The way you say that, I agree. Reminiscing is one thing. Being a child is another. If you can believe me, I was much, much worse when I was young.
[A gangly teenager, isolated, doing chemical experiments in the hospital laboratory far away from everyone else. Brilliant, but impossibly ignorant.]
It was only when I met a certain someone that I opened my eyes. And I finally understood the darkness around me. And that someone and I, we started tackling that darkness. Childhood is blissful, its true. And becoming someone who could fight the injustice and cruelty around us was something met with obstacles, at every point. But I wouldn't have changed it for the world.
[ brilliant but impossibly ignorant is a whole mood.
to have your life changed by meeting someone else... it's not something xie lian can truly relate to, but it is a nice story nonetheless. he nods, and says a quiet - ] ...I am glad, then, that you were able to meet that person.
Miss Susato's father is a brilliant, wonderful man, and someone I hold ever close to my heart. [...] The fact that Miss Susato herself is such a smart, determined young woman doesn't surprise me.
...I already have failed her. I won't...fail her again.
[The grip on the kite string tightens, then relaxes.]
By the by, earlier...what I mentioned about that person who could help you access the place where Baraqiel's items are located. I have been wondering if that person could help us access the place where our friends are, too. We have...ways in our grasp, Xie Lian, to save everyone from this cruel game, the ones here, and the ones we lost. We will do it.
[ the answer comes short, and quickly - it's honesty week, so our is a detail that comes with no issue.
after a moment; ] ...When you speak that way, it is incredibly obvious as to who that person is, by the by.
That being said, if their ability works to retrieve Baraqiel's anchor, then excellent - I greatly look forward to it and will rely on their skill. If there is a path that needs to be tread to receive it, you will not have to worry about that person being hurt or swept off again - if this becomes something we get to choose, then I have two trusted companions who I hope to bring with me. I hope that they can merely open the path and then focus on helping those who have passed.
And if that is not the way, then I will find another.
[He just laughs at himself a little at that, eyes turning up in a fond sort of way.]
I am rather obvious, aren't I? I really am trying to be vague, but my words don't go as expected.
[Thanks, honesty week.]
Good. I expected you already had a plan. And I expected you would stop at nothing to make it happen, even if one path fails. Ha. Paths. Forced into paths they want us to take, but I hardly would ever consider them for even a second. The third path...to step outside the boundaries, and fight with every inch of your being to save others...
[That memory of Xie Lian's comes back. Storming into the place, his voice raised, demanding, determined, willing to fight for the sake of humanity, willing to fall, eyes fiery...]
I... [He starts, stops. He wants to be vague, again, but his words trip, and he coughs.] I really do admire you, Xie Lian.
[ he listens to this whole thing for a moment - the first part just gets a small, half quirked smile, but he lets it go beyond that, and finally turns to look at sholmes, proper. startled, a little, perhaps. maybe after everything, or, maybe it's just the repetition of a phrase that once came out of his own mouth, that he's heard here now from all sorts of others. ]
[He sort of tilts his head away, like he's half embarrassed by the attention to it. Another pause, and he huffs, raising a hand to brush through his hair.]
I mean what I say, and say what I mean. It is a fact as much as anything.
[ a little wry. everyone out here bein honest. xie lian himself has not even felt a single iota of difference - he is genuinely sincere almost all of the time, and rarely lies. ]
... At any rate. I do plan on searching for the anchor itself as soon as possible. I have entrusted my plan and what I know of Mt. Tonglu to another, just in case something goes wrong, but I pray that that won't be necessary.
["average person says 1000 lies a year" factoid actually just statistical error. average person says 10 lies per year. Herlock Sholmes, who works as a great detective and lies 10,000 times each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted]
Yes, please. I am...worried. You have seen that lady, yes? Miss Lup? She is...acting odd. I am worried she is starting to come under that homesickness mentioned on those copper scrolls. [He casts his gaze to the side.] Mt. Tonglu...is that where you and Baraqiel are from?
I have, yes - she has been acting oddly. I'm worried, as well; we will need to find her some sort of 'anchor' as well. It does make me wonder what our 'anchor' would be that we are not reacting the same.
[ something to think about!!
but. he frowns, a little. ]
It is just a part of our realm. Truthfully, I have never been - I am only familiar with it through the words of Baraqiel and the others. But, if it is a ghost's lair as they say, this Kiln, then I can likely navigate it with little difficulty. I have laid many resentful spirits to rest and destroyed plenty of lairs that were set to harm humans, so it is familiar territory.
If it is the place where Ghost Kings are born, then it is incredibly dangerous indeed. But, I'm not afraid - I wouldn't be even if I was doing it alone.
[ as ever, he's fearless. a battle on his own turf, too - even with his powers nerfed - is a battle that xie lian knows he can win. whatever sort of traumas or nightmares await him are the type he is familiar with. (and by proxy, he knows, knows, knows who he might see.
... but it's worth it.) ] Whatever dangers await don't matter to me. I will simply retrieve it and return with the item in hand.
[His grip on the string tightens - he's looking up at the kite, but his eyes slide over to look at Xie Lian.]
This place...does much to torment us. Our memories. Our fears. [...] If you'll meet your grand nemesis, the one you told me about...
[He pauses, looking worried.]
I think I don't need to tell you this, but...you can't falter. Not for a second. Always remind yourself that it isn't real. It's not real in the way you know it to be.
[ xie lian imagines the white no face won't be able to resist such a situation. if it is real - and, in mt. tonglu, the appearance of the calamity very well could be. it's been just shy of a year since he's seen him, and xie lian has no qualms to think that he's just faded off into death or obscurity. he is sure that that is what awaits him at the end of all this, when he returns to his home.
...
his hand curls around the sword at his side - the blade that belongs to the white no face. his justice is like a hearth, the type of thing that flickers through him and all of his actions, but sometimes, that tempered passion roars into a wildfire. honesty week, as it turns out, makes xie lian even more fierce than he already is. ]
I am not so weak as to be swayed by a creature that has already taken everything from me. If he is what stops me from helping Baraqiel, then I will drag him into the magma of Mt. Tonglu and burn his ashes into nothingness myself.
[Ah, that fire. That raging, burning, whitehot flame flickers behind his eyes, ready to turn towards its enemies, and dissolve them in an instant. He only had a taste of it, a few weeks back, when he had stepped over the line. He does not pity the enemies who truly earn the entirety of the man's wrath.]
[The worried expression melts into a smile, with a determined nod.]
A fitting fate for one who has given so many so much suffering. [He lets out a slow exhale.] I wish luck to be on your side. May prosperity be in your favor.
anyway. xie lian's fierce expression does cool a little, there, but - only to its usual level. he's always like this, at this age. he nods a little, gaze finally drifting away from the kite. ]
I do not know what the next week will entail, but I will not allow anything to stop me in helping him. Anything, or anyone. I will not allow any more blood to be shed than necessary, either.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[A light laugh.]
The way you say that, I agree. Reminiscing is one thing. Being a child is another. If you can believe me, I was much, much worse when I was young.
[A gangly teenager, isolated, doing chemical experiments in the hospital laboratory far away from everyone else. Brilliant, but impossibly ignorant.]
It was only when I met a certain someone that I opened my eyes. And I finally understood the darkness around me. And that someone and I, we started tackling that darkness. Childhood is blissful, its true. And becoming someone who could fight the injustice and cruelty around us was something met with obstacles, at every point. But I wouldn't have changed it for the world.
no subject
to have your life changed by meeting someone else... it's not something xie lian can truly relate to, but it is a nice story nonetheless. he nods, and says a quiet - ] ...I am glad, then, that you were able to meet that person.
no subject
[A sigh, wistful. Fond.]
Miss Susato's father is a brilliant, wonderful man, and someone I hold ever close to my heart. [...] The fact that Miss Susato herself is such a smart, determined young woman doesn't surprise me.
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She is. [ she still is. ] A person of the finest character, to say the least.
[ his best, dearest friend. ]
no subject
[The grip on the kite string tightens, then relaxes.]
By the by, earlier...what I mentioned about that person who could help you access the place where Baraqiel's items are located. I have been wondering if that person could help us access the place where our friends are, too. We have...ways in our grasp, Xie Lian, to save everyone from this cruel game, the ones here, and the ones we lost. We will do it.
[......A short exhale.]
I want nothing more for you to see them again.
no subject
[ the answer comes short, and quickly - it's honesty week, so our is a detail that comes with no issue.
after a moment; ] ...When you speak that way, it is incredibly obvious as to who that person is, by the by.
That being said, if their ability works to retrieve Baraqiel's anchor, then excellent - I greatly look forward to it and will rely on their skill. If there is a path that needs to be tread to receive it, you will not have to worry about that person being hurt or swept off again - if this becomes something we get to choose, then I have two trusted companions who I hope to bring with me. I hope that they can merely open the path and then focus on helping those who have passed.
And if that is not the way, then I will find another.
no subject
I am rather obvious, aren't I? I really am trying to be vague, but my words don't go as expected.
[Thanks, honesty week.]
Good. I expected you already had a plan. And I expected you would stop at nothing to make it happen, even if one path fails. Ha. Paths. Forced into paths they want us to take, but I hardly would ever consider them for even a second. The third path...to step outside the boundaries, and fight with every inch of your being to save others...
[That memory of Xie Lian's comes back. Storming into the place, his voice raised, demanding, determined, willing to fight for the sake of humanity, willing to fall, eyes fiery...]
I... [He starts, stops. He wants to be vague, again, but his words trip, and he coughs.] I really do admire you, Xie Lian.
no subject
...That's very kind of you to say, Mr. Sholmes.
no subject
[He sort of tilts his head away, like he's half embarrassed by the attention to it. Another pause, and he huffs, raising a hand to brush through his hair.]
I mean what I say, and say what I mean. It is a fact as much as anything.
no subject
[ a little wry. everyone out here bein honest. xie lian himself has not even felt a single iota of difference - he is genuinely sincere almost all of the time, and rarely lies. ]
... At any rate. I do plan on searching for the anchor itself as soon as possible. I have entrusted my plan and what I know of Mt. Tonglu to another, just in case something goes wrong, but I pray that that won't be necessary.
no subject
Yes, please. I am...worried. You have seen that lady, yes? Miss Lup? She is...acting odd. I am worried she is starting to come under that homesickness mentioned on those copper scrolls. [He casts his gaze to the side.] Mt. Tonglu...is that where you and Baraqiel are from?
no subject
[ something to think about!!
but. he frowns, a little. ]
It is just a part of our realm. Truthfully, I have never been - I am only familiar with it through the words of Baraqiel and the others. But, if it is a ghost's lair as they say, this Kiln, then I can likely navigate it with little difficulty. I have laid many resentful spirits to rest and destroyed plenty of lairs that were set to harm humans, so it is familiar territory.
no subject
[A ghost's lair...]
It sounds like a rather dangerous place. [He frowns.] And I suppose Baraqiel himself can't go with you to point things out...
no subject
[ as ever, he's fearless. a battle on his own turf, too - even with his powers nerfed - is a battle that xie lian knows he can win. whatever sort of traumas or nightmares await him are the type he is familiar with. (and by proxy, he knows, knows, knows who he might see.
... but it's worth it.) ] Whatever dangers await don't matter to me. I will simply retrieve it and return with the item in hand.
no subject
[His grip on the string tightens - he's looking up at the kite, but his eyes slide over to look at Xie Lian.]
This place...does much to torment us. Our memories. Our fears. [...] If you'll meet your grand nemesis, the one you told me about...
[He pauses, looking worried.]
I think I don't need to tell you this, but...you can't falter. Not for a second. Always remind yourself that it isn't real. It's not real in the way you know it to be.
no subject
...
his hand curls around the sword at his side - the blade that belongs to the white no face. his justice is like a hearth, the type of thing that flickers through him and all of his actions, but sometimes, that tempered passion roars into a wildfire. honesty week, as it turns out, makes xie lian even more fierce than he already is. ]
I am not so weak as to be swayed by a creature that has already taken everything from me. If he is what stops me from helping Baraqiel, then I will drag him into the magma of Mt. Tonglu and burn his ashes into nothingness myself.
[ not just for baraqiel, but for xian le. ]
no subject
[The worried expression melts into a smile, with a determined nod.]
A fitting fate for one who has given so many so much suffering. [He lets out a slow exhale.] I wish luck to be on your side. May prosperity be in your favor.
[And then a pause.]
"By the Heaven's Official Blessing", yes?
no subject
[ wow... the title drop... there it is...
anyway. xie lian's fierce expression does cool a little, there, but - only to its usual level. he's always like this, at this age. he nods a little, gaze finally drifting away from the kite. ]
I do not know what the next week will entail, but I will not allow anything to stop me in helping him. Anything, or anyone. I will not allow any more blood to be shed than necessary, either.