Palace Game 6/5

[fujimaru]

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.

Comments

[survivaltricks]

Mmm. . . thanks. Things here are a bit different than what I'm used to.

[slightly sheepish]

. . . you don't happen to know where Ritsuka is, do you? That's why I'm here. I'm trying to find her, and bring her back.

[fujimaru]

"That's..." Boudica pauses as she puts a plate of curry rice down in front of him. It smells really good, perhaps better than reality could accomplish. This is a dream in its own way. "Well. That's a little bit complicated. We know who has her, just not where."

[survivaltricks]

[reaches for a spoon, but doesn't take a bite juuuust yet]

. . . who?

[fujimaru]

"It depends on when you ask him," she says, like this makes sense. "But when I knew him, he was Beast I. He might be using the other names, but--well. I suppose he's fond of Master, in his own way."

[survivaltricks]

[quiet for a bit as he takes a bite of this DELICIOUS SMELLING CURRY]

. . . Beast, huh. . .

Can you tell me more about him?

[fujimaru]

"He's garbage," she says flatly, and then smiles a bit again, slightly strained.

"Or, no... I suppose if Master were here, she would argue about that. But a Beast is--... well. We would call them an 'Evil of Humanity,' among other things. The things that humans have to overcome, if we mean to move forward, but that we can't be rid of. They're part of us, even if they oppose us."

[survivaltricks]

[ah. . . that draws a crooked smile out of Akira]

Almost like an individual's Shadow. The parts of themselves they fear the most.

Only. . . on a much larger scale.

[fujimaru]

"Oh, much larger," she says. "For humanity as a whole. The sins that we can't cut away from ourselves as a species.

"And for him, it was Pity."

[survivaltricks]

[tilts his head]

Pity?

[fujimaru]

"Pity." She shakes her head. "The pity that looks at others and thinks that you could do better than them, or for them. It's not such a cut and dried thing as just looking down on someone. Not just for humans, but for animals--the world as a whole. Looking at someone suffering, and thinking that your way is better, and you can change it.

"Sometimes you're right. And sometimes you're not. But in its own way, that is what makes the sin of Pity."

[survivaltricks]

[her explanation makes so much sense, and it resonates with Akira, somewhere deep inside his heart. he falls silent and takes a few more bites of curry, savoring the flavor as he absorbs her words]

Did he ever. . . act on his pity?

[fujimaru]

"If he hadn't, we wouldn't be here," she says, not unkindly. "Ah, maybe not 'here' in the sense of... whatever place Master is in right now. But she wouldn't be my Master--she wouldn't have any of us here, if he had not."

[survivaltricks]

. . . right. Of course.

[he's smiling, but he sounds a little rueful]

Rituska's been through a lot, hasn't she? She tries to hide it. . . but honestly, she's not very good at it.

[fujimaru]

"That girl..." Boudica grimaces. "Honestly, I don't know what they were thinking, putting all of it on her. Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. And we were all in a fairly desperate situation. ...We still are."

[survivaltricks]

[lifts his chin]

Whatever responsibilities she had thrust upon her- she knows she isn't alone.

Right?

[fujimaru]

There's a pause, and Boudica actually sighs, looking away briefly.

"That's complicated," she says at last. "She isn't. But she is. There's a lot that we've put on her, even when it wasn't fair. There'll be more, too. Some of it, there's no help for her.

"But she has me." She puts a hand to her chest. "She has everyone who has answered her call. And that's not nothing."

[survivaltricks]

. . .

I'm glad for that. She deserves that support.

[said quietly, but earnestly. and then, with an exhale—]

If I manage to find this Beast I, do you have any advice on how to deal with him?

[fujimaru]

"Don't fight him," she says firmly. "Not that I don't think you're weak or anything. But he's not the sort of thing that's meant to be fought by a single person. I don't care what your pride says, if you think it's a wise idea to die in this place, I'd have to knock you out right here."

[survivaltricks]

[a wry laugh, his lips curving upwards]

Based on what you've told me, I don't think I'd want to fight him, anyway.

. . . he may be the embodiment of humanity's sin, but even he has a right to exist.

[fujimaru]

She huffs a little, smiling as she does, then reaches to pat his cheek fondly again.

"No wonder she likes you," she says. "That's the sort of thing she'd say."

[survivaltricks]

[oH NO HE GOT MOMMED AGAIN. blinks a few times, but then huffs in that slightly-exasperated-but-not-really-all-that-bothered teenager way]

Mmm. . . maybe we're more alike than either of us think.

[polishing off the curry and placing his utensil aside, fingers linked and hands stretched in front of him]

Thank you for the food-- and the help. It was delicious.

The-- ah. The curry, not the help.

[fujimaru]

Unfortunately for him, you cannot escape Boudica motherhenning. But she laughs at his correction, waving a hand.

"Come back some other time! When things are a bit less what they are right now. You can meet some of the others."

[survivaltricks]

[standing up now, and giving her another polite bow of his head]

I will; I promise.

[AND THEN HE IS LEAVING, through a door that he didn't enter from]

[fujimaru]

Out in the stairwell, the only apparent way to go is up.