It actually wasn't a bullet as much as it shot some vials of reagents I had on me - and they exploded into my abdomen! It was exquisitely painful. Really wouldn't repeat that again, especially the surgery afterwards...
Because, as Miss Suriel was kind enough to point out during trial, Baraqiel-gege and the rest of the Watchers do not have any advanced healing abilities of their own. Unlike what Baraqiel-gege told me.
[ baraqiel is
a little in the doghouse right now. ] So, if they were to use such an ability on me, instead of on themselves, I would be quite angry.
[ hmph!!!!!!!
anyway. to the second bit, though, he winces, because ouch. ] ...Please be more careful, Mr. Sholmes..
And not to worry. I was in the middle of attempting to stop a terrible crime. [And he looks....dour.] Unfortunately, I was unable to stop the worst from happening. Such is the lot of a great detective. We can go around solving all the crimes in the world...but we it seems our strengths only rely in that, and not preventing those crimes themselves.
[ i have no idea what you mean but also :ratshakes:
something about that catches his attention, and xie lian frowns, looking down at his lap. ]
... I suppose part of my job is to prevent crime, but, I - am not so infallible at it, either. Still; we are luckier that you are here because of it, Mr. Sholmes.
I notice that you do get uncomfortable when I refer to your status. Or even right now, where your pause suggests something hesitant. [His eyebrows furrow, concerned.] Are you...still a god, my dear fellow?
Regardless of what you are, who you are...it doesn't matter. A man can be a king as a pauper, and a pauper as a king. You are a man of great upstanding, nobility, morals, and kindness. So if whatever is going on concerns you...I want to reassure you, that the man I see before me is someone I will rely on, if he claims to be a god or not.
your feet pound against the golden pavement of the heavens, and palaces go by you in a blur. you can feel spiritual energy that leaks off of you in waves - you are the young god taizi dianxia, the crown prince who pleased the gods of xian le, and today, you are running in desperation.
you slam open the doors of the palace, interrupting what looks to be an important meeting. a handsome, older man with dark hair wearing a headdress looks up at you from his throne - jun wu, the heavenly emperor, who looks across at you with mild curiosity, and his usual fondness. this man is almost a father to you. maybe that's why you are fine speaking out of turn. (maybe it's because you are always fine speaking out of turn, when you're impassioned enough.) ]
My lord-- [ you say, bluntly, completely interrupting everything ] I'm descending to the mortal realm.
[ the heavenly emperor blinks mildly at you as the entire meeting comes to a stop. you could hear a pin drop.
after a moment, the heavenly emperor closes his mouth, and speaks, his voice gentle. "Xianle... I am aware of what's happening, but you must remain calm."
you shake your head. ] My lord, I didn't come to request permission. I came to inform. My people - [ and you love your people, more than just as your devotees, you love every single one of them as fiercely as they have ever loved you, with every fiber of your body, and their despair overwhelms you ] -are currently sunken in the depths of hell, so please forgive me if I cannot remain calm.
[ the heavenly emperor sighs. "The universe has its own rhythm. Do you not realize that if you descend to appear before mortals, it will be a violation of heavenly law?"
something about that just lights a fire in your heart. the law? the law your people are dying, are suffering, and you're up here doing paperwork? you won't. you won't, you won't. you refuse, and you cry - ] IF IT'S A VIOLATION, THEN SO BE IT!
[ you are barely seventeen years old, and you have just defied the heavenly emperor.
shock ripples through the crowd, and murmuring starts, but you ignore them, your eyes only for the heavenly emperor, as you bend to bow. your heartbeat sings with spiritual energy. with pride. with determination, that floods your core. ]
Pray my lord let me go this once; just give me a little time. Since the fighting has started, casualties are unavoidable, but if I could stop this and reduce the number of dead, minimize the conflict, then after the fighting ends I will for sure return willingly to repent, and have my lord sentence me as see fit. Whether I shall be sealed under a mountain for a hundred years, a thousand years, a hundred thousand years--I WILL NOT REGRET!
[ adrenaline courses through you. you remain bowed low out of respect, and take a step back, but you do not turn. determined, fists clenched at your sides, ready to do everything for xian le. for them, for them, for them.
"Xianle!"
the emperor's voice rings out. you pause, mid step, and hear him sigh. "You can't save everyone."
and that is where you're wrong, you think, fiercely. the tiny fire in your heart blazes into a wildfire, now.
you stand up to your full height, seventeen year old prince turned god about to be prince, again, and lock eyes with the emperor. ]
Whether I can, I won't know until I've tried. Even if the heavens say I must die, if that sword doesn't pierce my heart and nail me dead on the ground, then I am still alive, and till my last breath, I will struggle to the end!
[ and in the end, you do not turn away from him. you still kowtow, to the emperor, because he is the person you respect most in the entire world.
but you walk straight out of that door facing him, and when the black shackle of being banished wraps around your neck, you don't look back.
you refuse to let the laws of godhood - stupid, stupid laws - be the reason that a single person suffers. not on your watch. not on your life. you will do anything for the people of xian le.
you will not let them fall. you became a god to help them, and become a god is what keeps you from them. the laws of the heavens are confining. frustrating. cruel.
so you throw it away.
you will not simply watch as your world falls apart.
[Banished. Thrown out. Godhood, thrown out, because he loves people, he cares so deeply, he fights with every ounce of his being, to the point where status, power, can be tossed to the side in a second. What strength that takes.]
[Sholmes stares at Xie Lian for a moment. I don't know if the man is standing or not, but regardless, he moves, and throws his arms around the other in an embrace.]
[ it's not the first time that xie lian has seen this memory, this week, though, a part of him hopes it might be the last. he's about to say something - convenient, maybe, that it played now, or i told you, it's complicated or yes, a god, just a banished one, funny, isn't it? but -
then he's being hugged? xie lian has not just been straight out hugged many times in his life. he looks stunned, hands half raised in the air, almost unsure what to do with himself. ]
- Mr. Sholmes...?
[ but he will. slowly drop his hands to rest on his back to hug him back....? ]
It's quite alright. [He draws back a little, smiling warmly.] A warm embrace does the soul quite good, I think. And I really do think, with all the turmoil you've been through...you deserve more than you can handle, my dear fellow.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Oh? Why? Because they'd be pushing themselves?
[And he nods.]
It actually wasn't a bullet as much as it shot some vials of reagents I had on me - and they exploded into my abdomen! It was exquisitely painful. Really wouldn't repeat that again, especially the surgery afterwards...
no subject
[ baraqiel is
a little in the doghouse right now. ] So, if they were to use such an ability on me, instead of on themselves, I would be quite angry.
[ hmph!!!!!!!
anyway. to the second bit, though, he winces, because ouch. ] ...Please be more careful, Mr. Sholmes..
no subject
[yeah, ratshake your future husband]
And not to worry. I was in the middle of attempting to stop a terrible crime. [And he looks....dour.] Unfortunately, I was unable to stop the worst from happening. Such is the lot of a great detective. We can go around solving all the crimes in the world...but we it seems our strengths only rely in that, and not preventing those crimes themselves.
no subject
something about that catches his attention, and xie lian frowns, looking down at his lap. ]
... I suppose part of my job is to prevent crime, but, I - am not so infallible at it, either. Still; we are luckier that you are here because of it, Mr. Sholmes.
no subject
[There's a long pause, here.]
I do know I joke about it, but...do people pray to you? As their god.
no subject
he starts to say something -
and then stops, huffing softly. ]
...They do, yes. Why do you ask?
no subject
[He tilts his head.]
I notice that you do get uncomfortable when I refer to your status. Or even right now, where your pause suggests something hesitant. [His eyebrows furrow, concerned.] Are you...still a god, my dear fellow?
no subject
...It's complicated. [ with a smile, brows knit together. ] I suppose that's all I can say.
no subject
[He just shakes his head.]
Regardless of what you are, who you are...it doesn't matter. A man can be a king as a pauper, and a pauper as a king. You are a man of great upstanding, nobility, morals, and kindness. So if whatever is going on concerns you...I want to reassure you, that the man I see before me is someone I will rely on, if he claims to be a god or not.
1/2
and well hey
this sure seems like a great time to run into a piece of memory glass, doesn't it? ]
no subject
your feet pound against the golden pavement of the heavens, and palaces go by you in a blur. you can feel spiritual energy that leaks off of you in waves - you are the young god taizi dianxia, the crown prince who pleased the gods of xian le, and today, you are running in desperation.
you slam open the doors of the palace, interrupting what looks to be an important meeting. a handsome, older man with dark hair wearing a headdress looks up at you from his throne - jun wu, the heavenly emperor, who looks across at you with mild curiosity, and his usual fondness. this man is almost a father to you. maybe that's why you are fine speaking out of turn. (maybe it's because you are always fine speaking out of turn, when you're impassioned enough.) ]
My lord-- [ you say, bluntly, completely interrupting everything ] I'm descending to the mortal realm.
[ the heavenly emperor blinks mildly at you as the entire meeting comes to a stop. you could hear a pin drop.
after a moment, the heavenly emperor closes his mouth, and speaks, his voice gentle. "Xianle... I am aware of what's happening, but you must remain calm."
you shake your head. ] My lord, I didn't come to request permission. I came to inform. My people - [ and you love your people, more than just as your devotees, you love every single one of them as fiercely as they have ever loved you, with every fiber of your body, and their despair overwhelms you ] -are currently sunken in the depths of hell, so please forgive me if I cannot remain calm.
[ the heavenly emperor sighs. "The universe has its own rhythm. Do you not realize that if you descend to appear before mortals, it will be a violation of heavenly law?"
something about that just lights a fire in your heart. the law? the law your people are dying, are suffering, and you're up here doing paperwork? you won't. you won't, you won't. you refuse, and you cry - ] IF IT'S A VIOLATION, THEN SO BE IT!
[ you are barely seventeen years old, and you have just defied the heavenly emperor.
shock ripples through the crowd, and murmuring starts, but you ignore them, your eyes only for the heavenly emperor, as you bend to bow. your heartbeat sings with spiritual energy. with pride. with determination, that floods your core. ]
Pray my lord let me go this once; just give me a little time. Since the fighting has started, casualties are unavoidable, but if I could stop this and reduce the number of dead, minimize the conflict, then after the fighting ends I will for sure return willingly to repent, and have my lord sentence me as see fit. Whether I shall be sealed under a mountain for a hundred years, a thousand years, a hundred thousand years--I WILL NOT REGRET!
[ adrenaline courses through you. you remain bowed low out of respect, and take a step back, but you do not turn. determined, fists clenched at your sides, ready to do everything for xian le. for them, for them, for them.
"Xianle!"
the emperor's voice rings out. you pause, mid step, and hear him sigh. "You can't save everyone."
and that is where you're wrong, you think, fiercely. the tiny fire in your heart blazes into a wildfire, now.
you stand up to your full height, seventeen year old prince turned god about to be prince, again, and lock eyes with the emperor. ]
Whether I can, I won't know until I've tried. Even if the heavens say I must die, if that sword doesn't pierce my heart and nail me dead on the ground, then I am still alive, and till my last breath, I will struggle to the end!
[ and in the end, you do not turn away from him. you still kowtow, to the emperor, because he is the person you respect most in the entire world.
but you walk straight out of that door facing him, and when the black shackle of being banished wraps around your neck, you don't look back.
you refuse to let the laws of godhood - stupid, stupid laws - be the reason that a single person suffers. not on your watch. not on your life. you will do anything for the people of xian le.
you will not let them fall. you became a god to help them, and become a god is what keeps you from them. the laws of the heavens are confining. frustrating. cruel.
so you throw it away.
you will not simply watch as your world falls apart.
you're going to save your people.
you're going home. ]
no subject
[Banished. Thrown out. Godhood, thrown out, because he loves people, he cares so deeply, he fights with every ounce of his being, to the point where status, power, can be tossed to the side in a second. What strength that takes.]
[Sholmes stares at Xie Lian for a moment. I don't know if the man is standing or not, but regardless, he moves, and throws his arms around the other in an embrace.]
no subject
then he's being hugged? xie lian has not just been straight out hugged many times in his life. he looks stunned, hands half raised in the air, almost unsure what to do with himself. ]
- Mr. Sholmes...?
[ but he will. slowly drop his hands to rest on his back to hug him back....? ]
no subject
[This hug isn't for him. Not at all.]
It's quite alright. [He draws back a little, smiling warmly.] A warm embrace does the soul quite good, I think. And I really do think, with all the turmoil you've been through...you deserve more than you can handle, my dear fellow.