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Thirteen holds his spear out at arm's length, balancing it on two fingers. The dojo is still and empty. He does not move, but bit by bit, his anima banner begins to grow, caste mark first, then his entire body.
Lucent "Training?" Comes the voice at the door. Lucent is there, without his usual jewels, his robe disheveled, without any of his artifacts about him. Without the Coronal, he seemed even younger; Without the seal, the imposing mien that made a boy seem a King was gone. He did not seem much better than when they left Selonis.
Thirteen "Indeed." Thirteen lowers his spear.
Thirteen "...How are you, Lucent?"
Lucent walks into the dojo, looking at the scrolls of martial wisdom on the walls... "How do you think I am?"
Thirteen "Upset. Confused. Unsure of one's direction."
Thirteen "This is the process we all go through, by which a boy becomes a man."
Lucent "That is what you think faith is? A childish thing?"
Thirteen "I think that when I was a boy, I believed that my father was all-powerful and always benevolent, and I trusted in him to tell me what was right."
Thirteen "The day I defeated him in battle was the day I knew that only my own heart and my own soul can guide my path."
Lucent "I believed in more than that. I believed there is an order to this world. A purpose why we are here. A mission. We are here under his mandate, to keep this world safe, to keep it ordered... to rule, as well as we can. A world with order, a world we have a place in."
Thirteen "We have a place in this world, Lucent, whether or not the Sun decrees it. We make this place for ourselves."
Thirteen "We need no mandate to keep this world safe, or to rule it and bring it order. If we wish it, then it will be so."
Thirteen "Is saving the world only worth doing if we have been instructed to do so?"
Lucent "Hearing this makes me so not surprised that you beat up your father." He sighs, "How do you do it? Trust yourself like that? There is no order on your mind, is it? Only the one we make? How do you trust yourself with that?"
Thirteen "I am not afraid of my strength."
Thirteen "I am the incarnation of Wei Dan in this time."
Thirteen "Without me, my people would already be dead."
Thirteen "Without us, Creation would already have fallen."
Lucent "This is not about strength. It is about *right*. The Primordials have strength, and look at that. Lai has strength. Rosada.. the Lion is strong as we are. It is more than strength. It is having the right, it is being right. There has to be more to it than just... that."
Thirteen "We may slaughter needlessly, or destroy great cities, but we are still the best hope for all the people of the world. Without us there would only be ashes."
Lucent "... and we may be the last..."
Thirteen "Indeed."
Thirteen "There may once have been three hundred Solars. A mighty battalion."
Thirteen "Now there are thirty, or less."
Thirteen "Those who are gone shall not return."
Thirteen "We may repay them for their sacrifice by not shying away from our birthright."
Thirteen "Were their souls torn apart by the gods so you could waste time in doubt?"
Thirteen "Believe in your own glory, Lucent Copper Haze."
Thirteen "You need no other to tell you what is right."
Thirteen "In your heart you know what must be done. Perhaps better than any of us."
Lucent "Doubt is what makes us human."
Thirteen "Belief is what makes us divine."
Lucent "It feels wrong to believe in yourself so much. That brings hubris. That brings insanity."
Thirteen "Then I shall expect you to tell me when I am wallowing in arrogance, and when I have lost my way. And I shall pay you the same courtesy."
Thirteen "If you cannot depend on yourself, you may depend on us. But know that we will in turn depend on you."
Lucent "..."
Lucent "I had not noticed that before."
Lucent "I thought you were... well, a self-centered bastard. But you do not believe just in yourself. You believe in us."
Thirteen "If I did not, I would be alone."
Lucent walks to the wall, thinking... "And so you believe that... it is all up to us? To protect, to destroy, to do make the world whatever we wish it to be? Do you even believe there is any order to the world, to Creation, to existence, aside from that we whim?"
Thirteen "Lucent."
Thirteen "Atomnos declared his willingness to destroy our world."
Thirteen "Lai's goal is to seize the seals and remake the very laws of the universe to his desire."
Thirteen "The order we create is the only order, because all the forces of our enemies are set on leaving only disorder behind them."
Thirteen "Even if we were only to defeat them and then to leave Creation unchanged, that would still be an order we have chosen."
Thirteen "Our power is inevitable. The only option is annihilation."
Lucent "I... see. And we are the only ones to stop it..." He begins to walk out, then, pondering every word... "Oh, and Thirteen. I wouldn't forget our peers yet. Maybe we cannot bring back those broken. But we can probably cleanse those darkened..."
Thirteen "Hm."
Thirteen "As always, I shall leave all such evangelism in your capable hands, Lucent."
Lucent "Thank you... but I still have to see if I am capable of *anything*."
Thirteen "I assure you, Lucent, that I would not associate with someone incapable. You need have no fears on that score." Thirteen has a half-smile on his face as he turns back to his training.
Tags: (:tags Sol Invictus, Solars :)
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