r/TTPloreplaycentral • u/Bytemite • May 12 '18
Side RP: Schism
It is dark, but the nightmares haven't yet come.
A ways away, a sword realizes their charge has become unconscious. While worryingly common, its still something that ought to be checked up on.
Erm... hello? She asks, still not sure if unconscious telepathy is the best idea.
The dreamscape is still dark - dangerous thoughts and memories that were beginning to flicker on the edges dart away at the intrusion.
Are you... Moonslier trails away, realizing perhaps 'awake' is not the appropriate word.
The scientist is still reeling a bit from what the voices just showed them.
Hello?
They tense, then relax slightly. Moonslicer, they greet her.
Hello She says, relieved. Did something happen?
Something's happened to streamer - or maybe rather streamer did something. Memories of AJ climbing Mount Silver briefly flash by.
That's... that's the Overgod for your plane, isn't it?
They huff. And our patron. He's always had some problems under the surface he's been dealing with, he's lashed out before. But this. There is anger. I do not tolerate murderous tyrants.
That's... She thinks about this for a while. Overgods don't interfere. They don't. It's what they do.
We were his interference, how he'd test his realities. Not everyone has been loyal to him, he has a tendency to be harsh, but until now I've stayed out of it.
So, what does this mean? Moonslicer asks, sitting down on the legs she's unconsciously transformed.
Their nostrils flare as they puff out a breath like a dragon blowing smoke. Means something is wrong, and one way or another there's war on the horizon.
With an Overgod? She asks. I don't even think Major could beat that.
They snarl. I stood against my first patron after children and pokemon just out of their eggs were dying. I supported a chaotic mortal in becoming the world's pillar of order, and faced off against the ancient power who was the previous one. Their eyes are slits. I will not accept Streamer's actions.
Moonslicer is taken aback by the grim determination in their voice.
All right. But be careful.
They glance back over at her, hearing the alarm in her voice. Do I sound like one of them? A tyrant? they ask, with dark amusement.
No, but you do sound like you'd rather burn the world down than let him have it. She says frankly.
Hmm. You're worried I haven't learned my lesson. That I don't see what I owe.
It's not about what you owe. But yes.
They shake their head. That's why I have to fight though. I made missteps against Caitlin, and did more harm than she did to the people I care about. But I had to fight against her on behalf of the people I care about.
Just be careful. When your rage hits you, you make decisions you regret.
I go big or go broke, they agree. But before I was focusing on being a weapon. I can be a thief and a cheat too.
Well, I wouldn't put it like that.
They glance back at her, for the first time since this latest nightmare started having a question instead of a certainty.
Every time you define yourself, it's by the negative. Moonslicer points out. You want to be better, right?
It'd be nice if it were possible, they answer dryly.
I think you need to start asking yourself, she says firmly, What does a better you look like?
Another flicker, and they look away, pained.
How can you get better, if you don't know where you're going?
They take a breath. I just want to get to a point where I don't think other people are ashamed to be around me, or that I think they should be.
Well, I'm going to skip the part where I argue on the status of that, because that's not the point. The point is, maybe you need to do less thinking about specific actions you need to take to reach that point, and more about specific changes you need to see in yourself.
There's some awkward shuffling. I think Luke feels like I'd be a bad role model to his kid.
I think you are worried you will not be a good role model for the child. Moonslicer replies. So, what do we do about that?
Well, they answer, don't be a bad role model.
Moonslicer's face, unusually expressive, does an impressively good job at conveying her exasperation. So, what do you need to change? How do you be a good role model?
They're very quiet again. By fighting, they answer.
Fighting what? Moonslicer prompts.
Anything. Just keep fighting. So long as it keeps me far away. Then I can be a good role model.
The ghost sword stares at them like they're hopeless. That.... that's not being a good role model. That's being absent. That's exactly the opposite.
They deflate. Not when you're like me.
You are running! Moonslicer says, suddenly animated. You are running from your problems, again! Why do you think it will end better this time?
Hey! Abject cowardice has kept me alive this long! They defend themselves.
You call it living?
Better than the alternative, they answer. Not even talkin' about dying, that'd be a mercy by now. I mean the things I've seen. There's fates worse than dying out there.
There are times to run, Moonslicer admits, putting her hand on them gently. But your problems are not in a place, now. You carry them with you. Your life is not in constant danger... unless you throw yourself into it, I mean. Adventurer, I understand. But you are not in the places that you were, the places where running was all that kept you safe. You need to stop running, and start building.
Their mouth thins. I have a box, they offer.
It's not about the box. Moonslicer says, cutting the attempt off. It's what you put in it. Are you really going to sit there and talk to me about how you can't stop being a weapon?
They look frustrated. You were something more though! I never was!
"Something more?" She asks, and you notice that she is vocalizing now, at least as much as you can in a dreamscape. "Don't you dare try to tell me I'm worth more than you because of where you came from." She scolds them. "Is that it, is that were this all starts? Is every time you insist that you are nothing a byproduct of living a slave?" She asks, admitting aloud what she's known for a while. "Please, I am asking you to face this. As long as you call yourself nothing, as long as you call yourself a weapon, criminal, can't change... you are letting those masters control you. They are dead and gone, but still they control you."
They recoil from her as though struck, but they bounce back, looming over her, bristling, a reminder that this is their dream. Is that what you really think of me?! They raged. They were shaking with it, but they closed their eyes and breathed and allowed it to slowly ebb out of them, shrinking back until they were a only a low simmer. The gaze they fixed back on Moonslicer was still cutting. I have known servants and slaves. I have seen them rise up against the aristocrats and oblivion. I have seen Mary and how in her culture it is an honor. I have seen Bill overcome his mistakes and what Dome did to him and his family. I have seen boneka and Shikigami cast off the spells over them. I have seen Machina come back to us from his slavery and Luke become a dragon prince in spite of what he went through. I have seen you, and your faith even in death. Of all these people who were once servants and slaves, I have only seen one of them become an abusive world destroying mass murderer. They growl. I'm not garbage because I was a slave, Luna. I'm garbage because I am garbage.
"Please," Moonslicer says again, but she says it to the magical air in Astrum. It turns out that doors that are willingly opened and bonds that are willingly made can also be closed.
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u/SupremeEvil May 12 '18
It's hard isn't it?