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[swordhardy]

@swords

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[worldbent]

More the former, but the latter didn't hurt. The natural magic in this place is a little stronger than I expected.

I know a man like you back home. He gave an opening when he should not have, and now his left arm is the host of an ayakashi. Fearing the influence of others, he locked himself away in the mountains, no longer able to accept or combat the weakness in his heart that twisted him into what he is now.

Will you end up that way too, Rokurou Rangetsu?

[swordhardy]

Do you really want to know? You almost sound worried about me.

An exorcist shouldn’t worry about a daemon’s heart. There’s no reason to.

[worldbent]

Ayakashi do not have hearts. They borrow those of humans.

What does that mean for you, I wonder?

[swordhardy]

Guess I'm heartless. That's even less for you to worry about.

[worldbent]

I'm sure that you wish that were true. Is that why you are so eager to embrace your corruption? Do you think it will protect your heart?

[swordhardy]

Maybe I'm just a bad, bad daemon.

[worldbent]

Bad at being one, certainly.

Well, Rangetsu-san, I have no interest in petting your very human ears. But if you are feeling lonely, I have told you before that I will never leave one of my brethren in need.

[swordhardy]

I don't understand you. Why do you refuse to acknowledge that I lost my humanity? You've sensed it — the malevolence. I'm fine with being a daemon.

[worldbent]

You are a human, Rangetsu Rokurou. You were born human, raised as a human, have a human's perspective of the world. You have barely lived enough years to understand what it is to live, much less to forget what it is to die.

You understand the joy of birth and the terror of death. You understand the weight of taking a life, and you understand how quickly life can slip through your fingers.

Humans understand that: life is beautiful because it is ephemeral. That is something a spirit- a being who has come into the world as a reflection of human existence, or as a byproduct of nature, who was not born and only fades away- could never understand. Ayakashi and humans can never understand one another. We are contrary existences. And that is why you will never be one of them.

Not for at least a few centuries, anyway. But that won't be my problem.

[swordhardy]

…

You’re pretty soft-hearted, huh?

[worldbent]

I am a human who has not forgotten what I am, despite what I must be.

Perhaps someday, you will stop making excuses.

[swordhardy]

Funny. An exorcist that cares about a daemon because he’s not so far gone. The exorcists where I’m from would rebuke you for that.

[worldbent]

Now, let's not get carried away. "Care" is a little much.

I can only assume that the exorcists from your world have a lot more room to care about useless things like moral grandstanding.

[swordhardy]

They don’t consider anyone turned into a daemon to be human, even if their turning was only a short time ago. That is the standard.

You, on the other hand… you’re something else.

[worldbent]

You're certainly unsightly. That much is certain.

But the mind of a man with the strong spiritual powers of an ayakashi? Now that is something useful. Unless you lose yourself, what reason is there to dispose of you?

Perhaps it is different where you come from, but in our current state, the exorcist community is in no position to be picky. I will not prematurely rush to destruction with anything that still has its uses. That includes those who see fit to make themselves my enemies, and also impure, inconvenient existences like you, Rangetsu-san.

[swordhardy]

What do you mean by “no position to be picky”?

Not that I care about the state of the exorcists, but you make it sound like you’re a dying breed.

[worldbent]

Blood thins, power wanes. The golden age of exorcists is long over. You said your clan has dwindled to two. Do you think you're alone in that position? Or do you simply find that impossible to imagine?

Though, I suppose if you're happy to be rid of them, that wouldn't look like a problem to you.

[swordhardy]

Like I said, it doesn’t matter to me. Once I complete my goal, if I’m not dead, I’ll likely seclude on a mountain. Golden ages or whatever have nothing to do with me.

So that’s why you were so focused on my not continuing my bloodline, huh? Taking care of the remnants of the exorcists? You really do have a heavy responsibility to bear.

[worldbent]

Seclude, and then what? Simply exist, unending? I don't think that's true. Can you truly not face the reality of your own path?

Are you afraid?

I suppose so. But that being the case, I will do what's necessary to carry out my goals. For now you have the convenience to refuse me, but that may not be the case forever.

This is a strange and dynamic place. I look forward to what surprises it may bring.

[swordhardy]

Exist that way until there’s someone strong enough to kill me. That’s my path to walk - it’s you who keeps thinking I have something to fear, or another way to go.

Why would I ever not refuse you?

[worldbent]

And the mirror?

An excellent question. Let us find out.

[swordhardy]

You think too much.

Hah. Maybe you’ll find yourself coming to me. From what I can tell, I’m your elder. That “golden age” sounds a lot like what I’m familiar with.

[worldbent]

Again with the excuses.

I might. Does that excite you? The thought of me pleading for you.

We've been over this. We are practically classmates, Rangetsu-san. But most here are from strangely different worlds, no? What makes you say that?

[swordhardy]

Your era sounds very different from mine. By all accounts, everything you talk about as being long gone is what I live back home.

You should respect your ancestors.

[worldbent]

My ancestor, huh?

Then you admit that your blood is that of an exorcist, through and through.