( She's been to the temples a few times, circled the outside of each and tried to learn, to understand this world and how it works. She's never really stepped foot inside one before, however.
(There's always that voice in the back of her head, the one which remembers just what she caused by stepping into the site in Bodhum. The branding of her arm and the events thereafter, the chill passing through her bones as she turned into crystal.)
Serah breathes deep, squares her shoulders, and steps in. The sorrow weighs down on her as soon as she hears the click of her shoes against the floor, the ever-present weight of the lives lost in the Purge stronger still. She breathes again. No one ever helped anyone by wallowing in their own problems. She can only make up for all of that by trying. )
Hello...? ( Still, there's clear nerves in her voice when she speaks. ) Is anyone there?
( He looks so... human. Somehow, that wasn't the appearance Serah expected, but this is a different world, with different rules. She nods her head once, as much as greeting as a way of steeling herself and going forward with this.
Noel would push on. Lightning and Snow, too. She will do the same. )
Serah Farron. I came here a few months ago. ( Introductions are easy enough. It's the everything else that's complicated. ) I wanted to learn more about this place.
( The city. Its history. Everything that led up to their being here and the things she'd learned from the newbies guide and talking to others. )
[Interesting enough. He tilts his head toward her, sizing her up a bit- though Sorrow has learned by now not to judge a book by its cover, particularly when it comes to humans.]
( Let's reflect. She knows bits and pieces from reading the network, and from talking to others. Not everything, but enough. So she considers, rocks back on her heels, glancing around at the temple's walls and ceiling.
There's something about being in these structures that remind her all too much of sneaking into the Vestige. Like this could be a mistake again. But it's not as though there are many other options that Serah can see. )
You said that you'd seek out potential hosts. Does that mean this city was always a... well, a meeting point for other worlds?
( As if trying to understand time travel wasn't complicated enough. )
[He shakes his head, his arms folding across his stomach as he mulls over how to answer her question. Like always, Sorrow is calm, even and measured.]
My species hasn't used the Door in generations. Hundreds, if not thousands of years. Most of us didn't even know it existed. When I said we used it to find hosts, I meant us as a species- before I came into existence. It is a relic of ancient history... or, at least, it was before Fear reactivated it.
( Oh. Okay. That makes sense. And makes the Door even more interesting to Serah. One of the ways the city diverges from what she knows back home. )
I see.
( Her knuckles press against her lips thoughtfully, considering the implications of that. If they stopped using it, then there was a single host population they could maintain, right? That makes sense to her, at least. )
Until you were attacked...
( Quiet, the emotion in her voice clear. She can't even imagine what that must have been like. The Purge shook her to her core, simply from hearing about it after she came out of crystal stasis. So many people, so many friends who were rounded up to die, all because of her mistake.
What must it have been like to be attacked on the scale this city was? )
[If there was great sadness there, he doesn't show it. Sorrow is nothing if not resolute, even when discussing the eradication of thousands- no, millions- of lives.]
The vast majority of my people did not know that something such as the Door existed, so they could not use it to save themselves. I only knew of it due to my interest in our species' history. When we were attacked, I instructed Fear on where to find it and how to use it.
[There's a slight pause, his gaze flickers to the floor, contemplative.]
I stayed to hold them off so that Fear could get Hope to the Door- to safety. After that, I don't know anything until I was revived by Hope himself.
( That's okay, Sorrow. Serah will feel your emotion enough for both of you, her gaze following his to the floor. One little artefact making a whole world of difference, she knows about that. But for her, that one historical thing - the very thing that sparked her interest in history as a child - was the cause of the loss of too many lives.
Not thousands or millions, but too many all the same. An entire village, every visiting tourist, all rounded up because of her one mistake.
And then, Serah herself--
She doesn't manage to suppress the shiver that comes with the way her thoughts meander to being encased in crystal, to being alone with nothing but a handful of dreams - good dreams, but ones which were a constant reminder of how alone she was, unable to move, to speak, even to breathe. )
It must have been pretty lonely. ( Turning to crystal was. It was terrifying, and she was lucky enough to be with Lighting, with Snow, even Vanille. Surrounded by Sazh and Hope, people she didn't know then. Holding off an invading force to let those closest to you survive -
She has no idea what that could be like. She's not even sure if Lightning could tell her.
The silence lingers, thick and filled with a million things that float around Serah's head, too many of them bringing forth the aching emotion which Sorrow needs. )
You know, that's why I became a teacher. ( She could keep asking things, but such things are difficult to talk about, and she doesn't want to burden him any further. Instead, Serah offers a smile. ) Because I wanted the children in my world to know about the things that happened to us, to the people who came before us, what they sacrificed so that we could have a chance at something better.
[It's an admirable goal. He tilts his head as he considers it, but even something as simple as wanting to learn and teach can garner his respect and so he nods once generously, looking back up towards Serah with an expression that isn't quite as cold as it was a few moments ago.]
I wanted that too. I wanted to know where we came from, what patterns we followed. I was satisfied with the existence that we had, but I wanted to know- anything about how we got there.
[He was much more forward when he was younger, he thinks. There was an earnestness to his learning that never seemed to cease- to know more, to discover everything he possibly could. The Door wasn't the only thing, but it was the only thing that mattered, in the end.]
Perhaps you're unaware- it's unusual for my species to harbor curiosity, or to pursue research and history. We have no written language, no method of bookkeeping. Everything we do, everything we know... it's instinctual, or it's passed down verbally. To find the things I did, I had to travel through our galaxy and consult the eldest of our kind, and even they had forgotten most of what came before.
action; gently tears out hair why is this canon so...
( She did not know that. It's so very unlike humanity, where curiosity is essential for them to grow. Even when the Fal'Cie produced their food, their sunlight, their water, humans still had the drive to learn, to explore. To make something of the world.
If people hadn't been like that, she wonders how things would have progressed.
They'd still be on Cocoon, she would never have become a l'Cie. The Sanctum would still be in total control of everything, ensuring people believed that association with Pulse was treason.
But she supposes you have less need for curiosity if you can create just about anything with magic. )
It's kinda sad, that so much was forgotten.
( And now the only beings who remember any of it are the eight gods of this city. )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
action, the day after law's visit.
(There's always that voice in the back of her head, the one which remembers just what she caused by stepping into the site in Bodhum. The branding of her arm and the events thereafter, the chill passing through her bones as she turned into crystal.)
Serah breathes deep, squares her shoulders, and steps in. The sorrow weighs down on her as soon as she hears the click of her shoes against the floor, the ever-present weight of the lives lost in the Purge stronger still. She breathes again. No one ever helped anyone by wallowing in their own problems. She can only make up for all of that by trying. )
Hello...? ( Still, there's clear nerves in her voice when she speaks. ) Is anyone there?
action
[Sorrow steps out from behind the shadows, solemn. He's a fair distance away from her, so as not to startle her with his sudden appearance.
This one is new.]
I'm Sorrow. Who are you?
action
Noel would push on. Lightning and Snow, too. She will do the same. )
Serah Farron. I came here a few months ago. ( Introductions are easy enough. It's the everything else that's complicated. ) I wanted to learn more about this place.
( The city. Its history. Everything that led up to their being here and the things she'd learned from the newbies guide and talking to others. )
action
[Interesting enough. He tilts his head toward her, sizing her up a bit- though Sorrow has learned by now not to judge a book by its cover, particularly when it comes to humans.]
This world currently, the city, or my temple?
action
There's something about being in these structures that remind her all too much of sneaking into the Vestige. Like this could be a mistake again. But it's not as though there are many other options that Serah can see. )
You said that you'd seek out potential hosts. Does that mean this city was always a... well, a meeting point for other worlds?
( As if trying to understand time travel wasn't complicated enough. )
action
[He shakes his head, his arms folding across his stomach as he mulls over how to answer her question. Like always, Sorrow is calm, even and measured.]
My species hasn't used the Door in generations. Hundreds, if not thousands of years. Most of us didn't even know it existed. When I said we used it to find hosts, I meant us as a species- before I came into existence. It is a relic of ancient history... or, at least, it was before Fear reactivated it.
action
I see.
( Her knuckles press against her lips thoughtfully, considering the implications of that. If they stopped using it, then there was a single host population they could maintain, right? That makes sense to her, at least. )
Until you were attacked...
( Quiet, the emotion in her voice clear. She can't even imagine what that must have been like. The Purge shook her to her core, simply from hearing about it after she came out of crystal stasis. So many people, so many friends who were rounded up to die, all because of her mistake.
What must it have been like to be attacked on the scale this city was? )
action
[If there was great sadness there, he doesn't show it. Sorrow is nothing if not resolute, even when discussing the eradication of thousands- no, millions- of lives.]
The vast majority of my people did not know that something such as the Door existed, so they could not use it to save themselves. I only knew of it due to my interest in our species' history. When we were attacked, I instructed Fear on where to find it and how to use it.
[There's a slight pause, his gaze flickers to the floor, contemplative.]
I stayed to hold them off so that Fear could get Hope to the Door- to safety. After that, I don't know anything until I was revived by Hope himself.
action; hello, it is me, the teal deer fairy
Not thousands or millions, but too many all the same. An entire village, every visiting tourist, all rounded up because of her one mistake.
And then, Serah herself--
She doesn't manage to suppress the shiver that comes with the way her thoughts meander to being encased in crystal, to being alone with nothing but a handful of dreams - good dreams, but ones which were a constant reminder of how alone she was, unable to move, to speak, even to breathe. )
It must have been pretty lonely. ( Turning to crystal was. It was terrifying, and she was lucky enough to be with Lighting, with Snow, even Vanille. Surrounded by Sazh and Hope, people she didn't know then. Holding off an invading force to let those closest to you survive -
She has no idea what that could be like. She's not even sure if Lightning could tell her.
The silence lingers, thick and filled with a million things that float around Serah's head, too many of them bringing forth the aching emotion which Sorrow needs. )
You know, that's why I became a teacher. ( She could keep asking things, but such things are difficult to talk about, and she doesn't want to burden him any further. Instead, Serah offers a smile. ) Because I wanted the children in my world to know about the things that happened to us, to the people who came before us, what they sacrificed so that we could have a chance at something better.
action; yooo
I wanted that too. I wanted to know where we came from, what patterns we followed. I was satisfied with the existence that we had, but I wanted to know- anything about how we got there.
[He was much more forward when he was younger, he thinks. There was an earnestness to his learning that never seemed to cease- to know more, to discover everything he possibly could. The Door wasn't the only thing, but it was the only thing that mattered, in the end.]
Perhaps you're unaware- it's unusual for my species to harbor curiosity, or to pursue research and history. We have no written language, no method of bookkeeping. Everything we do, everything we know... it's instinctual, or it's passed down verbally. To find the things I did, I had to travel through our galaxy and consult the eldest of our kind, and even they had forgotten most of what came before.
action; gently tears out hair why is this canon so...
If people hadn't been like that, she wonders how things would have progressed.
They'd still be on Cocoon, she would never have become a l'Cie. The Sanctum would still be in total control of everything, ensuring people believed that association with Pulse was treason.
But she supposes you have less need for curiosity if you can create just about anything with magic. )
It's kinda sad, that so much was forgotten.
( And now the only beings who remember any of it are the eight gods of this city. )