drops of jupiter.

[redbellion]

[ so that was a lot, especially since it was keith’s first time coming face-to-face with a commander. he knows everyone must be tired and emotionally drained, but they have a lot of things they need to talk about. things that can’t wait to be sorted out. he has to collect his thoughts first, though--he’s not sure how to feel about this exactly, but he knows he’s feeling a lot of things. keith needs time to process everything, and he goes off to be alone for a little while.

eventually, michael, kayneth, ignis, camilla, and bucky bring over some food for the gang. it’s a much needed meal, and maybe some people want to eat in peace. unfortunately, keith is keith, and he thinks now is the best time to have a discussion. ]

Look, I know I’m not in the best position to say this, especially after how I acted back there. But unless anyone has any better ideas, we need to go to that lake and see the Guardian. We have to try. If that’s part of the solution to saving these people and going back home, then there’s really no other option.

[ he’s saying this with a calm head this time. he’s frustrated, clearly, but he’s speaking firmly and with nowhere near the same aggression he held earlier, back when he wanted to attack jupiter.

he doesn’t believe that he can be the leader anyone needs him to be. not here, not back at home. but it’s not going to stop him from trying to do what he feels is right. ]

And if we need someone to scope it out before we act, then I’ll do it.

Comments

Night

[radiantflame]

[Just sorta standing off to the side and watching at first.]

Are they listening?

[eudaimonikos]

Well, they're not leaving.

[Just sorta staring at him in that blank way they all have. It's about as close as you can get to confirming that a wild Pokemon around here is absorbing anything.]

[radiantflame]

[She scans the small crowd, looking especially close at their eyes, searching for any sign of lucidity, of humanity.]

We don't have any such thing as "ghosts" in my world. The idea of humans existing beyond death is a new one for me.

[eudaimonikos]

See, that's weird for me. Do you all just dissipate?

[Michael's already scanned the ghosts to his satisfaction. Looking for something for his hands to do, though, he does reach out to touch the string of beads around one Misdreavus's neck. It feels solid. Strange...]

[radiantflame]

I can't say for sure. I'm still alive.

How does an 'afterlife' work, exactly?

[eudaimonikos]

Well. A human dies, and then their soul exits their dimension - this one, for example - and comes to ours. Final calculation and judgement is almost always complete by then, so they just go directly to their final destination. The transition is a lot, so they're not really aware of the processing for the most part.

There's no traffic in the other direction for them. We're still aware of what's happening on Earth, but for humans, that's the end of it.

[radiantflame]

So... people come to you from all of these different dimensions, and then you send them on to another dimension? Am I following?

[eudaimonikos]

They only come to us from the one dimension - but yes, otherwise. They go to Hell, where I'm from, or to Heaven.

[radiantflame]

And in this Hell, are there others like you? Demons, that is.

[A place full of people like Michael certainly sounds... interesting.]

[eudaimonikos]

Oh, yes. Far more than there are humans - we don't all work directly with your kind. It's our main purpose, of course, but you have to have people maintaining the infrastructure.

[radiantflame]

...Is everything you do for the benefit of humans?

[eudaimonikos]

"Benefit" isn't really the word I'd use.

[radiantflame]

[Why does she get the feeling she's going to regret this next question.]

Then what is the purpose of doing all this work?

[eudaimonikos]

[Shrug] Fun? Reputation?

I mean, look - we all have our place in the system. It's just the way things are. But I'd kinda be lying if I said that's the real reason most demons have, that’s not much of a motivator.

[radiantflame]

And you? Do it all for 'fun'?

[eudaimonikos]

Don't really do it at all anymore. Like I said.

[He feels he made this pretty clear at that icebreaker activity way back.]

[radiantflame]

Did you find pleasure in your work at one point, then? I must admit, I find the business of death unpleasant, even if it is unavoidable.

[eudaimonikos]

Oh, I've never killed a single human! That happens first, you can't really do it twice.

[.....]

But yes, of course I did. Would've been a long eternity otherwise.