Summary: Lucent and Spring share another philosophical spar.
XP:L1, S1
< The Mind of a Killer | Sol Invictus Logs | Public Displays of Affection >
Lucent It was on one of the tallest spires on the tallest mount surrounding Solaria, a Temple built by a man of wealth who wished to worship a god long dead. He died in Aurora District, his belongings passing to the State, the gargantuan temple turned into a museum to the eccentric old man.
Lucent And it was there that the last blow was thrown by Lucent to his Sifu, and with a bow, their training was over. Flower petals floated about them, of all colors of spring, controlled by Lucent's Primordial Touch as an orchestra, as another training on top of the martial arts. "Thank you for the lesson, Spring. Do you have any place to be right now?"
Spring "There is always something I should be doing, but nothing is especially pressing right now."
Lucent wipes sweat off his brow. "Perfect. I have some matters to discuss with you..."
Spring "Oh yes?"
Lucent "Well, first. How are your recollections from the time you were Thirteen? Can you remember what it was for him to feel? To touch, to think? Is it like reading a book, to experience a memory from a past life or... what?"
Spring "Mm."
Spring "How do you remember your past life?"
Lucent "Flashes. Images. Ideas. Surges of emotion. Sometimes, memories vivid and crystal-clear, but entirely devoid of context for the words and emotions shown. It is a puzzle, even for the exercises we had in the Golden Ag... sorry, First Age now, is it? To better deepen our understanding."
Spring "Imagine that, but with context."
Spring "There is not the feeling that the actions you are undertaking have no relation to anything; you know why things are done, and where, and how, and event follows event in a predictable way."
Spring "But the person doing these things is not you. Not quite you."
Lucent "I see. That is a good thing." He smiles. "Spring, do you consider yourself Human?"
Spring shrugs. "I am a Wasirran. Do you consider Wasirrans human?"
Lucent "I would, yes. That brings it around: do you consider yourself Wasirran still?"
Spring pauses for a while. "That is a more difficult question."
Spring "When we give the gift of Exaltation to all the people of the world, then there will be no question but that I am a Wasirran."
Lucent "That is a point. I have seen the Exaltation mentioned by you all quite a few times as a tool, a weapon. Do you see yourself as a human, a Wasirran, wielding this power? Or do you believe this power has changed you into something else entirely?"
Lucent "After all, even when we Exalt all people in the world, we will still stand above them. The concentration, power, and sheer flavor of sunlight cannot possibly be created in such a quantity. So the answer now is the same answer, as power will always set you apart."
Spring "There is a difference between having less power and having no power."
Spring "Those who are not Exalted are not fully responsible for their actions."
Lucent "So you are saying their thoughts, emotions and goals are fundamentally different?"
Spring "No. We can be human without being human."
Spring "People cannot be blamed for their vulnerabilities."
Lucent "I understand. But in your view, while they will receive power and responsability, and new options and choices, their souls, their thoughts, their emotions and goals will remain similar? This does seem to mirror most our experiences as per the books, as most of us received Exaltation so as to better follow those paths and goals chosen as Mortals."
Spring "It does seem to, yes."
Spring "That seems most likely."
Lucent "Well, then, following that line of thought - and I am sorry for drawning this out too long, but it is important to have it covered in such a sensitive matter..." Lucent sits down, the petals forming a whirlwind on the ground, attempting to make it a chrysanthemum. "You know that we are besieged of a flaw, a flaw in the nature of the world exploited by its enemies, and centered in us, right? What do you see as its symptoms?"
Spring "I am not...sure."
Spring "What were the Solars like, in the First Age?"
Lucent "Grandiose and Extreme. Alahwi and her heart, all too compassionate. Wei Dan and his desire to organize everything. Larquen and his desire for power, to create something new, to be big. Passionate personalities and egos, in constant clash."
Lucent "Not... very different from today, come to think of it. Just more of them."
Spring "If the flaw exists in Solars, and not in humans, then you must start with the differences between them. I perceive now that this has been your goal all along."
Spring "Are our feelings bigger, or are the results bigger?"
Lucent "See, this is precisely what I meant to ask you. For I see no difference. I believe only the results are bigger, for... you see how Mortals squander themselves and strangle their own livehood with the Guild's greed. You see how they kill each other, I had to stop a couple of ahara's servants from killing each other as a result of my... unfortunate one night stands." He sighs.
Lucent "If the flaw is psychological, as Imrama first suggested when we first heard it mentioned... I cannot see it."
Lucent "Which is why I came to you. The only human to remember his Exalted life, but not be ruled by its emotions and goals, not compelled to excuse excesses or desires." He nods, and the flowers form the chrysanthemum... and break apart.
Spring "When I was Thirteen, the things I did seemed obviously necessary, clearly inevitable."
Spring "Now that I am Spring, the things I do seem obviously necessary, clearly inevitable."
Spring "The difficulty with this analysis, Lucent, is that we are cursed. We cannot divine our own curse with mere self-reflection."
Spring "We need to know what the Solars were like before the Great Curse, before we can be sure what it is."
Lucent "I suppose. So we need to dive into memories from before the First Herald."
Spring "We might visit Iallu again, but yes, that must be our goal."
Lucent considers
Lucent "Not Iallu. She has texts. We need memories. We need to know how they FELT."
Lucent "Texts do not grant us psychological insight. We need to find a goddess of memories."
Lucent "And witness our own."
Spring "You seem to have the beginnings of a plan, Lucent."
Lucent "It was your doing. I had not considered to reach that far back!"
Lucent "But thanks to that, we have a direction!" He nods. "We need those memories."
Spring "We should probably discuss the location of such a goddess with Cerin."
Lucent "Yes."
Lucent "But before we do, there is another concern I wished to voice with you."
Spring "Yes?"
Lucent "I intend to send the younger Circle to the frozen wastes of the North, to find the Solar Shards inhabiting there as per my Abyssal Brother's vision, and report back to us. It is too lenghty a mission for any of us to be involved on it, and too important for any non-Solar Exalt to have a chance, should they prove themselves villains."
Spring "Mm."
Spring "I had hoped to spend more time working with them. They have much to learn."
Lucent "I imagine. But they are the only ones that can. Do you think any of us have time to spend months wading through the northern expenses to try and find the Solars?" He cocks his head to the side, attempting the chrysanthemum once again, "Or that we can afford to let possible hostile Solars grow in power until ours' are ready?"
Spring "If you feel it is necessary, I will not stand in your way."
Lucent nods and considers
Lucent "If you wish, we can have a set time, for you to impart them emergency lessons?"
Lucent "On the sorts of things they might need on the north, or if they meet a Solar?"
Spring "I can do so when we see them off, I hope. Although I doubt I will be able to prepare them for meeting a Solar."
Lucent grins, "I thought they did so every day."
Spring "I doubt they are prepared," Spring smiles back.
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< The Mind of a Killer | Sol Invictus Logs | Public Displays of Affection >