Things have changed in Zhongguo, since I came into the world. If people here judge us based on the fact our country is advancing in magic more than technology at the moment, then that's certainly on them, I think.
[ Used to look. He's quiet, himself, before he tilts his head. ]
I understand. [ in many ways ] Tell me about Cefiro?
[ There is a - quiet moment, when she says that. Without emotions being on the surface for everyone, it's hard to say what his reaction truly is. But his expression is a little sardonic while she isn't looking.
[She'll settle back on her heels for a moment, considering.]
Once, far away, there was a beautiful world, where the strength of your belief was a source of power, the source of anything that could be done.
One young girl with golden hair was set to rule over this world, due to her heart being the strongest of anyone else. She was kind and compassionate and selfless... and she wished only for happiness of her world - for her people, their protection, and neverending prosperity. She prayed for nothing but that, because that was a duty she held dear. Under her rule, the ocean was always calm, the sky always blue, with perfect weather and no threats from the outside.
For her people, it was perfection.
She loved her world. But in loving her world so strongly, she could not risk being drawn by anything else. For if her prayers ever stopped, the world would start to crumble under the fear of its people.
...
One day, the girl met a man. The man swore to protect her.
But he feels something locking into place immediately, and could almost laugh with the sick familiarity of it. But he doesn't comment on it, even if the understanding is there. ]
[There's a twinge of pain at that. It should be happy. Shouldn't it?
...]
The girl tried to reconcile her prayers with the desires of her heart. She had to pray only for her people after all, but... her heart was torn in two. She tried to wish for both - for the man she had fallen in love with, and for the people she loved and wanted to always protect.
But she could not give her heart completely... and the world started to slip away. Skies started to fill with vicious storms and the rumbling of the earth. The people grew afraid, and from their fear came monsters of their own design to attack them. No matter how hard the girl prayed, she couldn't reverse what she had done.
The girl knew that she needed to choose one over the other, or her people would continue to suffer. But she... decided not to choose.
She locked herself away, in a place known only to the man she loved - so that he couldn't stop her, and that she might try to let her feelings disappear. But her world only grew worse, and as her heart filled with despair, so did the hearts of her people.
The world thought she had been captured against her will, and held hostage by a man who became a villain in the eyes of everyone. Hundreds came to try to rescue her. All were killed, because her love would not dare to see the girl shackled to her position. He fought for her freedom, and was called a monster.
[ The immediate emotion is - visceral, almost. Like a knife to the chest, twisted in, and Hua Cheng's jaw tightens. As if to grit through the pain of it - and no wonder, Hikaru's emotions had been so bright, when he told her the story of the Crown Prince Who Pleased the Gods?
But the joy of these stories, of this reality, is always so short-lived. ]
A person can be kind. [ His low voice is quiet, but enough for her to hear. ] When the world knows nothing but cruelty, and fear, one person can be kind, giving, just - but people, as a whole, will believe any story they're given when it's compelling enough. When it adheres to their own selfish desires, their own fears in turmoil.
People will not understand, when they don't desire the truth.
I think it can be a little more complicated than that sometimes, but... ignorance plays its own role. It's only right for people to be scared. But it makes obtaining a whole truth... impossible, sometimes.
...
From her hiding place, the girl made a desperate choice. She summoned a special fighter from beyond their borders. Her Magic Knight. They knew nothing of the world, or its problems, or the love of the girl or where she was hidden. All they knew was to rescue the girl who had summoned them, and to save her world. They encounters many trials and dangers to show that they had the strength of heart needed for their task. All the while, the man who loved the girl fought back against them. But they fought through. And they found where he was hidden.
They fought him with the desire to save the world. He fought with the desire to save her.
The knight overpowered him... and they killed the girl's only love, while all she could do was watch.
[ Sometimes - he inclines his head, agreeing, thinking about every tragedy that's told like it wasn't ever someone's life. Thinking of the fact that ignorance has eaten away at so many people, destroyed kingdoms.
Torn lovers from one another, in front of their eyes.
A happy beginning, to a terrible end. ]
And were they able to learn the truth, in what had happened by their hand?
[ Hua Cheng can guess that things did not end so kindly, for the girl or their world. ]
[Her voice shakes for a moment, giving herself a second to pull her composure back together.]
The girl emerged from her hiding spot, filled with nothing but hatred, to meet her knight. When told of their efforts to rescue her... the girl's belief turned into a raging weapon. And she attacked, wanting to kill her knight with her lover's sword.
The knight was caught off-guard. This was the girl they had come to rescue, who now loathed the very knight she had called on. But a small part of the girl's heart that remained, one that still hadn't been consumed, took pity on her knight... even while her body fought.
She told them her story. Of her mistakes, and her love, and how foolish she had been. And she told them of their purpose, and how they had been deceived.
The girl could not be harmed by anyone from her own world, nor could she harm herself. Thus was the power of her belief. Her knight's only purpose was to be summoned to kill her, and her alone. To save her world... not from a villain, or a monster, but from the troubled heart that couldn't protect it.
Her heart that grieved her people begged for death. Her heart that grieved her love... begged for death of everything else.
So her Magic Knight fought, and... and killed the girl, and sent to her to be with her love.
And the world - Cefiro - started to crumble to pieces.
And that is the start, of the Cefiro you know now?
[ His voice is still quiet, and calm, although he can still feel the - pain of it, really. The cruel twist of fate. ]
The universe did much to treat this girl with cruelty, didn't it. To put the fate of an entire world in her hands, and expect her to hold it up, no matter the costs to her and her heart. To make a monster out of the one she loved, and to force the hand of a knight that had played their part blinded to the truth of everything.
It's... how it turned into what I know now, yes. I think the idea of a world of belief is a beautiful one, but... to put it on one person...
...
Many people in Cefiro loved their Pillar, their beloved Princess Emeraude... and they always spoke of her with love and concern. They talked about how beautiful the land used to be, even when the world itself already looked so gorgeous despite what was happening. They were afraid, because they didn't know a world that had been any different, and didn't understand what was really happening to make it change. I could understand that much.
But... I never really got to see a Cefiro that was perfect and untouched. Because I only arrived... when she asked for me. When things were alresdy starting to fall apart.
[ This should be a surprise twist, shouldn't it? Just a young girl, forced to take the life of two lovers after exploring a world falling to ruin. For most, it would be too terrible a thing to do to a child. She should be at home, with her family, flourishing and happy, instead of given the task that she was.
Hua Cheng laughs, briefly, although it's a humorless, quiet sound. ]
My statement stays the same. You were tasked with something unkind. But sometimes, we are given a challenge, a burden, aren't we? Something that no one should have to face, regardless of whether we're alone or not.
Princess Emeraude should not have had to carry the weight of the world, and be expected to bury her heart beneath it. Taizi Dianxia should not have had to watch his own world fall apart around him, when all he had wanted was to take a third path to find peace.
You should not have had to be another person's blade, if that was not your choice.
Ignorance... that's its own kind of mistake. No matter what I was told to do... I could have questioned. I could have tried to learn more. But I didn't know, and I... I didn't want to know, any more than what seemed right.
[She grips the book in her hands, full of images of an ideal world. A beautiful world.]
It's... hard. To watch something fall apart, no matter what you wanted to happen. To have to do things alone.
[Just like Emeraude. Just like Dianxia. Like Virid... or Kano.]
All I can pray for is that... that something better comes. And that I... I can help Cefiro, until then. It's my home, just like... [Just like... whatever had existed before. It's not a surprise, to falter here, to think of what was before and see nothing but a gaping hole. But she trails off.]
[ Silent, he lets her speak. Because ignorance really does breed so much negativity into the world - cruelty, in every shape, but complacency, fear, hatred. In all 800 years, he's seen it. The worst of humanity, made reality because of ignorance, because what they thought was right was simply...
Unkind.
He reaches out, setting his hand atop her head as he sees how she grips the book tighter. ]
You could have. But what's done was done, no matter the cost, and the choices you made are what will shape you regardless how much time has passed. The same as every cruel or kind thing that you've ever faced, will ever face, have made you who you are now.
I say this simply because I've lived it. And even if this damn place tries to take those things away from me, they're so deeply part of me, now, that I refuse to truly forget. [ He slips his own book under his other arm, bringing his hand up to his chest. ] I am the Supreme ghost Crimson Rain Sought Flower, the feared Ghost King and city master of Ghost City. I am Hua Cheng, forever the most devoted believer of the Flower Crown Martial God, Taizi Dianxia Who Pleased the Gods.
[Her grip tightens further at his touch. It's a form of speech not many bothered to use with her, matter of fact and almost cruel... without belittling her as a person, as a child, as one who needed chiding for things she was already fully aware were wrong. It leaves her with an emotion she can't quite describe - not quite shamed, not quite proud, treading water but finding that perhaps, there might be solid ground nearby... she would just need to do her part to find it.
She exhales slowly.]
I'm Shidou Hikaru. A light that shines from the shrine of the lion.
I'm a Legendary Magic Knight. A swordsman. Bearer of the Rune God Rayearth... and murderer of Sol Zagato and Princess Emeraude. I'm someone who doesn't... who doesn't want to have regrets for my choices, just because I might be blinded by my own ideals.
And I'm someone who wants to make things better for the one who came before me.
I'm defender of Cefiro, regardless of what has happened, or what will happen. And once I go home... I will be its Pillar.
[ The worst of humanity, made reality, through the actions and ignorance of mankind.
But while people can be cruel, can pay those around them such unkindness that it goes down in history as an unbelievable story, a person... A person can be kind. A person can reach out, at the cost of themselves, and give hope. Hua Cheng thinks of the smiling prince in all of his beauty, faced with the true spoils of war.
Hua Cheng looks at this girl. At her age, he had faced terrible things - and while she should not have to face the terrible things here, she does not deserve to be coddled. Comforted, maybe, but not with sugar forced down her throat. It won't help her swallow the reality that was chosen for her, and that she finds her path through. ]
You will make more mistakes. You will face failure. You'll be afraid, and question your choices.
[ He keeps his hand atop her head, looking down at her and - it's almost an ache, really. An echo. Of all that was, and all that fell to ruin. Two worlds, with two different stories, but at their heart were hearts that beat like one. ]
But you know this already.
A building can't stand with one pillar alone. Only two hands can't hold up an entire world. Don't repeat their mistakes - learn from them. [ And the words come back, easily, more gently this time now that she has the origin of them - and he has the story of Cefiro fresh in mind. ] But do not let go of your belief as it is now. So long as you have it, you'll not lose sight of right or wrong. You may be able to find a third path.
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no subject
[ Used to look. He's quiet, himself, before he tilts his head. ]
I understand. [ in many ways ] Tell me about Cefiro?
no subject
[She pauses, just for a moment, looking down at the book in her hands.]
...Do you like stories, Hua-chan? I... could tell you one, from Cefiro, that explains a lot about it.
I think... I'd like to hear how you viewed it, anyway.
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Hua Cheng clears it away, after. ]
En, I do. And I will listen, if you'll tell it.
no subject
Once, far away, there was a beautiful world, where the strength of your belief was a source of power, the source of anything that could be done.
One young girl with golden hair was set to rule over this world, due to her heart being the strongest of anyone else. She was kind and compassionate and selfless... and she wished only for happiness of her world - for her people, their protection, and neverending prosperity. She prayed for nothing but that, because that was a duty she held dear. Under her rule, the ocean was always calm, the sky always blue, with perfect weather and no threats from the outside.
For her people, it was perfection.
She loved her world. But in loving her world so strongly, she could not risk being drawn by anything else. For if her prayers ever stopped, the world would start to crumble under the fear of its people.
...
One day, the girl met a man. The man swore to protect her.
And she fell in love.
no subject
But he feels something locking into place immediately, and could almost laugh with the sick familiarity of it. But he doesn't comment on it, even if the understanding is there. ]
A happy beginning to a story.
[ A happy beginning, to a terrible end. ]
no subject
...]
The girl tried to reconcile her prayers with the desires of her heart. She had to pray only for her people after all, but... her heart was torn in two. She tried to wish for both - for the man she had fallen in love with, and for the people she loved and wanted to always protect.
But she could not give her heart completely... and the world started to slip away. Skies started to fill with vicious storms and the rumbling of the earth. The people grew afraid, and from their fear came monsters of their own design to attack them. No matter how hard the girl prayed, she couldn't reverse what she had done.
The girl knew that she needed to choose one over the other, or her people would continue to suffer. But she... decided not to choose.
She locked herself away, in a place known only to the man she loved - so that he couldn't stop her, and that she might try to let her feelings disappear. But her world only grew worse, and as her heart filled with despair, so did the hearts of her people.
The world thought she had been captured against her will, and held hostage by a man who became a villain in the eyes of everyone. Hundreds came to try to rescue her. All were killed, because her love would not dare to see the girl shackled to her position. He fought for her freedom, and was called a monster.
no subject
But the joy of these stories, of this reality, is always so short-lived. ]
A person can be kind. [ His low voice is quiet, but enough for her to hear. ] When the world knows nothing but cruelty, and fear, one person can be kind, giving, just - but people, as a whole, will believe any story they're given when it's compelling enough. When it adheres to their own selfish desires, their own fears in turmoil.
People will not understand, when they don't desire the truth.
[ A deep breath, a sigh on the exhale. ]
What became of them?
no subject
...
From her hiding place, the girl made a desperate choice. She summoned a special fighter from beyond their borders. Her Magic Knight. They knew nothing of the world, or its problems, or the love of the girl or where she was hidden. All they knew was to rescue the girl who had summoned them, and to save her world. They encounters many trials and dangers to show that they had the strength of heart needed for their task. All the while, the man who loved the girl fought back against them. But they fought through. And they found where he was hidden.
They fought him with the desire to save the world. He fought with the desire to save her.
The knight overpowered him... and they killed the girl's only love, while all she could do was watch.
no subject
Torn lovers from one another, in front of their eyes.
A happy beginning, to a terrible end. ]
And were they able to learn the truth, in what had happened by their hand?
[ Hua Cheng can guess that things did not end so kindly, for the girl or their world. ]
no subject
[Her voice shakes for a moment, giving herself a second to pull her composure back together.]
The girl emerged from her hiding spot, filled with nothing but hatred, to meet her knight. When told of their efforts to rescue her... the girl's belief turned into a raging weapon. And she attacked, wanting to kill her knight with her lover's sword.
The knight was caught off-guard. This was the girl they had come to rescue, who now loathed the very knight she had called on. But a small part of the girl's heart that remained, one that still hadn't been consumed, took pity on her knight... even while her body fought.
She told them her story. Of her mistakes, and her love, and how foolish she had been. And she told them of their purpose, and how they had been deceived.
The girl could not be harmed by anyone from her own world, nor could she harm herself. Thus was the power of her belief. Her knight's only purpose was to be summoned to kill her, and her alone. To save her world... not from a villain, or a monster, but from the troubled heart that couldn't protect it.
Her heart that grieved her people begged for death. Her heart that grieved her love... begged for death of everything else.
So her Magic Knight fought, and... and killed the girl, and sent to her to be with her love.
And the world - Cefiro - started to crumble to pieces.
no subject
[ His voice is still quiet, and calm, although he can still feel the - pain of it, really. The cruel twist of fate. ]
The universe did much to treat this girl with cruelty, didn't it. To put the fate of an entire world in her hands, and expect her to hold it up, no matter the costs to her and her heart. To make a monster out of the one she loved, and to force the hand of a knight that had played their part blinded to the truth of everything.
no subject
...
Many people in Cefiro loved their Pillar, their beloved Princess Emeraude... and they always spoke of her with love and concern. They talked about how beautiful the land used to be, even when the world itself already looked so gorgeous despite what was happening. They were afraid, because they didn't know a world that had been any different, and didn't understand what was really happening to make it change. I could understand that much.
But... I never really got to see a Cefiro that was perfect and untouched. Because I only arrived... when she asked for me. When things were alresdy starting to fall apart.
I... was her knight.
no subject
Hua Cheng laughs, briefly, although it's a humorless, quiet sound. ]
My statement stays the same. You were tasked with something unkind. But sometimes, we are given a challenge, a burden, aren't we? Something that no one should have to face, regardless of whether we're alone or not.
Princess Emeraude should not have had to carry the weight of the world, and be expected to bury her heart beneath it. Taizi Dianxia should not have had to watch his own world fall apart around him, when all he had wanted was to take a third path to find peace.
You should not have had to be another person's blade, if that was not your choice.
no subject
Ignorance... that's its own kind of mistake. No matter what I was told to do... I could have questioned. I could have tried to learn more. But I didn't know, and I... I didn't want to know, any more than what seemed right.
[She grips the book in her hands, full of images of an ideal world. A beautiful world.]
It's... hard. To watch something fall apart, no matter what you wanted to happen. To have to do things alone.
[Just like Emeraude. Just like Dianxia. Like Virid... or Kano.]
All I can pray for is that... that something better comes. And that I... I can help Cefiro, until then. It's my home, just like... [Just like... whatever had existed before. It's not a surprise, to falter here, to think of what was before and see nothing but a gaping hole. But she trails off.]
no subject
Unkind.
He reaches out, setting his hand atop her head as he sees how she grips the book tighter. ]
You could have. But what's done was done, no matter the cost, and the choices you made are what will shape you regardless how much time has passed. The same as every cruel or kind thing that you've ever faced, will ever face, have made you who you are now.
I say this simply because I've lived it. And even if this damn place tries to take those things away from me, they're so deeply part of me, now, that I refuse to truly forget. [ He slips his own book under his other arm, bringing his hand up to his chest. ] I am the Supreme ghost Crimson Rain Sought Flower, the feared Ghost King and city master of Ghost City. I am Hua Cheng, forever the most devoted believer of the Flower Crown Martial God, Taizi Dianxia Who Pleased the Gods.
Who are you, Hikaru? Who will you be?
no subject
She exhales slowly.]
I'm Shidou Hikaru. A light that shines from the shrine of the lion.
I'm a Legendary Magic Knight. A swordsman. Bearer of the Rune God Rayearth... and murderer of Sol Zagato and Princess Emeraude. I'm someone who doesn't... who doesn't want to have regrets for my choices, just because I might be blinded by my own ideals.
And I'm someone who wants to make things better for the one who came before me.
I'm defender of Cefiro, regardless of what has happened, or what will happen. And once I go home... I will be its Pillar.
no subject
But while people can be cruel, can pay those around them such unkindness that it goes down in history as an unbelievable story, a person... A person can be kind. A person can reach out, at the cost of themselves, and give hope. Hua Cheng thinks of the smiling prince in all of his beauty, faced with the true spoils of war.
Hua Cheng looks at this girl. At her age, he had faced terrible things - and while she should not have to face the terrible things here, she does not deserve to be coddled. Comforted, maybe, but not with sugar forced down her throat. It won't help her swallow the reality that was chosen for her, and that she finds her path through. ]
You will make more mistakes. You will face failure. You'll be afraid, and question your choices.
[ He keeps his hand atop her head, looking down at her and - it's almost an ache, really. An echo. Of all that was, and all that fell to ruin. Two worlds, with two different stories, but at their heart were hearts that beat like one. ]
But you know this already.
A building can't stand with one pillar alone. Only two hands can't hold up an entire world. Don't repeat their mistakes - learn from them. [ And the words come back, easily, more gently this time now that she has the origin of them - and he has the story of Cefiro fresh in mind. ] But do not let go of your belief as it is now. So long as you have it, you'll not lose sight of right or wrong. You may be able to find a third path.