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 Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 12:59 am
Butterfly's face went still. "That's a dangerous question to ask, much less answer. I can tell you... I can tell you which is the most like me, which the least, which is the most annoying, and which the most reasonable." She looked to one side. "I can tell you which I find most compelling at any given time... though that does change, and my focus changes, my weaving changes, depending on who is the most compelling at given moments.
"'Favorite,' though... 'favorite' is a loaded word. 'Favorite' says, 'Above all others, this one is the best.' I hesitate very much to say or think of one, because... there's always that chance that free will will be gained." She looked up at Ora. "Only one of my threads has free will, and she uses it to tangle herself in knots. She knows the path of her life, and I know the path of her life, at least some of it, but she hates it and despises me so much that she knots herself firm from the beginning just to spite us all, hoping that I will have nothing to weave. She knows that she is definitely less than a favorite... her behavior is why. But..." Butterfly's eyes grew distant for a moment, and she sighed. "What if the others, even one of the others, were to gain their own free will someday? Whether the designated 'favorite' or not, that it had at some point been stated would still affect them. The one demonstrates that it is possible for all, or I'd probably think hard and then pick one, but..." She shook her head. "I'll not run the risk of hearing those voices in my head forever, clamoring for attention or the delivery of complaints or what have you, not colored by a 'favorite' choice."
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 12:24 pm
Ora smiled, "As someone who was in that situation before, I'd agree. I understood but still had a slight desire to kill the other woman. However, my mother...I honestly don't know, she loves my father, but I don't know if she would have cared."
Ora chuckled, "Hell's already frozen, in my personal opinion. But perhaps we'll have to see if that ever happens."
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 6:26 pm
Eulalia Danae Ora smiled, "As someone who was in that situation before, I'd agree. I understood but still had a slight desire to kill the other woman. However, my mother...I honestly don't know, she loves my father, but I don't know if she would have cared." Ora chuckled, "Hell's already frozen, in my personal opinion. But perhaps we'll have to see if that ever happens."
Butterfly laughed, and a flood of papers from the stack behind her flew away, some crumpling and folding into nothingness as they went, until only one was left--a faint sketch of a tree with an intricate carving on it. "Somehow, I am not at all surprised. And I do want to say that your mother may surprise you... but now that I think about it, I have heard more about her than seen, so maybe not."
She gave Ora a speculative look, and a door appeared just behind and to the left of Ruby. "In your travels, have you ever been to hell? I heard tell that there actually is one, but have never been. I'm wondering if it has actually ever frozen over."
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 9:27 pm
ArynChris Eulalia Danae Ora smiled, "As someone who was in that situation before, I'd agree. I understood but still had a slight desire to kill the other woman. However, my mother...I honestly don't know, she loves my father, but I don't know if she would have cared." Ora chuckled, "Hell's already frozen, in my personal opinion. But perhaps we'll have to see if that ever happens."
Butterfly laughed, and a flood of papers from the stack behind her flew away, some crumpling and folding into nothingness as they went, until only one was left--a faint sketch of a tree with an intricate carving on it. "Somehow, I am not at all surprised. And I do want to say that your mother may surprise you... but now that I think about it, I have heard more about her than seen, so maybe not."
She gave Ora a speculative look, and a door appeared just behind and to the left of Ruby. "In your travels, have you ever been to hell? I heard tell that there actually is one, but have never been. I'm wondering if it has actually ever frozen over.""I don't know my mother much at all either, to be honest. I spent no more than five years with her." Ora's shoulders rose up in a shrug, "Perhaps she would surprise me." Ora glanced at the picture of the tree. "Is that carving a natural bit of magic, or did someone carve it in?" Ora glanced curiously at the door, a smile crossing her face. "I have been to far too many places that flattered themselves into believing they were hell, but no, I don't believe I've visited hell. I've heard from some that it exists. When I asked Digger if the Nether Realm was hell, he said hell wasn't a place. It was something you carried with you. For eternity."
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 9:44 pm
Eulalia Danae "I don't know my mother much at all either, to be honest. I spent no more than five years with her." Ora's shoulders rose up in a shrug, "Perhaps she would surprise me." Ora glanced at the picture of the tree. "Is that carving a natural bit of magic, or did someone carve it in?" Ora glanced curiously at the door, a smile crossing her face. "I have been to far too many places that flattered themselves into believing they were hell, but no, I don't believe I've visited hell. I've heard from some that it exists. When I asked Digger if the Nether Realm was hell, he said hell wasn't a place. It was something you carried with you. For eternity."
She laughed. "That man was being overly dramatic. I assure you, hell is neither carried in you nor borne for eternity--not even if you're immortal. It is most definitely a place... what you carry inside is your own guilt, and your own self-punishment. Not at all the same thing. I was mainly asking because I wasn't sure if your world had a hell, a physical one. I heard once that," she continued, laughing as she spoke, "Ruby was there once, but mistook it for an amusement park! Not sure how much truth there is to that story, though."
She nodded her head to the door. "If there is one, that would take us through. If you care to. We'd come back, of course."
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 10:04 pm
ArynChris "Both," Butterfly replied with a smile. "A dryad 'carved' it in when no one was looking, but a dryad's idea of carving is a whole lot more like tattooing, and everyone else would have called it magic."
She laughed. "That man was being overly dramatic. I assure you, hell is neither carried in you nor borne for eternity--not even if you're immortal. It is most definitely a place... what you carry inside is your own guilt, and your own self-punishment. Not at all the same thing. I was mainly asking because I wasn't sure if your world had a hell, a physical one. I heard once that," she continued, laughing as she spoke, "Ruby was there once, but mistook it for an amusement park! Not sure how much truth there is to that story, though."
She nodded her head to the door. "If there is one, that would take us through. If you care to. We'd come back, of course." Ora smiled back, "Digger was always into dramatics, but I believe he was claiming guilt and self-punishment to be hell. Given some people, it'd be hell enough. I always found the concept interesting myself. Pain as a punishment seems....silly. Especially if dead and without a body to feel that pain. But a person plagued with guilt? It can easily rival physical pain. It's also not something you could escape, not like a place. Even if you managed to make your way to heaven, you'd still be in hell." Ora chuckled softly, "I've heard the stories. My mother found her way into that same hell a few times. But once again, I'm fairly certain it was one of the realms which flattered itself as hell. Powerful, containing a handful of damned souls, a few demonic forces claiming themselves as the all-knowing evil..." Ora shook her head, "theatrics mostly." Ora glanced back at the door, quieting slightly at the thought. "Perhaps."
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 10:12 pm
Eulalia Danae ArynChris "Both," Butterfly replied with a smile. "A dryad 'carved' it in when no one was looking, but a dryad's idea of carving is a whole lot more like tattooing, and everyone else would have called it magic."
She laughed. "That man was being overly dramatic. I assure you, hell is neither carried in you nor borne for eternity--not even if you're immortal. It is most definitely a place... what you carry inside is your own guilt, and your own self-punishment. Not at all the same thing. I was mainly asking because I wasn't sure if your world had a hell, a physical one. I heard once that," she continued, laughing as she spoke, "Ruby was there once, but mistook it for an amusement park! Not sure how much truth there is to that story, though."
She nodded her head to the door. "If there is one, that would take us through. If you care to. We'd come back, of course." Ora smiled back, "Digger was always into dramatics, but I believe he was claiming guilt and self-punishment to be hell. Given some people, it'd be hell enough. I always found the concept interesting myself. Pain as a punishment seems....silly. Especially if dead and without a body to feel that pain. But a person plagued with guilt? It can easily rival physical pain. It's also not something you could escape, not like a place. Even if you managed to make your way to heaven, you'd still be in hell." Ora chuckled softly, "I've heard the stories. My mother found her way into that same hell a few times. But once again, I'm fairly certain it was one of the realms which flattered itself as hell. Powerful, containing a handful of damned souls, a few demonic forces claiming themselves as the all-knowing evil..." Ora shook her head, "theatrics mostly." Ora glanced back at the door, quieting slightly at the thought. "Perhaps."
She gave Ora a frank, curious look. "That one's up to you. I don't know who we would meet there. All I can promise is that we would return."
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 10:37 pm
Eulalia Danae Ora laughed, "Aye, school would be hell too. But I always thought the knowledge of wrong doings was precursor to the punishment." She shrugged, "In any case, I'd say hell is personal. Whether it changes for each person, I have no idea. But it's as personal as the lives we've lead." She stood up, glancing at the door and taking a few steps towards it. "So that hell would be mine, or a hell in generic terms?"
She rubbed the back of her neck. "In one sense, hell is hell, so if it exists at all, at least one of us would be affected by what we see. In another sense, neither of us are dead, so... we're also visitors, free to walk around? We're free to leave whenever we choose, in any case."
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Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 11:11 am
ArynChris Butterfly stood and followed after. "Hell Generic, but I would assume you would see it differently than I. One thing most hells seem to have in common, the ones that aren't fake theatrics, is that it is..." She hesitated. "...It is, like you said, personal. What is torture to one person is not torture to another, and what each person sees there differs. There are hells where three people looking at the same scene will all see different events and hear different words, but each will experience the same feeling of tragedy. I assume... I assume that we would both see some things the same, and other things differently."
She rubbed the back of her neck. "In one sense, hell is hell, so if it exists at all, at least one of us would be affected by what we see. In another sense, neither of us are dead, so... we're also visitors, free to walk around? We're free to leave whenever we choose, in any case." "Fare enough." Ora slowed her pace at the door, then stepped in. The first thing to hit her was vertigo. She had to fall back against the wall to hold herself up, or otherwise fall flat on her face. The ground held still as she held still, and Ora felt a small smile cross her lips. For a person who so valued control, the first thing to take away would be the ability to stand on her own feet. Make her crawl if she wanted to move. But even that could not be hell alone.
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Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 6:37 pm
Eulalia Danae ArynChris Butterfly stood and followed after. "Hell Generic, but I would assume you would see it differently than I. One thing most hells seem to have in common, the ones that aren't fake theatrics, is that it is..." She hesitated. "...It is, like you said, personal. What is torture to one person is not torture to another, and what each person sees there differs. There are hells where three people looking at the same scene will all see different events and hear different words, but each will experience the same feeling of tragedy. I assume... I assume that we would both see some things the same, and other things differently."
She rubbed the back of her neck. "In one sense, hell is hell, so if it exists at all, at least one of us would be affected by what we see. In another sense, neither of us are dead, so... we're also visitors, free to walk around? We're free to leave whenever we choose, in any case." "Fare enough." Ora slowed her pace at the door, then stepped in. The first thing to hit her was vertigo. She had to fall back against the wall to hold herself up, or otherwise fall flat on her face. The ground held still as she held still, and Ora felt a small smile cross her lips. For a person who so valued control, the first thing to take away would be the ability to stand on her own feet. Make her crawl if she wanted to move. But even that could not be hell alone.
Walking through, it felt to her as if time was slowing down to a lethargic crawl and gravity dragging her down. Her vision blurred, and she felt herself sinking to her knees, drowning in a very familiar sense of despair. "...Oh," she said quietly after a moment. "So this was my piece of hell. ...Brilliant." She looked up at Ora with tears in her eyes. "I... wouldn't have expected it. May I ask for a hand getting up?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 6:56 pm
ArynChris Butterfly gave her a concerned look before stepping through herself. "You okay?"
Walking through, it felt to her as if time was slowing down to a lethargic crawl and gravity dragging her down. Her vision blurred, and she felt herself sinking to her knees, drowning in a very familiar sense of despair. "...Oh," she said quietly after a moment. "So this was my piece of hell. ...Brilliant." She looked up at Ora with tears in her eyes. "I... wouldn't have expected it. May I ask for a hand getting up?" Ora used her short range teleportation, and offered the hand to Butterfly. "I'm having trouble walking myself. Dizziness, lack of control, and dear god is it messy in here." Her smile twinged, "What good is hell without a mass of items strewn around, begging for organization."
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Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 7:22 pm
Eulalia Danae ArynChris Butterfly gave her a concerned look before stepping through herself. "You okay?"
Walking through, it felt to her as if time was slowing down to a lethargic crawl and gravity dragging her down. Her vision blurred, and she felt herself sinking to her knees, drowning in a very familiar sense of despair. "...Oh," she said quietly after a moment. "So this was my piece of hell. ...Brilliant." She looked up at Ora with tears in her eyes. "I... wouldn't have expected it. May I ask for a hand getting up?" Ora used her short range teleportation, and offered the hand to Butterfly. "I'm having trouble walking myself. Dizziness, lack of control, and dear god is it messy in here." Her smile twinged, "What good is hell without a mass of items strewn around, begging for organization."
She looked around blurrily. "But... Oh. Ora, this is where we're different. I see no items at all, no mess or clutter... only a featureless land of dim purples and dust. I would welcome clutter, actually, as something to do." She squinted into the distance. "There's a flicker... there's something different over there, I think, because... hope is stronger at that flicker. Hooray." She looked back at Ora, still holding the other woman's hand. "I think there are two paths from here. We can go over there, towards the flicker, or we can sink into the ground and be somewhere else." She swallowed. "I don't think I can fly up, in this state."
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Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 7:38 pm
ArynChris Ora used her short range teleportation, and offered the hand to Butterfly. "I'm having trouble walking myself. Dizziness, lack of control, and dear god is it messy in here." Her smile twinged, "What good is hell without a mass of items strewn around, begging for organization."
She looked around blurrily. "But... Oh. Ora, this is where we're different. I see no items at all, no mess or clutter... only a featureless land of dim purples and dust. I would welcome clutter, actually, as something to do." She squinted into the distance. "There's a flicker... there's something different over there, I think, because... hope is stronger at that flicker. Hooray." She looked back at Ora, still holding the other woman's hand. "I think there are two paths from here. We can go over there, towards the flicker, or we can sink into the ground and be somewhere else." She swallowed. "I don't think I can fly up, in this state."Ora chuckled, "As a visitor, I'm only getting a small taste of my hell, I'm sure. But the majority of it is the simple things that would irritate me. To be truly hell, I wouldn't be able to leave." Ora's smile twinged a second time, "As silly as it sounds, a good part of my hell would be living without Pat. I honestly loathe myself for saying it out loud like a love-obsessed teenager, but it's fair true. And an eternity without Pat is not something that can be easily replicated in a visit." Ora paused, "it is, however something I've experienced before, and like Digger's that was a hell I carried with me." Ora glanced in the same direction as Butterfly. "I can't see a flicker, but I trust it's there. I can blink us to it if you'd like."
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Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 7:49 pm
Eulalia Danae ArynChris Butterfly took her hand and stood back up, blinking at how long it seemed to take her just move. "Lack of... joy, for me. There was a time in my life," she explained, speaking lethargically, "when... it was a great effort to move. Depression... beyond suicidal. Believed I was dying, but it never came. This is oddly... familiar, even though I know it doesn't the core the way it did before. I am..." she frowned faintly, "...still alive. There is still some freedom, some hope left to me, but it seems only enough to stand and move... not enough to shake this off."
She looked around blurrily. "But... Oh. Ora, this is where we're different. I see no items at all, no mess or clutter... only a featureless land of dim purples and dust. I would welcome clutter, actually, as something to do." She squinted into the distance. "There's a flicker... there's something different over there, I think, because... hope is stronger at that flicker. Hooray." She looked back at Ora, still holding the other woman's hand. "I think there are two paths from here. We can go over there, towards the flicker, or we can sink into the ground and be somewhere else." She swallowed. "I don't think I can fly up, in this state." Ora chuckled, "As a visitor, I'm only getting a small taste of my hell, I'm sure. But the majority of it is the simple things that would irritate me. To be truly hell, I wouldn't be able to leave." Ora's smile twinged a second time, "As silly as it sounds, a good part of my hell would be living without Pat. I honestly loathe myself for saying it out loud like a love-obsessed teenager, but it's fair true. And an eternity without Pat is not something that can be easily replicated in a visit." Ora paused, "it is, however something I've experienced before, and like Digger's that was a hell I carried with me." Ora glanced in the same direction as Butterfly. "I can't see a flicker, but I trust it's there. I can blink us to it if you'd like."
Pausing in thought, she added, "It may be strange... but hell would not be my love's absence, I think. It would be if I had to watch him go on without me, making mistakes in love and life and in what he believes... To watch him go through hard times and have no one there to help him, to ...hold..." her voice broke a little and she felt the depression sink back over her. She shook her head, tears coming back to her eyes. "Yes, let's go there." She lifted one arm very, very slowly and pointed in the direction of the light. "I don't know how far it is."
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Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 8:03 pm
ArynChris Butterfly blinked in surprise, and the feeling of depression seemed a little lighter for it. "You can do that?" she asked, suddenly feeling much more impatient with her slowness. "Thought... you needed to be there first, or see the place."
Pausing in thought, she added, "It may be strange... but hell would not be my love's absence, I think. It would be if I had to watch him go on without me, making mistakes in love and life and in what he believes... To watch him go through hard times and have no one there to help him, to ...hold..." her voice broke a little and she felt the depression sink back over her. She shook her head, tears coming back to her eyes. "Yes, let's go there." She lifted one arm very, very slowly and pointed in the direction of the light. "I don't know how far it is." "My power is slightly different from my father's. Or more accurately, I use it differently. Small charms and spells can add a bit of enhancement here and there...though can also have disastrous side-effects if not done correctly." She glanced back to the area the flicker should be, her head tilting with her own thoughts. "That would be a pain I've not thought of before. Perhaps because it's not one I've experienced." She nodded, "That would be painful indeed. Very painful." She gave a quick nod as if clearing her mind of it, "I can guesstimate, and we can teleport further if need be."
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