fujimaru | Palace Game 6/3

Palace Game 6/3

The Dreamer In The Grand Temple
Humanity Foundation Value: ????

What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

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That voice wails again. It is fury, it is frustration, and it is the deep, almost childish confusion that he had done what he believed was right--he had followed a king chosen by god, who had been blessed with both a holy sword and a holy lance--so how? Why? Why would he fall, at the end of the line?

But it is, perhaps, slightly less frantic than before.

I'm sorry.

[he repeats, concerned.]

But you can rest now. You don't have to hold onto this feeling.

The wailing is slowing, slowing, fading into a pained sort of gurgle.

It is only one soul among so many, but it does appear to be calming.

[he glances up towards the man who led him here.]

...Is there a way to do this for all of them?

The man glances at him briefly. His expression is mostly unchanged, but there is something like pity in his strange, strange eyes.

"You could preach for a thousand years, and not reach all of them," he says, somehow not unkindly. "And there are things that would not understand your words at all. You are a human, speaking to a human. There is more than that, in the dark."

[he takes a breath, before he nods.]

...Okay. Finding her is more important.

"Indeed," he says. There is a long pause, and then he actually holds a hand out to Rupert, a silent offer of help for him to stand.

[he reaches out to accept his hand.]

Thanks.

The man's hand is surprisingly steady, though cold to the touch; there is a surprising sort of strength in his wiry frame.

"Have heart," he says. "We are almost through the worst of it."

It's not me I'm worried about.

[but he nods, continuing on.]

"You should." Again, the man's voice is not entirely unkind. "You are the one here, in the guts of Hell itself."

Yeah, but I'm not alone, and I'm not... like they are.

"And you cannot tear yourself apart for them. They are the dead; let them solve their own problems. You are among the living, for now. Turn your concerns to them."

Under their feet, the ground is beginning to slant up... but despite that, the level of liquid sloshing around his ankles does not appear to be going down.

I wouldn't call that tearing myself apart, but - I know. That's why I want to find her.

[he looks down at his feet with a frown.]

"Do you?" There's something almost amused in his voice now, unstrained by the uphill climb. "Then I wish you good hunting. So long as you persist, may you find a path forward!"

But as he says that, he comes to a stop. "And from here, you must make the final trek on your own."

...Okay.

[a pause]

I just go straight from here?

"Follow the path that goes before you," he says calmly. "Wherever it leads you, that will be where you need to go. I cannot leave this place just yet."

In that case, um - thank you for your help!

[and he'll continue further.]

The remaining walk seems to take an inordinate amount of time--hours? months? It's hard to say. The air is still cleaner than it was, but there are the sounds of voices again--louder now, more openly hostile. He can make out words now, in the mess:

"--no! Stop! No, no, no, no, no... I haven't even accomplished anything yet--!"

"--I can't stand it. I spent every one of those thousand and one nights wishing for nothing more than to not die. Every fiber of my being is terrified of death!"

"This... This can't be how I die! I was... I was going to destroy...this entire world...!!!"

They're getting louder. There are so many of them.

[muttering as he walks forward, fingernails digging into his palms]

Sorry, sorry, I'm— [blinks] Actually I'm not that sorry to that last person?

It's certainly something, isn't it.

The voices get louder, and louder, and then--

They stop.

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Palace Game 6/3

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart

Re: the delights of a human's heart