where you can find it: the Oracle and the creature causing all this mess. Fix this when you find them. However you'd like.”

Have you heard Aetos’ voice before? Perhaps it is the first time; perhaps it is familiar to you. Either way, the last thing you will remember is a confusing jumble: a spell of immense and incredible power, one utilizing the Tree’s strength to shelter you. The sensation of every cell in your body coming alive, yet seeming to break apart and render you into billions and billions of tiny pieces, all hovering in different times and places across all the different iterations, timelines, and realities in which you have ever existed. A voice that speaks not through words asking your forgiveness, unspeakably sad.

And then, there is nothing.

AWAKENING

Your eyes open, gritty with the feeling of a long, deep slumber.

Perhaps it takes a moment to shake off the heavy veil of exhaustion, to recollect what you were doing before you fell into this state of hibernation - but as soon as you do, you feel an immediate sense of foreboding around you. It is thick in the air, oppressive and pervasive, and you aren’t left long to wonder at its source. You lay beneath the branches of the Tree of Life, but as your bleary eyes focus… you see it. The Tree is all but bereft of life. Its bark has withered down to gnarled wood, the soft lichen dried up, and the grass that should be alive beneath you is long dead and gone. There is not so much as a single leaf on its decaying branches.

It has been this way for a long, long time... you realize this with a feeling of intense dread as you see it - the beautiful expanse of stars, of the cosmos, of universes scattered like starlight above the tree's boughs, gone. In its place hangs a sickly, ominously low-hanging, and dying sun ready to sing the end of everything.

You can't help but wonder how long Kenos has been in this state, but a sense of gratitude fills you as you realize that the Tree expended the last of its energies to protect you, the Bearers, during your state of rest. Had Aetos worked with the tree to see you sent here?

The next question comes quickly: how much time do you have left…? And can you find the Oracle before that time expires?

ABANDON HOPE (DAYS 1 & 2)

The cornerstones are still active and will take you to whichever city you wish to see.

Highstorm and Springstar sit like empty monuments to the cities that were once filled with life - yet the first thing you will notice is they are strangely absent the signs of the Tree’s overgrown roots, the Blight, the catastrophic damage that you can recall all too easily. Instead, each city sits as those they were summarily abandoned overnight, leaving nothing but their shells behind. There is a stillness in the air that is unnatural and unsettling. Despite the lack of any sign of the citizens of either city, you cannot help but feel… watched.

Something terrible happened here. Best you find the Oracle before something terrible finds you, instead.

The burning of a dying sun beats down on you wherever you go, unbearable heat sending waves off the aged cobblestone streets. Perhaps it is your instinct to seek refuge in the shade - but linger too long about the shadows and that feeling of eyes on your back, of being unable to breathe, of your world closing in around you will grow untenable and drive you back into the light. If you hope to explore the ghostly shell of your city in search of the Oracle - or to sate your curiosity, some problem-solving might be in order.

And while you acclimate yourself to your circumstances, you cannot help but note you feel wrong inside, somehow…

EXPLORATION

• If your characters choose to explore previously unreachable areas, please use THIS TOPLEVEL to report when they get there in the thread! We will get back to you with what is discoverable in that location.
• The following areas are off limits for exploration: below Yima’s Manor; below the Church of Heliopolis; Alenroux; Kowloon.
• The Great Trees of both Highstorm and Springstar are in a similar state to the Tree of Life and will not respond to Communion.
• Generally speaking, items will be of poor quality. Most will look as though they’ve aged thousands of years. Others will be in half-decent shape, but sparingly so. Oddly enough, it doesn’t seem like the whole city has aged at the same rate, so especially diligent rummagers can find worthwhile supplies. Please consider this should be rare and don’t go overboard!

NOTES

Here are some prompt reminders - see the full thing at the OOC Summary!

• Characters will have a diluted connection to the Zenith or Meridian.
• There will be periods powers are weakened or non-functional during days 1-2 (up to player discretion).
• The sunlight results in scorching; the shadows cause claustrophobia and fear while outdoors.

THE RITUAL (DAYS 2+)

The place you started your journey to Kenos is also where it seems it will end. As soon as the first Bearer makes contact with the Iconoclast effigy, you are collectively drawn to the roots beneath the Tree - like a pang sent through your Shard. Your objective has been found. The Oracle awaits.

Trusting Aetos seems like a fool's errand, but you must put your hope in the Tree. What choice do you have left? It's time to find what lies at the end of this.

Bearers descend, your steps echoing in the dark, cavernous space. Once brimming with life and vitality, the roots are now dried and brittle like the bones of some ancient leviathan that died long ago. As you make their way deeper into the earth, the deadened roots twist, leading you to a vast chamber deep within it; the air here is thick with the smell of decay, and the faint glow of luminescent fungi and mosses barely illuminates the space.

To your left, the Bearers will notice what has drawn them here - and the object of their search.

An effigy sits on the ground between two darkened tunnels. The effigy is made of gnarled, dead branches woven together in a humanoid shape; its hollow, empty eyes are sightless, yet you cannot help but feel it is watching your every move. Branded on its forehead is the Iconoclast symbol carved into the rough wood.

Once all Bearers are present, the Ritual will begin. Your means of exit have been sealed off, and you are trapped, slowly deteriorating together…

NOTES

• Bearers will have access to the Ritual Chamber which is a very wide, open space with the effigy situated against the far wall from the entrance. Several smaller tunnels off-shoot from the Ritual Chamber. They all run to dead ends; some are very small or narrow. This may afford you meager privacy away from the group.
• Once a Bearer steps into the Chamber, they can no longer head back out the way they came. They’ll find themselves automatically walking back into the Chamber as if of their own volition.
• For brevity’s sake we won’t list them out again here, but the complete description of effects Bearers will experience days 2+ is available in the OOC Summary.
• The effigy is impervious to damage.
• It Is Watching You.
• In a dead-end root tunnel attached to the Iconoclast’s Chamber is the Blighted statue of an Otter that may be familiar to some… Please see THIS TOPLEVEL for more information!

THE PURGE (DAYS 5+)

The sap has festered in your veins for what feels like days. It’s impossible to tell how much time has passed; this place has no sunlight. The effigy watches as you remain trapped, huddled together around it, unable to leave as you find yourself sick with the affliction of the Meridian, Zenith - or both.

And then… something finally gives.

Though it does not move and speaks no words, you feel the effigy offering you guidance. Knowledge. Much like the Tree speaks to you in impressions and feelings, you are conveyed wisdom you did not have before: a way to take what you want and rid yourself of what you do not. A way to make your convictions known to all who would hear them. A way to be known. To write your path in blood, be it yours… or theirs.

When all is said and done, only one force - Zenith or Meridian - will gain its favor.

Show it who you are. Show it what resolve looks like to you - and what you are willing to do to attain it.

NOTES

Here are some prompt reminders - see the full thing at the OOC Summary!

• You can Purge your alignment through various methods: Trading, Corrupting, or using the Effigy itself.
• All characters will understand the end goal is for everyone to Harmonize; the alignment with the higher rate of Harmonized Bearers alive when time’s up wins the Oracle’s favor.

NOTES

• A reminder that the Harmonization tally will take place on Friday, the 19th and be open through Monday, the 29th. The results will be released on Wednesday, the 31st OOCly.
• Don’t forget to submit any deaths to the Death Tracker, with a gentle reminder characters will remain dead until the event conclusion!
• Reminder to fill out the SETTING POLL ASAP if you haven't already!
• Have some MUSIC if you'd like. LYRICS here!
• HAVE FUN!!

CODING

Comments

CHILDE.

[redsoil]

[ — by the time they meet, Set burns from within. The force of Meridian that colors his shard a perfect, searing thing that speaks not to the message of hopefulness that his faction promotes, but to the merciless heat of the light. Energy pours from him, sparking in the depths of his eyes, radiant and unbridled; there is no calm, in being Meridian, there is no acceptance. They rage, they shriek battlecries, they war with everything and everyone, even their own kind. Embodied within Set, Meridian is constant battle. And it is that vibrancy that he finally, finally brings to Childe. ]

I have been looking for you, for so long.

[ The words sound like a vow. Intensive, without restraint. Set has never held his tongue, never said what he did not mean to. Super-charged with delight, he holds his hands out to Childe. To someone he has obviously, painfully, wanted to meet. The heightened state of Communion means he cannot be marked as a liar, nor someone exaggerating how he feels — I want you, his soul cries. I want to break against you, I want to crush you below me. He has yearned for Childe's skill, for his prowess and passion, since the first stumbled across one another before the Scorching Isles.

He will not be denied again. ]

You are far more beautiful in person. But, I see they [ Zenith, he means ] have dulled your edges — come, sharpen yourself again. I only want to have you, pure of bloodlust and driven to thrive. I am Set, the god of war who desires you in all your glory, Childe!

[vapour]

[ The Meridian presence from the god of war beckons, but neither the Meridian nor the Zenith churning in his veins reacts to the call. It is the Abyss that has entangled both influences as it weighs their value much like the Iconoclast Effigy does even now with its lidless ever-seeing eyes. Childe is well aware he has to decide, but the Meridian corruption has not moved him enough— perhaps because so many of the questions and doubts are the ones he has harbored since the start. He does not trust the Matron or the Tribune to deliver at the end of this, he does not know for certain if he's ready to give up on Teyvat. Ultimately, only one thing soaks clearly and truly draws the Tsaritsa's vanguard: the power to put others in their place.

So, this is such a grand performance by the God of War right from the moment of his appearance in the harbinger's space. The call, the beckoning invitation with such openess searching for such raw simplicity that is wired right into Childe's very bones, stirs something even in the thick sap-laden blood that feels like coming back from the brink of death.

Now, who is fit here to be worthy prey?

Who here can turn a hunter into the hunted?

Dark blue eyes stare at the other before something beneath their depths lurches and ripples with the excited ambition that it has found exactly what is has been searching for.

( It's you. )

The Communion's serenade of honesty is like a siren's call. This... this is the God of War that he left Snezhnaya for and sought out in Liyue. Was Morax ever like this in his youth? Unbridled by humanity's agendas—

I want you to have all eyes on me. ]

That's the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me. How can I resist someone as perfect as you? [ he laughs, feeling for the first time like he has the energy to move to his feet and to agree to any action of any kind. Just that adrenaline rush has him feeling better than he has since arriving. No matter the outcome, he certainly will owe Set for this opportunity and for making the rest of this game they're all playing for the Oracle's favor an entertaining one.

Meridian's light has caught his attention. ]

Let's make up for the lost time.

[ —I want my name filling your mouth until there's no room left for another. ]

[redsoil]

Flatterer, [ Set laughs, wild and, well. Flattered. ] If you want me so badly, come and take me.

[ To fight, is to dance.

To dance, is to yield to something passionate, something crisp and clear as a kestrel calling — unseen in the sky. The rush of wind whipping through the reeds along the Nile River, the sudden thrust of a scaled body lunging into the waters while sediment stirs in its wake, the purity of an untouched oasis that looms into view after a long, difficult journey under the brutal, harsh heat of the sun. To fight is the most wonderful thing for him, and he traditionally pours his time into the Coliseum, into Ryad's dangers. Into Shard-bearers, Meridian and Zenith alike, in the throes of battle for something that will make victors of one faction and failures of the other.

He has been waiting, to clash with this young man. Zenith does not know the splendor of him. It seeks to quiet and calm him, when he should be burning dark with passion and fever. With the force of that promise, trailing in his wake, Set turns his eyes upon Childe and rushes forth. They are powerless, but he has never truly needed a weapon. He is the weapon, every inch of him perfect and deadly, honed in centuries of battle and tactic. To move first is to allow the other to perceive and prepare for what comes, so Set makes his first attack as direct and forceful as possible.

He rushes in fast, but his gait reduces as he narrows the distance between them: a leap, a skip, a small bounce. Set feints, with the lift of his right knee, as if aiming to drive his weight through his thigh and into Childe's solar plexus. Instead, he converts his momentum by stepping in, dropping that knee in order to pivot on his toes and aim with his left leg. A high kick that, if he were fully divine, could literally rip the head off a man. Here, it'll just hurt bad if it connects. ]

[vapour]

Since you insist.

[ is the reply along with the chipper smile even as Set makes his move. His eyes are trained well enough for fights with superhuman opponents that he can well see the feint for what it is even before Set's foot touches the ground in the redirection of his actions. Instead of block, though, Childe steps to his own left before pulling to dodge the kick without backing up, so that Set's backside is open to him, in order to throw his own momentum into a roundhouse kick towards the other's back. He's not particularly looking to aim for the head himsel— a much lower kick— knowing full well it'll hurt being hit anywhere on the back with the speed he uses. Afterall, Childe wears full high combat boots instead of going barefoot which only adds extra weighted force

Childe is also a young man who only knows how to survive when the odds become incredibly against him on top of him being already handicapped. That's why the minute that he had realized they were being held down here for longer than a few hours, he had shifted his efforts to something far more important to him than bothering with trying to struggle with the Meridian corruption and its voices. Luckily, perhaps, the Meridian interpreted his actions as listening to it since it values survival at all costs, which may have helped him ignore most of the mental and internal conflict. The results of the last few days are apparent when even as he has gone to counter with a roundhouse kick of his own after sidelines dodging, he swings his arm along with it in typical 'reaching motion' towards his leg for more power behind it. That motion doubles for him reaching for his boot to pull out a stone knife that he's fussed over the passed several days in the process. The knife will be used in an attack swing immediately if his counter kick misses (unless he's fully blocked or grabbed in the process) using his pivot leg to push forward straight into a followup without missing a beat as soon as his kicking leg is back to the ground.

(pretend the handle is wood and there's subpar rope keeping it together since limited materials... just the stone blade itself is nice looking oof.) ]

[redsoil]

[ Set comes to Childe delirious with Meridian's light, but driven by the desire to finally set himself upon this young man whom he imagines has ached for the same thing: a fight. A true fight, unyielding and impassioned. Nothing short of their best, nothing short of the call-and-response of threat and survival. Though he comes to Childe battered, his hair ragged and bruises blossoming upon his person, he pushes pain aside in favor of giving his all to the Harbinger youth. There is nothing like throwing himself into a brawl while presumably 'impaired'.

Which is why he twists, as Childe steps clear of the kick he aims, to better soak the other man's kick with the curled dip of tucked elbow. The pain lanced up his arm, settling in his shoulder and the far tips of his little finger, but he perseveres. Were this a fight with a point system, Childe would take the first. Instead, it appears to have become a fight with grievous bodily injury suddenly on the table, as Childe comes right out with a blade.

Though he does not have his divine powers, he won't yield. Not even when he spots the blade and immediately begins to calculate how to handle it. The other comes for him, and this time, Set invites him in; allowing Childe's momentum to rush upon him, as he skims the flat of his forearm forcefully along his wrist to seize hold of it and keep the knife away from his own body. ]

You are so resourceful. I like it.

[ Praise. Because Childe is smart, to ready a weapon, especially against a god who prides himself on being a weapon. Set pushes Childe's knife-bearing arm down, aiming to control his wrist so he cannot find purchase with it, and pops him in the nose with a quick jab. ( With it, arrives the sudden sunburst warmth of Meridian-bright savagery. Hope? As if. Meridian's light is wicked, is sharp, it is harsh and made for those who want to survive. ) ]

[vapour]

[ resourceful is one way to put it, but all Childe sees in himself is the experience of being a human that once had no ability to protect himself before acquiring some ungodly and insane powers at his beck and call. So while he gets it's supposed to be praise (and he smiles almost politely in response)—he's popped in the nose and loses his train of thought. Ow.

(For Tartaglia, this is a great honor, but as a mortal himself that has so much to prove to the world around him, especially to gods of war, apparently, there is something a little unfortunate about it. He can't strive to go toe to toe with a god in mentality. A god does not understand being weak and have a need to prove that they are anything but weak. Even reduced to something mortal and without a fraction of their divine abilities, they fundamentally understand that their condition is not a result of their fragile existence. It may be frustrating or a hindrance or even a far bigger disadvantage to them than a normal human, but there is no emotional turmoil on self-worth.

Not only does Set have some respect of Childe's beyond the fact he's a powerful opponent, his brutal honesty of the Meridian makes both him and it terribly appealing. Afterall, Childe hates nothing more than those that insist something is good or bad when it is clearly neither. Bad violates basic rights, inflicts pain and suffering for purely selfish reasons that better no one but the evil itself. Good is the complete opposite.

It's impossible for Meridian and Zenith to be labeled in such a manner, almost especially when compared to one another as opposites. the reality is that neither force exemplifies one while that other fails without gross ignorance of laid out clear facts. The only good and evil is in the people themselves that choose to represent the sides.

It's unfortunate just how many people embody evil traits while believing themselves good and condemning others. That is, Childe supposed, the true flaw of "humanity" in all of them.)

The Meridian warmth hits in a different way than anything else, both by its deliverer and the force itself catering specifically to someone who lacks the ability to believe in things such as good and evil as anything beyond labels that mean nothing unless all follow the same established principles.

the idea of surviving at all costs runs true through Childe, even though he well knows and has seen things far worse than death. Survival at all cost is the cruelest of the two, and arguably harder. Yet, moving on at all cost as Zenith does is technically survival at all cost in a way as well: it's to not be tied up in the past and anchored to stubborn ways and hopeless ideals that fail to be achievable. Two vastly different manifestations of a very similar trait according to each doctrine. Meridian is truly full optimism, but it is not hope. Zenith is neither pessimism nor despair, but it is realism.

For the optimist, however, realism doesn't technically exist. Anything less than happiness is not optimistic enough and falls short of anything but being looked back on as pessimism. This is the nature of extremes and while that is a Meridian extreme, Zenith has their own where Merriam instead falls into more realistic and moderate territory.

maybe for sometime like Childe, who only knows chaos and not how to be a good person , both sides are balanced between each other almost infuriating so. ]

Resourceful... heh, It's all about how badly you don't want to die, I guess. [ he snorts as he intentionally clears his nostrils of any blood from the hit as he brings his leg back to the ground. Immediately following, w drops the knife from his caught hand, and will either let it fall to the ground or force himself to contort with agile enough reflexives that he can grab the knife with his other hand and jam it upward, looking for just about any place he can possibly sink into flash that isn't his own.

Right now, he only cares about getting loose from Set's hold. He has no real idea how strong physically the other is even without his powers and isn't willing to take chances since he himself is still pretty fragile without Harmonization. A kick and one hit to the face just isn't enough data.

( Should Set go for the knife when Childe drops it, however, he'll instead forfeit it in favor of a chance to try and knee the other in the face in order to get him to let go of him that way. )]

My master made sure the first thing I learned was that blunt force isn't any less deadly simply because it doesn't make as big of an initial mess as a sharp object.

[ (it child though. Oh could it ever. )

And Skirk was of the Abyss that possessed her strength similar to a god, or at least easily similar to a human child being taught to become a paragon warrior without having any innate superhuman abilities or initial talent alone. Afterall, he didn't acquire his Vision or his Abyssal powers until later, and his Delusion until much later than that. ]

[redsoil]

[ The irony is, that while Childe thinks gods have nothing to prove and cannot comprehend what it means to be weak, without power or means — by virtue of existing in Kenos, this particular god has had a crash course in such a thing. The irony is, this war god already knew what it was like to be weak, vulnerable and helpless long before arriving in Kenos. That is why he can fight as he does. He knows what it means to fight with the ferocity of one who wants to live, who does not want to be hurt, who has failed to survive and been strangled to death, killed slowly by animals, torn asunder by men.

Set knows, what is is like to have everything to prove. And to be fragile. He has been made fragile, and combats that every damn day. ]

Oh! You will tell me more, will you not? Your master sounds as though they have taught you valuable lessons. After all —

[ The image will leap to Childe, horrendous and threatening and promising: Set, masked and looming in the light. A dark star of practicality and instinct, wielding a hundred weapons crafted from the sands under his feet. Blades, bludgeons, projectiles, melee implements, polearms, and amidst them all — Set, his fists cocked and waiting. Calling for Childe to come to bear against him in every way he desires, with every lesson he has ever learned.

Zenith is not realism, to him. Zenith is a potential route, but making-unmaking-remaking a destroyed world is perfectly rational to his mind. He has seen his world wiped clean multiple times, reset and reformed under Ra's curious and capricious hand. Flood, blood and fire. The issue he takes with Zenith is that they seek a perfect world, as imperfect people; that the world they want to create will be boring. It will not have strife. It will not have passion.

Neither is Meridian optimism, to him. Every inch of him televises that into Childe's mind. Good and evil, hope and despair, optimism and realism — Meridian and Zenith are not opposites to him, but different paths to take toward his singular goal. That he has chosen Meridian is not because he believes in hope, but because Zenith's goal? It is vapid and boring. And there is no shift in that resolve, as he meets this young man in battle.

( You are too beautiful and wild for that fate, his light-stained mind calls to Childe. I would rather hold you while you die, and burn your impassioned soul into my own for an eternity than allow someone like you to wilt.

Did Childe not ascend from the Abyss — the darkness — once before? Why not again? )

Set does not immediately dive for the knife. It is a tool, but so is his body. He swipes his toes toward it to kick it into the distance, preparing to maneuver their fight so that he may seize it better later. Instead, he fastens tight to Childe and irradiates him with his desire. For Childe not to come to the side others think is hope and good, but to the side of his youth. The side of those who do not pretend to be optimistic, but instead battle the Abyss itself. ( Zenith is the Abyss. Zenith is the Abyss. Childe, you have already conquered the Abyss once. )

He twists, trying poorly to keep hold of Childe's wrist as he crosses the young man's torso and tries to get him into a hold, to pin his arm up behind his back. If he cannot succeed, he will step back instead. Distance returned, for another set up. ]

— I want to take you to every world. I want to fight you across foreign battlefields, Childe. Why would I settle for one handcrafted by people who do not want people like you and I in their boring, perfect world, when millions already exist?! Waiting for us!

it's 1:30am and I'm tagging mobile pls forgive

[vapour]

[ Although Childe is forever stubborn, that does not mean he doesn't listen to the minds and opinions of others: and Set's is so very interesting. Even as chaos imbued as he is, he has always understood the end goal of humanity would be peace. A perfect world, though... is that what it is? He has never thought about Zenith like that, but now that it's pointed out, it is a fascinating angle to look at it from. Childe can certainly see that as boring, especially for a god of war that seeks to exist eternally. Perhaps Childe has never thought of it because he has already accepted his life is short.

That doesn't mean he wants a second of it to be boring, either.

When Childe compares the options... He wonders if anyone in Zenith sees a perfect world in their future if Zenith prevails? He isn't so sure now that he thinks about it because he's never asked. His conversation with the Archivist flirts to the forefront of his mind, their discussion on the Meridian and how much they believe in their own end goal. John has said it perfectly, the end goal of the Meridian was a far better deal than the goal of the Zenith. Childe still sees it as such, too, but when one looks at Zenith from the angle attempting to achieve a perfect world... well, that is perhaps even more unrealistic than single restoring worlds. There's a slight furrow in the Harbinger's brow as he thinks about it. It's not one of distaste; rather, it suggests contemplation that is not projected very well considering they are mid-battle. Nevertheless, it's obvious he's question and mulling Set's opinions over, which is by far more than he's done for any other Meridian.

( The overbearing influence is working. )

When the knife is sent out of his reach, Childe curses under his breath (but, even then, that is impressive and resourceful in such a split second that Childe only wishes circumstances surrounding everything were a lot more fun in their nature. While he's quick, he's not quick enough to avoid getting grabbed from his attempt to grab the knife (he's lucky he doesn't fall over on his face with the weakness factor he has to deal with, but maybe (or maybe not) his opponent deserves the credit more than he himself.

That desire felled upon him seizes him in his chest, though, and is enough to have him distracted just long enough that he isn't able to break away before his arm is held hostage against his own back.

For a moment, there's an intense anxiety that leaks from Childe's own mind, a reflexive dredging up if intense disgust. It's not for either one of them, instead it's —

( I definitely won't go back there, no one can make me go back there—! )

The imagery of the Abyss and Zenith as the same entity works quite well in the heat of everything, and for a few seconds it's clear there's is visceral rejection of the Zenith ass the Abyss. He may speak fondly of his master from the Abyss, he may wield his powers without care or concern for the ultimate consequences, but he will never allow himself to be dragged back down there. He suggested falling in once and he fucking crawled with and on his hands and knees. There's no way he'll ever go back there.

That tension that gets him to react in such a way lasts only for seconds, but it's more than enough to make his weak convictions on having to return to Zenith at all costs a priority. It also is just long enough that Set's words about not bringing seem to strike a chord: that's right, isn't it? A perfect world has neither need nor want for chaos: he never really thought about it beyond someone safe for his siblings. However, how can he be sure they'll be happy and safe if he's not there with them without their parents there, instead?

That's... absolutely unacceptable. He would suffer the misery of a boring life for the sake of his little siblings, but if he can't be guaranteed their safety, then all bets are off. And how can he guarantee that safety unless it's him watching over them personally?

Despite that, Childe doesn't let it show on his features as a negativity. There's an airy laugh from him, and it's a sound that holds playful amusement as much as it does sincerity. ]

Aha~! You really know how to get a guy enamored with you. But, I don't like to share attention, so if you're serious you're going to have to make quite a bit extra time for me. Don't forget it, now, because I'm the worst kind of scorned lover.

[ is he really committing any yandere crimes if he warns someone about it ahead of time? Surely that makes it all acceptable.

For the moment Childe doesn't fight against his arm twisted behind him. He has to first force all the tension and anxiousness brought about in order to calm down and ease the tension in his body keeping him stiff. Otherwise he's just going to make it impossible to escape by his own doing. ]

[redsoil]

[ Meridian's way is the better way, the energy within him sings and calls; it demands he abandon his more moderate — hah! a war god, moderate! — view of the usefulness of all paths, and abandon his own innate curiosity toward all others. Nephthys, peaceful-cool Nephthys, had told him that the gods were not meant to rule over their humans, but to guide them. To shepherd and protect them as they sought their own futures. And he had promised to learn, empathize and understand them — a task he continues to find insurmountable.

All he knows in this moment is that he must guide the others, he must remind them not to give in until the bitter end. To return to their worlds was a choice born of the knowledge of those worlds, of the intimate connection and right they all had to them as children of their origins — the future that Zenith and their leader speak of is a future promised by one person. A long-lived and commendable woman, but one who should not be heeded until each and every Shard-bearer has exhausted their questions, explored every mystery — let the Lady be their balm, only when there is no true way out.

And there is. With Meridian. ( And Set does not want to do this. He does not want to gangpress anyone into submission. The idea revolts him in some capacity, crying out to Childe to abandon the fight and run: Do not let me brutalize your heart, he half-snarls, even as Meridian demands of him to fight. To win. )

As he collides with Childe's back, it comes with another burst of energy, the impact of his urgent will and voracious appetite. And he laughs, as he feels Childe begin to calm. A hungry little laugh, that responds in kind to the honesty he is given in return. ] That depends on what you feel 'sharing' entails. What manner of attention would you like, what you crave. What you desire in this world, above all else and how I can help you attain it, or challenge you as you seek it.

[ Oddly sincere, despite the absolute fervor in him, he murmurs into Childe's ear. ]

I truly believe you and I could be something delightful together, nds.rm. We have more in common, than not. And I want to see what kind of world gave birth to as wonderful a creature as you.

[ The part of him burning Meridian into Childe thinks nothing of what they could be. It yearns only to remind Childe of all that he was, before Zenith hooked itself into his heart and made him different. ( The part that despises this parasitical energy, the demand it makes and the toll it takes upon all Shard-bearers? That part does not want this. And hopes, thoughts loose and incoherent, that he can earn Childe's forgiveness for what he is doing. )

As Childe begins to relax, Set steps back. Once, twice, and kicks the knife up into the air. Now, they begin the next dance. ]