socialcapital | [ JACKSON HEART ]

"Just like that! Are you here to talk to him?"

I'd like to. But I can understand that now may not be the time.

My sincerest sympathies on the loss of your companion. I cannot imagine that this is easy on any of you.

"Well... we all kinda prepare for this sort of thing early. In a way, all our lives basically ended when we took that second breath. So it's not really a surprise..."

She looks pretty bummed about it though.

"Still, even though he was kinda wrong and pretty stupid... I thought the world he believed existed sounded pretty nice. Y'know? It woulda been nice if he was right."

It would have been.

And truthfully, even when it seems foolish... the world isn't changed by those of us who can only see the worst in it. It takes those who genuinely believe in its ability to be something better.

[He sighs.]

But there's a difference in believing it can be, and blindly believing that it is.

"Right? Either way... I think Firuz took it pretty hard. Like, hard enough that we could tell."

She makes a face about it.

"I dunno how much the big revenge plan is going to help but... I'm just along for the ride, really..."

Saida, you've seen him through a great deal. More than I have.

Things like... this plan for revenge, or the argument that led to those two parting ways before this...

Do his dark moods always follow someone he knows being hurt?

"Mmm... not always... he gets upset fastest when someone gets hurt because of him and it wasn't someone he wanted to hurt..."

She perches on a short dividing wall thoughtfully.

"But I got warned by my mentor that Solars are pretty ungraceful in having to compromise their beliefs. They're stubborn types! And I've seen him get cranky after having to do that a lot... but I've never seen him blow up as bad as this. This is a looooot."

This is a lot. Actions he will regret on top of actions he regrets...

That's how curses work. Like a parasite feeding off its host, their effects trigger the very circumstances that allow them to grow. And all the while, the host is tricked into thinking, "This is what I want. This is what feels right."

Her hair poofs up a bit, like a bird's feathers, in alarm.

"He's got a parasite!?"

You could think of it like that. One that's attached to his spark, more than his body.

"YUCK???"

Very "yuck".

Normally, in a situation like this... [he opens his hand toward the area they left, and to the starving city beyond] I would say that the rage and need for vengeance were an attempt to shield a wounded heart from the grief and self-blame in its depths. And that, if what's in those depths can start to heal, what's on the surface will ease, too.

But that won't work here.

"Yeah... I mean, for one thing this is about 30% of the way through his plan. So like..."

So, by the end of it, the trail bodies and ruin will only lend more credence to those who pursue his kind with such hostility. Not less.

And the world your fallen companion was determined to see will become even farther from the reality.

"I don't know if I can talk him down... he really wants to ruin Mnemon. That's one of the Empire's big houses, and honestly I don't know if even we can make that happen..."

The irony in this is that were he truly in charge of his own actions, there is a good part of me that wouldn't even fault him for it.

[He shakes his head.]

But he isn't. And words alone won't change that. Not yours, and certainly not mine.

"Mmmm... this is kind of philosophical for me, so... we should probably include him in the conversation. Especially because he's prooooobably listening."

Saida offers him a hand up.

I would prefer that, if it's possible.

[He takes it, grip decently strong despite his noodly looks.]

Still, whatever may follow, it's been my pleasure to be able to meet you. If our paths cross again, I hope it will be in better circumstances.

"I'd say it'd be hard to find worse, but, weeeeellllll."

She helps him up then turns back into a bird, fluttering from perch to perch and occasionally looking down to make sure he's following.

But this is Creation, and none of your lives are easy.

[He follows, taking in what sights there are to see as he goes.]

The architecture is not THAT dissimilar from various places in Asia's history, which is interesting. That said, there's mostly just the grim sights of a city in famine as Saida leads him to the tent passing out food - and then flutters straight over it and back into the small wooded park behind it.

She pauses, landing on a branch, and then chirps in a way that gets translated to speech in his head.

Sky and Talon are in there and Issei is cooking! If you want to talk to them you can, but they're also pretty busy. Firuz is hiiiiiding back here.

[He looks back at the tent wistfully.]

I'd like to. After all, they have a place in his heart, too. But... you're right. This first.

Theeeen, in here!

She flutters into what appears to be empty space and disappears, then pokes her human head out (again, of empty space) and waves him in.

A permeable barrier...? Convenient.

[Well. Better just to do it.

He steps forward to join her.]

Inside it's... a different tent! It's not quite a war tent (it seems to be like, mostly a normal one, for sleeping in) but it's not not a war tent, given the intentions of who's in there. He's sitting by a small table covered in papers.

There's something a little bit interesting about his Inner Darkness Level. Because this is also Firuz, the one Satin talked to, the one who exists as an independent entity, he shares a soul with Umbra, who is (as of the beginning of heart games) at 0%. But because he also represents Firuz as he was in this moment in history, there's a faint echo of a shadow over him - at this point in history, Firuz was at a cool 80%.

Saida turns back into a bird, flutters over, and lands on Firuz's head.

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