[CLOSED] Zahliyaquest...2

[purifier]

Who: Zahliya, Luca, Joshua, Wolfwood, Dipper, Mamika, Siffrin, Loop, & Kiera
What: A gargoyle needs task-doers for character development
When: Mid-August, yes during the rainstorms, good luck
Where: ??? :)
Warnings: Typical Sticks trigger warnings apply, suicide, time loops resulting in multiple character deaths, Wolfwood just shot someone executioner style, more to be added


OOC notes, here is a rehash of your rules:

• Mod tags will come either a) after everyone involved has tagged in or b) after 24 hours have passed since the last mod tag. This means if you are absent for any reason, the thread WILL move on without you.
• Interaction in this log will be redeemable for MAIN AC, not just Bonus AC like most of our NPC threads.
• This questline will shape Zahliya's outcome for the rest of the game, and may or may not result in an almost-full Corruption cure and therefore gamewide impact. I will let people know midway through the quest if he's currently aimed at aggression/confidence/staying in the Grove, or if he's on passive/indecisive/leaving the Grove.
• The old OOC plotting post for this is here!

Comments

[unheiring]

[At first, Luca doesn't process what Mamika says. His skin feels like it's alive, covered in a static field that makes even the faint rustling of his clothes feel agonizing. He tries to focus on the distant trees, the sky, anything that feels unfamiliar, lest the more familiar memories within his head begin to overwhelm him.

It's only after the space of a few deep breaths that he realizes she's said something, and a few more until the words make sense. He can only let out a faint huff, probably meant to be a crude laugh, before shaking his head.]

It isn't as if I can judge. [He wrings his hands together.]

Are you okay? This is... new to you, is it not?

[magicalsplashflare]

[ Understatement of the century. Still, she didn't linger long enough to let it bother her. She'd barely even registered what was in the room before bolting out. She feels bad - especially for Dipper, who's a few months younger than her. But no matter what, she couldn't bring herself to stay...

She stares at Luca to gauge his own mental, frowning. Oh, she's abandoned all of them to handle that awful place, huh? Hhhh... ]

…

My world… the one my god made… no one bled.

[unheiring]

[Is it wrong to pity her? Luca isn't sure. He remembers being young and idealistic once. He remembers a time when no one around him could have fathomed bloodshed or betrayal. But even then, he'd known that outside of the idyllic life his father had carved out for him, there was cruelty. Blood could be shed.

If what Mamika said was as literal as it sounded, then hers was even more different than his own. Thus, to come across such barbery...]

No one should have to witness something like that. Especially not... [He trails off, then shakes his head.]

It explains why you wanted to avoid a fight earlier.

[magicalsplashflare]

No especially. [ She's very quick to interject, sitting upright now. ] No one should, you're right. No one should have to go through what they did, either. I- I can't even imagine the sort of person you'd have to be to inflict anything-...

[ She shudders, twisting her hands anxiously around her wand. ]

I don't think people should ever fight. Even when I wasn't in my world anymore - and even here. If people respond to violence with more violence, when does it stop? How do we expect to end the suffering with just more suffering?

[unheiring]

[Her vehement protest is a bit surprising. Luca leans back, studying Mamika just that little bit harder. Despite his earlier protests, though, there's no immediate need to scold her. If anything, there's a faintly sentimental look there.]

Would that it could be so. [He doesn't speak particularly loud, more musing to himself than anything. And when he opens his mouth, he sounds more unsure than anything.] I was not so different from you, some few years ago, you know.

[His eyes close.]

But before long I began to wonder if the need to hurt was only natural, when being hurt so much in kind.

[magicalsplashflare]

It isn't natural. No matter what, people are not inclined to hurt others unless they themselves have been hurt. That isn't to say I think all should be forgiven... I think it's hard to forgive the forest for what it did, but...

The other creations often said I was too naïve and idealistic, but I never understood why that was a bad thing. What would being bitter and jaded do, when I can try to fulfill my ideals instead?

[unheiring]

What would it do? [Luca's laugh is bitter, but it isn't directed at Mamika.]

For me, it became a way of filling the void that was left. Of letting out the sheer fury I had at a world who had taken everything for nothing. And if I could perhaps eke out revenge, I could keep other people from hurting as I had.

[His gaze is still distant.]

I suppose as a result, I left many others feeling the same way. [His sigh is bone deep.] How much have you lost in your life, Mamika?

[magicalsplashflare]

[ Mamika... is weirdly happy that Luca is opening up, actually. Even if it's not about a fun topic - it's nice to know that he feels more comfortable around her. Maybe they might be trying to get to the same page? She hopes so. Mamika sets her wand in her lap and settles her hands instead over her chest. A place where, if Luca looked at her at all when he had the golden goggles on, one would recall there being a stab wound in place.

Mamika smiles, anyway. ] A... friend brought me from my world to the gods' world, but she didn't have very good intentions. She wanted to destroy it and cause pain to the gods in it in turn.

When I confronted her about it, she killed me.

[unheiring]

[Luca's hands briefly clench, balling into fists. His nails press hard against his skin for one second, two, three, until he feels grounded enough. Several deep breaths are pulled into his lungs, before he finally forces himself to look at her.

Maybe he sees himself in her, before everything changed. Innocence. Naivety, perhaps, but borne from a hope of a better world. It makes him feel that much guiltier for lashing out only a few hours prior.]

I am... sorry for what you went through. What she did to you. But...

[A smile spreads over his lips, more sad than anything.]

I cannot say I've never had a similar outlook to her. [He lifts his hand to his throat, motioning to the array of feathers there.] I am branded by a God myself, in a way. Cursed to live with it controlling what I do. I made it my goal to purge its existence somehow. I would love for it to hurt as I have. As it has hurt me.

[His hand lowers, with his arm opting to loop loosely around himself.]

The machinations of the gods have taken away many of the things that I love. What other choice do I have but to strike back? To rail against them until one of us falls?

[magicalsplashflare]

[ Mamika shakes her head a moment, looking back at the doors into the temple and then back out at the trees. ]

Gods don't realize what "we" are, I don't think. Not in a genuine sense. Something that seems very small to them is very big to us. And that makes it particularly hard when they interact with us. I think it's up to the God, at that point, to be a good person, and make a world that people are happy with... I think my God was like this. They were kind.

But I've also seen Gods change their minds, too. I've seen Gods realize the life they created was more than the originally thought and want to help instead of hurt. It just... takes a lot, is all...

[unheiring]

[Luca's jaw sets briefly. His brow twitches, but he bites back the urge to snap. He knows better, or at least he thinks as much. But he at least resists the urge to say as much to her face.]

Maybe it was that way for your gods. But not mine. [He waves his hand, a touch more forceful than necessary.]

Regardless... I - [He falters here, grasping at words that don't come to him. It takes swallowing hard before he can manage it.] If you want to try talking over fighting... I will support you. I think we have both seen far too much death today.

[magicalsplashflare]

…Thank you.

Please know that… I don't want anyone getting hurt, either. If it comes down to protecting the people here, or trying to reason with whoever, I would choose the former every time.

This goes for you, too. I'm sorry that your God is unkind and has hurt you. I can't… even fathom how that must be. But… if you don't want to try speaking with it, and trying to rid of it instead, then I'll stand behind you for that, too.

[unheiring]

I know you will.

[Unconventional as her skills might be, she's proven herself plenty useful. Perhaps more so than Luca has.]

I... appreciate it. [He won't chide her that he's tried talking, again and again. The important part is that she doesn't argue with his overall goal. It's... certainly more than he's gotten from most people.]

If you want, we can speak more of our worlds once we have returned to the grove.

[ghostharasser]

[Hey, you know who has also seen enough death today? And by death we mean existential dread? This guy!!]

[Dipper walks out of the temple, quietly, to take a seat on the steps. He doesn't look at either of them, just kind out into the forest. When he speaks it's very soft, like he almost didn't even want to say this much.]

Zahliya is looking around for our family. Siffrin will be out in a minute.

[magicalsplashflare]

[ Mamika is about to nod to confirm that she'd like that, but the arrival of one very tired Dipper makes her stop and, instead, get up from her spot to go over and pull Dipper into the tightest hug. He was in there so long! What was he thinking???? ]

Are you okay??

[unheiring]

[Luca lets Mamika do the doting, even as his own eyes scrape over the boy. His chest tightens — he knows that distant look from the mirror. Guilt floods in shortly after. He shouldn't have left someone so young to do the dirty work.

He should apologize, but his throat feels too tight. Instead he gives a short nod, remaining wordless even as he shifts his body to peer back inside.]

[ghostharasser]

[Oh, being hugged like that almost makes him crack, but he holds it together. This is a bad time. There's too much happening here for him to fall apart. Not in front of the others, not when he's been so adamant about being taken seriously despite his age. Not when he can barely unpack that realization he had thirty seconds ago.]

[He exhales something shaky and he nods.]

I'll be fine, don't worry. When we get back, we should ask Heimr about what kind of coloring books he has in stock.

[He gives her a small smile.]

[magicalsplashflare]

...You know it's hard to tell me not to worry with all the stuff we're dealing with. Mister Gargoyle isn't even himself like this. It's... hard to say for sure what we're supposed to do.

[ghostharasser]

I know. It means you care, so thank you.

[Dipper frowns though.]

Yeah, it feels… so, It reminded me of some kind of memory at first. The place I’m from would sometimes just drop you into stuff like this to complete some task or uncover some truth. If going into the temple wasn’t it, then I wonder what is? Maybe we should head for the grove next.

[magicalsplashflare]

But... this is definitely the past, right? If we go to the Grove, won't we run into... ourselves? That sounds risky...

[ghostharasser]

Unless this is something that's meant to happen in the timeline. Sometimes paradoxes can be baked into the way things are supposed to go. Not that we have any way of knowing of course, which is the annoying part.

[Besides, he....kkkkind of wants to see past him. Just a peek.]

Time travel is messy though, so we should definitely be careful if we do go that way. Otherwise I'm not sure what else to do.