 t seems like just another day in this place. It's chilly, but not miserable, and there's a bit of holiday cheer in the form of a few of those trees people have managed to decorate.
Of course...there's also the shades, but who cares about those?
They wander, drifting too and fro, following their usual, typical lives as if they have no idea that they're not longer alive, no longer in their own proper home. They walk over the frozen lake in Flavo as if it's not even there, open doors that no longer exist, and settle into rooms that are nothing but rubble.
They're living in a past that only they can see, but perhaps you can see a bit more from watching them?
Only... maybe don't spend too much time with them, lest you start seeming too much like a ghost yourself.
Welcome to Awash's fifteenth event log, everyone! Further information on this event can be found here at the OOC post. You are welcome to make your own logs and posts for this event!
If there are any questions, please ask them here. Thank you! |
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[ She's not particularly ashamed of making these sorts of wishes, though, so even if Pyra wanted to keep it a secret, Nero wouldn't mind if she didn't.
Were this solely about herself, Nero's own wish even in the Holy Grail War would be the same: to not die alone. But that does not need an omnipotent wish-granting device or mechanism to happen, and she is not in a Holy Grail War, so there is little point in offering it to the heavens as so. Instead, Nero nods, takes the rope of the bell and rings it with a firm tug. ]
...I wish for those here to be able to partake in the warm love of my people.
[ Of Rome. Not the scheming, conniving government she knew, or the bloody conspiracies intertwined with power struggles in her family, but the gentle, tender love of the masses. The smiling people who cheered and celebrated with family during Nerofests, the beautiful works of art that the Roman people created to express the beauty of their souls, the artists who created classical works like no other, the brilliant engineers who toiled night and day to improve the lives of their fellow citizens. The mercy of that lone soldier who found her in the wilderness and covered her body despite her despair and shame. That is the Rome she knew and loved, even if they had faults, and even if they did not love her back in the end.
It is both a selfless wish and a selfish wish at the same time. ]
But if that is too much for a mere bell to bear, I would not mind a vineyard either.
[ It's a small joke. She can get grape seeds and the like from elsewhere (probably), but though the people here are not her citizens, she does not mind using her wish for their happiness. Despite her selfishness, she is also strangely selfless, for what does a spirit who has already died even wish for? ]
(content warning)
[ What a selfless wish, fitting of someone like Saber, Pyra thinks. She wishes for those here to be able to enjoy what her people have enjoyed. Pyra's first wish, in contrast, had a been a little more selfish for once: she had asked for a ramen shop! But after walking and speaking with Saber, she's been inspired to do something more to show how she too love the world-- to wish for the exact same thing she would wish for her own world, for her world to be safe.
Pyra approaches the bell hanging from the tree, footsteps melting the snow as she walks over it. ] I wish.... [ She draws a slow breath, and her exhale mists soon afterwards. She closes her eyes, envisioning what it is that she truly wishes for: within her mind she can see it. The people here, happy. The other-worlders here, content. Her friends, her acquaintances, those that she has happened to pass by in all three districts, safe. The world, existing.
She imagines exactly as it would be should she one day find herself at the top of the World Tree once again, there before Elysium, before paradise, before the Architect, the Architect that she calls Father, Father who calls her by a different name, her true name, Father who created her, who gave her a purpose, a power to both create and destory. Her greatest wish, her greatest desire in her world is the same as it is now: she loves the world, and there is only way to show how much she loves it, to--
...--to beg Father to let us die. ]
Please.
Our wish... [ She speaks in unison, certain as she will ever be. Our, I; they are synonymous to her. ] is for our existence to end.
[ This wish-granting bell may do nothing at all in the end, for all she knows. But if it has such strange reality warping power, the same kind that brought her to Chroma in the first place, perhaps-- just perhaps it could also grant her this wish as well. If not to erase her existence forever, then for a little while. ]
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You...What kind of wish is that?! Take it back this instant! Do you know what you are saying?!
[ She is a mix of emotions at that lone statement, uttered as if in a prayer. Confusion, hurt, anger, concern, but she lets righteous anger take the foremost. It is the easiest to process, for Nero. ]
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She lifts a hand, extending one finger up and presses it to her own lips: the universal signal for shhhh. ] ...You promised to keep mine a secret, remember?
[ ...Which is why Pyra brought up the topic earlier in the first place. Saber had struct her as an impressive person, an awesome being, and when she had mentioned she was an emperor? She knew her to be honorable as well. And honorable people keep their vows.
Pyra steps away from the bell, and towards her, eyes sweeping over her form and noting the tension and anger; she feels for her, she really does. But this is what is necessary-- and... for once, she appears happy, relieved. Not that she knows her wish may come true or not, but that she got to speak it aloud for once, instead of keeping it in. ] I will not take it back. This is the best wish I could make.
[ Her finger lowers from her lips, curling inward as she places her hand upon her crystal. ] You were the one who inspired me, Saber. [ She closes her eyes, smiling. ] You were the one who reminded me that a wish is best used selflessly, to bring others happiness... and to protect them.
[ Opening her eyes, she looks upon her with gratitude. ] Thank you.
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And so...Nero will keep her word. This does not mean she will give up on her, of course.
The relief on Pyra's face does not bring any to Nero's own heart, it only makes her madder, sadder, indignant. At who? At what? It's confusing, but she has to suss this out and untie the knots. The gratitude only makes things even more complicated; why is she thanking her? For inspiring her to give up her existence? ]
Why do you think surrendering your own existence is the best way of protecting everyone? Do you think it will make those who love you happy?
[ Not just her life, her existence, something similar to giving up even one's ability to be summoned through the Throne of Heroes. ]
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...Wouldn't it? [ She asks, openly, her smile quiet, humble. ] If I wished for those I love to be safe.. [ It strikes her curious that Saber seems to be treating it as if it might come true. Wishes aren't things that ]... it would bring the same result, I think.
[ She pauses for a moment, seemingly thinking of a way she could explain better so that Saber might understand, might sympathize, and-- perhaps, might even accept what Pyra is trying to say. She straightens, and lifting a hand, palm upward, as if extending an invitation to believe her words. ] If we were back in your world, Emperor, and you wished to protect your people, to truly ensure that they have a future...
It would be your duty to make that same wish. [ To wish Pyra's existence gone. ]
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But her people are long gone, her empire in ruins, though the civilization's pulse still runs in the veins of modern societies. And though Nero can sympathize with the cold-minded, logical duty to end a threat's existence, she cannot accept it in full. Why? Because Pyra is more than a threat. She is a person, as human as they who used to be, and a being who deserves to experience the fullest life has to offer as well. And Nero is certain that if her people were alive and well, if they were to know her noble soul just as Nero does, they would understand why their emperor is trying to save such a maiden, not wish for her end. Or at least, Hakuno certainly would, and that's all she really needs as well. ]
...Do you believe that is your only path? That your hands can only bring pain to those you care for? What a glaring flaw! You think everything that exists can be seen, and yet you tremble in fear at that which you cannot see. But in the end, what we see is but a small fraction of the whole of all existence. As beings who walk the earth, we are narrow-minded. We are sinners. We make mistakes.
[ One of her hands clenches into a fist without her even knowing, a subconscious gesture of both frustration and concern. She does not know what kind of being Pyra is, exactly, but ]
Something restless stirs within you. That is why you should not ignore my words. That is why I cannot accept your insistence of martyring yourself with such abandon either. Answer me. What dreams have you abandoned? I would like you to speak up, otherwise nobody will know. Perhaps you are not human. Perhaps you are a threat, as you imply. But here, like this, you speak human words, and we are able to understand each other.
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What a loaded question, and it strikes right through Pyra's heart-- or where her heart would be, if she had one. And just as if she has one, her hand goes to her chest as if she feels a throb in its location, a beat-- a... bell, chiming in her head, distant, slow, and lonesome. No, she cannot ignore Saber's words, not as much as she can ignore that Saber is on to something: that restlessness she sees in Pyra-- it is there, an ugly, budding, selfish feeling to want to stay instead.
Yet she's frozen in place, rigid, eyes wide and lips parted as if to speak, to breathe, but neither do because she's seeing someone else where Saber stands. Seeing-- many people, one by one, all flashing by; one by one, all disappearing. Coming here, she's never known of ghosts to exist, has never met one before Chroma, but now she finally meets some of her own. And they are a terrible sight to behold. People and the memories of them... they are balls and chains, they are heavier than storms. ] Wh-What.... What I did to my world.... [ She says as carefully as she can, although she is unable to hide the waver in her voice-- the fear in it.
This is not something she wants to be remembering right now, and she's weak; her otherself is asleep, her otherself refuses to help her, to step in, to put a stop to this conversation, her otherself is hurting. This is the last thing they want to talk about, and all Pyra can do is stand in front of the emperor, listless and dazed. There are tears, silent, precarious, falling down her cheeks, dropping onto the snow below before she notices that she's even crying. ]
...I don't want to happen here.
[ She swallows. ]
I... I beg you. [ Her gaze lowers. ] Don't ask anything more.
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It is not Nero's place to rip open those wounds right now, not when this maiden is crying for her not to breach that barrier, that taboo (just yet). She is begging Nero not to ask anything more, and Nero is weak to that grief, that wholehearted emotion that she is putting in her words. The emperor is not cruel. She will not abandon civility, or warmth, but neither will she abandon knowledge of the undercurrent behind Pyra's actions from now on.
Instead, Nero takes a few steps forward, and should she allow her to, wordlessly embraces Pyra, cradling her head into her shoulder. Despite Nero's small stature, her shoulders are at a perfect height for burying one's face into. ]
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Pyra dips her head into Saber's shoulder, finally aware of the tears and how freely they fall. She's grateful that Saber won't be able to see how lost she looks... but Pyra is sure that Saber would be able to guess that she is regardless. Gingerly Pyra's hands raise to place themselves upon Saber's back, accepting the hug tenderly-- but also needy, as if this support is what she's been missing for... well, the past five centuries. And after what feels like forever, she eventually speaks: ]
Thank you, Saber. [ Pyra closes her eyes. ]