KENOS INBOX

[erbe]

COMMUNION

Reaching out to Rin is like stepping into a moonlit parlor. Everything is quiet, muted, and neatly tucked away. Almost like a "lobby," of sorts to keep visitors away from the rest of what goes on in her head... and her heart. This space is cool, and placid. Much like the surface of a lake in winter as it reflects the pale glow of the celestial bodies hanging above it in the sky.

A reflection of serenity rather the true thing. A mask of elegance to hide anything that may be unsightly. Anything that may betray her.

✧ Specifics

✦ Unable to block out: Harbinger
✦ Compatible with: Iconoclast | Advocate
✦ Discord Accrual: Exalt

(CODE)

Comments

[erbe]

That is true. You probably lost a lot of face with your peers for such outrage. But you weren't just angry, were you? You were afraid, Dimitri. Afraid I was going to take something from you.

[hauntedking]

[ There's a twinge of something - not really anger, but a bit of a defensiveness. There's a long moment and then he replies. ]

Wouldn't you be? If you stood to lose everything you wanted to protect?

[erbe]

Dimitri...

[Tone implies pity. A little sadness — for what she's about to say.]

Haven't those things already been lost? Meridian isn't protecting those worlds from destruction. It promises to recreate them. Whether or not they'll be accurate or mere shadows of the original world is yet to be seen.

[hauntedking]

Lost or not, Meridian tells me they have the power to bring them back. The responsibility to try lies with me.

[ He sounds... tired. Very, very tired. Even if he is determined. ]

I cannot give up on it. I cannot put aside that hope.

[erbe]

And what of the people here? They deserve to die for your world? After all... Set may still expect you to deliver my head to him.

[hauntedking]

He's actually more interested in diplomacy at the moment.

[ There's a bit of amusement there, however brief. ]

I have no intention of... letting others die. When the Blight was at its worst, I did my best to save these people.

[erbe]

I'd trust that as far as I could throw it.

[For either of his statements, really.]

[hauntedking]

Whatever your judgement of my character...

[ He sighs. ]

...there was a long portion of my life where I was consumed with rage, as you saw me. Hopelessness and despair. All I wanted was to enact vengeance because... Well. I thought it might bring me a sense of peace. That isn't who I want to be any longer.

[erbe]

Mm, I'm not arguing that. It's simply... I think you have every intention of letting people die. Whether it be by the battlefield or by inaction. Your world is worth more than the people here.

[hauntedking]

Battle... is battle. If we have to fight for our ideals and our homes, we will. I would prefer not to, though.

[ He sees a difference; a line. ]

But I certainly don't believe the people here deserve to be killed out of hand or left to die.

[erbe]

Dimitri you'll simply have to accept a few things. One is that we'll probably be pit up against each other like that again, so you will be expected to act accordingly. The other is that by sending other people back to their world you may essentially be sentencing them to death.

Come to terms with that.

[hauntedking]

Our solution does not imply that we will be forcing anyone to return to a world they do not wish to.

[ He is very certain about that. ]

Is that why you follow Zenith? Are you like John...? [ There's sympathy there. Unabashed. Even if he's sheepish about everything else and unsure about where they stand. ]

[erbe]

Like... who?

[WHICH JOHN...]

[hauntedking]

He... collects fears? Something like that. I don't recall his last name.

[ LOOK... ]

[erbe]

Oh, I remember him. No, I am nothing like him. Though I do look after a young man whose world is so ravaged his people lived in walled off castle-cities threatened by hordes of the undead.

[hauntedking]

...that sounds terrible.

[ Dimitri frowns - or, well, there's the sensation of frowning. ]

So... do you simply not think it worth the effort to try and go back? Or are you afraid that it would be just that - a reflection and imperfect? Or are there things you would rather not bring back into existence?

[erbe]

A bit of most things, actually. I don't trust Meridian to be able to bring back whole worlds completely as they were left. Somethings in the world, or some worlds entirely, shouldn't be brought back.

[hauntedking]

[ There's a low mental sigh from him. ]

Even so, I cannot turn away from it. I have a duty as king and as a leader.to try and restore them... if it ends up being imperfect or incomplete, then I will deal with it.

[ It's very much a determination. Something like a rock that anchors him. ]

I continue to wonder at why we must be set at extremes.

[erbe]

That sounds like a question you should ask your great, benevolent leader.

[Because she doesn't really... care. Okay, yes. She does care. But the apathy of Zenith's discord covers her emotions like a weighted blanket.]

[hauntedking]

And not Yima?

[ Dimitri makes a little 'hmm' sound (or rather it's the concept of the sound translated into thought). ]

I've asked him. His answer was vague.

[ He doesn't like that. But he still believes in his own personal cause. ]

[erbe]

[Why would he ask Yima? He's not interested in the outcome Zenith has to offer.]

Of course it was. I don't put full faith in Zenith's promise, but I feel like Meridian's goal is out of reach.

[hauntedking]

I suppose that is where we differ. I think it is in reach. Or possible, at the very least.

[ But they've established that. ]

...may I ask you something?

[erbe]

I make no promises to answer, but feel free to question.

[In fact as a mage it's her inclination to tell everyone to question what is around them.]

[hauntedking]

...why give me the gift in the first place? Did you truly feel grateful for my help or was that also an act?

1/?

[erbe]

[ FUCK ]