No, not that I can think of. You did enough, getting me into position. And if you won't sit...
[She twitches a finger, a tiny streamer of blue-white magick already lancing out towards him. A Regeneration spell, one that'll slowly repair damaged tissue enough to speed recovery, at least from his walk over.]
This sort of thing comes naturally to me, so think nothing of it.
Though since your here, I did promise I'd share the story of the Espers with you, if you're interested in hearing it.
[he jerks back in surprise, an instinctive reaction to seeing the magic approach. it wraps around his leg, and already, he can feel the sore muscles relaxing]
[it's similar enough to a Diarahan that it doesn't feel too out of place, but he also can't help but comment]
My cat's pretty good at healing magic, too.
[WHAT A STRANGE STATEMENT]
I called to check up on you, actually. But now that you mention Espers. . .
[she had promised. and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested]
[it's only after she sits that he finally takes a seat as well, though he keeps his hands in his pockets. for some reason]
[. . . her question isn't met with an immediate answer, mostly because it's-- complicated, at best.]
Yes, and no.
[he eventually says, the words coming out of his mouth slowly]
Gods and demons exist in popular mythology, and the Personas I wield are based on those characters. Lucifer-- the Persona you saw me use during the fight with Elios-- is one such demon. Depending on what mythology you read, he could either be the Roman god of the morning star, or the devil.
[another pause, and he draws his hands from his pockets to link his fingers together and lean forward, elbows resting on his knees]
. . . my friends and I were fighting another god created by society's collective unconscious before we came here, too.
Yes and no. That's...yeah, that's about what she expected. Without any context to what Romans are or the devil, but it does help ease her mind a little bit. If he's used to demonic forms...]
So.
[Her eyebrow lifts a little.]
You fought against a god created by belief. I assume you won, or you wouldn't be here alive. And you don't really know if there are other, more real gods and demons out there, basically?
[This seems like what he's getting at. But she has no doubt that Akira had beaten his foe. This is important though, since it's helping lay some groundwork.]
[one day he'll remember that not everyone here knows what he's talking about when he references well-known places or popular mythological figures from home]
Well. . .
My friends and I were brought here right before we confronted that god, so we technically. . . haven't won yet.
[welp. at least he says "haven't won yet," like winning is a given. which! to him, it is]
And just because this one was created by human desire doesn't mean it isn't real. It's just-- [how to explain?] It isn't a deity that existed from the dawn of time, if that makes sense.
I understand. New gods do come up from time to time, raised by collective belief. Or by taking power from one of the old ones. It's a rare thing but I've heard stories.
[It'd been Vayne's plan, actually/]
But that's just context. In my world, the Gods are real too, but other worlds it's not so clear so I wanted to ask. The beings that shaped Ivalice and it's early history. They are called the Occuria. And if they didn't create the world itself, they certainly have the power to do so now. They weave fate, manipulate the strings and threads of life to make our world what it is.
[Speaking from experience...she's not fond of it.]
The reins of history, in the hands of the gods. But they aren't omnipotent or omniscient. They make mistakes. You can guess where I'm going with this, probably.
The Occuria created servants. Their first creations were the Espers. Thirteen of them.
[She closes her eyes and recites an old bit of scholarly knowledge, something imparted by Fran. Her tone grows lower, and there's a feeling in the room, a kind of gloom and pressure settling over the air. The lights dim, and the air grows just a little colder.]
Beings of strange form and appearance made by the gods in ancient times. Favored with great strength and intellect, the Espers knew power far beyond that of men, but their power made them proud, and at length they sought to challenge the gods. Seeing this, the gods were angered and struck down their blessed children, and binding their souls and flesh with the Glyph of the Beast, they stole their freedom for all eternity. Now they are bound to live only when summoned by their Glyph, to serve whosoever called them forth.
[he instinctively shivers when the cold air brushes against his skin, though the action is only partially due to the change in atmosphere]
Ultima. . . was one of those Espers. [he repeats slowly, not wanting to make too many assumptions] And you have the ability to summon them through their-- Glyphs.
[suddenly, the harsh tone she had taken with that Esper during the last fight makes sense. Ultima probably wasn't too happy about being forced into eternal servitude]
Ultima is the leader of them, the High Seraph. The Occuria feared what she might become, though she was loyal at the time. She was sealed away not for rebelling, but for simply being too powerful.
[That was what some of the stories had said at any rate.]
She hates it. It isn't fair what was done to her, and it's twisted her into something more evil than she was at the outset. None of them were kind, they were monsters, one and all.
[Pen's eyes close and she shakes her head.]
I have two other Esper glyphs. They're like...little tattoos on my back. The others are considerably more grotesque, but dumber, more easy to control.
[he's silent for a moment, trying to picture what it'd be like to control powerful Personas such as Lucifer and Satan if they weren't just aspects of his soul, but separate, free-thinking beings with their own personalities]
[he can't imagine it. it's a little too far out of his grasp, but he doesn't think it'd be easy. just judging from how difficult it had seemed for Penelo]
Do you mind if I ask how you obtained that kind of power?
Esper's spiritual forms gather in places thick with Mist, and they're drawn to conflict. They can obtain some degree of freedom in those places, manifest and kill the unwary.
[Fingering her cuff, Penelo frowns.]
My friends and I sought them out and defeated them, then took their glyphs and bound them to us. The intent was to keep them from doing harm, and because...as I told you...we were fighting a war. We needed weapons, and as loathsome as they are, we needed their help.
[he gets that. in a battle where her enemy had the advantage from the get go, she and her comrades needed all the help they could get. still. . . he can't deny that he feels a bit of sympathy for the Espers, bound and chained as they were, when fighting against restraints was his whole purpose back home]
The sheer amount of power she displayed during that fight. . . it was incredible.
[Perhaps it might be different of Akira had ever seen the others, or seen what they were capable of doing. They were monsters, and leaving them free would have endangered the entire world.]
There are times when I wonder how we truly managed to defeat her, in the first place.
A real problem for us, but hardly one for her. [he gives her a lightly crooked smile] . . . thanks for sharing, though.
[he doesn't know what it is about Penelo, but her openness and honesty sort of makes him want to return the favor. it has since day one, when they first met and Joker the Shingle Inspector was born]
You didn't even ask about the creatures I summoned.
[he points out as he shifts in his seat to get a little more comfortable]
They're both a lot more forthcoming with this information than I am, aren't they. . .
[he sounds fondly amused, at any rate]
A Persona. . . is a reflection of a Person's soul. Those creatures I called to assist me in battle are technically a part of me. They're different than your Espers, although in the end they function pretty similarly.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mincingminuet) wrote1998-05-06 11:36 pm
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[and before she can reply]
[there's a knock at her door]
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Not quite a nurse. Just a healer. Conventional medicine is beyond me.
If you want to have a seat, I can get that going for you though.
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It isn't that bad.
[he says as he taps the toes of one foot against the ground]
But thanks. Is there anything I can do for you in return?
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[She twitches a finger, a tiny streamer of blue-white magick already lancing out towards him. A Regeneration spell, one that'll slowly repair damaged tissue enough to speed recovery, at least from his walk over.]
This sort of thing comes naturally to me, so think nothing of it.
Though since your here, I did promise I'd share the story of the Espers with you, if you're interested in hearing it.
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[he jerks back in surprise, an instinctive reaction to seeing the magic approach. it wraps around his leg, and already, he can feel the sore muscles relaxing]
[it's similar enough to a Diarahan that it doesn't feel too out of place, but he also can't help but comment]
My cat's pretty good at healing magic, too.
[WHAT A STRANGE STATEMENT]
I called to check up on you, actually. But now that you mention Espers. . .
[she had promised. and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested]
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[She could deal with that. It was no weirder than anything else, all things considered.]
[She sits down on a stool and nods, ready to explain.]
It is a bit of a long story, but yeah. You should at least have an idea of what they are.
[She puffs out a breath and begins with a question.]
Does your world have gods and demons? Or just Personas and cat creatures?
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[. . . her question isn't met with an immediate answer, mostly because it's-- complicated, at best.]
Yes, and no.
[he eventually says, the words coming out of his mouth slowly]
Gods and demons exist in popular mythology, and the Personas I wield are based on those characters. Lucifer-- the Persona you saw me use during the fight with Elios-- is one such demon. Depending on what mythology you read, he could either be the Roman god of the morning star, or the devil.
[another pause, and he draws his hands from his pockets to link his fingers together and lean forward, elbows resting on his knees]
. . . my friends and I were fighting another god created by society's collective unconscious before we came here, too.
no subject
Yes and no. That's...yeah, that's about what she expected. Without any context to what Romans are or the devil, but it does help ease her mind a little bit. If he's used to demonic forms...]
So.
[Her eyebrow lifts a little.]
You fought against a god created by belief. I assume you won, or you wouldn't be here alive. And you don't really know if there are other, more real gods and demons out there, basically?
[This seems like what he's getting at. But she has no doubt that Akira had beaten his foe. This is important though, since it's helping lay some groundwork.]
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Well. . .
My friends and I were brought here right before we confronted that god, so we technically. . . haven't won yet.
[welp. at least he says "haven't won yet," like winning is a given. which! to him, it is]
And just because this one was created by human desire doesn't mean it isn't real. It's just-- [how to explain?] It isn't a deity that existed from the dawn of time, if that makes sense.
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[It'd been Vayne's plan, actually/]
But that's just context. In my world, the Gods are real too, but other worlds it's not so clear so I wanted to ask. The beings that shaped Ivalice and it's early history. They are called the Occuria. And if they didn't create the world itself, they certainly have the power to do so now. They weave fate, manipulate the strings and threads of life to make our world what it is.
[Speaking from experience...she's not fond of it.]
The reins of history, in the hands of the gods. But they aren't omnipotent or omniscient. They make mistakes. You can guess where I'm going with this, probably.
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. . . I may be able to, yeah. [he says slowly once she's finished] But I'll still let you tell it.
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The Occuria created servants. Their first creations were the Espers. Thirteen of them.
[She closes her eyes and recites an old bit of scholarly knowledge, something imparted by Fran. Her tone grows lower, and there's a feeling in the room, a kind of gloom and pressure settling over the air. The lights dim, and the air grows just a little colder.]
Beings of strange form and appearance made by the gods in ancient times. Favored with great strength and intellect, the Espers knew power far beyond that of men, but their power made them proud, and at length they sought to challenge the gods. Seeing this, the gods were angered and struck down their blessed children, and binding their souls and flesh with the Glyph of the Beast, they stole their freedom for all eternity. Now they are bound to live only when summoned by their Glyph, to serve whosoever called them forth.
no subject
Ultima. . . was one of those Espers. [he repeats slowly, not wanting to make too many assumptions] And you have the ability to summon them through their-- Glyphs.
[suddenly, the harsh tone she had taken with that Esper during the last fight makes sense. Ultima probably wasn't too happy about being forced into eternal servitude]
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[That was what some of the stories had said at any rate.]
She hates it. It isn't fair what was done to her, and it's twisted her into something more evil than she was at the outset. None of them were kind, they were monsters, one and all.
[Pen's eyes close and she shakes her head.]
I have two other Esper glyphs. They're like...little tattoos on my back. The others are considerably more grotesque, but dumber, more easy to control.
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[he can't imagine it. it's a little too far out of his grasp, but he doesn't think it'd be easy. just judging from how difficult it had seemed for Penelo]
Do you mind if I ask how you obtained that kind of power?
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[It's actually rather simple.]
Esper's spiritual forms gather in places thick with Mist, and they're drawn to conflict. They can obtain some degree of freedom in those places, manifest and kill the unwary.
[Fingering her cuff, Penelo frowns.]
My friends and I sought them out and defeated them, then took their glyphs and bound them to us. The intent was to keep them from doing harm, and because...as I told you...we were fighting a war. We needed weapons, and as loathsome as they are, we needed their help.
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[he gets that. in a battle where her enemy had the advantage from the get go, she and her comrades needed all the help they could get. still. . . he can't deny that he feels a bit of sympathy for the Espers, bound and chained as they were, when fighting against restraints was his whole purpose back home]
The sheer amount of power she displayed during that fight. . . it was incredible.
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[Perhaps it might be different of Akira had ever seen the others, or seen what they were capable of doing. They were monsters, and leaving them free would have endangered the entire world.]
There are times when I wonder how we truly managed to defeat her, in the first place.
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Oh. Well, I don't.
[he says, a grin curling up the corners of his mouth]
I've seen what you can do, and how you managed to handle her. If your friends are as tough as you are, then you guys probably make an unbeatable team.
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[Ducking her head in acknowledgement of the compliment, she laughs weakly.]
Lots of narrow escapes, though. But that's normal, I guess.
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[says someone who is way too familiar with close calls]
Beach trip ate my free time.
[And sometimes you die and get revived and keep right on fighting.]
Anyway. That's...more or less the story of Espers. Ultima is probably the least grotesque one I have, too. That feather was a real problem.
it ate mine too... no worries!!
A real problem for us, but hardly one for her. [he gives her a lightly crooked smile] . . . thanks for sharing, though.
[he doesn't know what it is about Penelo, but her openness and honesty sort of makes him want to return the favor. it has since day one, when they first met and Joker the Shingle Inspector was born]
You didn't even ask about the creatures I summoned.
[he points out as he shifts in his seat to get a little more comfortable]
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Well, Futaba and Fuuka both told me a little about Personas. I admittedly don't know that much, but I figured I'd ask later.
[It seemed much less pressing than 'hey there are demons in my tattoos.']
Tell me about them? The ones you called.
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They're both a lot more forthcoming with this information than I am, aren't they. . .
[he sounds fondly amused, at any rate]
A Persona. . . is a reflection of a Person's soul. Those creatures I called to assist me in battle are technically a part of me. They're different than your Espers, although in the end they function pretty similarly.
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