Rites of the Old Country

[gift_of_magus]

 [While others might clean up or help fix the damages resulting from the ancient weapon Nineball, Eibon has something else in mind. She has a table set up on the Chalice's deck, a candle, and a small picture of the massive monster.]

N'kai e Tsathoggua, Iqhui dlosh odhqlonqh...

[She continues like this for a short while, hands clasped in prayer while she speaks in an ancient and impossible to understand tongue. When she's finished, she takes the picture of Nineball, lights it on the candle, and tosses it overboard. It's ash before it hits the ground.]

Comments

[not_the_deer]

Huh? Is that Nineball? A prayer for Nineball?

[gift_of_magus]

Something of the sort.

[not_the_deer]

Then what is it exactly? Do you know something nobody else knows?

[gift_of_magus]

I merely asked my god to deliver a message to wherever Nineball's spirit may lie.

...And I know many things nobody else knows.

[not_the_deer]

So you think it really was alive? And not just a machine with very good AI?

[gift_of_magus]

Perhaps, perhaps not.

I will destroy it again regardless.

[not_the_deer]

Now I'm confused. Are you mourning or not?

1/2

[gift_of_magus]

Ah. This conversation again.

When you have lived as long as I have, human lives lose meaning. The things that matter-the things that last-are the works of man. Despite his prodigious number of children, Ozymandias is remembered now for his statues and a poem, not by any descendants.

Nineball was a work of man, and a great one at that. To be able to single-handedly fight the machines we fielded and damage Demonbane is no easy feat. With its destruction, mankind lost something, something which cannot be replaced.

2/2

[gift_of_magus]

...Yet at the same time, it posed an incalculable threat to the safety of Man as long as it existed. Left unimpeded, it would doubtless claim thousands of lives and destroy countless cultural artifacts.

The protection of mankind is my duty. It is the sole cause I exist for. And so, should Nineball return again, bent on chaos and havok-I will destroy it without hesitation.

That was my message to Nineball. If it has a spirit capable of understanding such words, it shall know my intentions.

[not_the_deer]

Hmm...

I guess I should be happy that I'm just a short-lived human, then. Lives are way more important for me than any kind of object. Most people won't accomplish anything big in their lives, but does that mean they're worthless? I don't mind if history forgets I ever existed, as long as I do the right thing in life.

[gift_of_magus]

...For a human, that much is good. Remain virtuous and humble; mankind is always in need of men such as yourself.

[not_the_deer]

And for a non-human?

[gift_of_magus]

Then...it depends. Aliens, spirits, artifacts-all obey their own laws.

I myself am a creation of man, endowed by my creator with eternal life and immense power, that I may wage the war against Evil forevermore. In such a life, there are few constants-every person I have met, every country I have seen, every man I loved-all have passed from this world and into the void. And those that have not yet soon will, while I shall remain.

So I find joy where I can, and remember it. And while I cannot prevent the violent deaths of my masters, I can remember their lives. As long as I live, a fragment of them shall survive.

An eternal life has room for immense suffering-if I concerned myself with every human life, even I could not bear it-but it also has room for immense joy. One circle of friends may perish, but another shall arrive to take its place.

...I'm sorry, I must be boring you.

[not_the_deer]

No, I think I understand you better now.

And I think that if a human lived as long, they'd probably have a similar viewpoint too. More or less. Different people look at things differently after all.

[gift_of_magus]

[Your power to create personas of the Hermit Arcana has grown...]

Good, then. Now go and get that soot washed off of you, before I start rambling on about the family lives of long-dead princes.

[not_the_deer]

Yeah, not sure if I want to hear about that. Aristocracy is messed up a lot of the time.

[Time to get going. Also, you play too much Persona lately.]

[lastfeather]

... Don't suppose I could get an explanation for all that?

[gift_of_magus]

The destruction of an ancient artifact is not something I relish.

Wherever Nineball's spirit lies, it deserves to know that.

And what I'll do if it comes again.

[lastfeather]

... You know... I think I can respect that.

Admittedly not all that much considering it tried to kill us... but still...

[Ryou shrugs lightly.]

Have you done a ceremony like this before?

[gift_of_magus]

A few times...rarely do I have to fight artifacts such as that one. Most of my opponents over the years have been artifacts of magic, tools of evil and darkness. Nineball seems to be a purely human creation, and so civilization has lost another wonder today.

Still, if it returns bent on devastation, I will destroy it again. That is my duty.

[lastfeather]

It'd have been a bigger wonder if it was more like you then I take it?

[There was a wry smile on his face.]

Then again we'd be out of a job.

[gift_of_magus]

I am not so prideful that I hold myself as the standard of perfection against all must be judged.


...But yes.