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.
Well, it helps that I caught them by surprise. And I'm pretty good at ferreting out information.
[Even from you.]
And I think I understand that. You call out beings from your soul. This that...are important in your world? You mentioned that they were gods and demons and stuff before.
Right. Some of them are gods and demons from mythology, while others are fictional or literary characters. But the one thing they have in common is this: their stories are so popular and famous, that nearly everyone in the world has heard of them.
["nearly everyone," since he is pretty sure some of his Personas come from rather obscure mythological tales]
[Well that's impressive! But then that must be what it's like, living in the Information Age. For something to be known the world over in Ivalice, it's got to be something utterly earthshaking, and not just a story.]
And it's because they're so well known that they get to be given life as a Persona?
[bless Penelo for being so patient with all this psychology archetype Jungian bullshit]
But only in the Metaverse-- the world of the collective unconscious. Which is kind of a parallel world to our own. That's where the monsters we fight every day exist, and that's the only world in which we can summon our Personas.
[Her eyes widen a little bit, truly surprised by that. Not...that she doubts it's happening, but it just sounds so weird. Almost like the Occuria's realm overlaying onto Ivalice.]
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mincingminuet) wrote1998-05-06 11:36 pm
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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.
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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.
no subject
[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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[Even from you.]
And I think I understand that. You call out beings from your soul. This that...are important in your world? You mentioned that they were gods and demons and stuff before.
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Right. Some of them are gods and demons from mythology, while others are fictional or literary characters. But the one thing they have in common is this: their stories are so popular and famous, that nearly everyone in the world has heard of them.
["nearly everyone," since he is pretty sure some of his Personas come from rather obscure mythological tales]
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And it's because they're so well known that they get to be given life as a Persona?
[Or what counts as life, anyway?]
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[bless Penelo for being so patient with all this psychology archetype Jungian bullshit]
But only in the Metaverse-- the world of the collective unconscious. Which is kind of a parallel world to our own. That's where the monsters we fight every day exist, and that's the only world in which we can summon our Personas.
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[Because he can clearly summon his Personas here. Could it be the nature of this world?]
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[magician's stuff didn't count]
[although. . . there's a heavy pause after he answers]
Ah, I mean, not usually. We did sort of leave the world in a. . . messy state, before coming here.
[THE METAVERSE MERGING WITH THE REAL WORLD WAS SOME SCARY SHIT, MAN]
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[Now she's interested, just leaning forward a little. A world without magick is bizarre, almost unthinkable.]
If you don't mind telling me, that is?
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The Metaverse, the cognitive world, merged with the real world before we left. It was the work of the god we're fighting.
They did it so they could have complete control over humanity's thoughts and emotions, on society's perception of the world around them.
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[Her eyes widen a little bit, truly surprised by that. Not...that she doubts it's happening, but it just sounds so weird. Almost like the Occuria's realm overlaying onto Ivalice.]
You're worried about the fight at home?
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Am I that easy to read?
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