Fourth.

[azumods]

ENCOUNTER. Perhaps it's a good thing that the people of Floaroma Town seem to be exhibiting curiosity, because that's how you end up getting the tip. It isn't much, in the end - a question of where you're going from one of the ladies in the flower shop, followed by a brief look exchanged between them and a soft shrug. There's a mention of the Valley Windworks just across the way, a short walk from here, and something inside that will shave a week's time off of the journey south. Something that should put you right in the heart of Jubilife City, should you be able to gain access to it. It's likely clear that whatever would be blocking your access to such a thing likely isn't going to be pleasant; it doesn't take them long to tell you that Team Galactic has owned the Windworks for a while now, but at the same time it's only ever staffed with low-tier employees on the chain of command - the Commanders themselves haven't cared about it since they took over, and the grunts... Well, for one reason or another, they haven't been changing with the rest of the world. It likely seems obvious, when put that way - the people of the town haven't lied to you in the entire time you've been here (they aren't many things, but at the very least they are honest), and if they're correct about this, that's a week's less travel that will need to be done. Over a distance this large, every day counts; as such, you might as well check out the Windworks for whatever it will bring you. As it turns out, the townspeople were right about several things - the Valley Windworks is only a short walk away, surrounded by tall electricity-generating windmills that are turning away at a good clip in the windstreams traveling through the valley; upon entering it, it seems fair to say that it really is generally only staffed by grunts. In light of the changes the world has undergone, their appearance may be a bit jarring, a reminder of what the entire place used to look like - they're completely dead-eyed and listless, lacking any sort of individual initiative, and while they look up as you enter and their eyes track you as you move, they don't seem inclined to do much about you as a whole. Unfortunately, the ladies in the flower shop seem to have been mistaken about something - it seems that one of the Commanders, at least, seems to care very much about this place, given that she's waiting for you in the lobby. As with the others before her, she looks distinctive from the others in both her style of dress and the fact that she's still emotionally intact; she's small in stature, the heels on her boots doing nothing to help that fact, and she's incredibly slight in comparison to Jupiter. She also seems displeased about being here; the smile she offers in greeting is sharp, and it's not a pleasant look. More along the lines of baring teeth. "It's pretty rude of you guys to barge in here like you own the place. Not like I was expecting much from you people, anyway. I'm Commander Mars, and it's about time we met."

Comments

[anythingforyou]

That's because it does.

[Is it a selfish way of looking at stuff? Most likely.]

A 'peace' like this...it's only stagnation, that doesn't do anything to address the problem at hand. It's as if you've simply decided to fill up an entire hourglass with sand because one side was left with nothing when you tipped it over; all you've done is removed any purpose from it in a short sighted manner. Certainly, not every single person or Pokemon will be happy, but taking away their all of their happiness and their opportunity to even work toward happiness is unfathomably cruel.

[azumods]

Is it really, though? They don't feel anything. It's not like they're in pain or suffering. How is that being cruel to them? They still live, they still exist. We've just taken out a few things. No one can be happy, but that's a fair trade for no one ever being in pain again.

[anythingforyou]

[Ah, that gets Camilla's look to narrow just a bit.]

It absolutely is. Feeling absolutely nothing at all...it's the biggest curse you could have inflicted upon this place. The world itself--all worlds, truly--they can't exist without both happiness and pain on the same coin. One can't exist without the other, and if you must take the coin out entirely to achieve a so-called peace...then it isn't worth it and it never will be.

[...]

The only thing that's been done is that you've made this world lose the beauty and camaraderie that it once had...really, this world sounds as if it was wonderfully admirable, before all of this happened.

[semistableman]

There’s no greater hell than waking up from feeling nothing. That’s something I couldn’t wish on anyone.

[anythingforyou]

[...Bucky...]

...To feel is one of the most beautiful things that a human can do. Doing so proves that we're alive, and that we are ourselves.

[discutio]

...Agreed.

[Ignis pulled his left hand a little closer to his chest, curled loosely.]

A life without sentiment just isn't worth it.

[semistableman]

That it does.

You do things you’d never do when you’re sapped of that will to live, only existing because there’s no reason to stop existing. This world might not have been perfect, but Cyrus has made it worse for everyone. I’ll never be able to forget the sorrow I saw in Uxie, forced to do evil.

[azumods]

Then if we're so wrong, what would you do? How would you solve the problem of suffering and strife? How would you end wars, stop people from hurting others, keep the Pokémon safe? What makes you think your way is right, when none of you have been able to offer any sort of solution?

[anythingforyou]

[...That actually gets a smile from Camilla. Humanitarian efforts are something she's always wanted to devote herself to, really, so the question doesn't daunt her.]

I would do everything in my power to help these people. I would assist them in their work, should they need it. I would go out of my way to keep offering a helping hand to anyone who should need it, and I would work towards making their lives just a bit easier and enriching. And even with Pokemon, such a simple gesture as saving them from being hurt, healing them, playing with them...it can mean the very world to those creatures, and it's how I've been able to bond with my own partners.

Certainly, I don't have any sort of power here; the kind that would allow me to use my status as a princess to preside over the people in such a manner that would allow a country to provide them with the means to help themselves, to feed them, and to protect them with the might of a country. But it all starts in the ability to do something small, and even if you dedicate your whole life to saving others, you may die before you have the ability to help everyone.

And that's fine. Because in one's wake, they could have inspired the people around them into opening their hands for a stranger and helping them.

It's a flawed way--perhaps even a naive way, certainly, I'll be the first to state that. It's so small in scale, and that means that not everyone can be saved. But it allows people the possibility to feel the same, to work towards a world that may just become better for everyone involved. And so long as the possibility exists, it's worth working towards and fighting for.

[azumods]

[Mars considers that for a moment.]

Thanks for actually coming up with an answer, instead of deflecting or just yelling that what we're doing is wrong. I don't agree, but I appreciate the attempt.

The problem with your argument is that you're counting on other people to be good, or at least decent. What happens if your efforts don't inspire people? What if you get in an accident and die before you've had the chance to reach out to others and hope that they'll help? Yeah, it's naive. Yeah, it's small in scale.

People have tried here. There are good people here. But that's just it, a small-scale effort like that just isn't good enough to save the whole world. That's how things are. So what do you do when your efforts aren't enough?

[eudaimonikos]

If she died before having achieved her goals, then at least she'd have died doing the right thing. Saving the world would be nice, sure, but not everyone can do that, and that's fine. Most mortal achievements will fall apart in a few centuries anyway. What you're left with is just...knowing what you did.

[He waves a hand, as if warding off the counterpoint he can feel coming in his fucking bones.]

That's not really an argument against what you're doing - I know you're all quite pleased with yourselves. But Camilla really doesn't have to have a Powerpoint about how she's going to single-handedly fix humanity to justify keeping to her own code of ethics.

[anythingforyou]

[Michael, you are a blessing, god damn.]

[azumods]

...You've got a point in there, not everyone can save the world. Not everyone can look at what needs to be done and actually do it. That's what Master Cyrus did. He did what needed to be done for this world, and given all the yelling you guys are doing about it, I'm sure most people wouldn't have agreed with him. But this is what we needed, and I'm happy to have been a part of it.

I'll agree that she doesn't need to justify keeping to her own code of ethics. I'm asking because I'm curious, because I don't see another way to fix this world outside of what Master Cyrus did. I want to know how you guys would handle it, not hear more of the same tired "you guys are wrong because what you did is bad" arguments.

[eudaimonikos]

Honestly, I only have plans for reform on my world. But, given just the information I have on this world right now?

[He actually does stop to think about it for a second.]

Considering you all apparently just stopped having wars all on your own, it seemed like your world was already pretty much trending towards enlightenment or whatever. I hear people would do stupid shit occasionally, that's just what people do, but it seems to me like you really needed to just put out those fires when they happened and maintain your course. Work on expanding that cultural horror of weaponry and murder to encompass whatever other nasty shit you want people to quit doing. It's not instantaneous, but it was hardly out of sight. You were farther along than most other worlds I've heard about.

Was there any incident in particular that even prompted all of this? It seems like a really extreme reaction.

[azumods]

This is what Master Cyrus decided would be best.

I'm curious to see where you're going with this, though. How do you plan on putting out those fires whenever they happen? Even assuming you could always be in the right place at the right time, one person alone can't save the world. So what do you do? How do you handle stopping more than one incident that happens at the same time?

[enjoymyatelier]

Well, I suppose I should ask how those fires were put out before. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but I seem to remember hearing disaster was narrowly averted several times in recent memory, correct?

[azumods]

Yeah. Sometimes people step up and help. I'm certainly not denying that there are good people who will help out when times get tough like that. But does relying on people coming forward to help really seem like a good idea? Can you really trust that there will always be someone there to help when things go bad?

[eudaimonikos]

Of course one person alone can't save the world. Why would you ever want to work alone? [Well - ] Not you, specifically, that's rhetorical.

But to your point, you're part of a group of like-minded people who got together for the purpose of doing what you thought was right. [He spreads his hands, like duh] That's how. You get people to help. No one's ever going to convince everybody to join their cause, but you don't need literally every person to agree to start making a difference.

[azumods]

[You know what...]

That's fair. That's actually a pretty good argument.

[She'll look around at all of you, considering for a moment before speaking up again.]

So I take it you're all a group of like-minded people who are all in agreement on changing this world back to the way it was?

[anythingforyou]

I hadn't the time for it at home due to it's current state, but I've wanted to dedicate myself to the people for quite some time.

[Camilla, to her credit, listens. Mars definitely states plenty of realistic possibilities, and honestly, considering the way Nohr is, she'd be inclined to agree, really. The...accident and die part actually manages to get Camilla's expression to falter for a moment, causing her to look away, though she looks back and composes herself in a moment.]

...You're unlikely to like the answer I'm about to give you, but stating it frankly; then I'll have tried all that I could and would die knowing that much. And if I haven't died? I would get up again and keep trying, for as long as I would be able to. I believe it's simply impossible to save the world itself from suffering in one sweeping motion; to do so would require a miracle that no one in the world has the ability to do perfectly.

But, even as it is...even an imperfect world, in my eyes, is worth living in and fighting for, and it's better than a world without soul at all. And it's worth fighting for, no matter if the world itself is against you, or if the people themselves scoff at the notion. One simply must be willing to consciously make that choice, again and again.

[azumods]

[Once again, Mars considers that. It takes her a bit longer to form an answer this time.]

...If more people were like you, maybe this wouldn't have been necessary in the first place. But unfortunately, not everyone is willing to get up and try over and over again, and a lot of people aren't even willing to try to begin with.

Let's say you're given the option to save the world from suffering. You have the opportunity to prevent people from starting wars or picking fights or hurting others. You'd take that opportunity, wouldn't you? But if it comes with a price... would you really say "no, this isn't worth it"?

[anythingforyou]

[...It actually takes her a bit to consider that. Maybe because it resonates so closely with the war between Nohr and Hoshido, and now against even Corrin. They've all done things that weren't right for what they believe their peace was, and what was best for the country. And that's if their father even believed in such things anymore, and wasn't just a power hungry warmongering asshole who just wanted to destroy everything. To be able to make a peaceful world like that, to stop their war for good...it'd be a lovely thing, wouldn't it?

But they wouldn't be able to enjoy it. They wouldn't be a family again. It takes a bit, but the look that Camilla gives Mars once she's finished is steeled.]

Without hesitation. If there's no way to enjoy that world, free of suffering and war...then it would never be worth it. No sacrifice or price would ever make it so.

[azumods]

[...]

What's your name?

[anythingforyou]

My name is Camilla, Mars.

[She figures that her title likely goes without saying, and has little bearing on this conversation.]

[azumods]

Camilla. I won't forget it.

[...]

I don't agree with what you're saying. I'm not going to pretend I understand it. I stand by what Master Cyrus decided to do and I have no regrets about helping.

But you've taken the time to explain your thought process and while I don't think it'd work, your confidence is admirable.

If more people were like you, I really do think things could have turned out differently here. Maybe this never would have been necessary. But unfortunately, that's just the way things are here. Master Cyrus saw what needed to be done and he did it.

I take it you're going to keep fighting to try to return this world to the way it was? Even though it's not your world?