Joshua Rosfield (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kingincognito) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sticksandbones2025-05-09 08:41 pm
kingincognito) wrote in sticksandbones2025-05-09 08:41 pm
now with 100% fewer homicidal robots
Who: Joshua + anyone involved in the portal project!
What: The portal is finally ready!
When: Mid-May
Where: The center of the Grove
Warnings: idk it's portal shenanigans, I'll add warnings if we need them!
Literally, because it's been in his notes that faith could have some power in helping them get where they need to go. Hopefully.
Midway through the month, Joshua puts out a message through the netbooks. ]
To everyone that has helped with the portal:
Our efforts are ready to bear fruit. I would like to try activating it tomorrow. Let us meet in the center of the Grove at noon, when the sun is at its brightest.
We know not what awaits us should the portal be successful, so I would prefer to err on the side of caution. If you can fight, please come prepared to do so. Also, we will certainly need hands to relay anything we might want to bring back. If you are Corrupted, however, I am afraid I must ask you not to be involved as a matter of safety and security. My apologies.
[ And, come late morning the following day, Joshua is there, umbrella in hand to protect himself from the sunlight. He has gathered boxes and crates for any potential recovery of items, should the portal work properly, as well as basic medical supplies just in case. Small bouquets of flowers are placed around the base of the portal, in what might be a startling abundance. Better to have more than needed than not enough. ]
What: The portal is finally ready!
When: Mid-May
Where: The center of the Grove
Warnings: idk it's portal shenanigans, I'll add warnings if we need them!
Literally, because it's been in his notes that faith could have some power in helping them get where they need to go. Hopefully.
Midway through the month, Joshua puts out a message through the netbooks. ]
To everyone that has helped with the portal:
Our efforts are ready to bear fruit. I would like to try activating it tomorrow. Let us meet in the center of the Grove at noon, when the sun is at its brightest.
We know not what awaits us should the portal be successful, so I would prefer to err on the side of caution. If you can fight, please come prepared to do so. Also, we will certainly need hands to relay anything we might want to bring back. If you are Corrupted, however, I am afraid I must ask you not to be involved as a matter of safety and security. My apologies.
[ And, come late morning the following day, Joshua is there, umbrella in hand to protect himself from the sunlight. He has gathered boxes and crates for any potential recovery of items, should the portal work properly, as well as basic medical supplies just in case. Small bouquets of flowers are placed around the base of the portal, in what might be a startling abundance. Better to have more than needed than not enough. ]
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... Ah, but wait- something scratches itself on the last page, in ruby-red ink:
And so, a scholar of Aldric's Grove by the name of Stanford Pines did offer a suggestion, unknowing of the damage he would do: Should we need an anchor to other realms, it would stand to reason that every universe has a moon. If we tie our gate to the moon while we can still see it, our souls can be free. And though it was... far-fetched and dangerous, those who could, agreed.
They knew not that they were tearing the Goddess of the Moon's chest open when they triggered their escape from Darkest Light, nor the damage it would do. They did not know.
This One wonders if she truly forgives. But This One does not question that she loves them still.
...
And then there's a click like a quill is being put away.
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And then the writing begins, red ink crawling across the page almost like fire or blood. He sucks in a breath, eyes widening in surprise, but his hands remain firm on the binding. And what he reads...
Stanford Pines. But... how? This reads like a record of what has already happened. Is this part of what happened in the past, then? What has led to Ourania being so ill now? That she is still suffering from this fate today... How many years has it been? Hundreds? Thousands?
The clicking sound that he recognizes oh so well makes him pull his eyes from the page, turning to look around him. A book writing itself isn't out of the question, but combined with the humming he thought he heard a moment ago, he has to wonder.
"Hello? Is someone there?"
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Yes. And no. I am here, and there, and everywhere. I am nowhere.
What am I?
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"Well, I don't suppose you're air, are you?"
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Close. ... But perhaps that is all I am now.
I will not tell you who I am. I will be clear about this now. ... But I can... try to help how I can.
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He will be cautious. For now. But his mind goes back to the words scrawled in red ink, and his eyes shift to the book bound in crimson.
Hmm.
"I appreciate any assistance you might give. Thank you."
Joshua moves one hand, gesturing to the crimson book.
"I wish to understand what happened to him. Might you have any insight that isn't already inscribed here?"
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Darkest Light sought answers to existence. His and his Sisters' that is- mortals exist for they were full of love, and that love became mankind. But what created them? What did they spring from?
He went mad searching for answers, for kinship.
He found... Nothing.
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All he'd wanted was to know where he'd come from, and he found nothing.
Joshua's expression, momentarily surprised, softens into contemplative concern, his eyes unfocusing though they're still aimed toward the book. One hand lifts to his chin, but this time his fingers move to cover his lips. To not know where you've come from is one thing, but to find nothing at all...
"That's... impossible. Isn't it? Surely everything has to come from something."
But what could make a god? Had Ultima had a creator? It leaves him with more questions than answers.
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Sadism, became darkness. All that he was, twisted.
... He probably really would have been better off if he had just spoken to someone about this.
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Joshua cannot comprehend the way that the Fallen Sun responded to such a startling revelation. Were he alone, perhaps, but he wasn't.
"Yes, I... I suppose he would have been."
His brow knits together in thought.
"And why didn't he? He had Beiwe and Ourania with him, did he not? He was not alone in the emptiness."
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Pride. No eldest sibling wants to rely on those they are supposed to care for. ... And... Darkest Light felt that... if this was bringing him such pain, how would they react? Beiwe, who had been alone with him, and Ourania, left entirely alone? Even he couldn't predict the future, so to him, only one heart had to break.
Presumably.
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"No one can take on everything alone. Not even a god."
He still can't forgive the Fallen Sun for what he'd done. But Joshua can understand his side of the story. Not from his perspective, but from the perspective of a highly perceptive younger brother. His heart aches for all of them - for the pain of an elder brother succumbing to madness and trying to contain the blast, for the grief of the younger sister losing her brother to darkness. For Ourania, designated to suffer for years upon years because of it all.
"... his book contained what I can only assume was a name that had been scratched out. You wouldn't happen to know...?"
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...
... Names... have power. It was removed from history so none could invoke it, and to give him that power back. ... But he's accepted a new name- ah... perhaps...
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Far more human than Ultima had been, for sure. It had been a relief to experience.
"I thought that perhaps using his true name might help to draw him away from the darkness... though, I do not wish to risk further empowering him, either."
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When you are placed on a pedestal, you are isolated. To ask for help is to crumble the ground you stand on. To accept it is to break it further. To waver, to falter- and the higher it gets, the greater the fall.
He was going to die one way or another. He simply... chose the route that brought everything down with him.
The voice falters, and something- rustles, a bit, in the air.
It's... I- I suppose it is a matter of risk and reward. I do not know if it will help. I don't know if it can connect with him anymore, as an anchor or as empowerment. And if you use it to his face- he will be furious... ... if... he even remembers.
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But Joshua simply nods, agreement and understanding swelling in his heart.
"He already hates us and strives to make our existence torturous. I am almost convinced that the potential reward outweighs the risk. But I will also not ask you to release the name if you are not comfortable in doing so."
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And... if I were to say, that to tell you the name stripped of him would be the same as telling you my own...?
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"Then, I would ask you if you would like a hug, perhaps? I've found they are quite comforting."
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... Mizuki almost found me out, once. But we were connected to my Whole-
If... you can find me in my library, then. Yes. A hug sounds very, very nice, actually.
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And when Joshua says that, he means it.
"Before I do, however, may I bring these books with me? I wish to study them in depth, to familiarize myself with their stories."
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To punctuate this, he places his hand on his chest, bowing his head.
"By my honor as the Phoenix, you have my word."
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"I am glad, then. Now, for finding you... I don't suppose you would give me a hint? This library does seem quite large."
Not that he expects to get one. He fully plans on exploring every inch of this place regardless.
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... That's his hint, indirectly. He sounds amused, though.
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