[Well. He's still getting his chai. Thankfully it doesn't take long, and within a couple minutes he's back with that and a water. Maybe she'll... want that... at least. His gray eyes flicker to her missing finger, but he doesn't say anything about it.
He had a student without an arm, after all.]
... Malevolence is actually caused by humans.
[He wraps his hands around the warm cup, letting it ground him.]
If those feelings take someone over, it turns them into a monster. Only someone called the Shepherd can purify them and that's only if they're strong enough. [The Lord of Calamity had been too much, even for him.]
The Shepherd is a human. They make a pact with a seraph and... [He's not actually sure what the entire life of a Shepherd entails, as he hasn't gotten that memory back yet, but he knows what Lailah told him in the moment.] And they receive a part of the seraph's power. But in return, the Shepherd has to serve them.
He becomes their vessel to protect them from malevolence. It's dangerous for both of them. If the Shepherd were to become malevolent, then it means every seraph connected to them would turn into a dragon, and the Shepherd would be lost without anyone to purify them.
In my memories, I'm the first Shepherd in a long time.
"And those monsters are these Daemons, right? So, then... how come the Daemons, or well, Hellions as you call then, I was travelling with seemed to be mostly human? I saw some monstrous ones, sure, but I was working with them against this Abbey group."
[But the pact thing he mentioned only raised another question. She just figured it was best to ask him it directly, given that he was more knowledgeable on the subject than her.]
"But about these "pacts"... I was in a pact with a Malakhim and I'm pretty sure I wasn't the Shepherd."
"I mean I was using magic, and that definitely counts as a form of power."
[Which, was honestly one of the things she was actually looking forward to from this Retrospec situation. Getting back Bienfu and some magical powers. THough, given Bienfu's nature... maybe looking forward to him was the wrong idea.]
"But about them. I think there were two. One of them, I know her name. Her name is Velvet, and she called herself the 'Lord of Calamity', whatever that means. She had this arm covered by bandages which turned into a giant demon claw. Like Noah's, if you know him. Then there was this other guy, who had half of his face covered by this black stuff. He seemed pretty alright."
You could use seraphic artes? That's... I guess that kind of makes sense, but I admit I'm surprised! I could use some elements added to my attacks but nothing like actual spells.
[He never had the aptitude; it was always Mikleo and the other seraphim who wove spells in his visions. Their elements were a part of them.]
"I saw Melchior do something similar. Guess it's just a Mayvin thing."
[That's what she was thinking, given apparently that Sorey had been the shepherd which was a pretty important position from the sound of it. It had to be something related to that, then, rather than just having a pact.]
"I got the name of our world as well. It was apparently called 'Desolation' which is a... rather desolate sounding name."
[He's still concerned about the Abbey, and about how Zaveid was enslaved... good lord. No. He's not over that yet.]
That's... a pretty awful name. But the world I saw didn't look desolate at all. Maybe some parts were having trouble, but Ladylake was beautiful and everything around it was green.
[He takes a sip of his chai.]
Did... did people worship seraphim or malakhim at all?
It always came up where I was, because some people believed I was the Shepherd and some people didn't. They couldn't see my friends at all.
[He's about to take another drink when a memory hits him. At this point he's kind of used to it, since he knows that talking about things can trigger them, but it's still disorienting to have all that shoved into his brain at once. He winces for a second.]
Wait, I-- I remember something... Mayvin the explorer! He was helping the-- [... assassin's guild, what the fuck was he even getting into back then.] He had a book! A huge book on his back. And he had the Celestial Record, too!
[What did a book have to do with being an explorer? Well, books could be used for recording information, she supposed, but then why the massive size? Still, another term piques her interest.]
[Oh man, the Celestial Record. Let him tell you all about it.]
It's--
[... Hold on, he only has bits and pieces.]
It's... a book I carried around all the time. I was always making notes in my copy. It had a bunch of ruins and historic places, and it was full of stuff about the Shepherd legend. Whoever wrote it was a real explorer.
"So it's a sort of weird mix of adventure's guide and history book then. Huh. I dunno why someone related to me would have it then. Maybe it has something to do with whatever my clan did."
[Which is one of her largest questions, but she doubts Sorey knows enough to answer it. Still, there's one thread she had hanging open.]
"But earlier, you mentioned Mikleo. So, he's from the same world as you too?"
Basically. I wish I had it right now... I want to see what history books from other worlds look like.
[He can't hide his nerd at all, apparently.]
Yeah, he is! We kept having the same visions, so eventually we figured out that we were seeing each other in them. [He runs his hand through his hair, smiling a little.] I couldn't have made it this far without him, either in this world or the other one.
[Sorey goes pink all the way from his collar to the tips of his ears.]
Um, [he says, very intelligently, and tries to focus on his chai and not the blush or the dumb smile he can't keep off his face.] We-- I mean-- it was-- we couldn't because of the journey, but we knew what we were to each other. It was probably the only thing that I was sure about.
[She chuckles, but not in a rude way. She sounds, happy for him, actually. As someone who doesn't really have any meaningful relationships like that, she can definitely respect those that do achieve them. Even... it it will probably be something that remains perpetually out of her reach.]
"And were you this much of a dork in both timelines too?"
[That's a nice change. He's still not sure he can get a read on Maggie, but he doesn't think she's bad at all. Just a little awkward sometimes maybe-- detached at the most.]
Guilty as charged. I'm honestly not too much different in my memories, just a couple years younger and a little more awkward. I got a memory of trying to lie my way past some guard captain, and it was so bad. I had to have the seraphim feed me lines!
"Yeah, the same with me. Makes sense though, given that we're the same people."
[At least, that was the impression she had gotten of things from Elizabeth and Shouto. That themselves and their past selves weren't different, but rather one in the same. Just one of these selves was less real than the other one.]
I think at our core we're the same people, but obviously our upbringings make us different. The other me was raised adventuring, with a whole village watching over him. That's not really comparable to having a single mom in a lower middle class neighborhood.
[He's aware that he's led a very charmed life, but it never involved dragons or anything.]
There are some people who are so different they don't want to acknowledge it. For now, I just want to focus on remembering everything I can. I want to know the truth of why we're all here.
"...I feel similarly. I want to be able to understand it. But... I know a lot of the other people who want the same thing have more, violent intentions behind it."
[She thinks back to a few conversations she had with people when she says that. Frowning, she begins tapping her left fingers on the table once more.]
"You know, the people who are trying to learn everything they can about Retrospec in order to take them down. It bothers me. We don't even know how much they're responsible for! We all assumed they did the horses and the colors and such, but if what I've heard from both Mahoney and from other people who have talked to them last month is true, they weren't responsible for any of that. We don't even understand their motives. And yet people are already acting as if everyone who works for them is automatically evil. I don't think that they're innocent in all of this but... I don't necessarily think that just, dismantling them altogether would accomplish anything."
[This is the first he's heard about serious threats being made against Retrospec. It's one thing to have people like Elda trying to choke holograms, and quite another for people to declare war on them after the past month of hell. It was clear to Sorey, too, that Retrospec wasn't innocent-- but they were doing everything they could to help save the people they'd lost. To keep the city from collapsing into a black hole, essentially.
Whatever he might say about Mahoney's bedside manner, Sorey has respect for the woman who kept blinking in and out of time.]
I don't think they did it on purpose, either. Even if we managed to free ourselves, we can't guarantee that what happened before won't happen again. It's clear they know more about what's going on than we do. We can't topple the system that's in place without having something to replace it.
"Yeah... maybe I'm just exaggerating things. Wouldn't be the first time. But even if things aren't at that point yet, the will be eventually. I can't underestimate humanity's ability to get outraged over things that do not deserve it."
[Mahoney was, with Team Absinthe, at least decently cooperative. And she actually answered questions for them. So Maggie has a better impression of her than honestly she probably should. But even so, she was still getting anxious about all of this, but she just took a deep breath, trying to keep herself from getting too emotional here.]
"...I'm not trying to freak you out, I'm just worried something like that's going to end up happening. Which, makes me sound totally paranoid, doesn't it?"
If we can turn their eyes to the real threat, I think it'll do a lot.
[Magilou has a pretty cynical view of people. Sorey's not as naive as his other self, maybe, but he still believes in the good in people.]
I don't think it sounds paranoid-- it's just you being cautious. I'm still not entirely sure that if we fight Retrospec they won't lash out in other ways. I don't want them to take it out on my family... and I don't want the government to come down on us because we're 'crazy' to them.
But I don't think that's going to happen as long as we act carefully, if we act on anything.
For a while I... thought I was powerless too. I'm nothing compared to how I was in my memories, and there are people here who can do a lot more to contribute. But-- someone told me that I had to do it. That I had to deal with it. I can't afford to sit around and feel sorry for myself...
The best thing we can do is be open with everything we know and... maybe prepare for something like the city getting sacked again. Food and water and stuff.
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no subject
[Well. He's still getting his chai. Thankfully it doesn't take long, and within a couple minutes he's back with that and a water. Maybe she'll... want that... at least. His gray eyes flicker to her missing finger, but he doesn't say anything about it.
He had a student without an arm, after all.]
... Malevolence is actually caused by humans.
[He wraps his hands around the warm cup, letting it ground him.]
If those feelings take someone over, it turns them into a monster. Only someone called the Shepherd can purify them and that's only if they're strong enough. [The Lord of Calamity had been too much, even for him.]
The Shepherd is a human. They make a pact with a seraph and... [He's not actually sure what the entire life of a Shepherd entails, as he hasn't gotten that memory back yet, but he knows what Lailah told him in the moment.] And they receive a part of the seraph's power. But in return, the Shepherd has to serve them.
He becomes their vessel to protect them from malevolence. It's dangerous for both of them. If the Shepherd were to become malevolent, then it means every seraph connected to them would turn into a dragon, and the Shepherd would be lost without anyone to purify them.
In my memories, I'm the first Shepherd in a long time.
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[But the pact thing he mentioned only raised another question. She just figured it was best to ask him it directly, given that he was more knowledgeable on the subject than her.]
"But about these "pacts"... I was in a pact with a Malakhim and I'm pretty sure I wasn't the Shepherd."
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Some hellions are really humanlike, I guess. I remember one we fought was suppressing her true nature, so she just looked like a woman.
If you were traveling with daemons or hellions, then a seraph would need a vessel, I think. Did the pact give you any power?
[He can't really imagine traveling with hellions, but he'd seen them living in Ladylake like they weren't actually ten foot tall tiger dudes... so.]
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[Which, was honestly one of the things she was actually looking forward to from this Retrospec situation. Getting back Bienfu and some magical powers. THough, given Bienfu's nature... maybe looking forward to him was the wrong idea.]
"But about them. I think there were two. One of them, I know her name. Her name is Velvet, and she called herself the 'Lord of Calamity', whatever that means. She had this arm covered by bandages which turned into a giant demon claw. Like Noah's, if you know him. Then there was this other guy, who had half of his face covered by this black stuff. He seemed pretty alright."
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You could use seraphic artes? That's... I guess that kind of makes sense, but I admit I'm surprised! I could use some elements added to my attacks but nothing like actual spells.
[He never had the aptitude; it was always Mikleo and the other seraphim who wove spells in his visions. Their elements were a part of them.]
Maybe that's why the Abbey wanted them...
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[That's what she was thinking, given apparently that Sorey had been the shepherd which was a pretty important position from the sound of it. It had to be something related to that, then, rather than just having a pact.]
"I got the name of our world as well. It was apparently called 'Desolation' which is a... rather desolate sounding name."
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[He's still concerned about the Abbey, and about how Zaveid was enslaved... good lord. No. He's not over that yet.]
That's... a pretty awful name. But the world I saw didn't look desolate at all. Maybe some parts were having trouble, but Ladylake was beautiful and everything around it was green.
[He takes a sip of his chai.]
Did... did people worship seraphim or malakhim at all?
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[And, in fact, she just found out it was a thing so... Sorey you're kind of out of luck for now in that department.]
"And I can't really say anything about worship. It never really came up."
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[He's about to take another drink when a memory hits him. At this point he's kind of used to it, since he knows that talking about things can trigger them, but it's still disorienting to have all that shoved into his brain at once. He winces for a second.]
Wait, I-- I remember something... Mayvin the explorer! He was helping the-- [... assassin's guild, what the fuck was he even getting into back then.] He had a book! A huge book on his back. And he had the Celestial Record, too!
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[What did a book have to do with being an explorer? Well, books could be used for recording information, she supposed, but then why the massive size? Still, another term piques her interest.]
"But, this Celestial Record. What is it?"
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It's--
[... Hold on, he only has bits and pieces.]
It's... a book I carried around all the time. I was always making notes in my copy. It had a bunch of ruins and historic places, and it was full of stuff about the Shepherd legend. Whoever wrote it was a real explorer.
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[Which is one of her largest questions, but she doubts Sorey knows enough to answer it. Still, there's one thread she had hanging open.]
"But earlier, you mentioned Mikleo. So, he's from the same world as you too?"
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[He can't hide his nerd at all, apparently.]
Yeah, he is! We kept having the same visions, so eventually we figured out that we were seeing each other in them. [He runs his hand through his hair, smiling a little.] I couldn't have made it this far without him, either in this world or the other one.
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[She smirks a little. Before of course, of course that's the question she asks. She wants to see if she can make some sort of stupid joke about it.]
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Um, [he says, very intelligently, and tries to focus on his chai and not the blush or the dumb smile he can't keep off his face.] We-- I mean-- it was-- we couldn't because of the journey, but we knew what we were to each other. It was probably the only thing that I was sure about.
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"And were you this much of a dork in both timelines too?"
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Guilty as charged. I'm honestly not too much different in my memories, just a couple years younger and a little more awkward. I got a memory of trying to lie my way past some guard captain, and it was so bad. I had to have the seraphim feed me lines!
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[At least, that was the impression she had gotten of things from Elizabeth and Shouto. That themselves and their past selves weren't different, but rather one in the same. Just one of these selves was less real than the other one.]
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[He's aware that he's led a very charmed life, but it never involved dragons or anything.]
There are some people who are so different they don't want to acknowledge it. For now, I just want to focus on remembering everything I can. I want to know the truth of why we're all here.
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[She thinks back to a few conversations she had with people when she says that. Frowning, she begins tapping her left fingers on the table once more.]
"You know, the people who are trying to learn everything they can about Retrospec in order to take them down. It bothers me. We don't even know how much they're responsible for! We all assumed they did the horses and the colors and such, but if what I've heard from both Mahoney and from other people who have talked to them last month is true, they weren't responsible for any of that. We don't even understand their motives. And yet people are already acting as if everyone who works for them is automatically evil. I don't think that they're innocent in all of this but... I don't necessarily think that just, dismantling them altogether would accomplish anything."
no subject
[This is the first he's heard about serious threats being made against Retrospec. It's one thing to have people like Elda trying to choke holograms, and quite another for people to declare war on them after the past month of hell. It was clear to Sorey, too, that Retrospec wasn't innocent-- but they were doing everything they could to help save the people they'd lost. To keep the city from collapsing into a black hole, essentially.
Whatever he might say about Mahoney's bedside manner, Sorey has respect for the woman who kept blinking in and out of time.]
I don't think they did it on purpose, either. Even if we managed to free ourselves, we can't guarantee that what happened before won't happen again. It's clear they know more about what's going on than we do. We can't topple the system that's in place without having something to replace it.
I hope the others understand that.
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[Mahoney was, with Team Absinthe, at least decently cooperative. And she actually answered questions for them. So Maggie has a better impression of her than honestly she probably should. But even so, she was still getting anxious about all of this, but she just took a deep breath, trying to keep herself from getting too emotional here.]
"...I'm not trying to freak you out, I'm just worried something like that's going to end up happening. Which, makes me sound totally paranoid, doesn't it?"
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[Magilou has a pretty cynical view of people. Sorey's not as naive as his other self, maybe, but he still believes in the good in people.]
I don't think it sounds paranoid-- it's just you being cautious. I'm still not entirely sure that if we fight Retrospec they won't lash out in other ways. I don't want them to take it out on my family... and I don't want the government to come down on us because we're 'crazy' to them.
But I don't think that's going to happen as long as we act carefully, if we act on anything.
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[I mean... cynicism is just a part of her thing, along with stupid jokes and being just kinda rude in general. So what did you expect Sorey?]
"I guess... the level of powerlessness we have over all this can be rather frustrating."
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[He takes a long sip of his chai.]
For a while I... thought I was powerless too. I'm nothing compared to how I was in my memories, and there are people here who can do a lot more to contribute. But-- someone told me that I had to do it. That I had to deal with it. I can't afford to sit around and feel sorry for myself...
The best thing we can do is be open with everything we know and... maybe prepare for something like the city getting sacked again. Food and water and stuff.
(no subject)