He still seems a bit in a daze about that, but he's here. And he's wandering around the new spaces, where he eventually comes across the church. He doesn't know it's a church, he's not religious, so he's just like "wow look at all the windows."]
[ Blade nods. As for him, he doesn't have the luxury unless he wants to get rust everywhere, so he is dressed as he usually is. Guess he'll just cease to exist.
(Until it's cold.) ]
Hm. Might be more complicated than simple clean up, so I doubt it. Unless they decided we could with them hovering nearby.
[ So not entirely impossible from his perspective, he supposes. ]
First time bein' in one like this at least. The churches back home are less opulent. Plus, there aren't many religious people around in the North, most people are like me and don't believe in anythin' they can't see with their own two eyes.
Some of 'em are. There's a couple popular ones in the Central Country. But I think a lotta people in my world aren't religious, since the religious ones are seen as uncommon.
[Something something fantasy game made in Japan where Christianity isn't as all-encompassing and baked into the setting.]
Also, it's kinda hard to believe in a god when wizards and witches exist and do more for the people than any god ever did. Religious people tend to thrive in countries where wizards and witches have to suppress their magic, like in Central and Eastern countries.
Interesting that such individuals exist with no belief in a higher power, but not impossible. With the advent of people performing certain abilities, there is no need to believe in anything that isn't.
Where I come from, there are beings worshipped, and they do happen to make their appearances, even if not on the usual.
[ But more than once in a blue moon for some, even if people don't recognize them. Aeons are pretty capricious, though. ]
...Though, it sounds like it's not exactly universal. I'd suppose wizards and witches are made to suppress their magic for the sake of whatever respective religion?
[Bradley is sitting right by Nero's pod, facing away from it with his back pressed against the cold metal. At a distance it may have looked like he was talking, but he fell silent as Blade came closer.
At the question, he offers a sheepish smile.]
Can't shake the habit of tellin' Nero about the day. If they do come back in the end, then maybe he'll have heard me talkin' to him.
I can't quite imagine so many able to readily come back long after they have passed. Though, nothing seems impossible. They were able to somehow communicate with us even beyond that system.
[ With the strange messages...Blade is the type not to get optimistic about things. Though, considering the recent events, it feels strange to be a complete downer. Not that he's unfamiliar with being that either, hah. ]
You're right, it seems unlikely. And if it doesn't come to pass, I'll be okay. I've known for a while now that I'd be outliving Nero, so I'm prepared for that.
But it's nice to think about seein' them all again.
...yeah. Some people just aren't good at living. They're here in the moment, but their gaze is on their eventual grave.
[His chest feels tight even talking about it.]
I agreed to that promise because I thought it'd keep Nero from doin' anything stupid. That maybe he'd live long enough to work past the funk he was in. He was always like this but it wasn't nearly as bad before I got arrested. For 500 years, I was enough to keep his spirits up and keep that voice in his head quiet. But life just...changes, I guess.
When one has decided they have lived long enough, living becomes a burden.
[ It doesn't matter how bright the sun shines on high above. For people like that, the dawn will never come.
Blade knows intimately well because he is the same way. Still... ]
Life changes. And, perhaps, the circumstances with it. Our situation likely did not make it easy; having to witness despair and powerlessness personally and even from afar.
Sometimes, that is all it takes. [ ... ] Though, who knows what the future holds?
...yeah, you would understand, huh? You're long-lived, like we are.
[Bradley doesn't know if Blade is a wizard or something else, but his exact nature doesn't matter here. If someone lives long enough, then they Know.]
The crazy thing is, he's not even that old comparatively. The oldest of our kid have lived for over 2,000 years, we still got a lot of life left. But I guess that can be too much sometimes.
I just wish I understood it better. I don't feel like he does, so I'm not always helpful when he's havin' a bad day.
[ Doesn't mean short-lived species aren't subjected to it, but, well. You know. ]
Back on the Xianzhou Alliance, many may live to be well into a thousand or so years of age, though at some point there is the threat of eventually suffering from the consequences of such vitality. Complications that will change them from the inside and out.
As for him...I'm not surprised, given the differences in your personalities and perspectives. Should you have a second chance, you'll be able to contemplate solutions. Even if...staying by his side does something, despite the results it had here.
[Imagine if Bradley knew about the curse of Abundance.]
Well, we're kinda stuck with each other regardless. We're both Sage's wizards, so we're like co-workers.
[...]
We're gonna be the oldest before too long too. There's a few that are older, but they're all around 2,000 years old. One of 'em has already showed signs of slowin' down.
Though he imagines that 21 mages are probably quite a formidable force against threats in a myriad circumstances. ]
...Hm. Part of that almost sounds similar to being inflicted by mara; though, long-lived species would have the misfortune of gaining certain abilities instead.
Some magic catastrophe that threatens to destroy our world about once a year. We have to deal with it every time it pops up.
[Mara though. An infliction?]
I think it's just that a wizard's mind can only take in so much. Our lives ain't easy by any means. Go through enough trouble and eventually it starts to weigh on you.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
week 4, post-trial
Is this how you imagined things would end up?
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[ But the culmination told the story well enough. ]
I suppose it is always difficult to predict the end result. Even when it seems things might veer in a certain direction.
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People are also reluctant to vote for their friends. Remember what happened the second week here?
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Eunhyuk? When he tried to strike himself down, or...do you mean, the week after that?
[ He is counting week 0 as the initial one, but perhaps that would not be right to even do so in the first place. ]
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[ He remembers the commotion, feeling quite distant from it. He hardly cared for it at the time. ]
Yes, I remember that. You're right. People are, in the end...as they are, as they always will be.
[ But, one cannot hide from it at all. Their actions. Whatever the result will ultimately entail. The inescapable fate. ]
Week 5, Monday
He still seems a bit in a daze about that, but he's here. And he's wandering around the new spaces, where he eventually comes across the church. He doesn't know it's a church, he's not religious, so he's just like "wow look at all the windows."]
-oh hey, you're here too!
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Well, he's not sure how Bradley feels about it, and speaking of which, he turns to face him. ]
I am. I thought it would be wise to survey the new locations.
...Did you come here for the same reason?
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[Work on Wednesday, trial on the weekend. Just three more weeks before he's free of this and can go home. Rise and grind bitchessss]
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[ The temperature regulator, he certainly means. But while they speak he is idly scoping out things in the room. ]
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[He's without his coat today btw, because of the heat. But he will be Ready for tomorrow.]
I hope we don't gotta fix that.
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(Until it's cold.) ]
Hm. Might be more complicated than simple clean up, so I doubt it. Unless they decided we could with them hovering nearby.
[ So not entirely impossible from his perspective, he supposes. ]
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[He has enough braincells to recognize when he should not intervene in something.]
Anyway, what's this place?
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[ Blade definitely is actually relatively familiar with technology...but fixing it? Uh-uh. No way. ]
It's a place of holy worship. Is this your first time being in one?
[ The reaction seems to suggest as much. ]
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But then: ]
...Then the other places are more 'religious'? Or is that just a commonality in your world in general?
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[Something something fantasy game made in Japan where Christianity isn't as all-encompassing and baked into the setting.]
Also, it's kinda hard to believe in a god when wizards and witches exist and do more for the people than any god ever did. Religious people tend to thrive in countries where wizards and witches have to suppress their magic, like in Central and Eastern countries.
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Interesting that such individuals exist with no belief in a higher power, but not impossible. With the advent of people performing certain abilities, there is no need to believe in anything that isn't.
Where I come from, there are beings worshipped, and they do happen to make their appearances, even if not on the usual.
[ But more than once in a blue moon for some, even if people don't recognize them. Aeons are pretty capricious, though. ]
...Though, it sounds like it's not exactly universal. I'd suppose wizards and witches are made to suppress their magic for the sake of whatever respective religion?
week 5, post-exe
It's hard to say or tell. Either way, he sees a familiar face by one of the pods. ]
Did you come to pay respects?
[ Or...something else? ]
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At the question, he offers a sheepish smile.]
Can't shake the habit of tellin' Nero about the day. If they do come back in the end, then maybe he'll have heard me talkin' to him.
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I can't quite imagine so many able to readily come back long after they have passed. Though, nothing seems impossible. They were able to somehow communicate with us even beyond that system.
[ With the strange messages...Blade is the type not to get optimistic about things. Though, considering the recent events, it feels strange to be a complete downer. Not that he's unfamiliar with being that either, hah. ]
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But it's nice to think about seein' them all again.
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[ The fourth promise, wasn't it?
Blade recalls the trial with startingly clarity; given the details, and the people involved, perhaps it isn't too surprising. ]
They probably have the same opinion about us as well. They would undeniably have enough consciousness for that.
cw: depression and suicidal ideation mentions
[His chest feels tight even talking about it.]
I agreed to that promise because I thought it'd keep Nero from doin' anything stupid. That maybe he'd live long enough to work past the funk he was in. He was always like this but it wasn't nearly as bad before I got arrested. For 500 years, I was enough to keep his spirits up and keep that voice in his head quiet. But life just...changes, I guess.
continued cw
When one has decided they have lived long enough, living becomes a burden.
[ It doesn't matter how bright the sun shines on high above. For people like that, the dawn will never come.
Blade knows intimately well because he is the same way. Still... ]
Life changes. And, perhaps, the circumstances with it. Our situation likely did not make it easy; having to witness despair and powerlessness personally and even from afar.
Sometimes, that is all it takes. [ ... ] Though, who knows what the future holds?
continued cw
[Bradley doesn't know if Blade is a wizard or something else, but his exact nature doesn't matter here. If someone lives long enough, then they Know.]
The crazy thing is, he's not even that old comparatively. The oldest of our kid have lived for over 2,000 years, we still got a lot of life left. But I guess that can be too much sometimes.
I just wish I understood it better. I don't feel like he does, so I'm not always helpful when he's havin' a bad day.
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[ Doesn't mean short-lived species aren't subjected to it, but, well. You know. ]
Back on the Xianzhou Alliance, many may live to be well into a thousand or so years of age, though at some point there is the threat of eventually suffering from the consequences of such vitality. Complications that will change them from the inside and out.
As for him...I'm not surprised, given the differences in your personalities and perspectives. Should you have a second chance, you'll be able to contemplate solutions. Even if...staying by his side does something, despite the results it had here.
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Well, we're kinda stuck with each other regardless. We're both Sage's wizards, so we're like co-workers.
[...]
We're gonna be the oldest before too long too. There's a few that are older, but they're all around 2,000 years old. One of 'em has already showed signs of slowin' down.
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Sage's wizards? Is he a head wizard of some sort, then?
[ He's just randomly guessing. Blade isn't exactly the type of person to be immersed in the explicit knowledge of witches or wizards. ]
...The usual signs of old age, like commonly displayed in short-lived species? Or, is it a more painful sort?
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[At least his Sage crest has been visible a few times by now, most recently at the pool party.]
More painful sort, I think. Wizards just get weaker and lose their magic, and then they lose their minds.
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[ Wizards gonna wizard.
Though he imagines that 21 mages are probably quite a formidable force against threats in a myriad circumstances. ]
...Hm. Part of that almost sounds similar to being inflicted by mara; though, long-lived species would have the misfortune of gaining certain abilities instead.
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[Mara though. An infliction?]
I think it's just that a wizard's mind can only take in so much. Our lives ain't easy by any means. Go through enough trouble and eventually it starts to weigh on you.
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[ Seems strange to have a catastrophe keeping popping up once a year and having it be the same... ]
Hmph. I suppose that's similar to how it is with the long-lived species that I know.
Though, it might also be due to the Aeon's 'blessing'.