monolike | IC CONTACT

Are we? [Sorey relaxes once that smile comes back, heels once again tap-tapping against the side of the crate.] Regardless, your concern is understandable. There are records of past Shepards thirsting for power or revenge to the point of giving into malevolence themselves, so it's not like I'm immune to it.

[BEAMS and taps his head against Mikleo's side.] But that's why I have Mikleo! And my other friends, back home. They keep me on the correct path.

[Mikleo scoffs at that, though he's fighting a smile, now.]

Please. You're the least corruptable person in history.

[And it's not like seraphim are immune to malevolence, either.]

[He gives an amused look at these two. Yeah, they were certainly peculiar]

Nightingale was right. You two have quite the strong bond, it seems.

[Okay so she more implied they were lovers, but whatever!! Strong bonds are strong bonds]

I'm glad you have good friends to help you on your path, both of you. That's very important.

Edited 2016-02-04 23:19 (UTC)

What made you come to us about this? [Sorey straighten up, hands on his knees. Sure, Allen is an officer, but there are a dozen other officers and no one else had made a peep. Was it simply a matter of convenience, with Allen both as a figure of authority and a person who could communicate with Mikleo without help?

No, if that was so then he could have just issued them a warning and been done with it.] Were you worried we'd hurt Nightingale?

[He looks back at Sorey and shakes his head. No, Nightingale had insisted she was fine. And nothing he had sensed of her had indicated otherwise.]

No. I'm a little surprised you haven't figured it out yet.

[What with the power sensing, the talk of souls, the knowledge of all these things...eh. Kids.]

I'm an Exorcist. My job is...a bit similar to a Shepherd, from the sounds of it. [The purifying evil and all that] So I feel it's part of my job the fleet stays safe from demonic or undead threats. Which...after hearing about Nightingale, I wanted to make sure you weren't planning on provoking them - as other demon hunter sorts have done in the past. [He offers a shrug. It really wasn't anything personal against you Sorey.]

[??? ????? ??] Why would anybody purposefully provoke them? Didn't they think about what might happen to the people caught up in it?

[....]

[...Why do you seem so shocked by this idea?]

Um...I'm sorry, but how long have you been a Shepherd exactly?

We more or less just started, didn't we? It hasn't even been a year.

[Seraphim: historically not great at keeping track of time or something.]

I see...

[In other words, they probably have a handful of experience, but overall still pretty green. Hm....guess this calls for what Zestiria loves most: barely prompted tutorial-esque expositions!]

Well, I wouldn't say provocation is always bad tactic, or that they aren't thinking about people who might get caught up in it. In fact, sometimes the best tactic is not to hesitate and make the first strike to take them out. For example, if a Youma came here then you can't expect it to be peaceful, not when they feed on human intestines. And an Akuma attack could wipe out an entire crew in seconds, so the faster they're stopped the better. [He crosses his arms again] Fortunately, I haven't spotted any signs of either being in the fleet so far.

[Guess Atroma figures mass graphic death would be a killer for ratings. Weird]

The problem is, sometimes demon fighters get so used to fighting creatures like that. So when they arrive here, they assume all demons or creatures who give off that energy are like that - extremely dangerous if left alone. They really do mean well, and are trying to protect people...they're just using the wrong tools for the job. Once they've been in a place like this long enough, they usually change their thinking and approach. [Allen knows he did]

[He then frowns] Though, I won't deny there's those rare few who...have gone too far into zealotry and don't care who they hurt. They're probably more dangerous than the demons, if you ask me.

[o

kay that's not

Sorey exchanges a bewildered glance with Mikleo before leaning forward, fidgety with nerves because this is a hell of a misunderstanding.]

I'm really sorry, but I don't think we're talking about the same thing. Unless something specifically involves malevolence or hellions, a Shepard is not to get involved. And- Undyne? The cook on Mikleo's ship, she called herself a monster and she looked sorta like a hellion, but there wasn't even a speck of malevolence on her.

That's what I mean about malevolence behaving strangely. All this stuff about hunting demons and Akuma and Youma...I don't know what those are, and if they try to hurt people we'll do what we can to help people escape or heal wounds, but unless there's malevolence corrupting things then we're really not supposed to do anything besides help with evacuation efforts. [Lailah has made that extremely clear. Those Akuma and Youma things sound like bad news, absolutely, but what if they're human weapons or something that came about due to human society? Sure, if they turn out to be like hellions, corrupted by malevolence and the like, Sorey will happily get involved but he's already been manipulated into one war and that had not been a fun time for anybody. He'll never forget the looks on those soldiers' faces, or the choking taste of malevolence so thick he nearly drowned in it.

This is sounding a lot bigger than he'd anticipated, and from how Allen's talking, Sorey doesn't think he'd be fond of the culture around it either.]

[...]

[Well, hearing that? Sure is a let down. You can practically see the surprise, followed by the disappoint and hurt cross Allen's face.]

...Ah. I misunderstood.

[There's part of him that wants to argue. Part of him that wants to point out how would an Akuma not have malevolence? They were fueled by the pain and suffering of a soul for God's sake. And how could leaving an Youma to feed and attack innocent not create this malevolence they're so worried about? It wasn't like he was asking them to get involved with politics or person-to-person conflicts. This was just about helping people when they had the power to do so.]

[But...what would be the point? He had gotten ahead of himself, after all. He didn't know the Shepherd's code. Maybe Sorey and Mikleo were nice, but that didn't mean Shepherds were. Similar powers didn't make them comrades....no matter how badly Allen missed his.]

...I'm sorry. I got ahead of myself. [He looks down at his feet] I just want to help the people around me, in what ways I can. That's all it is. Akuma, Youma, Demon.... each one's different, but the longer you're stuck in a place like this, the less that matters.

[But most people aren't stuck in these places as long as Allen is. And this place wasn't in any immediate danger so...what's the point in arguing more? So he shakes his head]

But that's my decision, and not yours. I shouldn't assume otherwise, and I don't want you to get in trouble as a Shepherd. So...sorry. I'll...only call for you if a Hellion appears, okay?

[stares at allen]

[STARES VERY PLEADINGLY AT MIKLEO]

[DON'T WORRY HE'S GOT YOUR BACK BRO

This is getting awkward and a bit ridiculous, so he sort of figured it was time to step in anyway.]

Hold on. It's true that in an ideal world, a Shepherd exists outside of humankind and can never involve themselves in the politics or difficulties that don't involve malevolence. To do so would alter the balance of society, frighten the public, and can cause malevolence to form within the Shepherd. That's what we were taught.

[And all of what Allen talked about sounded... really bad, but they have no way of knowing what the level of corruption is in the creatures he's describing. Hellions are undoubtedly terrible and have killed countless numbers of living beings, and many more have become hellions themselves, but they don't... generally tear people apart, or eat them in pieces. They exist to destroy and corrupt and little else. Even so.]

However, what's called a hellion in one world could easily be demon, Akuma, or Youma in another. We're out of our element. Until we know more about this place, and the dangers people experience here, we can't make any judgment calls.

[.......AND ON A MORE PERSONAL NOTE-]

Also, Sorey is Sorey. It's impossible for him to not help people, and he has a habit of finding ways to get around the Shepherd's limitations when it means doing good. So please, don't hesitate if you ever need us.

[It's okay I'm sure Hellions would've done the whole ripping people apart thing, but Namco didn't want an M rating. Just saying]

[Mikleo's explanation helps. Allen was half contemplating finding a quick exit out of here and some rock to go hide under- but Mikleo's explanation stops him from that. He seems to mull it over in his head, before nodding]

...Alright, that's fair. [he gives a nod. Yeah. That's right. They were new and out of their element. They needed time to adjust and come to their own decisions. Allen knew that he did.]

Thank you.

[Thank goodness for Mikleo. He'd managed to say everything that Sorey had wanted to say, and in a way that actually made more sense. There was no way for them to know if akuma and youma were the same as hellions until they actually saw them, but as long as Allen isn't hesitant to contact them then they don't have to fret over it right now.]

Of course, Allen! Trust us, we don't want to see anyone hurt or in danger either. [Which is why Sorey has such a problem with actually following the Shepard code, much as he tries to be good and listen to his Prime Lord. It's hard to ignore tragedy and heartache when it stares you right in the face, after all.] If something happens and you need our help, we'll be there. I promise!

[Okay. With Sorey cheered up again, Mikleo can relax. Misunderstandings can cause all kinds of chaos in friendships- they both learned that, growing up with one another all these years. It would be absurd to leave things in the direction they were headed.

He gives Sorey another nudge, leaning back in his seat on the boxes.]

Maybe we should be writing a new rule in the Celestial Record. "Take the path of least malevolence."

[Yeah, that makes Allen smile as well and say "thanks" again. Right. He just got ahead of himself for a bit. Things can go slowly, after all. There's a good chance the Shepherds power will never even be needed.]

The Celestial Record? What's that?

[friend

Sorey gets this manic sparkle in his eye that may look familiar to Allen. He reaches behind himself to produce a book from his nerdy little book holder at the small of his back.] It's this.

This is probably one of the most comprehensive texts of the history of our planet. There're diagrams and sketches of all kinds of ruins and statues and reliefs found around the world, maps of the world's continents, even theoretical exposition on what ancient cultures were like based on artifacts uncovered in the ruins the author has explored. It's amazing.

Edited (what the freck is a Horsley ) 2016-02-09 21:27 (UTC)

[allen what have you done]

It's his favourite book. It's also been sort of the backbone of our hobby since we were kids- most of what we know of the world stems from that text.

[Uh oh. Allen's seen that sparkle come out of Clay's eyes enough time to recognize that he's really stepped into something unwittingly. This is only confirmed when Sorey pulls the book out of a book holder he hadn't noticed before. Like whoa dude, get a backpack like a normal person]

[But honestly instead of getting weirded out by it? It just makes him laugh and smile. It's good to see them have so much passion about a subject.]

It sounds incredible! No wonder you were asking about ruins when you came here!

Haha. Yeah, it seems kind of silly to be hoping to find ruins in the middle of space, but you never know where you'll discover something! Right? [Sorey rocks back, drawing up a knee and resting his elbow around it. As much as he'd love to talk about the Celestial Record, there are a few things on his mind and he'd rather not get too far off topic.]

Allen...if you have the time, I'd like to hear more about how you got involved with these Akuma and Youma things. I think if we understood more about where you were coming from, maybe we could give you a better answer.

[Mikleo glances sidelong at Sorey for a moment, surprised - since it's easy to get him sidetracked with such things - then shakes it off. When it's really important, when it means something to another person, he's as focused as anyone.

So he nods, looking back to Allen and folding his hands together.]

I'm interested, as well. And about the demons, and other monsters here who may or may not have malevolence, and if there are some we should be careful not to approach, even peacefully.

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a suburb in wollongong apparently

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