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 Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 4:14 pm
Called to a dead planet. How the dead call the living... So there's something to it after all.
Umber remained silent for a long spell. His attention settled on the long stretches where alleyways spidered out toward the risen buildings. Sometimes the blue lights danced between buildings to catch a glimpse of areas protected from light during a millennium. His fingers curled around the thin railing, crushing the light sheet of snow. Drawn to this place, where his ancestor resided. But he never said he felt called - he said he feels called. So the ancestor here wasn't the only thing beckoning him to this place. Something else within this veritable tomb is still alive, and it wants his time. What could it be, and how did it survive a cold millennium where nothing lived among these walls? What sort of strength does that entail?
Some tension in his body slackened when he returned to listening to Babylon. His explanation of magic sounded valid, especially as one who could wield it - to whatever degree that might be. "To think of magic as constant and unchanging would qualify many things as magic. Gravity, for example." He gathered together the minuscule amount of snow to form a snowball the size of a small rock, and tossed it into the air gently. In no time, it came down to disassemble against the stone floor. "But I suppose magic isn't all that different from gravity. They're both as ancient as the universe. They're both manipulable."
However, Babylon's next statement gave him reason to pause.
If I were purified. That sounds like a loaded statement.
"And how does one get purified?" He asked as he turned fully to his conversation partner, with one hand still perched against the rail. "What does that entail?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 6:59 pm
Umber sounded interested, but then, Umber had sounded interested about everything Babylon had said so far, so he reminded himself not to burst into the whole song-and-dance. He'd gathered in the past that it could be kind of off-putting when he got all proselytize-y. "Purification is how someone switches from drawing their power from Chaos to relying on the power that comes from their Wonder, or space object in the case of senshi," explained Babylon, trying to be kind of cut-and-dry about it. Umber looked like he might be following along so far, so he continued. "There's this... ritual you have to take part in. It takes a tremendous amount of power. Senshi princes and princesses. Royal Knights. They're the only ones who can perform it - and, I mean, it's not without its drawbacks. Memory loss is pretty par for the course with any side changing. Chaos to Order or Order to Chaos." He turned to lean against the rail. "It's not something to undertake lightly," Babylon said. "It means leaving your entire life behind. I mean, I'll be the first person to tell you that it's better on the other side, but it's got to be entered into willingly or it won't work." "Not that I brought you here just as part of, like, a sales pitch for giving up half your memories and converting to the light side of the force," he added, cringing. It probably sounded like he had right now.
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 4:15 am
"You sound like you've gone through it yourself." At least the 'enter into it willingly' part ensured that purification could not be sprung on him at any point without his prior consent. The cost sounded weighty, but against what benefits? He would receive access to a Wonder of his own, yes, and cast magic, but what else? What could justify the loss of half his memories, of his old life? He already stood so far removed from the life he knew and cherished. What if he could not remember the most basic of where he's from? What hobbies, personality facets, or even body language tweaks would collapse due to no memories backing their existence?
At least he wasn't asking Umber's opinion on it. "I'd believe that. Bringing someone to a cold city on the side of a mountain isn't an ideal location for pitching purification. It's better done at a planet - or Wonder - that's more widely acknowledged for beauty if you wanted to do that." Common sense, really, and he's seen such advertising schemes nearly everywhere. It seemed in order to make a sell, one only needed an aesthetically-pleasing image and sales for that location were already up. Unfortunately, to go that route merited disclosing the drawbacks in as mitigated a way as possible - and he doubted Babylon would downplay memory loss to the point where it's just a few useless memories.
And for some, loss of memory was a point in favor of the act.
"It's also incredibly traitorous, and I'm certain the Negaverse wouldn't let it go easily." If they already kept files on senshi and knights, wouldn't they be interested to find out if one or more left their ranks? And what sort of example would be made of those that leave behind the Negaverse? And there was the topic of senshi royalty, alongside royal knights - one whom he'd witnessed before as a frighteningly potent aura - and their constituent stands on purification. Leaving the entire choice of which life to lead to an outside source demanded copious trust. And what if that royalty demanded a lifetime of servitude?
Umber decided that one would have to be deeply impulsive or at absolute rock bottom in their lives to give it all away for a change in direction. Everything would need to crumble beyond salvageable means to ask to start anew.
Even venturing into the Negaverse.
And what did that say of corruption? All those times he considered calling a superior to corrupt one when it showed valuable traits... Well. Lives led were often an unknown variable and could not be brought into the equation in the same manner as a known variable. He held no responsibility for any life but his own.
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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2015 8:58 am
Babylon went a little red. "Oh - you think I? No," he said, waving his hands in front of his chest to signify there's been some sort of misunderstanding. "No, I've just seen others through it," he clarified. Purification was quickly becoming kind of his thing, though, his pet cause. When Umber mentioned it being traitorous, though, Babylon thought, this conversation is almost certainly going to come back to bite me in the a**. He didn't think he'd said anything that wasn't public knowledge yet, but just because Umber was curious didn't mean he wouldn't go sell all this information back. Even the earnest could still have conflicting loyalties. "They don't let it go," he said, and cleared his throat. "I can take you back to Earth whenever you're ready?" suggested Babylon, trying not to sound fed up or terse or anything along those lines. He'd just brought Umber here to show him things, not to try to sell him on purification or anything like that, after all - it just seemed like the visit had run its course, and the lieutenant was never going to suggest they leave. Besides, he felt a little stung that Babylon had been reduced to a cold city on the side of a mountain, even if there was nothing factually incorrect about that.
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 9:17 am
"Interesting." Babylon made judgments based on witnessed experience, which may be the truth for those individuals in their situations, but did not speak to a blanket benefit to all parties. Umber considered asking for scientific citations - if any knights elected to research Chaos and what damage it might wreak on the human body, but the entirety of the topic begged careful treading. Lacking the social graces to do so, Umber elected to remain silent on his next volley of inquiries.
And his confirmation that the Negaverse loathed allowing officers to escape added another layer of interest. "I didn't think they would." Pressing further only warranted disaster here - if he obtained any names, then he would be obligated to relinquish what he knew to the whims of the Negaverse. This produced no regret in him, but violating trust established with Babylon would. The knight was a font of information for ancient times and practices that Umber lacked an understanding for. What information he had to offer on them was of personal value. If he ventured too far toward learning of purification now, could there still be return trips to Babylon to go digging about in old ruins?
Even that entailed the assumption that Babylon would want him to return.
The lieutenant clasped both hands on the banister while he cast his gaze to the stark mountain that housed the city. He drew a breath - cold, crisp air devoid of the smog he was used to inhaling now - before falling into a silence for a count of seconds. "It's likely a good time to leave. I would like to see the city in the day cycle sometime, if that's possible." One hand left the bar to offer out toward Babylon, for the seemingly obligatory physical contact portion. "Thank you for taking me here."
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Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 8:42 pm
"I'll let you know when the sun rises," said Babylon, glancing out towards the horizon. It must have risen in the year and a half that he'd neglected his wonder. Summer would have to come again soon - but he didn't want to place any bets. He took Umber's offered hand, pleased that the lieutenant seemed to be catching on so quickly. "My pleasure," he replied. This isn't gay at all.A light dusting of snow returned to Earth with them, coating the ground around their feet. "I'll be in touch," said Babylon, "and if you ever need to find me, just look for the light. I'm usually around." He dropped Umber's hand. "So, um, good night."
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