Necessity4Fun
I'll keep trying, even if I'm not good enough...
Sage had flinched back a bit when Kyou had reacted with surprise, the boundaries of interpersonal relations were still quite new to him, being a constant point of concern especially during approaches. It didn't seem like he had it wrong though, judging by the gentle smile that he had received back, one that had been reciprocated right afterwards, together with a little pride over handling stuff adequately without being too awkward for once. He was learning, hurray! Not... that it had held on for long, because once the other had laughed, the pyromancer had averted his gaze in mild embarrassment and confusion as he wondered if he said anything too weird...
The explanation had at several points raised more questions than answered them. Right in the start, he had been relieved to know that what he had watched wasn't actually a fight, but then it seemed like both of them were friends and rivals?? And to be honest he was just lost. How, did that even work? Wasn't rivalry a bad thing? But friendship seemed... good, at least it felt that way, so how did you pair both things at once? Shouldn't that be paradoxical in nature?! Differently than what Kyou had said though, the young man didn't really feel like the other had to explain anything. Sure, he wanted to know, to understand more of this which was so... fresh and unexplored to him. But it wasn't as if the adult had to feel obligated to say it. That was the last thing that he wanted to elicit, the feeling of forcefulness.
Even so, the Oni had a pleasant and kind expression in his face, as if he was looking back to something nice to remember. Just what was he thinking of, he wondered, past adventures perhaps? The Descendant found himself caught in thinking whether he too would have good memories to look back to one day... But then the matter of shortening lifespan came to mind and, well, his own expression had gone sad for a moment; Glancing at the floor with uncertainty, uneasiness. In-between confusion, his own internal musings and paying attention to the words being shared, there hadn't been any openings to wonder anything about the long-necked pumpkin that Kyou seemingly drank from, or whatever he might be drinking. There were only so many tasks that could be done at once without losing track of them.
It sounded really nice, the friendship that the two shared together. Even lacking experience with the subject, Sage could tell that Kyou valued Mimaki a lot, and it certainly seemed like it was a mutual feeling. In fact, as the conversation went on it- He had felt himself begin to shake, trying to keep in tears and a plethora of emotions that wanted to peek out. It was just impossible not to feel like it was something that he had been missing; Unfairly cheated from. Such a dent was a lot harder to notice being inside it, but the more he heard about other people's lives, their memories, the more he found gaps on his own...
An ever-increasing list of things he had not and might never get to experience now. And it wasn't exactly a pleasant notion to learn of.
He would have felt terrible for making Kyou sad though... So no crying!
Confusing ideas and wasted time aside, the first big surprise had come with the mention of Balance Breaker, a power which honestly, the pyromancer had been way too busy to pay attention to. Really, first it had been the fear hallucinations, then Kagutsuchi messing with him, there had been no time to breathe back there! Though it was one of those things that sorta made sense even when one knew nothing about? Something like that just had to come from an external source of some kind, stuff didn't just unbreak themselves arbitrarily like that.
"Ohhhh, that was you?!", he has asked with eyes widened in a mix of excitement and wonder, "I didn't get the chance to actually know what was happening in the background at the same time. It was just like... restraint, and yet not really? But I was actually good at things for once! Which was welcome~ Like, I know you said it breaks stuff, but since I'm already kinda... 'broken', in a way, I guess you balanced it instead. It was definitely interesting... And painless too, which was also welcome!", oops that might have been too much information so suddenly, but too late now!
Then came the information that Mimaki seemingly couldn't die, which was shocking. Not because of that, but more because it had been put together with 'selflessness', well, more like martyr tendencies than just selflessness and that was the part that had hit to close to home. The Kitsune had an excuse for it, but Sage? He had nothing of the sort... Had he really been that reckless? Did his drive to help and save truly go so far that his well-being kept getting disregarded? It was a weird duality as the idea of making the sacrifice for someone else more worthy still stood; But his own self-worth and self-awareness were on a slow yet gradual rise. Those two also seemed a little paradoxical in nature, didn't they? Nonetheless, as the exchange neared completion, he had found himself with another question.
"Uhhh, what's a 'tsundere'?", sorry Kyou, this young man doesn't know Japanese. Oooor has had much contact with internet culture in his life, "And nah, don't worry about that, I doubt I'd get much more even if you made it, like, reeeally understandable!", he had laughed softly, "It's the kind of thing that's still a bit too new for me. And when I say that I mean, today, or rather yesterday at this point. That's how new they are...", his expression was kinda hard to read, something in-between appreciation and affection, yet with sad hints of melancholy behind, "But, I can definitely tell that you two care a lot for each other, and I think that was the main point, right? It's... nice. It sounds really nice..."
Luckily the other had decided to change subjects, before the pyromancer could have made the mood too gloomy, instead asking about the stars. Had... Had no one listened to a word of his explanation about them? Oh well, at least it was the kind of topic that he didn't mind to repeat, and was capable of going on and on and on hours on end about. There were few things that Sage was really passionate about, but his religion and world mythos definitely made the cut! Though first, Orbeck had approached them with an offer to fix his... hoody?
"Wait, that's for me?", he had eventually realized in confusion, pointing at his face, "It's a jacket, not a hoodie since it never had any kind of hat attached to it or anythin- ...D-DID YOU SAY YOU CAN FIX IT?!", annnnd it had finally sunk in, "Wow that is- I'd be so grateful! 'Cause I'd reeeally hate to lose yet another one, it's not like I own that many clothes already... Uhhh do I need to go get the sleeve I gave Megumin then?"
Apparently not!
Having taken all of his belongings from the pockets, a timid assortment of items composed of his wallet, that slip of paper from the last world, a crimson marker, a little box of matches, the communicator and the armlet, the pyromancer had carefully taken the flame-eaten jacket out, which just consisted of a sleeveless front and raggedy uneven strands for the back.
Other than the few times he might have been wearing it, this was also Kyou's first time seeing the armlet in an unmissable manner, which was a golden ornate piece of jewelry, snaked in two pieces that were kept together by a centrepiece shaped like a textured wing. Depending on the angle that he peeked at it from, the Oni might have caught sight of four fantasy-ish symbols engraved in the interior, each having a very faint resemblance to Kanji in the way they were made out of strokes and yet, not really; More like something you'd see out of an RPG actually. The placement of said symbols also did not seem random, there was definitely some kind of logic to it.
The repair itself had taken, next to no time at all! Not even a minute later, he was being given back that which wasn't just a fixed jacket, but also a clean one, in a way it hadn't been ever since this adventure had started. Especially after the sewer cross, he had really thought that the piece of garment would have never been the same again.
"Woa!! THAT IS AMAZING!", Sage had flipped the restored clothing around numerous times in both awe and disbelief, "You even managed to make the dirty grey into white again, as if I never fell into the sewage river in the first place!", he was so happy that he could hug the sorcerer, though something told him Orbeck wouldn't be too happy if he did that, so he just hugged the jacket to his chest --and accidentally dropped some of his things on the process, but they got picked back up so it's fine--, "Aww man, I kinda wish I hadn't changed pants in the train now, but still thank you so much for this! Now it gets a whole new life~!!"
As he briefly wondered if Hershel had a way of doing similar, the pyromancer had taken no time in wearing the jacket back. He was still pretty much in wonderment and appreciation the whole time, putting his items back on their now uncharred respective pockets. It was in this moment that he had also caught sight of Leo leaving for the elevator to join Jason's deck group. Not going to lie, it was still a bit weird to get separated after this long, voluntarily separated, and he couldn't stop watching his best friend go until the elevator's door had finally closed. To which he let out a little sigh. Jason was there, so they were going to be fine, right? And definitely coming back. Definitely.
Before he started worrying too much and separation anxiety decided to do its thing, the Descendant had forced himself to pay attention to something else, which meant progress. Monopolizing someone else's attention and company like in the last world had really not felt right to do. With Leo leaving, he had finally realized that Willow had, in fact, joined them earlier. And still, she seemed to be actively avoiding him, probably because he had said he didn't like fire all that much.
Normally this would be bothersome, but in this case, he did prefer the distance over all that unnerving worshipping.
And at last, his attention had come back to Kyou. It had taken him a while, because that was just how his brain worked... or not worked, it was hard to remember that which he was about to do. But it did eventually come back!
"...OH, THE STARS! Right.", nevermind that he still had no idea what the other meant with the 'kings' comparison, but he had asked for an explanation and he was going to get one! And a lot of passionate rambling over the topic on the way there, "Okay so! Already in the first chapter of the Book of Creation, it talks about how Saraiiho is the result of all eight Deities coming together and using their respective Magic to create the world as we know it. We can go deeper into that later, but right now we're just focusing on The Creator, which is responsible for the creation of well, people! But also putting the Concept of Life in motion...", there was a brief pause, as he gave how to progress some thought, "I guess, the simplest way to explain it iiiis uhh, Stars for us are in a way, the equivalent to Souls on other worlds... At the very beginning, they were said to be plucked from the Skies and embed into things to grant them life. Then they're called 'Lights' since they not in the Sky anymore."
"Space-travel is... taboo for us. It's not supposed to be a thing, it's... actually heretical in nature to conceive such a thing, since that'd mean crossing into the dominion of the Deities themselves. No one knows what's in Space, beyond the existence of Stars and both Sun and Moon, and- We're mostly okay with that. It makes sense for us to not know. So, this... This whole thing is just, there's a duality of dread and wonderment. At the same time that it feels like none of us are supposed to be here, it's like a high-tier spiritual experience that we even are. Space is considered the Nursery of the Lights, it's... Well, where Life itself originates from. Where your own Light will return to in Death to be evaluated and eventually make up a new person once it returns... It's something that's surreal to be seeing so close to me that I feel like I could almost touch it. Like, it still doesn't feel like it's actually happening? And I doubt that it ever will... It's just, crazy."
The explanation had at several points raised more questions than answered them. Right in the start, he had been relieved to know that what he had watched wasn't actually a fight, but then it seemed like both of them were friends and rivals?? And to be honest he was just lost. How, did that even work? Wasn't rivalry a bad thing? But friendship seemed... good, at least it felt that way, so how did you pair both things at once? Shouldn't that be paradoxical in nature?! Differently than what Kyou had said though, the young man didn't really feel like the other had to explain anything. Sure, he wanted to know, to understand more of this which was so... fresh and unexplored to him. But it wasn't as if the adult had to feel obligated to say it. That was the last thing that he wanted to elicit, the feeling of forcefulness.
Even so, the Oni had a pleasant and kind expression in his face, as if he was looking back to something nice to remember. Just what was he thinking of, he wondered, past adventures perhaps? The Descendant found himself caught in thinking whether he too would have good memories to look back to one day... But then the matter of shortening lifespan came to mind and, well, his own expression had gone sad for a moment; Glancing at the floor with uncertainty, uneasiness. In-between confusion, his own internal musings and paying attention to the words being shared, there hadn't been any openings to wonder anything about the long-necked pumpkin that Kyou seemingly drank from, or whatever he might be drinking. There were only so many tasks that could be done at once without losing track of them.
It sounded really nice, the friendship that the two shared together. Even lacking experience with the subject, Sage could tell that Kyou valued Mimaki a lot, and it certainly seemed like it was a mutual feeling. In fact, as the conversation went on it- He had felt himself begin to shake, trying to keep in tears and a plethora of emotions that wanted to peek out. It was just impossible not to feel like it was something that he had been missing; Unfairly cheated from. Such a dent was a lot harder to notice being inside it, but the more he heard about other people's lives, their memories, the more he found gaps on his own...
An ever-increasing list of things he had not and might never get to experience now. And it wasn't exactly a pleasant notion to learn of.
He would have felt terrible for making Kyou sad though... So no crying!
Confusing ideas and wasted time aside, the first big surprise had come with the mention of Balance Breaker, a power which honestly, the pyromancer had been way too busy to pay attention to. Really, first it had been the fear hallucinations, then Kagutsuchi messing with him, there had been no time to breathe back there! Though it was one of those things that sorta made sense even when one knew nothing about? Something like that just had to come from an external source of some kind, stuff didn't just unbreak themselves arbitrarily like that.
"Ohhhh, that was you?!", he has asked with eyes widened in a mix of excitement and wonder, "I didn't get the chance to actually know what was happening in the background at the same time. It was just like... restraint, and yet not really? But I was actually good at things for once! Which was welcome~ Like, I know you said it breaks stuff, but since I'm already kinda... 'broken', in a way, I guess you balanced it instead. It was definitely interesting... And painless too, which was also welcome!", oops that might have been too much information so suddenly, but too late now!
Then came the information that Mimaki seemingly couldn't die, which was shocking. Not because of that, but more because it had been put together with 'selflessness', well, more like martyr tendencies than just selflessness and that was the part that had hit to close to home. The Kitsune had an excuse for it, but Sage? He had nothing of the sort... Had he really been that reckless? Did his drive to help and save truly go so far that his well-being kept getting disregarded? It was a weird duality as the idea of making the sacrifice for someone else more worthy still stood; But his own self-worth and self-awareness were on a slow yet gradual rise. Those two also seemed a little paradoxical in nature, didn't they? Nonetheless, as the exchange neared completion, he had found himself with another question.
"Uhhh, what's a 'tsundere'?", sorry Kyou, this young man doesn't know Japanese. Oooor has had much contact with internet culture in his life, "And nah, don't worry about that, I doubt I'd get much more even if you made it, like, reeeally understandable!", he had laughed softly, "It's the kind of thing that's still a bit too new for me. And when I say that I mean, today, or rather yesterday at this point. That's how new they are...", his expression was kinda hard to read, something in-between appreciation and affection, yet with sad hints of melancholy behind, "But, I can definitely tell that you two care a lot for each other, and I think that was the main point, right? It's... nice. It sounds really nice..."
Luckily the other had decided to change subjects, before the pyromancer could have made the mood too gloomy, instead asking about the stars. Had... Had no one listened to a word of his explanation about them? Oh well, at least it was the kind of topic that he didn't mind to repeat, and was capable of going on and on and on hours on end about. There were few things that Sage was really passionate about, but his religion and world mythos definitely made the cut! Though first, Orbeck had approached them with an offer to fix his... hoody?
"Wait, that's for me?", he had eventually realized in confusion, pointing at his face, "It's a jacket, not a hoodie since it never had any kind of hat attached to it or anythin- ...D-DID YOU SAY YOU CAN FIX IT?!", annnnd it had finally sunk in, "Wow that is- I'd be so grateful! 'Cause I'd reeeally hate to lose yet another one, it's not like I own that many clothes already... Uhhh do I need to go get the sleeve I gave Megumin then?"
Apparently not!
Having taken all of his belongings from the pockets, a timid assortment of items composed of his wallet, that slip of paper from the last world, a crimson marker, a little box of matches, the communicator and the armlet, the pyromancer had carefully taken the flame-eaten jacket out, which just consisted of a sleeveless front and raggedy uneven strands for the back.
Other than the few times he might have been wearing it, this was also Kyou's first time seeing the armlet in an unmissable manner, which was a golden ornate piece of jewelry, snaked in two pieces that were kept together by a centrepiece shaped like a textured wing. Depending on the angle that he peeked at it from, the Oni might have caught sight of four fantasy-ish symbols engraved in the interior, each having a very faint resemblance to Kanji in the way they were made out of strokes and yet, not really; More like something you'd see out of an RPG actually. The placement of said symbols also did not seem random, there was definitely some kind of logic to it.
The repair itself had taken, next to no time at all! Not even a minute later, he was being given back that which wasn't just a fixed jacket, but also a clean one, in a way it hadn't been ever since this adventure had started. Especially after the sewer cross, he had really thought that the piece of garment would have never been the same again.
"Woa!! THAT IS AMAZING!", Sage had flipped the restored clothing around numerous times in both awe and disbelief, "You even managed to make the dirty grey into white again, as if I never fell into the sewage river in the first place!", he was so happy that he could hug the sorcerer, though something told him Orbeck wouldn't be too happy if he did that, so he just hugged the jacket to his chest --and accidentally dropped some of his things on the process, but they got picked back up so it's fine--, "Aww man, I kinda wish I hadn't changed pants in the train now, but still thank you so much for this! Now it gets a whole new life~!!"
As he briefly wondered if Hershel had a way of doing similar, the pyromancer had taken no time in wearing the jacket back. He was still pretty much in wonderment and appreciation the whole time, putting his items back on their now uncharred respective pockets. It was in this moment that he had also caught sight of Leo leaving for the elevator to join Jason's deck group. Not going to lie, it was still a bit weird to get separated after this long, voluntarily separated, and he couldn't stop watching his best friend go until the elevator's door had finally closed. To which he let out a little sigh. Jason was there, so they were going to be fine, right? And definitely coming back. Definitely.
Before he started worrying too much and separation anxiety decided to do its thing, the Descendant had forced himself to pay attention to something else, which meant progress. Monopolizing someone else's attention and company like in the last world had really not felt right to do. With Leo leaving, he had finally realized that Willow had, in fact, joined them earlier. And still, she seemed to be actively avoiding him, probably because he had said he didn't like fire all that much.
Normally this would be bothersome, but in this case, he did prefer the distance over all that unnerving worshipping.
And at last, his attention had come back to Kyou. It had taken him a while, because that was just how his brain worked... or not worked, it was hard to remember that which he was about to do. But it did eventually come back!
"...OH, THE STARS! Right.", nevermind that he still had no idea what the other meant with the 'kings' comparison, but he had asked for an explanation and he was going to get one! And a lot of passionate rambling over the topic on the way there, "Okay so! Already in the first chapter of the Book of Creation, it talks about how Saraiiho is the result of all eight Deities coming together and using their respective Magic to create the world as we know it. We can go deeper into that later, but right now we're just focusing on The Creator, which is responsible for the creation of well, people! But also putting the Concept of Life in motion...", there was a brief pause, as he gave how to progress some thought, "I guess, the simplest way to explain it iiiis uhh, Stars for us are in a way, the equivalent to Souls on other worlds... At the very beginning, they were said to be plucked from the Skies and embed into things to grant them life. Then they're called 'Lights' since they not in the Sky anymore."
"Space-travel is... taboo for us. It's not supposed to be a thing, it's... actually heretical in nature to conceive such a thing, since that'd mean crossing into the dominion of the Deities themselves. No one knows what's in Space, beyond the existence of Stars and both Sun and Moon, and- We're mostly okay with that. It makes sense for us to not know. So, this... This whole thing is just, there's a duality of dread and wonderment. At the same time that it feels like none of us are supposed to be here, it's like a high-tier spiritual experience that we even are. Space is considered the Nursery of the Lights, it's... Well, where Life itself originates from. Where your own Light will return to in Death to be evaluated and eventually make up a new person once it returns... It's something that's surreal to be seeing so close to me that I feel like I could almost touch it. Like, it still doesn't feel like it's actually happening? And I doubt that it ever will... It's just, crazy."
Last edited:
