It has been two months now. The last battle ended miserably.
What is the plan, going forward? I can't imagine you are particularly inclined to give up, not this early. The war has not even begun, and revenge has not even come close to being realized.
Don't forget. I remain your faithful servant.
[If Chara speaks oddly, well, their memories have been acting up a bit. It's only natural.
Still. They want to make it clear that their loyalty hasn't wavered. John's former scions all came to him looking for family, protection, guidance. Love. Chara is sick of all of that. Family, protectors, guides, they all fail you in the end. Only power matters. Only destroying the enemy. Only revenge.
There's only one sort of contract a demon and a false god might enter. The question is if the false god's ambitions have crashed now that he's surrounded himself with shackles that seek to bind him.]
[ It's a dodge, and not even an effort at explanation. What's it mean that this is the only kid who'll still call him Teacher without hesitation, without doubt? That he's got a black-eyed revenant in his corner and the whole world trying to walk him back?
He knows what it means; it's not new information. Still. The shine's gone out of bloody-minded vengeance, lately.
His problem is that he always takes the shackles gladly, and then acts like the weight is any surprise. ]
[How utterly disappointingly pathetic. Asgore and this false god would get along swimmingly, they both make the first move in a game and then abandon the board to play house for months or years or decades.
Chara isn't blind to John's failures, as a person and as a leader. They're glad that Paul and Kaworu are out of his reach. But still.
They can't help but feel a tinge of anger and betrayal at the weak answer they received. It's not the first time they have been guided to the absolute, only for their accomplice to turn their back on them when it's too late to turn back.]
Has anything changed?
We're still trapped here in the world they destroyed, under their control, with the thoughts they put inside our heads.
I am still, rest assured, pissed as hell. We all have other places to be. But Mariana is keeping her secrets locked up tight, and I won't be cracking that one anytime soon.
[ He has theories, sure. He has ideas that range from tasteless to fucked up. A handful of dead pirates had been a useful source of external thanergy, to get things cooking, but ultimately if he can't break through on his own might— even nerfed as he is— it'd take something hellish to have any real impact. A dead city. A dead Pthumerian, maybe. ]
With all due respect, that's where you went wrong.
You went after the strongest of them all, and we were all then stuck in the aftermath when she retaliated. There's others. Some might not even draw the Sleepers' collective ire. The Sky Pthumerians, for one. Mother Superior, as much as they disapproved of my little show, nobody would blink an eye if she herself were to die a horrific death. The Half-Pthumerians on the edges of the borders that other Sleepers are looking to expand...
[ It's telling that this makes him feel nothing but exhausted. That he thinks very little of it other than Pyrrha and Augustine would lose their shit, like that's ever stopped him yet. ]
Don't feel too sorry for yourself, we all rank at pitiful. Including me.
We're in the early game, Teacher. Mariana is a final boss. Even Superior is a long way off. I'm willing to wait as long as it takes to reach them and tear them down. Are you?
[ This pause hangs a moment too long, because: I don't entirely give a shit is his kneejerk reaction, his confession. He holds it back. He rubs his temples.
Does he want them wiped out, or just out of his way? Does he want anything except to clear the shadow hanging over his head? How thoroughly does he have to wipe the field clean for that to happen? Will the collateral damage be what it's always been, and how many people will ask him if it's worth it?
But it's easiest to say: ]
Gotta respect the patience. Here's to climbing our way out of Pitiful.
"If only you would ever actually do that," Augustine says, leaning over John's shoulder, whispering in his ear — the kiss he presses to John's cheek is chaste, and innocent, and as cataclysmic as Judas Iscariot's — and then he's gone again.
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un: GoldenFlowers, text
It has been two months now. The last battle ended miserably.
What is the plan, going forward? I can't imagine you are particularly inclined to give up, not this early. The war has not even begun, and revenge has not even come close to being realized.
Don't forget. I remain your faithful servant.
[If Chara speaks oddly, well, their memories have been acting up a bit. It's only natural.
Still. They want to make it clear that their loyalty hasn't wavered. John's former scions all came to him looking for family, protection, guidance. Love. Chara is sick of all of that. Family, protectors, guides, they all fail you in the end. Only power matters. Only destroying the enemy. Only revenge.
There's only one sort of contract a demon and a false god might enter. The question is if the false god's ambitions have crashed now that he's surrounded himself with shackles that seek to bind him.]
no subject
I'll keep you posted.
[ It's a dodge, and not even an effort at explanation. What's it mean that this is the only kid who'll still call him Teacher without hesitation, without doubt? That he's got a black-eyed revenant in his corner and the whole world trying to walk him back?
He knows what it means; it's not new information. Still. The shine's gone out of bloody-minded vengeance, lately.
His problem is that he always takes the shackles gladly, and then acts like the weight is any surprise. ]
no subject
Chara isn't blind to John's failures, as a person and as a leader. They're glad that Paul and Kaworu are out of his reach. But still.
They can't help but feel a tinge of anger and betrayal at the weak answer they received. It's not the first time they have been guided to the absolute, only for their accomplice to turn their back on them when it's too late to turn back.]
Has anything changed?
We're still trapped here in the world they destroyed, under their control, with the thoughts they put inside our heads.
no subject
I am still, rest assured, pissed as hell. We all have other places to be. But Mariana is keeping her secrets locked up tight, and I won't be cracking that one anytime soon.
[ He has theories, sure. He has ideas that range from tasteless to fucked up. A handful of dead pirates had been a useful source of external thanergy, to get things cooking, but ultimately if he can't break through on his own might— even nerfed as he is— it'd take something hellish to have any real impact. A dead city. A dead Pthumerian, maybe. ]
no subject
You went after the strongest of them all, and we were all then stuck in the aftermath when she retaliated. There's others. Some might not even draw the Sleepers' collective ire. The Sky Pthumerians, for one. Mother Superior, as much as they disapproved of my little show, nobody would blink an eye if she herself were to die a horrific death. The Half-Pthumerians on the edges of the borders that other Sleepers are looking to expand...
Mariana is the endgame. We need to start smaller.
no subject
[ It's telling that this makes him feel nothing but exhausted. That he thinks very little of it other than Pyrrha and Augustine would lose their shit, like that's ever stopped him yet. ]
no subject
no subject
1/2
Give me a moment.
2/2
no subject
I'm going to need a little star in here somewhere. "You are here."
Let me guess, I rank Pitiful.
no subject
We're in the early game, Teacher. Mariana is a final boss. Even Superior is a long way off. I'm willing to wait as long as it takes to reach them and tear them down. Are you?
no subject
Does he want them wiped out, or just out of his way? Does he want anything except to clear the shadow hanging over his head? How thoroughly does he have to wipe the field clean for that to happen? Will the collateral damage be what it's always been, and how many people will ask him if it's worth it?
But it's easiest to say: ]
Gotta respect the patience. Here's to climbing our way out of Pitiful.
well,