Some Legends Are Told, Some Turn To Dust Or To Gold [CEREALIA INBOX]

[zerotohiro]

'Busy, leave a message!
...oh, you've reached Hiro Hamada. Whatever. Still busy!'

Hamada art by D-Joel, found on tumblr

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[zerotohiro]

I guess that's true, but you know me. ["I want to be better at defending myself." It goes unsaid though as he takes into account the next piece.]

That's the last thing we need. You really think that's true though? You have more experience with them than I do at least. I wish it was easier to get in contact with them now.

[faithfulflame]

[She nods somberly.] I think that the ghosts are an important piece of the puzzle. We can’t just ignore them or write them off as simple hostile spirits, not after learning what happened to England and after what they told me. To me, their presence and his story point to them being victims of CERES, the ghosts of the people sacrificed to appease the elemental spirits.

And if we can reach them, when they appear again, maybe we can turn their anger on their killers. Or remind them that we colonists are in the same situation they are. They could be a valuable source of information, and allies at that.

[zerotohiro]

As long as they can tell the difference between us and them this time. I don't know if I want to take my chances before another widespread breakout happens again. They really only seem to listen to you anyway which...I guess it makes sense. You're the one who released them.

[He frowns lightly.] Learning everything we've learned about England...there're still some things that bother me though. We still don't have enough information to really pinpoint to a "why." I don't want to settle on "because" as an answer.

[faithfulflame]

I will do what I can.  I might…attempt…to summon one of them, sometime.  I’m not sure, and I’d definitely want a lot of time to prepare a place away from the main colony.  But I’m not sure.

[As for the rest…]

We don’t have a concrete reason for that, no.  Other than to appease the elementals.  That’s generally enough of a reason, and it is the foundation of most religion.  To appease and curry favor with beings like those five.  Why they want blood sacrifices I don’t know, but we do know that is what they desire now.

[zerotohiro]

As always, you know you can always reach me if there's anything I can do to help even if it's just scouting out places for you. We should go back to the basics anyway with stuff like this.

[That's still a stupid reason and all the more reason Hiro's not entirely into the idea of religion.] Athena and I are going to talk to Ardeo soon. Maybe I can work out a way to flat-out ask him. I'd ask Caeli but...not exactly the most helpful for answers.

[faithfulflame]

I know, and I will. I'm not sure when I'll try it, I want to wait till after the new arrivals, at the least.

[It is a stupid reason, at the core. Shinto's different, but it's also not a primal religion full of monster gods.]

And you be careful. Athena mentioned this to me. Let me know when you're doing this, I want to be on alert, in case something goes wrong. Not...potentially tied down at work.

[zerotohiro]

That's not a bad idea either. They might give us something else to consider.

[Though he's surprised by that piece of information.] I never realized you two were that close. But we will. Athena's one of his and I'm not so we've kinda gotta be careful. I can text you before we actually go if that would help.

[faithfulflame]

Athena? She was probably the first friend I made here. She's rather important to me. And I bail her out of trouble with alarming regularity.

[Rei exhales through her nose.]

I'm one of Ardeo's chosen too, and it threatened and attacked me, you know. You're planning on speaking to literal fire given form, so you really can't be too careful. Fire can be...fickle.

[zerotohiro]

Somehow a lot of things suddenly make a lot of sense. [An amused snort.] Athena gets in trouble a lot but on the other hand it's not like it's hard in a place like this.

[He gives her a bemused look in return.] Rei...trust me, I know how dangerous fire can be. We'll be careful with him.

[faithfulflame]

I know you will be. It's her I'm worried about about. She seems convinced that Ardeo is harmless, because it was nice to her. Yet again, it attacked me. I trust you, but her judgment is perhaps a little too rose-colored for me.

I may seem paranoid, and may even be, but when something threatens me and starts trying to steal my energy I remember that. And I don't treat it like a potential friend.

[zerotohiro]

After everything that happened out in the labyrinth, I think she might be a little more careful now. Especially after what we found at the altar. I don't think being an optimist is a horrible idea but...that's what she's got people like us for. Maybe Ardeo felt threatened because you're just as powerful as he is? Hard to say.

I don't think that's paranoia at all though. Just sayin'.

[faithfulflame]

There's optimism and foolhardiness. But be that as it may...I'm not sure what to make of Ardeo beyond that it derives power from sacrifice.

And...good. I'm just...I know I can seen negative. But experience has taught me that anything that strong is dangerous.

[zerotohiro]

I mean...considering everything that's happened in your lifetimes? It's pretty valid experience. And anyway you have a better sense of spirituality and how the spirits work than we do.

When Korra was still here, we went to speak to Maris. We didn't find out a ton, but he also didn't seem to want to kill us on sight.

[faithfulflame]

Remember that water isn't necessarily as dangerous as fire, though. Touching it or being near it is generally seen as soothing. Fire? Is the opposite.

I know it's an obvious thing but...my point is that these things should be thought of as manifestations of their element.

[zerotohiro]

Soothing up until you drown in it, sure. [Drowning's not really on his list of to-dos, but Callaghan sure did almost make that happen.]

What does that say about someone like Occidi then? I know more about the other three but not enough about what the earth would be as a manifestation...other than covered in roots and dirt.

[faithfulflame]

Solid.  Unmoving and unyielding.  Probably not very talkative, and strong.  Stubborn like an old root.  It’s really somewhat difficult to say with the Earth as there are a lot of different interpretations and meanings ascribed to soil and stone.  It’s probably the most honest, if you can get it to talk though.

[zerotohiro]

...Tadashi's earth-aligned. I don't know very many other people who are though. Most of my friends are fire or air as far as I know. I've never really thought about how weird that is. But that's a pretty solid assumption to make either way. Maybe I'll find time to try and speak with Occidi, too.

[He pauses as something catches his eye.] ...hey, Rei. Ever play air hockey?

[faithfulflame]

Air hockey? I haven't played any kind of hockey. Why?

[She really, truly has no idea on that. Or what that is. It's not a thing in 90s Japan.]

[zerotohiro]

Because we're here and that means we're gonna play. [A cheeky grin. Come along, Rei, follow him to the air hockey table. He's grabbing a puck and two paddles, passing one to Rei as he moves to one end of the table.] It's a pretty easy game, but it's really fun when you have a huge pass going back and forth. See the slots at the end of the table? You gotta try to get the puck into the slot opposite of you to score points while blocking your opponent.

[faithfulflame]

[She picks up said paddle and turns it over in her hands, thoughtful. She...ordinarily wouldn't engage in something like this but...it was also hard to say no to a 14 year old boy. And it wouldn't hurt.]

So it's like table tennis. Only, I guess the puck slides on air?

[zerotohiro]

[Resistance is futile, etc etc. It's hard to say no to a 14 year old boy who looks so enthused to just spend time with a friend doing something normal, even if he's making sure her gift is properly and safely stored before setting the puck on the tabletop and nodding.]

It's a little less bouncy than table tennis. [And he smacks the puck with his paddle, sending it across the table and right into the goal in front of Rei.] See? It's like that. The puck should have fallen into a slot right under the goal opening.

[faithfulflame]

Ah. I do.

[She plucks out the puck and sets it down, bending to scan the board. Simple enough.]

And we play to how many points?

[zerotohiro]

Wanna go to ten? That seems to be a good enough number annnd...we should set a wager.

[faithfulflame]

A wager? On my first game?

[Hiro, what do you want...]

[zerotohiro]

You say that like you're afraid you're automatically going to lose. [He's fourteen, there isn't a whole lot he wants (and he likes Rei enough not to actually bet money against her. That just seems mean.)] If you're not up for the challenge we can skip it.