A Conversation

[lachtara]

WHO: Abel, Eleven, Emet (And 1 looming Estinien)
WHAT: Meeting across enemy lines
WHERE: The Visionary Shrine
WHEN: 5/10, After the New Arrivals
WARNINGS: Attempted Manipulation?



The time has come to meet with a few individuals on the opposing side. Their meeting during the chaos that the new arrivals brought had been purposefully brief, spurred by the fighting at the shrines around them. Today they could speak with one another without the added burden of potentially being involved in a squabble. At least, one could hope.

He proceeds to the Visionary Shrine - an easily accessible halfway point between their two territories. It's the most amicable are for such a meeting to take place.
 
Slipping out of Achamoth with the added commotion of new arrivals is simple enough, while covering the distance between the city and the Shrine is somewhat more difficult. Emet-Selch arrives there while the shrine is still quiet and abandoned. He finds a comfortable bloom of shadows off to the side where he could wait... and carefully observe who approached. 

Would they be true to their word and entertain speaking to one another? Or would this all have been for nothing?

Comments

[lachtara]

"I am not so blind as to trust someone based on their word alone." Emet-Selch snaps in response. A dangerous thing to admit to, for certain, but never the one to shy away from risk. "However, we share a commonality in our thinking and methods. What they offer I can not simply ignore."

That is all he cares to indulge at that moment.

His harsh tone subsides and his expression eases. "You said that they were not gone. What do you mean." It was said with a certainty that was not present before.

[inutilis]

Abel didn't expect Emet-Selch to be the sort to follow another blindly, but hearing the other man affirm this aloud is a reassurance all the same. He's had some... worries... about how far the Kenoma might influence those who had ingested it without inevitably purging it as well. Was it possible its host were under some form of manipulation...? Considering how some of their Aion brethren had spoken so freely and with great acceptance after the ritual in the cavern, the priest has his suspicions.

He puts that thought aside, for now; instead, Abel is focusing on the conversation at hand. Emet-Selch is motivated to follow the Regent in hopes of seeing some personal goal fulfilled; it doesn't take much to puzzle out its involvement with his world, his home, lost to him.

"I mean that our worlds are precisely where we left them," Abel replies. "The dreams we shared are the only proof we have to the contrary. Beside that... there have been some-- oddities, ones I don't think I can explain if everything were truly gone. It isn't that I have irrefutable proof one way or the other - but... it's what I believe, for whatever that's worth."

[lachtara]

Hearing that everything is still in its place - as much as he does not want to acknowledge the feeling within him - eases some lingering sadness in his heart. Until now he only had his own words and determination to affirm that.

Though just as the feeling rises he is sure to smother it with reason. There is no point to hoping for what could be if it is certain to lead to his heart being broken once more.

"We all must believe in something, mustn't we?" Emet-Selch says with a motion of his hand that implies a dismissive shrug. "What manner of 'oddities' have you supposedly found?"

[inutilis]

It was inevitable this would come up in conversation - especially with those of the Kenoma, most of whom Abel had spoken to thoroughly believed their worlds had fallen to ruin. The priest has no issue speaking candidly about this; if anything, perhaps he is a little eager - his only trepidation in instilling false hope in case what he's surmised was incorrect on the matter. But hope is hope... and if it were to help, to offer comfort, then...

"Someone said that he... returned, for a time. Back to his home, and then... awoke here in Horos, again."

[lachtara]

Emet-Selch's expression fades into thinly veiled irritation. To have such promising words said to him only to be given a pittance of actual proof is more frustrating than he would have thought.

"I fail to see how blindly trusting the account of one person would be any different than 'blindly' trusting the Regent's word. It sounds to me like you are clinging to hope wherever you may find it." It would gamble everything on their singular word either way. "So. Which one of you 'supposedly' visited their ruined world?"

[inutilis]

"To be completely truthful with you, I would've said our homes are safe and sound regardless of this person's tale."

Abel has enough self-awareness to look vaguely sheepish; he is well aware that not many among them share his... optimism on the subject, but his faith holds strong regardless.

"Looking for hope, having faith-- there are worse things a man could possess than either. Maybe you think it is blind, and maybe it is-- but I do believe they're still there, my friend. My world and yours. But... I don't think debating that matter will get either of us very far, will it? We can't prove or disprove their fates any more than we can escape Horos, I'm afraid."

[lachtara]

"I, myself, would have settled on the word 'delusional' to describe such notions," Emet-Selch says with a hint of lightheartedness in his tone. It seems that his company is aware of how that sounds judging from his meek expression. "Though as you are one of faith, I assume you are more accustomed to trusting that which you can not put to prove."

[inutilis]

"Delusional, you say? Oh, please! You flatterer, you," Abel replies with a light, dismissive wave of his hand. He doesn't take it personally; he had, indeed, anticipated how that one might go over.

But onward they go, as it were!

"I'm choosing to believe we've something to return to. And if we don't, then... we'll simply have to find a way to rectify that, won't we? A great deal of 'impossible' things have happened since awakening in Horos, so I can't rule out 'cosmic reconstruction from the list of those I might yet experience before returning home, mm?"

Perhaps having faith and carrying hope comes easy to him. Or, perhaps he simply refuses to give weight to the alternative. Either way-- it is what it is, isn't it?

"...Failure simply isn't an option. Getting 'home,' and doing what we have to in order to see that through... it is a point you can relate to, isn't it? Maybe you understand my wishes better than most."

[lachtara]

"That is a mentality I cannot fault." It is a notion that he shares with all his heart; He would not accept that his world is simply gone. He had not accepted it over several thousand years and here is much of the same.

However, Emet-Selch looks on with a sliver of curiosity. "Be that as it may, You have told me remarkably little about the place that you so ardently wish to return to."

[inutilis]

"Is this your almost-roundabout way of asking me about home? Ah, ah. I see! Well."

Abel has already gathered a bit about the world Emet-Selch belongs to through the liberty of conversing with him, with Estinien, with Himeka; he knows enough to know they are... very different.

"My home is a planet called earth - a planet that might seem rather boring in comparison to your star, Mr. Emet-Selch. There's no such thing as 'magic' there, um... like Miss Himeka can perform?" Her healing magic had been exceptional to witness when she had tended to Dokja, simple as it must be in the grand scheme of things. "But... it's truly beautiful, all the same. I work for the church-- the Vatican, that is, as a touring priest-- so I've had the opportunity to do quite a bit of traveling! Seen much of it and its people. It's wonderful... and sometimes frightening for that wonder, but... it truly is remarkable, filled with all manner of folk from all walks of life, some of which I've had the great pleasure of calling my friends." It is impossible to miss the fondness, affection, longing in his eyes.

"--That is a pretty general way to put it, but... how does one summarize the grand total of their world, you know?"

[lachtara]

There is a reproachful look given in return. Nothing to do with what he is given, but what it reminded him of. Someone who traveled the world, seeing its people, helping them - It is difficult not to draw certain comparisons in intent alone.

"One's world may be described in the sum of your experiences." He explains casually. "I will give you a more guided question, then." Emet-Selch puts a hand to his chin and considers. "Tell me of whom you miss most?" Tell him something he can use.

[inutilis]

Something about Emet-Selch's expression is unusual, curious; did he find something in Abel's account of Earth distasteful...? Suppose it was sentimental and flowered with his rose-tinted way of looking at it; it makes a fair bit of sense.

But the question has him tilt his head in thought, and he gives it a brief pause - some due consideration - before finding his response.

"...I miss my colleagues, I suppose! That is-- they've become like a family to me, I guess you could say."

There is a complicated deepening of the nostalgia in his eyes as his mind wanders, no doubt, to the faces of those left behind.

"I spent a good time abroad already, so it isn't as though I'm not used to being away, but... it's different this time. Knowing that I could always find my way back... I suppose it was a source of comfort I had taken for granted."

...He had not taken them for granted. He never would; he understands the priceless treasure having a 'family' is, even if it isn't quite the same as one's blood. The words come easy despite it.

"And what of you...? I know it's a bit bittersweet a subject, but... I'd like to hear what you find yourself missing most as well if you'd humor me."

[lachtara]

A delightful yet unspecific response. Did this priest purposefully not want to mention anyone by name?

"There is nothing that I do not miss. The people, the city, the laughter that filled the streets each day." There's a momentary flicker of reminiscence as he begins to speak about his home, which is quickly reigned in. "My home disappeared long before we arrived here. Even if we all returned to our so-called 'homes' just as we left them, I would only regain their broken pieces." And he would continue to miss it all the same.

[inutilis]

"...and what of the world you came from?"

Abel wonders; Emet-Selch had said he was a long-lived man, that his world had fallen long, long ago. If that were the case -- it's been some time since he had been 'home,' is that right? So, since then... what had he formed attachments to?

[lachtara]

"As I said, they are broken pieces." He presses. "Pieces which I have made my lives work to make whole again."

[inutilis]

Broken pieces.

Considering what Abel has heard from Himeka and Estinien, he is beginning to get a clearer picture on how Emet-Selch's vision of their world differs from those of the Pleroma. Hmm...

"Is that truly all they are to you...? That world, even if broken, holds parts of the things you once loved in it, doesn't it?"

[lachtara]

"Parts of a whole, yes." He says, unwavering. "Each piece is important to me for what they can create, but the pieces alone provide me with no comfort." He would never truly call them home. "Is there more you are expecting of that answer?"

[inutilis]

"Have you heard the saying... 'a journey is not about your destination, but how you get there?' --Ah, wait, maybe that isn't precisely the right proverb I was looking for. Um-- hold on."

Abel taps his chin thoughtfully, before he gives a vague noise of frustration and a wave of his hand in dismissal.

"A-anyway, it's not important, really. What I mean to say is... I wonder if perhaps there is some value in those pieces you might be missing for looking at the bigger picture, Mr. Emet-Selch. Surely there are wonderful things on those pieces, if when they come together... they create something so beloved?"

[lachtara]

Emet-Selch makes a deep frowning face at the attempted 'proverb' that is almost abandoned just as quickly as it is brought up.

"The whole cannot exist if the pieces remain separate." He reasons firmly. "If the beauty of this world is not enough to make you abandon your former world, then how can you criticize me for thinking the same of mine?"

[inutilis]

"What if one doesn't require the complete abandonment of the other...?"

Abel tilts his head softly, watching Emet-Selch sidelong as he muses this aloud. This is all just musing, after all; he cannot - would not - presume to understand the situation of his fractured world, nor what it requires to back it whole again. But...

"...I can't accept that my world is gone any more than I can accept the sacrifice of this one to get back there. Do you feel differently?"

[lachtara]

"Do you honestly think that I would overlook those questions? That I would fail to consider every detail over the thousands upon thousands of years?" It is not as though he lacked time to consider them.

"There are those in every age who passionately advocate for their star's value. They tout its 'beauty' while man besmirches it with their own selfishness - As is their wont." He rolls a hand through the air. "What I intend to do is not only for my sake, but theirs as well." He sighs in outward frustration. How many times has he heard these words?

"It seems that what you cannot truly accept is an answer that does not meet your idealistic expectations."

[inutilis]

"It isn't that I can't accept it, as much as... I don't know. That I don't want to accept it. Do you find that strange?"

He has heard this sort of talk before - though the context had been quite different, back then. Talk of those who didn't deserve what they had, the failings of a people upon the lands they inhabited - the cruelties they visited upon each other and themselves that spoke to their willful ignorance. The way to save, to redeem, these people through renewal - even if it meant immense sacrifice.

It sounds terribly close to the Regent's offer, doesn't it.

"...Maybe this leads us around to the crux of the matter." The Kenoma; the Pleroma. "What you're willing to do, how far you'll go... I want to understand it, Emet-Selch. I do."

[lachtara]

To what end, he has to wonder. Though, all the same, no other method of trying to gather information has turned successful. Perhaps this can offer...something.

"My motivations have not changed: I want nothing more than to have my people and those I love to return to me. Your Pleroma does not offer that, while the Kenoma may have the means to see that desire through." Simple, forthright, and provided with no hesitation.

"If you wish to convince me further of your cause, then provide me ways to prove the Regent's promises false. Something other than dreams, wishes, and the word of one man."

[inutilis]

Suppose that is the difference between them. Emet-Selch has steeped in the weight of thousands of years, letting it further reaffirm him to his cause, believing and reinforcing the ideal that his only way forward is to live in the past. Part of Abel, admittedly... can understand that, much as he wishes he could refute it entirely, to say he were the sort of man who could staunchly, passionately refuse he would ever want after such a thing.

If someone were to tell him he could have back all he'd lost, one day - truly promise the return of his kin, his world - would he be strong enough to decline it?

...Abel's shoulders slope a subtle fraction lower before he answers.

"I don't want the Regent's promise to be false. What I want... is to come here one day and offer you an alternative. A better way than the one laying before you, so even if the Regent's words do end up hollow - there is still something left for us. For all of us."

A way back; a way forward. A way to save what was lost and to start anew, perhaps. A happy ending for everyone.

It should be obvious even as he says it, Abel doesn't truly believe such a thing is possible - and just as obvious, he fully plans to keep looking anyway.

[lachtara]

What alternative could there possibly be.

In the face of yet another impractical promise, his hope for any other solution only dwindles. Such hopeful-sounding words are so often empty in what they offer. There would be no such expectations here.

"I have given you what you need aim for to earn my interest. I should ask the same." He motions to Abel with an open palm. "What would it take for you to abandon this world? To admit that its recreation is the best path forward?"