[Closed]

[hippocarnival]

WHO: Yuya + Tehri
WHEN: Early May
WHERE: Greentruth
WHAT: Yuya has some questions about the Aions before them. Tehri might have answers.
WARNINGS: None expected?

It's a few days after the shrines seem to stop releasing new Aions, and those that were retrieved are settled in by those who stay in Godsblood, that Yuya slips back through the portal to Greentruth. Things have settled down enough that it feels like a better time to see if Tehri is free, so that's exactly what he does--ask around to find where she is, and then ask her when she has the time to answer some questions.

He's a little relieved she does--he has no idea, he realizes, how busy or important she might be around the... village? So he smiles. "Um, thanks for talking to me. I was wondering... we're the first Aions to show up in a while, right?"

Comments

[aionpcs]

Tehri's expression shifts to something more somber and she remains quiet for a moment. It's a thoughtful silence but not an unwelcome one, almost reverent as if she is also picturing a place far away from this forest.

"It is normal for Aions," she says. Looking away from Yuya, her gaze turns to the labyrinth of wooden bridges strewn between the boughs of the trees.

"I too remember my birth in all it's confounding glory...though it was nearly a century ago."

[hippocarnival]

"Huh," Yuya blinks slowly, as that sinks in. They're 'reborn', but not really newly incarnated--or else he's surely start as a baby again again, and not how he was 5 minutes before waking up in that crystal.

"Nearly a century?" He squints, confused. "But... you don't look that old."

[aionpcs]

Tehri offers a small smile at that. It may not be intended as such but it is a compliment of sorts. After all, her old scouting friend that had accompanied the newer Aions into Greentruth is someone she actually has known from his birth.

"Thank you," she says as she folds her arms. "We Aions are unique in that our appearance may change with our progression. Or...not, if we choose so."

[hippocarnival]

"Huh," he responds a little airily, trying to visualize what it would be like to never outwardly age. He wonders if that means she's just as spry or if under all that she's a fragile old lady but that... is maybe not the thing to ask right now.

It's not quite what he was going for, anyway. "But since you've been around a long time, do you know what happened last time there were a bunch of Aions fighting in this war?"

[aionpcs]

A wise choice, Yuya. No matter how magnanimous Tehri may appear, he should never ask a woman their age. That is a universal constant.

His question isn't an easy one. Tehri grows quiet for a moment as she gives it due consideration, letting the ambient sounds of the settlement and the forest around them fill the silence. For a moment she seems far away in her memories, her brows twitching slightly. But she comes back to herself as she levels her gaze on Yuya once again.

"There had been a time of relative stability before I arrived. As you are now, green and new to this world, so was I. Myself and a few others. But with this perceived peace, we were blind to how deeply entrenched the divide between the sects really was. It did not take long for the tides to turn to war again."

Tehri grows quiet for another moment, determined to keep her face and composure.

"After the fall of one of the eldest Aions, there was no turning back. Conflict devolved to chaos and we watched friend and foe alike crushed in the Regent's tightening grasp."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya listens attentively, taking that in. Is it technically peaceful now, with the Regent having control of everything and anyone against them hiding in a forest? Some people on Godsblood seemed to believe that worse times are just ahead of them with so many Aions again.

"So back then... the Regent didn't have control of as much of Horos as they do now?"

[aionpcs]

Tehri nods once again. It isn't easy to speak of, but it is an important part of the history of Horos and to the Pleroma who now find themselves in the aftermath.

"Venera, Godsblood, and even Hylici were aligned with our cause back then. And now...if you recall, there Hylician soldiers were amongst those descended on the shrines across the continent, including those at our borders."

[hippocarnival]

"Really?" He remembers those soldiers, so it's surprising to hear that at one point they actually ran against the Regent. They didn't seem to have any second thoughts about what they were doing.

"Do you think they... really believe in what the Regent wants? Destroying and remaking all of reality?"

[aionpcs]

"I don't know," she says evenly. "I think that they are not given a choice whether they believe or not. The Regent has a firm grasp on most of Horos now. When they call you to action, you answer that call."

Tehri levels her gaze on Yuya.

"But they haven't seen Aions that aren't of the Kenoma for years or, for some, their entire lifetimes. They may not know there are alternatives."

[hippocarnival]

"But... we can show them there are, now." He nods, determination swelling in him. "We have to prove that this time, the Regent really can be stopped for good."

A noble goal in general, though Yuya is mostly concerned with preventing them from rending his own world asunder.

[aionpcs]

A noble goal indeed. Tehri finds herself smiling at the sentiment. It is at the heart of the resistance effort to stand against the Kenoma and prove that there is another way.

"We can," she agrees. "Now that you're here. With time and resources we can become a force that stands against the Regent again."

[hippocarnival]

He smiles, not quite with confidence... but with hope.

"That applies to the Aions that are under the Kenoma right now too, right? That stuff they made us drink... is there a way to reverse the effect?"

[aionpcs]

"Reverse it? Yes, in a way. They can break free of the Kenoma's will at any time if they choose to do so. It isn't easy, but it is possible."

Tehri knows that will sound like the most straight-forward option even if it isn't the most appealing. But a quick fix is rarely available to them. Her expression turn sympathetic.

"If you're asking if there's something that we could make to give to them that would aid in that process? It's possible, but that knowledge has with the Pleroma that fell before me."

[hippocarnival]

Rejecting it had been painful, and that was over a much shorter time... if it was even harder now that it's been months, it wouldn't surprise him.

"What happens when they do break free? Have you ever seen that happen?"

[aionpcs]

Tehri shakes her head.

"When an Aion shifts from one Sect to the other, it's meant to be a slow process. We're responding to a pull deep within us that isn't easily overcome."

Then she sighs, lowering her gaze to look somewhere other than at Yuya.

"...Personally, I have only ever seen one shift towards the Kenoma."

[hippocarnival]

Ah. If the Regent's power has grown since she first arrived...

"I guess it is a lot easier to just... give into despair. It's harder to be hopeful." That he understands very well.

"It's possible, though. To believe. We'll bring them back from the Regent."

[aionpcs]

Tehri nods in agreement, a small smile returning to her face.

"It is." It is unclear what she thinks of those who have turned, but it does seem that she understands the sentiment. "Your arrival has already given hope to so many. It's the first real turn in the tide we've had in decades."