powersthatbe | Conversation Space III.

Death gets angry, then, his blue eyes hard with cold fury. "No, I never expected you to complete each Jaunt successfully. There are always stumbling blocks in the beginning. But I certainly did not expect to have to be the ones to punish you for a rebellion the likes of which was not in Fortune's rules. Furthermore, I never expected Moebius to be a walk in the park. In fact I never wanted a capital punishment for you lot. It is only by happy accident that you Travelers didn't descend into psychosis after the fact. The collective memory loss of the veterans is the only blessing to come from that round, a round which I despise having my name attached to, frankly."

He rubs a bony temple, then, his anger slowly dimming to irritation. "You know my kind better than most. You know what makes me tick better than most. Do you think I wanted any of that to occur? Do you think I revel in that kind of butchery?"

"Hey, I'm coming at this from a position of relatively good faith." And, admittedly, the luxury of not having been anywhere near the jaunt in question. "Of course you wouldn't have wanted it to get that bad - I can only think of two who would, maybe a third by way of her alliances, and I made a point of avoiding them. I'm just trying to understand as best I can, which is... more than a lot of people seem willing to do, lately. That was more a reflection on what half the Travelers seem to expect than ascribing anything to you yourself."

The explanation as it stands wouldn't be good enough for Yua, but then, Naoki's not sure anything would. Whether it'd satisfy anyone who actually went through Moebius is an open question, but she was the one he talked to the most, before she disappeared.

Is it enough for him to live with? Possibly. In any case, he wouldn't have made this choice, as much as any of the Travelers have had the ability to, if he thought Death was a bad egg.

Edited 2016-12-29 20:38 (UTC)

"Indeed. October and Matthew are not so eager as you," he answers, quirking an eyebrow. "But our kind have always been seen a bit... different, for those in your world."

Death scoffs. "Alliances indeed. Psyche - Miss Arrows - is not to be trusted either. But that is only a guess on my part. I certainly don't trust her. Regardless... I cannot let her win. Nor the other two you mentioned. The Travelers deserve better than that."

"I'd been wondering about Matthew-san, but actually asking him would have done less than no good, all told." The circumstances aligned too perfectly for Naoki to ignore it, after Kanji pointed out the information packets, but considering their last... argument about their hosts, well. "Otherwise, I can't say that I have much idea of who you had your eye on."

Toby's not entirely surprising, from what little he knows about her, but that was hardly enough for him to make an educated guess.

"What is it you have in mind for the end of this?"

"All of you were to be Chosen eventually. That was never much of a secret." He shakes his head a little, frustrated. "But I like to think I have been more forthcoming about my offers than some of the others."

Mortimer raises an eyebrow, before adding, "Precisely the end of this."

"And that would be why I wanted to go into it with my eyes open, as much as possible. Better than being caught off guard by it. Who else did you pick up?" Normally he wouldn't ask, but denying the curiosity's there would be a little silly.

"...Ah." It's an endgame that makes sense, all things considered, but Naoki's still quiet for a while. "Not the sort of end where we forget it even happened, I hope."

"I have five Chosen, including you. The others are Yosuke, Malik, Matthew, and October."

He gives a small sigh of relief when Naoki seems to understand his meaning. "You know me better than most. Come now, think for a minute. I am all about entering into a new state of being, not staying trapped in the old."

Okay, Malik makes some sense, from what Naoki knows of him - but it's the first name on the list that trips him up. "Hanamura?"

...Excuse Naoki while he cracks the fuck up, but at least the smile when he finally stops laughing is genuine. "God, we really do have more in common than either of us want to believe, don't we."

They've reached a point where having to work together won't be a total disaster and may in fact go pretty well. And in a way, it's really not a surprise.

"I thought it was worth double-checking, but... good. An end where I lose everything I've gained so far isn't one I can accept."

"Well, you can't have it all. Giving you the power to float back and forth between Liminal Space and Inaba freely would defeat the purpose of an ending."

"Well, no, I wouldn't expect that much." Some of his friends might be less than thrilled with the idea of the whole enterprise ending, but that's neither here nor there, right now.

"And that's not really what I meant anyway. I've changed too much. Grown too much. I can't turn my back on all that. Perhaps more to the point, I don't want to. Forgetting it even happened... no."

"Indeed, but one mustn't stay caught in the past. I believe you know that better than most. You still have plenty of room to grow, to change."

Mortimer steeples his fingers, silently contemplating. "Do you have further questions of me?"

"The point's been thoroughly made by now, yes." And the fact that he's here at all says he listened to the lesson.

"Your... fallen colleagues. Can they be revived?"

'Should they' and 'would you' are natural subsets of the question, but that's the easiest place to start with it.

Mortimer sighs, clearly displeased with the question as worded. But nonetheless, he tries.

"I see no harm in restoring our number to twenty-two, if only because of some of my other colleagues' stances on it. It's easy to tell, for some of us - Three and Four have not exactly been subtle in their wishes on the matter, particularly regarding Seventeen. And for others... well, take Zero. It's impossible to tell what that bastard's thinking, since he's always thinking of Nothing. And I don't think Fifteen or Sixteen will be happy with anyone's return. Sixteen might actively oppose it."

Then, Death frowns. "It is... not impossible. But that does not mean it will be easy, nor does it mean it will be successful. From a practical standpoint, it would take far too many variables in far too specific an order to return them as they were when they died. There are some other methods which could be attempted... but one must decide whether the payoff would outweigh the risks involved."

Well, of course the archetypal parents would want the whole family back together. And of course Devil and Tower wouldn't be happy with the idea, probably for different reasons. But those are things Naoki can ponder later.

(Perhaps the real surprise is that distaste for Fool. Beginnings without change, maybe?)

He nods. "I'd guess that when you're dealing with archetypes there's only so much change that can happen, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be tricky. I mean, if it were easy some of your number would've already done it, from the sound of things."

It doesn't seem to be vehement dislike, but a mutual bewilderment. Regardless...

"If it were easy, then we wouldn't have had to end the trip to Boston so suddenly," Death answers with a sigh. "But that is neither here nor there. The simple answer is: it can be done, but it is unclear whether it should be done, for many of us."

So one of them was in danger on that jaunt, but didn't end up dead. Interesting. But Naoki doesn't really know enough about that to pursue it.

Something to think on later, then, alongside the matter of Star.

"Why would it be unclear?"

"Many of the Arcana don't remember much of the other cycles. I am, perhaps, the one who's got the best grasp on them. I would say SAGE is the better candidate for our recordkeeping, but he has spent quite some time locked up, no thanks to Six and Fifteen, so there are... gaps, in his records."

He gives a soft sigh. "Regardless... my more optimistic acquaintances seem to believe that obtaining the World will solve everything. As a voice of practicality, not of pessimism... I'm not sure there is enough to the World to enact all the changes some of our number want to make. They may have to make a very unpleasant choice."

"It's human nature to bite off more than you can chew. I guess it's not so surprising that it'd be archetypal nature, at least for some of you. But if there's limits to the power granted by winning... they'd probably have to count on winning multiple rounds and nothing else going wrong in those rounds to do everything they want, and if you've got the best grasp on the bigger picture, it's unlikely they can plan for it."

After all, it's not like winning means invincibility.

"For some of us, yes. But ironically, I believe the ones most likely to profit from such mistakes are the ones least likely to overstretch the World's reach," Mortimer responds, raising a brow. "At least, that is my guess."

That draws a smile to Death's blue-tinged lips. "I very much doubt the majority of my fellows plan that far in advance. With the exception of Eighteen, of course."

"It'd be one heck of a long-term plan, if any of them could pull it off, but that's a lot to bet on." He's also not sure he'd want to see the end results of a Moon Intensifies series of wins, really.

"Indeed," Death agrees, raising a brow. "But many of us have bet on far weaker odds."

He shifts in his seat, then, finally standing up from the electric chair and taking a few steps toward Naoki. "Unless there's anything else pressing that needs to be addressed, I should probably send you back. Your friends will surely be missing you."

"...No, I think that's everything, at least for now."

If something else comes up, Naoki will find a way to ask it. But as things currently stand, the only question he hasn't raised is one he's pretty sure wouldn't be answered directly, so he won't put Death on the spot with it.

Death frowns. "Very well. But if you do find you have a question, and I am not involved in Liminal Creation, you need but ask for me, and I will meet with you."

He holds out his bony hand to Naoki, politely. "It has been a pleasure, Mister Konishi. I wish you a great deal of luck."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

Handshakes still aren't something Naoki's really used to, but he does return it. "Thank you. I think we're both going to need it."

As Mortimer releases Naoki's hand, Naoki will feel the familiar pull of a portal sucking him out - or rather, in. He'll arrive in Liminal Space just as neatly as he was pulled out of it.

Conversation Space III.

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