"And she is the only one who was left to take up the mantle that was intended to be spread out among many. Here is where her burdens have been brought to rest."
"You don't think we don't?" His voice is colder now, sharp through the screaming.
"What do you think, then, if we left a place like this alone? If it was allowed to fester, and to grow? Did you not feel the way it reached for you? It would consume everything in its path and grow until it consumed her in her entirety. Would that be preferable? Would you wish to see that fall?"
"There is no way to root out the rot in its entirety, when she continues on this path," says Mr. Edgelord. "As long as she continues, she will accumulate these resentments, these curses--the stones 'round her neck. Her choices are twofold: to continue, and to gather these, or to stop, and be pulled down as one of their number."
"Victory is the only way to win," he says, very philosophically.
The ground under their feet is starting to slant upwards--gradually at first, and more steeply; somehow, though, the blood levels around his ankles don't seem to be going down.
"If she wishes to save her world, her only choice is to move forward. Would you ask her otherwise?"
"It is not for either of us to ask," he says. He sounds almost--almost--sympathetic, though the sound of his own footsteps is beginning to slow. "That choice is hers alone. So long as she continues to make it, this place will continue to exist."
And then he stops entirely.
"And here is where you must also make that choice. Do you continue on? Or do you give up, and return to safety, to wait out the rest of your time here?"
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.
Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-04 11:51 pm (UTC)"Did you think my warnings were exaggerated? Hardly! After so many years, how many curses did you think would accumulate?"
Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-04 11:53 pm (UTC)Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-05 12:04 am (UTC)Abruptly, the humor is gone out of his voice.
"And she is the only one who was left to take up the mantle that was intended to be spread out among many. Here is where her burdens have been brought to rest."
Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-05 12:07 am (UTC)Ya oughta feel some sorta shame.
Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-05 12:30 am (UTC)"What do you think, then, if we left a place like this alone? If it was allowed to fester, and to grow? Did you not feel the way it reached for you? It would consume everything in its path and grow until it consumed her in her entirety. Would that be preferable? Would you wish to see that fall?"
Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-05 12:31 am (UTC)Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-05 12:59 am (UTC)Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-05 01:01 am (UTC)Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-05 01:16 am (UTC)The ground under their feet is starting to slant upwards--gradually at first, and more steeply; somehow, though, the blood levels around his ankles don't seem to be going down.
"If she wishes to save her world, her only choice is to move forward. Would you ask her otherwise?"
Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-05 01:18 am (UTC)[wish i had a broom to fly
fucked up]
Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-05 02:07 am (UTC)And then he stops entirely.
"And here is where you must also make that choice. Do you continue on? Or do you give up, and return to safety, to wait out the rest of your time here?"
Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-05 02:15 am (UTC)[pushing onwards]
Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-05 02:26 am (UTC)"--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.
Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-05 02:36 am (UTC)It means no worries for the rest of yer days~
It's a problem free~ philosophy~
Hakuna Matata~....
Re: the delights of a human's heart
Date: 2022-09-05 02:39 am (UTC)And then it stops.