Scene Archives

sits on the floor inside the ziggurat, her legs crossed underneath her, cloak hood obscuring most of her face. Her hands are in her lap, and the only indication she gives that she’s awake is the occasional rotation of her wrist, or the slow folding and unfolding of her fingers.

spent a bit of time exploring aruond the Ziggurat, making note of what has and hasn’t changed as the group dispersed to get their baring again. After some time (and deciding that while Archie was concentrating on messages and gateways was perhaps not the best time to try and extract information out of him…), he finds him exploring the inside, too, and finds the Saint sitting in silence. There’s a moment of hesitation, but he pulls the welding glasses off his head, tosses them Away, and then moves to quietly take a seat next to her.

stops, and stills. She doesn’t look at him for a long, long moment, and then she reaches out and slides her hood off. She isn’t wearing the Mask, but her expression is. Controlled. She smiles and it doesn’t really look quite right. “Hello, Aurelius. Can I help you?”

: “So. I’ve been getting the impression that things are kind of… awkward? Strained? Within the group in general ever since…” Considers a few words, doesn’t particular like any of them and makes a vague gesture of spreading his arms wide. “And you in particular haven’t really seemed like quite yourself. Did he do something…?”

draws her legs up to her chest and wraps her arms around them. She shakes her head. “He didn’t–well. I don’t think he thinks much of me, but fair enough. A little embarrassing, certainly, but fair enough.”

: “I wouldn’t let it get to you too much if he said anything rude, I’m not sure he really considers any of us people, to be honest.”

: “I could maybe try and force him back if you wanna punch him or something, though.”

shakes her head. “No I just. I know he’s you. A part of you. And I didn’t–I thought I understood, that he’s you and also not-you, but he was talking like he was all you, like he was the only thing that made you yourself and I.” ⁂

forces a swallow. She steels herself. “He said I had a crush on you, and that is … true. But. He acted like that was it. Like I couldn’t care or it didn’t matter that I cared. That he could just imply you were–dead, or not real, or never coming back and the only reason it would matter is because I had a crush and not because you matter?” She’s mostly talking to her knees.

: “And Awoken said it was a distraction and he was right, probably, but I didn’t really care, then and there, about saving the world. I just wanted you to be okay. And that makes me a … poor choice for a hero. And for the Sword-Saint.” 🙧

lets that sink in for a few moments as he places his hands behind himself and leans back, looking up at the ceiling. “Heh. Guess even if the truth burns, there’s different ways it can do so…” He lets out a breath, turning to look at Salme. “He says a lot of things, a lot, but… that doesn’t always mean he knows what he’s talking about. I… feel pretty confident in saying that I am not him, for what it’s worth. My fire burns gold… And as for you?”

: “Well, me and Awa, we’re both just some guys you met recently that happen to have a lot of charisma. Is it weird to say that about yourself? Maybe, but it feels a little true. Even still, that doesn’t really mean either of knows what the fuck we’re talking about all the time, even if we pretend like we do. How many worlds has he saved? What does he know about being a Hero? And even if he were an expert, why would caring about people be a bad trait for one to have?”

: “Yes. You have a lot of charisma. Somehow,” she says dryly, and then adds, “as for caring it’s because it’s not … good. Selfless. Radiant. It’s–I knew Badri for a couple years, before I dueled him for the Mask. There’s a story about how we met. It’s actually pretty funny. But. Badri as the Sword-Saint was like the Centrelight pulsing down on you. Gentle. Warm. Approachable. He cared about everyone, naturally, easily. And part of the reason I dueled him for the Mask was because I wanted to matter to him more than just everyone else in Almachadta mattered to him. There were other reasons, but that was a part of it.” ⁂

: “But when I put on the Mask and learned the secrets and saw all the other Sword-Saints and how they were and how they acted I realized I wasn’t … a very good choice. I could bear the sorrow and tell the stories, but inspiring hope? I just. Cause problems. Always have. Anyway, not important. Being the Sword-Saint, pretending to be this hero–that was something I could do. And then some motherfucker snatched me away and I met you all and I forgot how to set aside my obvious personality flaws. Anyway. That’s how caring can be bad.”

laughs.

: “So… you’re exactly like the rest of us?”

: “In what way does that make me like any of you?”

: “We’re all deeply flawed people who are kind of fucked up but doing our best to pretend we’re not.”

: “You’re not really about to say you think I’m a bastion of normalcy, togetherness and selfless heroism are you?”

: “Normalcy? No. Togetherness? Well, you’ve certainly kept it together for a guy with a lot going on. Selfless heroism?” presses her lips together. “I think that is there, maybe more there than you’re willing to admit. You never paused when thinking about wanting to save the worlds. You did all … that,” she draws the outline of the [Kinder, Gentler Path] in liminal gnosis, “to open a door to save one single soul and make it easier on us all. You came and talked to me, when I’m certain there’s any number of things you’d rather be doing. Whereas–I’d have let Ciet die in a heartbeat if I had to pick between you and them.”

: “Well. Alright, sure, you got me there. But it’s not really… selfless. Hell, it’s easier for me to do things this way, than it would have been to do them the harder way. So I’m not sure it really counts. And I’m here talking to you because I’m worried about how other people are looking at and thinking about me right now, and you said I could trust you to shoulder some of my burdens.” A pause, followed by another sigh, “…But you’re not wrong. I do care. A lot, I guess. S’why I started fighting fiends before I could even really lift a sword. And I’m talking to you right now because I care about you too.”

untenses, just a little, because she did say that, and she did–know that. He would be worried. And he would care. She reaches out and takes his hand then, and squeezes it. She turns to look at him, head resting against the wall, studying him. “I don’t know what the others are thinking. Wolf is confused. Archie’s probably curious. Awoken is likely annoyed. Unua–I’m not sure. I was … upset at myself, because I wanted to meet that part of you with openness and curiosity and I failed, there. And that’s one thing I’ve actually been pretty good at, even outside of the Sword-Saint persona. But. I mean. Mostly I was terrified, because I didn’t understand what he meant, and I was terrified that you were gone and. I’m rather attached to you. To Aurelius.” ⁂

: “Not Annarr, because I didn’t know him before The Truth That Burns, and not Jorule, because he is part of you but isn’t you, but you, the person in front of me right now. Who’s real in every way that matters.” ⁂

frowns, and then says, “Who’s real in every way that matters.” There. That’s better. “So. Tell me what you’re worried about, and I’ll do what I can to help.” 🙧

adjusts his position slightly so he can return the squeeze, before nodding. “I mean… from the look on Wolf’s face I saw when I snapped back, I… definitely get the impression that was much more of a him problem than a you problem but I mean… thank you, in either case.”

: “That was really it though, I think. It’s just… weird, to be there one minute, gone the next, and then when you’re back everything’s all… Wolf looked so angry, Archie and Unua alarmed, you and Awa annoyed, and not really knowing why? But it didn’t feel like a good time to ask, either.”

: “I can show you, if you’d like to see? I was wearing the Mask for most of it.”

rolls a shrug while letting out a small, quiet chuckle. “Definitely feels like we’re influencing you a bit for better or worse if your first instinct now is to share the Mask’s memories rather than just saying what happened in your own words but… It’s better to know, than to not, right? I think that’s something have in common.”

She laughs. “Yes. We have a preference for knowing rather than not-knowing in common.” She thinks for a moment, and then adds, more slowly, “as for sharing the Mask’s memories–it’s. I used my own words when I wanted to tell you about my own perspective. But this is, again, for you to know.”

pulls out the mask, and sets it on the floor between them. “Unua helped me once before. Do you think … you might do the same here?”

: “Only one way to find out.” Another squeeze for reassurance, before letting go of Salme’s hand to reach for the Mask.

also reaches out to touch the Mask, but brushes her fingers against Aurelius’ as she does so.

…

doesn’t really know what he’s doing, if we’re all being quite honest with one another, due to how insanely foreign and Flourishing the artefact is. He attempts to use liminal energy as a sort of guideline, guess at where the Flourishing flows and how the roots of the gnosis spread out… but, well, probably all he really winds up doing is setting way markers to make getting out easier, which is… LIKE helping… maybe…?

pulls back through the Strange Paths through the living thing on silver rails which the Mask recalls that conveyed you on a kinder, gentler path, through golden doors into a stone quarry and the mask recalls the bird which is inside Aurelius that fucking sucks and the mask’s awareness flickers, for the moment when Salme was not wearing it - the way the light bends around Jorule in the mask’s memories is strange, like there’s a weight that bends the vision itself around him but the vision is present nonetheless - and then the memory plays forwards again, from the moment Aurelius was not, to the moment he again was and there is anguish and conflict like a frame on the memory and a sense that there is something moving in the corner of the field of vision but it is not there, it is not -there- and then the memory fades, abruptly, and you have knowledge where previously you did not.

: “…Huh…”

: “Ah, we’re missing–I took the mask off and said something like. “I don’t give a shit about Annarr, I want to know if we are going to lose Aurelius for a stranger. Rude gestures might have been involved. Bird man asked if I was going to try to kill him? There was some more nattering about if I had a crush or not, and then …“[…]*

She uses her free hand to make a little yapping mouth and affects an even more lackadaisical accent than Jorule spoke with, “Ohh look at me my name is Salme, I like to ask questions and then get mad when I get answers i wasn’t ready to hear.”

: “That’s when he hopped out and you came back.”

scratches at the back of his head as the vision ends and he pulls his hand back from the mask. “I… see. Huh, that’s even weirder to watch from someone elses perspective -“ He pauses and purses his lips together hard, not entirely sure what reaction he’s suppose to have to that but pretty sure any he did would be the wrong one and stoically lets it pass. After a moment, he clears his throat. “Well. Hmm. Okay well, from what I can tell… it… sort of looks like he was being a bit antagonistic on purpose, for Goddess knows what reason? But also… I kind of get the impression you were both talking past or at one another, and not with one another, if that makes sense?”

: “You can laugh at the hand puppet thing, Aury. It would have been funny if I hadn’t been sure he was mocking me for caring that you were possibly dead.”

sighs. “What on earth do you think he was trying to communicate?”

smiles slightly, but tries not to let it show. “Right, uh, that’s what I mean. Which isn’t to say he wasn’t mocking you - that seems pretty obvious, but I don’t quite think you were both talking about the same thing at that point.”

: “Hmm… well, keep in mind this is just my impression - I don’t really know him all that well, and I’m not him… But like… every time he finds a way to extract some of Annarr’s memories there’s also some… reverse flow? I’ve caught little bits and pieces, snippets here and there of his memories too.”

: “But uh… I think on some level he was expecting to… talk shop? And thought you’d all be… broken, in the same kind of way he is? But neither of things was true. I don’t get the impression he was thinking about me at all during any point of that conversation either. As far as I can tell he imagines me as… like… some sort of a mask? A costume? So that was probably causing some level of disconnect.”

: “Resignation, and water flowing downhill,” she murmurs, thinking. “He thinks the truth that burns can only burn one way. The way it burned him, and the way it burned Annarr.” She studies him, thoughtfully, carefully. “It hasn’t burned you, though, Aurelius. Or maybe you’re the seed that sprouts after the all-consuming fire?” She gives him a bit of a crooked smile. “Forgive the mixed metaphors, though I know you have no room to talk.”

nods in understanding. “Something like that. I wasn’t being insincere when I said I no longer felt as though I was the same person I was before, back in Sanctuary. But I am, also, still and in spite of it all… still myself.”

: “And who is that self? Who do you want to be, Aurelius?”

: “I think… I’m fine with being the kind, but rough around the edges eccentric who might decide that there’s nothing really all that bad about waking up with amnesia and setting out on a quest spanning multiple worlds to save them all for sheer love of the game.”

: “…I wouldn’t be opposed to dropping the trait where I seem to inadvertently piss you off every other day though.” A smirk.

laughs, and it sounds–warmer, more like how she has been laughing. “It’s actually worse. You didn’t piss me off. The bird didn’t even piss me off.” She leans in close to whisper in his ear. “You hurt my feelings.”

: “Right, much worse. In that case, I suppose all I can do is apologize on his behalf and beg for mercy.”

: “Please don’t,” she says, plaintively. “Please do not. Also don’t apologize on his behalf. He’s the one who sucks. You’re …”

looks amused.

: “You contain the best parts of him. And the best parts of Annarr. And the annoying parts of a person all your own. But don’t apologize for him.”

: “I’m not reaaaaally sure you’re using that right but… ah, fuck we, we can make our own rules as we muddle through it. Fair enough, no apologizing for sucky birds. Even if it’s funny how wound up you get when people try and be formal and apologetic with you.”

: “I’m using it precisely how I want to use it, because yes, we can make our own rules. Can you do it? Or was it just him?”

: “It’s not really that complicated.”

: “Good. I thought you’d be able to.” She reaches up and runs a hand though his hair, fond, more settled in herself again. “And the formal apologies are … well. I’m not used to it.”

‘s ear flick a bit at the touch.

grins, and there’s something young and mischievous about it. She pulls her hand away, and rolls a lucre through her fingers with practiced ease. “Thieving on a world of plenty doesn’t make you very popular, Aavikkokettu. I was mostly the one giving formal apologies when I got caught.”

: “Ah… that explains so much.” He nods, seriously, in the most sage-like manner he can muster, as if this single line has revealed all that there is to know, or possibly could be known, about Salme.

laughs again. “You could at least pretend to be a little impressed,” she says, handing the coin back to him and reaching up to pet the back of his ear. “I keep trying to show off, you know. I thought the Awoken would be the harder sell.”

takes the coin while rolling a shrug, “I mean… you’re not bad, but…” He gestures at the Mask, and a moment later it’s in his hand, then gone. Another flick and it’s back. And another and it’s inside her hood. “Well you’ve still got a long ways to go.”

: “Wait hold on, you thought I’d be easier than Awa???”

laughs again, but there’s a bit of an edge to it, like she’s considering–something. “Your seen-it-all don’t-care affect was clearly an affect. Getting past that seemed to just require work. At least that’s what I thought. With him–when he greets everything with wonder, how can one know one matters at all?”

takes the mask out of her hood and puts it away. “Was the sleight of hand or just liminal gnosis bullshit?”

: “He does have a bit of a dangerous, devil-may-care air about him, doesn’t he?”

looks to the left, looks to the right.

leans forward and whispers, “Neither, I’m actually stealing the asshole’s magic trick from him.”

: “Oh, that’s clever. You know, I like it when you’re clever.” And then she leans in and she kisses him. “I wonder what else you can figure out.”

tenses up slightly at the touch and - mostly just lets it happen, but doesn’t pull away either. “…Ah.”

raises an eyebrow. “Oh. Well. You know, I certainly lack Badri’s experience, but the couple times I’ve tried that previously I did get better than an ‘…ah’. Would you prefer I refrain in the future?” She’s doing a very good job at ‘open and curious’ but a bit of a flush is starting to color her face.

: “I’m not… hmm.” He scratches at his head. “…cards on the table, I don’t really have… any… memories of this sort of thing so it’s…” A helpless gesture.

: “Oh, yes, without the memories it’s,” she mirrors the helpless gesture. “Completely unfathomable. You’ve got two other people at least rattling around in there and this shuts you up?”

: “Apparently!”

: “Not exactly the sort of thing you randomly have magic tricks up your sleeve prepared for.”

pauses, a moment, and says, a little slyly. “Well, not you but that is not a universal truth for heroes without memories,” arching her eyebrows at him.

pauses, put a hand to his face and half groans half sighs.

shrugs and adds, “I was as surprised as you are.”

: “Well. Duly noted, I guess.”

: “He’s gunning for both of us. That was made apparent.” She relaxes, and she’s blushing a little less. “And I won’t–do that again unless you ask? Or give some signal? Or … I don’t know. Your stupid bird would be sneering at me if he was paying attention. I’m again not precisely … studied in this, though one time I asked the Mask about Badri and I wasn’t clear in what I was asking and found out a whole lot about–“ she cuts herself off. ⁂

: “At any rate,” she begins again, slower, more intentionally. “This is partially why the Sword-Saint persona is valuable, because it stops things like this happening.”

wince, “Oh, damn, that’s… definitely a peril of having direct access to your parents memory you wouldn’t expect, uh, yeah.” He’s Heroically not laughing.

: “He was. So slutty. I kept having elegant older women and handsome older men come up and Ask about him, and I didn’t–realize. I thought it was. Something important. And luckily he wasn’t wearing the Mask during much of it but.”

: “Anyway it’s… hmm…” He seems to consider bit a bit, then mumbles _{fuck it, when in rome} to himself before rolling a shrug. “I don’t think it’s unwanted, at least. We are, after all, basically a Clan of our own at this point…”

laughs. “You don’t think it’s unwanted. Do you ever stop thinking?”

: “…About as often as you do?”

: “I have stopped thinking pretty often lately. Obviously. You don’t seem to stop.”

: “Oh, huh, I always got the impression you were also basically inside your head constantly ruminating over everything you’ve experienced, too. Hmm.”

: “Oh, yeah, I mean sure, absolutely, but then I do stupid things like try to talk about my feelings with … really anyone in this group who isn’t named Wolf, or I start a fight with a Weird Bird Man, or I kiss you and you ‘…ah’ and all of these are things I really probably wouldn’t have done if I had thought about it for half a second.”

: “Making a lot of bold assumptions about how long I consider the consequences of my own actions before acting impulsively here, as well.”

: “I said you think a lot. I didn’t say you were thoughtful.”

: “Starting to see your point about not actually thinking very much.”

chuckles.

: “Starting to question your actual interest in not actually pissing me off every single day.” But she’s smiling.

: “Hey, you started it.”

: “I was about to ask how old you were but I guess you are only about. Hm. Six days old? So we’ll make allowances here.” She kicks him in the shin, though. Lightly.

nudges his head against Salme’s. “It’s very mature of you to be the bigger person.”

nudges back. “Such is the role of the Sword-Saint.” She reaches up–she can’t really help herself–to touch one of his ears again. Wondering if they’ll become more expressive as he settles in to whoever he decides to become. “Thank you, though, Aurelius. For trusting me. And for helping me.”

Flick flick flick. “And thank you for believing in me. For trusting me. And for allowing me the occasional faux pas.”

: “You did work to earn the trust and the belief. In between all the faux pas.” She turns and kisses his temple. “And once you’re sure it’s not unwanted, I’d like to kiss you again. But before that … would you be interested in helping me figure out how this mask works? I’m wondering if we can make–something, a fiend, a talisman, that might let us communicate more freely on Samudra.”

nods slightly, while moving a hand to take hold of Salme’s. “What, like a walkie talkie? Actually, hmm, that might be… Radio tower and a few receivers could probably work if nothing else…”

takes his hand back. “A … walkie–no. Not talking. More like … a private way to share memories, or to communicate? Something secure? Like how I was able to show you the asshole bird, but not contingent on … wearing the Mask?”

: “Er, yeah that’s also what I meant. Haha.” Cough. Cough. “Like magical invisible parrots that don’t need travel time, I get ya.”

: “I’ll be appropriately dumbstruck about what any of those words mean now.” She pauses, thinking, and then brings up her free hand in the same puppet motion from earlier. “Whoa Aurelius you’re so smart and clever and worldly unlike me from my dumb little flourishing world. What do any of those words even mean?”

: “Oh no that wasn’t even like… the bit I do where I pretend like the Beast is so much more advanced than everywhere else (though it’s not actually a bit that’s real and true), and most so uh, Asshole Memories, don’t give it much thought.”

laughs, brightly. “Astounding that you have to distinguish between when you’re being an asshole in one way versus being an asshole in an entirely different way. But noted.”

: “It seemed relevant to your interests.”

: “And uh, the punch line. Anyway.”

: “Yeah I think we can do something with the idea! We’ll obviously need time and some resources but… well, seems like we’ve got plenty of time for some initial research.”

: “It is relevant to my interests.” She squeezes his hand again. “And thanks. I really do need some help with this one.”

: “Of course.”