001. out there in the sun | beneath the sky // open post

[clayce]

Take a prompt, take some time, drop in whenever you like.

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[clayce]

Humans are only as weak as they allow themselves to be. I suppose that the same could be said about everything else out there, though.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade asks the question that wasn't really answered. Cause well, he asked the wrong question ]

In the 4th World, sir, were you human too before becoming a Mage? Or were things different in the 4th World and you were born a Mage or something.

[clayce]

The latter. My world was very different from this one... having powers was normal.

[atlas_shrugged]

I'd say it must've been a much easier world to live in, sir. But if you, Inquisitor Falner and Orin are the only three left, I can't imagine what caused it all to end.

[ Brigade takes in the surroundings. He's not quite sure where they are anymore ]

[clayce]

[Aidan is quiet for a noticeable period of time. His gaze remains fixed on the path ahead.

Then, softly:]

You happen to be looking at what caused it.

What are we looking it???:)) Oh god, it just hit me.

[atlas_shrugged]

Pardon, sir? [ Brigade's not quite sure what he's supposed to be looking at ] The forest?

[ Brigade stops. It dawns on him what Aidan meant ]

Sir, what little that's on your file on GEISTnet said it was abuse of your research that destroyed the Fourth World. It wasn't your fault, sir. Other people must have took advantage it. [ It's not his fault. It's not his fault that there are people who misuse the good work other people start.]

Ahahaha. ;;

[clayce]

No, Brigade.

[Stopping then, when he's a little bit ahead of the man. Turning back.]

They may have abused it, but it was my own obsession with knowledge and my own arrogance that let things go too far in the first place. It does not matter that I thought that what I was doing was good. The death of my world is and always will be on my hands.

[Oddly enough, though, Aidan sounds sad, but he does not sound as though it was eating at him anymore.]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade really doesn't know what to say.]

We make mistakes, sir. [ Brigade sighs. ] But it doesn't mean that no good can come of them, right? [ Right? He thinks of Prometheans and how they're considered a mistake to the natural order of the world. He thinks of how supernaturals are deemed unnatural, but thinks of all the good people he's met who think otherwise as well. ]

If the Fourth World hadn't ended, sir, the Fifth World would probably never have come to be. And none of us, sir, none of everything here now, would be here. [ He's not even sure if it's right to say these things anymore. Telling a man who thinks he destroyed a world that some good did come out of what he thinks was a big mistake ]

Maybe it was time for a reset. And you, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, got the job to press the reset button... and let the world reboot itself. Give it a second... err, Fifth Chance?... to get things [ there really is no absolute "right", Brig thinks ] done better.

[clayce]

Maybe so. These things are... difficult to consider, to say the least.

[The smile has returned at least. He nods, in a gesture for Brig to come up and join him back at his side before they continue walking.]

I do what I can to keep the Fifth World intact. It's only right, given why I am here in the first place. Whether that is 'good' or 'bad' is yet to be seen.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade complies and keeps pace with the Founder of Netsach ]

I'm an optimist, sir. I'm pretty sure it will be the prior. And till we get there, when you're worried if you're doing good, I'll be one of the many people to remind you that you have. [ Brigade pulls out a cigarette pack and motions if it'd be all right if he smoke as well ]

You got my family out of America, sir, and gave me a chance at a new life here with Netsach. It may be a little thing in the grand scheme of things, but it's good done nonetheless. [ Brigade pauses and then adds. ] I think all great good things have had their foundations built with the little good things.

[clayce]

In my experience, they tend to be. As for what I did... I was not alone in that, really.

[Yeah, so, Aidan kind of sucks at taking credit for anything that he does for anybody. Does that look familiar?

In the meantime, they're finally breaking out into a clearing, and standing close to the base foundations of Voidsong.]

[atlas_shrugged]

I thank you equally none the less, sir. It's been easier for them... and for me with them.

[ Why yes it looks familiar. haha ]

[ As Voidsong comes to view, Brigade finds himself in as much awe as he was when he first saw Aidan Clayce's dragon form. He keeps control of his body's reactions, but is very much impressed ] Dang, that's pretty. The dossiers didn't tell me to expect this.

[clayce]

Dossiers rarely ever do justice to anything.

[Wryly, as he's following Brig's gaze. Voidsong never stops being a sight for sore eyes for him, even with his history.]

You are welcome to free run up this base whenever you like, by the way.

[atlas_shrugged]

I know that so very well, sir. [ He thinks on Hikaru and how much asking and listening he had to do elsewhere. Past the files. Past the dossiers ]

Are you a mind-reader, sir? Cause part of me was thinking just that. And kicking away any thoughts of cheating with a pair of Frog Feet boots. [ Brigade stifles a laugh ]

Was this... was this your base in the Fourth World, sir? Where you were Weaponmaster of the Adamantine Arrows?

[clayce]

Yes, it was. I took the position when I was seventeen, and retained it for most of my life.

[He's lifting a hand towards the sky. It isn't too long before two platforms float down. Now he's turning to his companion.]

There's a nice garden further up from here. Shall we?

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade's surprised. Father Aidan was... a child soldier? ]

It would be my pleasure to join you, sir. [ He follows suit onto the platform ]

[clayce]

[The platforms, thankfully, move slower on the way up now that they have passengers. There's a palpable energy field, though, ensuring that neither of them was going to plummet to their deaths.

Not that such a thing would be a concern in the first place since Aidan happened to be one of them, but. Well. Formalities.]

I was eventually selected to become the First of Voidsong. The Tower had a different name back then... the name it carries now is the name I gave it, as its Master.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade looks out into the horizon, enjoying the view as everything gets smaller and smaller. He's usually watching the ground flying up toward him, not the other way around ]

I guess it's the old American, old Fifth World, values in me, sir, but you seemed so young to have been forced to take to the field as a [ Brig tries to think of what Weaponmaster could've been the equivalent of ] General. You were a child soldier, sir?

[ He wants to ask about the name. He's not quite sure if he should. Renaming tends to be for a purpose ] I'm guessing you wanted to give the Voidsong a fresh start as well, sir? New name, new purpose?

[clayce]

I did. In many ways, it worked. As for me being a child soldier...

[Turning to Brig with another smile.]

In the Fourth World, you were a man the moment you could walk if you were one of the Awakened at birth. There was no real conception of 'child' for people like us. If you could serve, you served. Furthermore, discipline and rigorous training helped us keep our powers in check, and our heads in the game.

I am excited for where all this is going. I have no idea where it's leading. haha.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade understands this. He was fighting within his first year of Awakening. At 4 years, he'd already seen and done so much killing. There was a close to never a year of his life he wasn't in combat. He just nods his assent. ]

I guess, I never did think of myself as a child, sir. Though the advent of Hunter schools, and my integration in the Zangyaku culture, has always made me wonder if it's all right to have children training to kill.

kekeke.

[clayce]

[The platforms were landing at their destination now, perching right at the edge of one of the floating islands. This one featured a terraced garden where every mural had a story of the past. The plants growing there were all from the Fourth World, tended carefully by gardeners that Orin had trained personally. One of them happened to be Kaizen Tempesta.

Aidan waited for his companion to step off before continuing his walk.]

I think it is less about training children how to kill, but preparing for the inevitability that they may have to take a life in pursuit of defending their loved ones, or pursuing their cause. Furthermore, to be honest, the definition of 'child' has always been contingent on its historical context and the needs of society.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brig thinks on the history books he's read and admits this is true. There were time periods where being wed below 18 was the norm. That girls (children) were considered old maids if they weren't married before they turned 16. Or periods like the Hellenic Period where Sparta was doing exactly what Zangyaku was doing. Times change. Then they change back. ]

I guess I'm also just thinking about my goddaughter Kathleen, sir. She's training in Balamb, and knowing she's her mother's daughter, I expect she'll choose to take the path of a Hunter. Part of me just isn't quite sure how it feels about that. [ He pauses ] I can't imagine her having to go through the things I have... taking lives... questioning if it was right.

[ His head had been down as he'd stepped off the platform, lost in thought. When he raised his head, he was astonished by the beauty of it all. He catches his jaw from dropping.

So much unique fauna he'd never seen in his entire life. Strange. Different. Evidently from a very different time period.

But still beautiful. Still plant life, no matter how out-of-the-ordinary they seemed. ]

I find it funny sir that looking at the plants kind of drives point your point of historical context. You work in mysterious ways. [ He chuckles a bit.]

The murals, sir, general history? Or yours, Mr. Falner's and Orin's stories?

[clayce]

General history, really, although some murals were made in my honor.

[His voice is a little dry at that point. He's never been comfortable with that sort of thing.]

I am sure that Liandrin has already told you, but... Kathleen will not train as a Keeper of the Vigil unless she wants to.

It wasn't Liandrin diba? Just a headmistress of the school for kiddies?

[atlas_shrugged]

[ He can hear the discomfort in Father Aidan's voice, but he actually would be curious as to those about him. He opts for tact, it's a long day, and he's not really in any rush. Father Aidan is being so kind as to show him around as it is. ]

Mind telling me some of the stories depicted, sir? Those you think I should know [ A fraction of a pause, then he adds with respect in his voice ] or feel comfortable telling me about?

On Kathleen, sir, the headmistress for the children told me that it would be only if she wanted to. And really, I'm worried I already know she will.

Oh, right! Welp, it's natural for Aidan to assume that it was Lia too, come to think of it...

[clayce]

Is that so? [Blinks.] I had thought that Lia would have approached you. Then again, we have all been busy.

[And walking over to one particular mural, where there is a woman with her arms spread out, wearing a dress full of stars and the broken fragments of another world.]

This would be the death of one world, and the start of the next. That woman -- [Pointing at the serene features, the dark outline of wings] -- would be Nyx.