pulseof_life: (full body)
pulseof_life ([personal profile] pulseof_life) wrote2013-08-28 07:50 am

Oerba, Gran Pulse, Wednesday

Rather than remain in New Bodhum for the day, though they would return there for the night, Caius teleported them all to the ruins of a village. The buildings were made of metal (heavily rusted) and wood, which had held up surprisingly well under the ravages of time. Inside the buildings, personal things could be found: combs left on dressers, a few ancient photographs, and neatly folded blankets forgotten on the ends of beds.

A wide road cut through the village and a broad staircase led down to a murky beach. On top of one of the buildings, an overgrown fountain and the remnants of a garden could be found.

Powered crystal, which looked like snow from far away, and like sand close up, choked the side streets and surrounded the village.

"Welcome," Yeul said softly, "to Oerba."

[NFB and for them that have been invited. The theme songs for Oerba are: Dust to Dust and Ruined Hometown.]
genesishero: (Over The Shoulder Glance)

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[personal profile] genesishero 2013-08-29 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
"Someone told me once that a hero in anyone's eyes is really just someone that's doing something they like, no matter who gets hurt for it," Evan murmured. "Someone else told me that a hero is someone who does what they believe is right, no matter what it takes. Sometimes I find myself wondering which one is more accurate. I'd like to be that second one, but I don't really trust the person who said it to me. Not any more, anyway."

The definition of a monster, funnily enough, was pretty universal.

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[identity profile] pulseof-chaos.livejournal.com 2013-08-29 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
So it was!

"Let me add another definition," Caius murmured. "A hero is someone who does good."

Then:

"Except that good is in the eye of the beholder. The worst of evil will look at it's doing and say it is good. They are a hero in their own mind."
genesishero: (Shadows)

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[personal profile] genesishero 2013-08-29 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
"So... Being a hero is really a narcissistic thing, after all," Evan replied, biting the inside of his cheek. "It's so much self-image that in the end, what everyone else thinks doesn't matter?"

Daken had said about as much, had noted how self-absorbed a person had to be to really think of themselves as a hero, to label themselves that way. But then Daken had proceeded to systematically try to rip apart Evan's sanity, so...

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[identity profile] pulseof-chaos.livejournal.com 2013-08-29 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
"Being a hero means different things to different people," he said, glancing at Evan. "Another definition of 'hero' is an ordinary person who does extraordinary things to help people."
genesishero: (Poutymouth)

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[personal profile] genesishero 2013-08-29 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
"But never really someone who goes good things because they don't want to be mistaken for the bad guy, I'm betting."

Even Evan could see the flaw in that plan.

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[identity profile] pulseof-chaos.livejournal.com 2013-08-29 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
"No," Caius said. "Heroes must believe in what they're doing, even if they're only heroes to themselves."
genesishero: (Not Understanding!)

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[personal profile] genesishero 2013-08-29 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
"What if it's both? What if they... they do the right thing because it's the right thing... and they're trying not to be mistaken for something horrible?"

Could a person have it both ways?

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[identity profile] pulseof-chaos.livejournal.com 2013-08-29 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
"What do you think?" Caius asked.

It was all to clear who Evan was talking about.
genesishero: (Carried Like A Ragdoll)

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[personal profile] genesishero 2013-08-29 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't know what to think," Evan admitted, sighing and resisting the urge to just bury his face in Ozzy's fur. "I've heard so many people say so many things, it's all just becoming one twisty lump."

He scuffed his toe against the crystal sand underfoot.

"I'm starting to wonder if everyone's wrong, and it's really just as simple as 'once a monster, never a hero.'"

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[identity profile] pulseof-chaos.livejournal.com 2013-08-29 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
Did redemption arcs mean nothing to Evan?

"If life were that simple, we'd have all figured everything out eons ago."
genesishero: (Close up!)

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[personal profile] genesishero 2013-08-29 03:06 am (UTC)(link)
Evan hadn't been around long enough to see one in action! Especially not a successful one.

"How about you? Have you got it figured out?"

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[identity profile] pulseof-chaos.livejournal.com 2013-08-29 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
"I am no hero," Caius said quietly. "Guarding Yeul is a much simpler task than being one."
genesishero: (Over The Shoulder Glance)

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[personal profile] genesishero 2013-08-29 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
"I guess so," Evan replied, ducking his head again. "I guess it means you really don't have to worry about what everyone else says, either."

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[identity profile] pulseof-chaos.livejournal.com 2013-08-29 01:28 pm (UTC)(link)
"Only one person's opinion matters to me," he agreed. "That makes it simpler."
genesishero: (Default)

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[personal profile] genesishero 2013-08-29 01:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Evan glanced over at Sholeh for a moment at that. He supposed everything would be simpler if he didn't care about what the rest of the world thought. If he didn't hurt so much when people like Quentin and Glob called him a monster and a villain.

"When you've seen so much of the world, does it get easier to stop looking?"

It would be good to know. He was probably going to be around for a while, after all.

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[identity profile] pulseof-chaos.livejournal.com 2013-08-29 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
He glanced at Evan, thinking of what Yeul had told him.

"Have a reason to move forward into each day," Caius replied. "Otherwise time will swallow you whole. No one can stand to feel the breadth of pain the world has to offer."
genesishero: (Over The Shoulder Glance)

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[personal profile] genesishero 2013-08-30 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
Evan nodded a little, looking down and shrugging his shoulder.

"I guess, so long as I can keep finding a reason to move forward, maybe eventually I'll stop looking back."

What he had to look forward to each day was only a limited time offer, after all. He might as well be functionally immortal. Very few people really were.

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[identity profile] pulseof-chaos.livejournal.com 2013-08-31 05:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"Memories are not bad things to have," Caius said meditatively. "But they are, if they're all you have. Find a way forward and things fall into place more easily."
genesishero: (Bored with fire 2)

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[personal profile] genesishero 2013-08-31 05:44 pm (UTC)(link)
"I guess that's going to have to be my starting place," Evan noted. "I don't really have much to look back at, anyway."

Nothing that he really wanted to linger on, at least. Nothing that was real.

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[identity profile] pulseof-chaos.livejournal.com 2013-08-31 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
"But you have something," Caius replied. "Or else you would not be asking these questions."
genesishero: (Bleh)

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[personal profile] genesishero 2013-08-31 05:52 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's not something to be proud of," Evan replied, shrugging his shoulders slightly. "It's not something I want people to identify me with. It's... something, but it's nothing good."

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[identity profile] pulseof-chaos.livejournal.com 2013-08-31 05:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"If we were all made out of only the good things in our pasts, most of us would be nothing."

Caius knew pain.
genesishero: (Just a Kid From Kansas)

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[personal profile] genesishero 2013-08-31 06:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"If I was made out of only good things, I would never have been made at all," Evan muttered. "It's not the sort of past you just pretend never happened, though."

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[identity profile] pulseof-chaos.livejournal.com 2013-08-31 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Caius laughed, short and low.

"No past is," he said. "People might not speak of their pasts but the horrible things build us as much, if not more, than the good. And they think of them, even if they do not want to, when there's nothing around to distract them."
genesishero: (Poutymouth)

Re: Daytime -- Arrival

[personal profile] genesishero 2013-08-31 06:26 pm (UTC)(link)
"That sounds about right," Evan agreed, nodding a little. "The bad is difficult to look past. It's just... right there, like a stain, big and red and angry and not going anywhere."

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