Ardbert. "I'm- not certain we've exactly the same experiences, I can't know for sure. I suppose we could compare notes, but... No, you don't. Gazimon- I... ah. Haven't been entirely truthful with you."
"No, really, you think? What's a 'Warrior of Light'? What do you mean 'he's you', that doesn't... make a lick of friggin' sense, I mean- I always got the sense you were bein' cagey about yourself, 'specially around that tall dude in the cloak, so obviously you ain't a shazam's family or whatever-"
Taiki groaned. "Azem's familiar."
"Yeah, that."
Taiki inhaled. "Gods, I need Shtola for this. I haven't the head for keeping track of higher-level concepts like- like time travel and- oh, what the hells did she call it we were all drinking and I can't for the life of me remember. Multiverse hypothesis? I think so... Kami fucking preserve me, and Erichthonios is going to be a problem and his- friend. Themis. I haven't met Themis, but with my luck they're both future members of the Convocation of Fourteen!" And he'd already let slip that the Scions existed to this 'Themis', unknowing of who the other man was. "Azem was a man who lived many thousands of years ago, before our star was sundered from one world into fourteen. If this is all true, and Nara'a is not some elaborate conjuring of my feverish imagination- then the impossible has somehow happened, and we have both inherited the same man's soul, experienced the same journey, made the same friends, and fought the same foes."
Gazimon stared for several seconds... and quietly climbed up onto the bench again. "That... don't sound real possible."
"And yet, here we are. This," he waved the soul crystal around, "Was created by one of Azem's close friends, to preserve his memory. The number of people who know about this item, that I have it, and what it does, are vanishingly few. Dramatically fewer, the number of people who also know about 'Fray', or Ardbert. Only one man knows about Fray, and my relationship with Ardbert is as private as it could possibly be." He sighed. "The only thing that I could think of- is that in traveling to the past, I somehow... created a timeline in which mayhap my mother never had me- or I died young, or... something, that caused the mantle of Azem to fall to another."
He was tired. He was so tired. There were so many questions. "Nara'a... whatever the cause, I'm sorry. I truly am. I wouldn't wish this life on anyone." He smiled, sadly, as a question was brought to mind.
You who are our future, tell me this and tell me true. Has your journey been good? Has it been... worthwhile?
"Though... I suspect, if we've anything at all in common, you wouldn't have given it up for the world. You're still here, after all."
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Date: 2022-04-14 01:05 pm (UTC)"No, really, you think? What's a 'Warrior of Light'? What do you mean 'he's you', that doesn't... make a lick of friggin' sense, I mean- I always got the sense you were bein' cagey about yourself, 'specially around that tall dude in the cloak, so obviously you ain't a shazam's family or whatever-"
Taiki groaned. "Azem's familiar."
"Yeah, that."
Taiki inhaled. "Gods, I need Shtola for this. I haven't the head for keeping track of higher-level concepts like- like time travel and- oh, what the hells did she call it we were all drinking and I can't for the life of me remember. Multiverse hypothesis? I think so... Kami fucking preserve me, and Erichthonios is going to be a problem and his- friend. Themis. I haven't met Themis, but with my luck they're both future members of the Convocation of Fourteen!" And he'd already let slip that the Scions existed to this 'Themis', unknowing of who the other man was. "Azem was a man who lived many thousands of years ago, before our star was sundered from one world into fourteen. If this is all true, and Nara'a is not some elaborate conjuring of my feverish imagination- then the impossible has somehow happened, and we have both inherited the same man's soul, experienced the same journey, made the same friends, and fought the same foes."
Gazimon stared for several seconds... and quietly climbed up onto the bench again. "That... don't sound real possible."
"And yet, here we are. This," he waved the soul crystal around, "Was created by one of Azem's close friends, to preserve his memory. The number of people who know about this item, that I have it, and what it does, are vanishingly few. Dramatically fewer, the number of people who also know about 'Fray', or Ardbert. Only one man knows about Fray, and my relationship with Ardbert is as private as it could possibly be." He sighed. "The only thing that I could think of- is that in traveling to the past, I somehow... created a timeline in which mayhap my mother never had me- or I died young, or... something, that caused the mantle of Azem to fall to another."
He was tired. He was so tired. There were so many questions. "Nara'a... whatever the cause, I'm sorry. I truly am. I wouldn't wish this life on anyone." He smiled, sadly, as a question was brought to mind.
"Though... I suspect, if we've anything at all in common, you wouldn't have given it up for the world. You're still here, after all."