THE SOOT OF IGNORANCE: RISING ACTION

[beleos]

BETWEEN UNCONTROLLED ESCALATION & UNENDING PASSIVITY

The moonlit city of Highstorm has always been a tranquil location.

Its people, passionate about the steady leadership of Zenith's leader — Lady Yima — begin their movements slowly and deliberately. Following the lead of their most trusted Shard-Bearers and the word of their Lady, activity in Highstorm begins to increase in the vicinity of Yima's Manor. The Court, the town square outside of it, becomes a hotbed of bustle and voices. Personnel and attendants rush around with documentation, stirring others to action. A select few figures gather the full force of their long-standing houses, calling on family bonds and their own castellans to assist the efforts that build over the course of a few days.

For the tranquility of Highstorm is only ever punctuated by its decisiveness, its faith that their path is the correct one — and now, they will prove it.

In a trickle-down effort, from the most loyal Zenites to the newest, the news unfolds for them: Amos Burton has been tasked by Lady Yima herself to turn the tides back in Zenith's favor. He is to end the life of the 34th Tribune, Cyrus Marcius Germanus Kokkinos, alongside the fortune who have found their way into Zenith's graces. In the earliest hours of the invasion, the figure of Yima herself steps out onto the balcony of her quarters — the highest point of the Manor — with her robes soft around her body and hands extended to her people. Her silence is punctuated by glowing feelings of pride that flow through the hearts and minds of every last sworn Zenite, bolstering their resolve and encouraging them with the cool, ever-flowing might of the people who look to Zenith's Shard-Bearers for their victory.

She sees them off with unspoken sentiments of love, confidence in them — the whispered promises that she knows they are ready to see the war through. And perhaps none of them will know that it is the last time they see her.

For in the sun-dappled sprawl of Springstar, their target awaits them.

The bustle of the city has always been without reservation; the bright and airy attitudes of militant citizenry look on with confidence and celebratory warmth as their Shard-Bearers have brought them to a marginal advancement over their enemies. While Tribune Cyrus's popularity has waned, there are alternative avenues they have begun to explore — the figure of Agapitos Voreen has become deeply popular, with savvy statements, an easy confidence and a willingness to deny Zenith any room to breathe, he is a shoe-in for future Tribune, whenever the next elections are held.

Which is why, in between one moment and the next, the city is rocked by the efforts of their opposition. Zenite-aligned Shard-Bearers and the small house armies of Yima's most loyal core families fill the streets with chaotic distractions, ranging from duels with the Helios Legionnaire to direct attacks on civilians. ( Where does your character draw the line, if they care to? Will it matter in the long run, do they believe? ) Appearing from several Cornerstones hidden within the city's confines from missions long past, tracking the movements of Legionnaires and Shard-Bearers alike from the placement of listening gems and tracking spells, even rising from the bowels of Kowloon to trap the city in a pincer movement — Highstorm goes on the offensive.

Springstar puts up a valiant resistance in return; however, within twenty-four hours, Zenite Shard-Bearers will have hunted down, cornered and slain the Tribune. In that moment, Meridian-aligned Shard-Bearers will feel a splitting pain: the suddenness of having an integral element of their power ripped from them, the sensation akin to being crushed, gasping under the weight of Zenith's swell. The last trickle of emotion from Cyrus for them is a gentle warmth, fondness and forgiveness and the purity of his confidence in them. He believes in them, he always has, and he prays and hopes for their victory even though he will not be around to see it become reality, now.

His death is announced the following day by his assistant Cetina, the deer-morph girl choking back angry tears as she — with a furious and tearful General Ayo Zaman and the somber, mournful figure of Hieropoios Natalia at her side — lambasts Highstorm for the act of aggression, attempts to rouse the city and Meridian's hope, and pledges that she will not let her best friend's murderers escape her vengeance.

Hours after Cetina's message, in the far corner of Highstorm — following the people's celebrations and rejoicing in their strike, the delight in the might of their Shard-Bearers and the renewed passions of their people in pursuit of their victory — a brilliant, golden beam of sunlight pierces the eternal night of the city.

In an instant, the balcony upon which Yima had stood and the rooms beyond it — in fact, the entirety of the Manor, is engulfed in fire and light. The Manor falls, crumbling in upon itself as debris cascades into the living quarters of Shard-bearers and partially topples into the Court beyond. While the Tree of Life, the Reflecting Pools and many businesses around the Court escape extensive damage, the Manor itself is in shambles. And in the wake, many Zenite Shard-Bearers will feel the suddenness of having an integral element of their power ripped from them, the sensation akin to being crushed, gasping under the weight of Meridian's swell. In the wake of the strike, there is a deep silence within them.

Any attempts to contact Yima are met with the same silence a Shard-Bearer feels when reaching out to another who has left the world entirely. And with that, both sides are left to pick up the pieces and weigh the consequences of their actions.

ADDITIONAL MATTERS

During ( and in the wake of both assaults ), there is plenty for any Unharmonized Shard-Bearers and more moderate Meris/Zenites to partake in. Damage has been wrought to both cities at differing times, and there is a degree of life lost no matter the best efforts of those who value innocents over the price enacted by acts of war.

In Springstar, the citizenry has been ravaged by attacks stemming from the depths of Kowloon: as monsters in the form of both individuals with unusual appetites (cannibals and vampires, for example) and heavily-drugged, superpowered addicts have been finding their way into the city, slaughtering civilians indiscreetly, picking fights with the Legionary, and engaging in general criminal mischief and violence. Following Zenith's assault and subsequent assassination, the city will be on high alert and be deeply hostile toward Zenith-aligned Shard-Bearers, as well as mistrustful towards any Unharmonized ( for good reason: they might still Harmonize with Zenith! ). After the day of the attack, the attacks drop off significantly, but do not vanish entirely, for now that some have gotten a taste, it will take time for Yura to reign them in once more.

The people of the city turn to their Shard-Bearers in the wake of their Tribune's murder; even though his popularity had waned, it isn't as though his death doesn't affect them! Deeply concerned and frightened for their future, they demand information about what will be done to protect the city from another assault like this? Some civilians will turn to the church, or perhaps community leaders, but it seems very few turn to the legionary, after they were so focused on the attacks that they missed the forest for the trees. Their trust in their military leaders is waning, and they’re looking for answer. Some community leaders have tried to soften the hurt and anger of Springstar’s people, but they look toward those whom were not a part of the current establishment to answers.

In Highstorm, Yima's Manor lays in shambles, but the rest of the city is unharmed. Shard-Bearers who were living in the Manor will find that their living quarters suffered from the collapse and subsequent fires, but any precious items/belongings they had in their rooms can be recovered after sifting through the rubble. One of Yima’s most trusted, Florence, seems to be taking the reigns of control, and while there are still pockets of the manor that remain on the outskirts of the building itself, she encourages any Zenites who had not moved out to move on quickly, since what is left should be used by any newcomers who need shelter, and not those whom have had the opportunity to make bonds, and have allies that they can rely on.

The main issue now plaguing Zenites is the sudden, overwhelming crowd that begins to gather in the Court, demanding information from them about Yima's safety — they are frantic, and rightfully concerned about further assaults of that incendiary degree from Meridian. The city will be on high alert and be deeply hostile toward Meridian-aligned Shard-Bearers, as well as mistrustful towards any Unharmonized ( for good reason: they might still Harmonize with Meridian! ). The Manor itself is almost entirely destroyed, with only a shell of the outskirts left, and though those who are left are already trying to sift through the rubble, they are often overcome by their sorrow, and it is not uncommon in the wake of Meridian’s destruction to find some of Yima’s most loyal in distress, for the loss of their leader.

A LIGHTHOUSE AGAINST THE ENCROACHING STORM

A few months ago, all current Shard-Bearers experienced a mass dreaming event, full of teeming darkness and a pervasive sense of terror. Following the death of Cyrus and the "presumed loss" of Yima, all Shard-Bearers will receive yet another dream.

This one is a simple, direct thing: rife with a haunting sense of being watched, observed as if from the reeds and brush by a hunter. Whatever your power level, however skilled you are and confident you are in your place, your decisions, your heart will quake before the severe impression of something prowling at your heels. Just out of sight, but never out of mind. Every Shard-Bearer's shard will wrench free of their body upon waking, falling from their physical form as if to flee this sensation of something waiting, patient, for the right moment to pounce.

Echoing in the back of their mind, a wordless, shapeless promise lingers: Forward, or back. Back, or forward. Dart and weave, flit and flutter, scamper and scurry. We are here, now. In the back of every mind, what was in the process of coming before is — it is here, now. Looming right above, waiting for the outcome, watching for which way the last lives at the end of existence will flee.

Upon awakening from the mass dream-become-nightmare, Shard-bearers will slowly become aware of the exacerbation of previous events that have been persisting since October. These events are no longer subtle, and will impact everyone regardless of faction allegiance, with purposefully targeted strikes:

— Darkness has spread within Springstar. Wherever there is shadow cast by person, object or building, it has deepened, darkened, and grown in size. Walking through any shadowed area or touching a darkened shadow will fill a Shard-bearer who enters that area with feelings of dread, of something lingering just out of sight, of danger prickling along their spine, and entice them to run and flee. If they are not quick enough, an unseen entity savages them — aiming directly for wherever their Shard is hidden and held. They are being hunted.

— Light has spread within Highstorm. Starlight and moonlight seem to sear what they touch, leaving patches of bleached-white scars upon person, object or building. Being touched by the light or coming into contact with a white-scarred entity will fill a Shard-bearer with feelings of malaise, like they should simply lay down and accept what comes next. Suffocating hands waiting to pin them down. Even in the safety of the shadows, the scourging glow of any light reaches for them and rakes across their bodies, seeking the place where their Shard is hidden or held. Ravaging them with hot-and-cold burns. They are being sacrificed.

— Shard-bearers readily become lost in familiar places, as if their homes and bastions of safety and security have become strange ( estranged? ) from their minds. The route to that favorite haunt ( perhaps even their own place of business ) eludes them, and searching for it alone becomes an impossibility. It takes another Shard-bearer, at times, to aid them in breaking free of the mild befuddlement. You're just tired. It's just the strain getting to you.

— Citizens of both Springstar and Highstorm continue to speak about neighbors who have 'suddenly moved away', or the disappearance of a favored shop or cafe. Some mention favorite, useful landmarks vanishing, causing them to forget where they are coming from, or where they are going. When directly asked about this circumstance, they shrug and declare that it happens all the time these days. In fact, there's nothing to really be done about it. And if pressed, the citizenry's eyes go glassy and expressions become confused as they ask who, what, where, and why their Shard-Bearer has begun asking them such strange questions. None seem bothered by this strange occurrence, as if all is well and normal.

— Shard-bearers will begin to see familiar faces in crowds, standing on street corners, peering through their private windows, waving them down at their familiar haunts. People from their own worlds, loved and hated alike rush for them — adoring and hostile alike. Family members and friends who seem to attempt to meet their eyes before the crowd swallows them up; loved ones who should be captured in Shards try to flag them down, calling their names and asking them where have you been? what's going on?; enemies and abusers seem to advance upon them, pushing their way forth hungrily. And then they are gone, but not before leaving behind the impression, the strange sensation that, they are real. Really there. If only for a moment.

OOC & (IMMEDIATE) WORLD CHANGES

The full document for this event can be found here!

So, what does the world look like now that this has all gone down?

The world of Kenos ripples from the effects of our players!

Springstar is (mostly) physically unharmed, though the population has been reduced thanks to the number of murders and criminal mischief that has taken place during the attack. Damage seems constrained to things like broken doors and windows, looted property, and murdered civilians, though the severity is up to how many defend Springstar from the concentrated might of Ryad’s regulars, and a practical army of addicts rising from the depths below the city.

The leadership of Springstar is also shaken, though there are procedures in place for this – if one is particularly studious, they will recall that this is not the first Tribune that has been assassinated, though it is the first in a long while – and the Church and the Legionary have stepped in to maintain the peace while elections begin to be arranged.

Cyrus’s body is interred publically at the Church in Heliopolis for a week after his passing, before his body is immolated during a service, his soul returned to the Tree of Life. Those who attend will feel the light of Meridian fill them, and their Discord may be reduced by one level thanks to the warm hope that fills them, even as they despair at the loss of their leadership. Meridian calls to its most loyal, and asks them to do what they do best, show hope and unending resolve, when things look to be their most hopeless.

Highstorm is another story. The destruction wrought is more property, but the number of people who were within the manor is difficult to count until a week or two after the destruction has been evaluated, and cleanup has begun. The loss of life is not devastating compared to what was leveled upon Springstar, but perhaps the most distressing is that Yima is not present. Florence reassures those in Highstorm with her calming, but firm presence.

With few of Yima’s softer adorations to be found, Florence instead pushes the faithful to muster their will and begin the recovery efforts. After all, they have long proven to have faith in Yima’s guidance, and they should believe in it now when it is difficult. It is not the first time their fortitude has been tested, after all.

Her words fill those in Zenith with a sense of calm resolve, and they may feel their distress and discord from this destruction alleviating slightly. Highstorm’s government works smoothly without Yima, and those who are interested in history will be able to see Florence’s name throughout the annals, as one that would guide Yima’s faithful when the matron was in convalescence, or respite. What Zenith does best, after all, is build something new when faced with destruction. Consider this a primer for your new world, to help bring the faithful back from the brink of their despair.

The unharmonized have a choice, as they so often do. This time, however, the stakes appear even higher than before. The cities are not as welcoming as they once were, and those that have not chosen are beseeched by the civilians of both Highstorm and Springstar. ‘Do you not understand what they’ve taken from us, and what they will in days to come? You cannot let this continue, standing on the sidelines. Imagine the ways in which you could help us,’ they beg, and it feels as though your neutrality will become increasingly inconvenient, as time goes on.

What can we expect next?

As the month of Pelu ( aka March ) dawns, you will begin to feel it. Something tugs at you.

Those who have lived through more than one will feel that anticipatory anxiety rise, as the next oracle is coming. Are you ready to fight to claim it, even when it feels so dark, and even when everything feels different, and harder? Do you look to the stars, and dream of your home? Or do you gaze outward, into nothing, and dream of what you will make from the ashes?

Anticipate the oracle in the coming month of Pelu, and to learn more about those that will step into the voids left by Cyrus and Yima.

And as always!

Questions can be directed here!

Individuals less-inclined to busy themselves with either effort, or looking for a way to gain a foothold/explore the world can report here for exploration attempts. We recommend examining the Kenos Wiki's Locations for ideas, if you don't know where to start. Or! Ask someone in the Discord Server for a recommendation, we have long-time players eager to help.

Lastly, remember that Cyrus and Yima will be a little occupied this time around, but anyone who might ICly have reason to contact them regarding the brewing troubles can do so here!

CODING

Comments

[erbe]

There is no need to thank me. It serves both of us, doesn't it? The dispelling of Discord for me, and a hassle free stroll for yourself. It's equivalent exchange, and one of the first laws of magecraft.

[Which means she is at mercy to his lead, and if he'd like her to hold the reins of his horse he better ask. For now she's simply a little tag-a-long. Chaperone, if you will.

At least with the contact she can feel the Discord beginning to settle. What once was a roiling pot has now eased back to a simmer. She wonders... if the rift between both factions continues to deepen, then what will happen? Will those with unfortunate Aspects that have little option for dispelling be forced to fall under the weight of their own stress? Will they see more of the monsters like Dark and Link had turned into? The prospect is worrisome.]

[damnpire]

[Ah, yes, a transaction. He will just accept this and pretend like that's what it is for Rin's sake. (And his own.)]

Very well.

[He takes her by the hand, holding it between them by their sides as he starts. He does not ask her to worry about the reins; instead, he twines a little of it around the leather covering the stump of his left hand.]

If you would rather ride, I don't mind. [THE HORSE.] My destination was Amos's shop.

[erbe]

[Why would their hand holding be anything else? Rin is still under many false assumptions about D. And Gray. And now Gen. Will Amos be added to the mix?!

Ah. Though his intention was clear she still has to clear her throat a little before replying.]

I am familiar with where he lives. I can take you there.

[inb4 they both get lost because of the setting update, yeesh]

[damnpire]

[RIN...... Begging these teens to stop being the way they are about each other. Alas.

Maybe D can keep them from being too lost. Everything is a mess here now, but he has been to Amos's shop once. Unless, of course, the shop somehow got taken out, but if Rin doesn't seem hesitant or worried...]

Thank you.

[She must suffer his continued politeness.]

You never told me how you were.

[He didn't forget.........]

[erbe]

I thought you were just being polite. A Meridian like yourself shouldn't actually care.

[Rin frowns. Not because she hates him or dislikes any of this. Mostly she's just upset that she does like it. That the warmth of his hand and the complementary aspect are a comfort. He's soothing in a way she knows she'll miss when it's gone, and that is what she hates.

They'll have to walk by the Market, and she'll attempt to avoid the streets that lead around her shop (which now has housing attached to it so she's not sleeping on the floor).]

[damnpire]

[Stone cold...

He doesn't try to placate her by squeezing her hand, but he does continue to hold it regardless as they walk along. He's mostly only interested in helping her, though there's benefit for his own Discord in the same way.

The feelings aren't exactly like the feelings from the bizarre room in the labyrinth, and yet, it's hard not to misconstrue them a little.]

Why? Just because you're not Meridian? Because some Meridians thought the collateral of destroying the manor was worth trying to get Yima simply because we come back? We're still all Shard-bearers. I didn't help make the weapon.

You, Atsumu, and Gen. I wanted to make sure you were alive.

[erbe]

[Atsumu too?! This man is insatiable!]

I'm not saying you have to hate us. I'm simply trying to point out the facts. We're obstacles to your goal, and while I'm not someone who cares to fight outside of Oracles, I can still recognize the truth of our situation.

[...And the truth of her own situation, which is why she didn't reject his help.

The bustle of the market isn't far off, and from time to time he'll probably notice her flinching away from certain sources of light.]

Caring about anyone will simply get you hurt.

[damnpire]

[HE WANTS TO STRANGLE ATSUMU and yet Atsumu is the most normie and should be protected fucker. He is soft, sue him.]

It may, but I don't mind. When you stop caring about others is when you become truly alone.

[He has had ten thousand years worth of being hurt by caring about humans who lives are short in comparison. But saying he's ten thousand is weird, so he does not mention it as an explanation...

After the first couple of flinches, he holds her hand in his a little more firmly. He should probably just dodge them, it's easier, but instead, he dredges up a bubble of shadow over her without drawing attention to the fact he has done it. Protective penumbra. 🥹 He's stupid.]

Is there a reason you would rather make a new world instead of returning your own? Even if it meant Gray could not?

You said the two of you were from the same world, didn't you?

[erbe]

["Good thing I'm already alone," is a stupid thought she thinks to herself. The only one from her world that doesn't want to see it back (she hasn't met Tezca yet). Funny enough, her thoughts on being alone are already tied to the topic he brings up next.]

Yes. Aside from the fact that I don't believe it is possible to revive what is truly dead... it's likely she doesn't know the extent of the horrors of our world. The disgusting things and people that live within it. My sister suffered as such an example of its cruelty.

[damnpire]

Would it be revival if we find out they aren't even gone at all, but locked behind the timestream?

[Hypothetically.

TEZCA. All these nihilists. He is out-numbered (minus the Meridians). Actually, guess the Zenith are out-numbered.]

Magecraft?

[His way of asking what happened to her without forcing her to talk about it if she preferred not to.]

cw fate worm lore (bug-body horror, mentions of sex)

[erbe]

Messing with the flow of time is also dangerous. Though I suppose most people care little to think about entropy and the probability of inviting the heat-death of universe ever closer. Yet, as far as your question about my world specifically? No, not just magecraft. Before even humans there were phantasmal species. Creatures of unfathomable power that most would call myths or even fairytales.

[With the shadows D has conjured up for her she's a little more relaxed in his hold. Though this doesn't mean she'll be that much bolder. If they can avoid walking in the moonlight she'll most certainly do her best to steer away from it.]

The family that adopted my sister used a species of worm as a familiar. What those crest worms do is burrow under the skin and feed on the magical energy in the body. If the host runs out of magical energy to feast on, they will either consume the flesh of their host or stimulate the host's libido to steal magical energy from a sexual partner.

[damnpire]

[He glances sidelong at her when she mentions entropy, but for right this moment, he doesn't say anything. ABOUT THAT...... A later can of worms (not the awful fate kind).

Naturally, he does not like what he hears, but of course he doesn't. His brows lower, though his expression doesn't show horror, or disgust. Just a grave kind of seriousness. Luckily(?), he comes from a world where this wouldn't be an unreasonable thing to exist, or happen, magic notwithstanding.]

You want a new world for her? And if she's there in that new world with those worms still?

[He's just curious. And also often deals in cold, bitter truths. He can't count how many times he's had to tell a desperate family he may have to kill their loved one because they were already turned by a vampire.]

[erbe]

[Tohsaka raises her free hand to her chest. Her palm resting just under where her shard sits by her neck — hidden by the high collar of her sweater.]

These bodies are imitations of our own, but they aren't full recreations of them. They are projections of our soul solidified. If Sakura were to be given a body it there would be no reason as to why the worms would be formed as well. They are parasites, not an extension of the self.

[damnpire]

[For a long moment, he doesn't say anything. Slowly, he comes to a stop, yet keeps a hold of her hand firmly so she is forced to stop ahead of him, too. He tugs her, just once, without pulling her directly to him. Making her look at him, if he can.]

What all do you know about that exactly? [More quietly:] I came with a parasite. It was there before, and it was there when I woke beneath the tree.

[erbe]

[Wow. How rude of him to make her look at his ethereal beauty! Well, at least they've had enough interactions where she doesn't feel like just staring at his face for long periods of time. Though she... does need to... look up. Very up.

He gets what he wants. She turns around, and while their hands are still joined she does face him properly.]

What do you consider a parasite, then? Do you still have it? Something that lives within you like an animal, a tapeworm, or was it sentient? Did it have its own shard?

[Dark Schneider could have been considered a parasite, but since he was sentient and had his own shard she views him as a wholly different circumstance.]

[damnpire]

[He really :man_standing: there and forces her to look all the way up at him. Sorry for the stupid lumbering and towering, it comes when you are a six-foot-three experimental horror.]

It was sentient with a shard, but it was a parasite. It could not live without being connected to my own body.

[HE ELECTS.... to.... not answer the second question. They are the same person.]

[erbe]

There you have it. There is your difference. Like Dark Schneider, who had his own shard and could not exist without Lucien's body, your parasite had its own sense of self. Those worms aren't the same. Familiars are mindless animals that don't have the the type of mental fortitude to resist being under the control of a mage. A crest worm would not have its own shard. Though I suppose if Meridian gets its way Sakura won't survive to see the either of our sides win.

[She doesn't expand on that just yet, but she wasn't exactly keeping her business too private while responding to Sebastian's communion about his exploded chicken nugget.]

[damnpire]

[His jaw tightens at the jab. But he hasn't let go of her hand. For a moment, he studies her face thoughtfully. It doesn't look like he has any inkling he'll change his mind, not on the Meridian part of it.

Of course he's going to say the most Meridian, Advocate thing imaginable.]

There isn't any way to get rid of them without her death?

[erbe]

[There is no verbal answer to his question. However he still gets a response. Her hand shifts in his. Fingers lacing between his own. Her free hand rises and rests on his chest.

Rin doesn't like communion. Rin doesn't like sharing. However he reminds her so much of Gray. She isn't here to change his mind or ask him to switch. She wouldn't ask that of Gray either. But for some reason she still wants to be understood. For some reason the complimentary aspect makes her just a bit softer to him. If Gray had asked, she'd tell her too. But they've both steered away from prying in each other's business.

It's easier to share what it felt like at first. Anxiety, and a little concern. The urgent need to protect something, and the worry that where it is kept safe is no longer as safe as it should have been. However that's quickly replaced with dread. Everything seems heavier, and an unease settles like the sudden quiet that happens when the sun is blocked by an eclipse. If D is receptive he'll catch glimpses of what Rin saw that day.

Her sister in a court yard. Sakura's body draped in black ribbons lined with red. Anything she touched infected. As if Sakura's mere presence inspired rot and decay of the world around her. A crazed expression on her face and the girl wavering from seemingly depressed to absolutely manic. Dread turns to horror. Sakura's shadow seems to engulf everything and a sharp pain starts stabbing at—

That's when Rin lets him go. Pulling her hands away from him and severing the connection.]

Before I arrived here I had been on my way to kill her. She was being used as a vessel to summon All the World's Evils, and had been devouring people to sustain her body.

[damnpire]

[D is still when she reaches for him; he accepts the hand and lets the feelings pour into him from the pitcher of her soul.

A surprising bubble of apprehension begins to mount beneath her from D as the emotions turn into images. It isn't fear exactly. D is rarely afraid in the same way humans are often afraid. But he can get scared with worry. The wariness is palpable, a bitter taste of faniliarity in the back of Rin's mouth.

It reminds him of... the Sacred Ancestor. The weight of it, the power of it. It reminds him, too, of the Oblivion hiding inside Cyrus.

Lead sits heavy below his navel and echoes likewise in Rin. Fear not for himself, not for others. The idea an abomination exists which he won't be able to stop. Belligerent hopelessness.

His expression shifts when the budding pain is yanked suddenly away, and he is back in the street with her hand in his. He doesn't say anything for a long time.]

I think she would believe in you. That you could do it. She would want you to help her, even if it meant stopping her completely.

But I understand why you would take Yima's promise instead.

[erbe]

[Tohsaka ignores the attempts at reassurance. If not for Rin, Sakura wouldn't have to endure what she did. What if the younger sister was instead picked to stay with the Tohsaka family? Would Rin even survive all of what Sakura went through?]

Her body was warped, used, and violated by a world that cared nothing for her. She wouldn't be the first nor the last to suffer from it. Such a world like that does not deserve to exist again. In fact most worlds seem to have their own horrors that forged the [detestable, broken] shard-bearers brought to this place. Dark's was on the brink of being overrun by the undead. Its human population dwindled to nothing by zombies and demons. Even those from my world who defend it — I'm sure they've suffered plenty at its hand.

[Gray, and her whole situation with her image not being her own. And Flat? Well, that boy is a mage. Even if Rin doesn't know him, she knows by sheer fact that he is a mage that he is not alright. No mages, especially not especially successful ones, are ever okay.]

[damnpire]

[What he doesn't say aloud is he thinks Yima's new world is the cowardly way out of this.]

It had been a long time since the Frontier was a comfortable place to live. The surface had been destroyed and rebuilt many times. Nuclear war, the rise of bloodthirsty and tyrant vampires who cared so little for human life they spliced their DNA with animals to create servant mutants. The solar system, too. They took over other planets.

Then aliens came and their world, in turn, was destroyed by invaders in a war that lasted thousands of years. Their kind had almost died out. The humans had persisted. They had begun to flourish again.

The desert world left behind full of the skeletons of an ancient race's technology was beginning to grow green agaun somehow.

It was still a place humans could only survive and rarely live. But it was still theirs, ugliness and all. It isn't the place of any hungry, insatiable Oblivion to take that away from them.

Sooner or later, any new world will grow with the same ugliness and the same beauty all of our worlds always have. When it is ravaged by the evil of a few, will you cast it aside, too, Rin? Will you and the others forget to live trying to make an utopia?

[erbe]

Who's to say? When it comes time whether I burn a bridge or cross it matters only on what brought me to it in the first place. In fact it's very possible I may not even live to see that day, and such a choice will fall on someone else's shoulders. They can make their decisions based on their own experiences.

[Besides, is she even "living" now? This body decaying, the pieces inside resembling the same rot and ruin that had taken Sakura. Her every-day life just as lonely as the one she had back home. Surrounded by people but never with love.

But that's the life of a mage. You have allies, and colleagues, and business partners. You may have a spouse and kids but you are never a parent. Always a mage. It was how her father was. Always a mentor and never a father. Sakura had love. She could love. And that's why she deserves a second chance. If Rin falls to ruin or is torn to pieces because of that? Well, so be it.]

[damnpire]

[He understands what she doesn't say. One side of another coin in the palm of a life alone. Frontier society ostracized him, but more than that, he also ostracized himself.

There is no place for a dhampir with humans, and equally as true, there is no place for a dhampir with vampires. It's better--for who? them, or him?--to remain on the outside, doing hired jobs and then moving on. Human lives are too short to be plagued by the incongruent ways of a half-breed. No love to have, no love being given.]

I don't think that's true. You are too stubborn not to see things through.

[Still with her hand, he begins their walk again, corralling her by his side so their arms aren't stretched.]

I'm sorry about your sister.

[She had to know he was going to say some kind, earnest bullshit to round it all out.]

[erbe]

[She squeezes his hand. If only because his "earnest bullshit" is making both of her hands want to ball into fists. She doesn't want to hear "sorry"s from a group of people willing to condemn themselves to their own terrible worlds. Especially if it means bringing them back from the dead and destroying any sense of linear—

No. It doesn't matter. Neither of them can convert the other. Honestly, it was not her intent to anyway. She simply needed to defend her position. Tohsaka doesn't care if he disagrees with it. If all her "rights" are actually "wrongs," what does it matter? If she's to die for this then at least she'll die with her own choice.]

You shouldn't be. Worry about your own problems. I'm sure you have enough of them.

[Don't they all?]