melodiesoflife | Event || The Festival Of Light

"Isn't it obvious?" Her fingertips fell upon the tattoo situated just above the first hint of her deep cleavage. If Lydia hadn't noticed already, the pupils of Lust's eyes weren't exactly normal. They were vertically slitted, like a cat or a snake. "I'm not human. So how could I possibly understand the trivial thoughts that flit through their heads?"

It was an odd conflict to be sure. She spoke with open condescension, and yet, there was absolutely nothing in the universe that she wanted more than to be one of the creatures she seemed to hold in such dour disdain.

Lust gestured lazily toward a young couple with their pint-sized child, who was pointing exuberantly at a cluster of bright flowers. "Why do people unite with one another? What inspires love, what inspires lust? What causes humans to make the sacrifices that they do? Until I'm able to discover how to transform myself, their thoughts and actions will probably never make sense to me."

Lydia's response might be equally perplexing to Lust. A friendly and open smile, with no judgement. Human or not had never been an issue for Lydia, and why would it be now?

"Would you believe me if I said that humans themselves are trying to figure out these things too?" This was at least something Lydia felt comfortable with, given her family and her own unique views. Arms behind her back and stretching a bit, still smiling as she observed the family with Lust. "That's part of what drives us to art. Painting, drawing, writing, performing...even the harder stuff like science and math. All of it's really humanity trying to make sense of our world and our roles in it. Who are we? Why do we feel something? What causes someone to love someone or something?"

A shrug, still at ease beside her fellow hero. "There's no easy answer, or simple answer, and it's constantly changing because humans don't know either. We're searching just as much as you might be."

Lust stared at her with a sidelong impassive stare for a long moment, quietly digesting what she'd said. Lydia was right, it was more than a little unbelievable for a species that had existed as long as it had to still fail to understand the basic composition of their personalities. A homunculus was born into existence already fully aware of what they were and what they were meant to do.

She sighed.

"So it's pointless trying to understand, it seems," she concluded. Not exactly the answer she wanted, but it seemed to echo with what she'd learned from others. How annoying.

"I wouldn't say that, although some philosophies would agree with you." Lydia replied gently. "It's more..." Quiet again, thinking, then speaking once more. "Humanity, that is, being human? In some ways, what separates us from other animals and beings, is that we question why? We seek more purpose than mere existence and survival. We try to live."

Looking up at Lust, there's a smaller smile on her face now--as some of this was a lot more than Lydia had studied in school. "In that attempt to 'live', to make life meaningful for ourselves, and to figure out what our purpose is..." Then she spoke with confidence. "Some would say that is what being human is."

Lust was quiet. Her expression didn't change for the better or the worse; she was thinking. Digesting. There was still so much she didn't understand about humanity, or even her own desires. It was simply a need so raw and primal to be whole again that she was a servant to that need.

"And what of those lives that hold no meaning whatsoever?" she held her elbows loosely. "Surely there are some that are simply content to exist as they are. Are they less than human if they simply do not care?"

"Depends on who you ask as some would certainly say so. I think they just have other priorities and existing is enough for them. Besides, I haven't really met anyone who hasn't questioned their existence, and why they're alive, why they exist, at least once."

Lydia doesn't mind the discussion, even if it's a bit heavy for her in some ways. "If you're looking for a solid, definitive answer on what makes a human, human...I don't think you'll find one. You also have to factor in 'is there such a thing as a soul'? Some would say the 'soul' is what makes a human, and no one's yet found a reliable way to measure, or even define, what a soul is."

She was a little surprised that this girl didn't immediately recoil and start preaching about how all lives had meaning. Was she truly so ambivalent? Perhaps she just wasn't the excitable type that Lust was more accustomed to dealing with when it came to matters of morality.

But as for defining a soul... Lust smiled slowly and widely. "We have," she said, taking a half step to fully face Lydia. "It is the one thing alchemy cannot replicate or replace, without the power of the Philosopher's Stone. But the proper transmutation circle can take the soul and refine it to a more tangible object, which can grant the holder an enormous deal of power. Condense enough of them, and you may have the ingredients to create the Philosopher's Stone."

She shrugged slightly. "But most have failed. And I acknowledge that the laws and rules of my world probably don't apply here."

Right now, it was still an abstract discussion about ethics and morality, not necessarily what Lydia herself believed. Easier then to not be as excitable about who lived or who died, and why. Lydia might've been young, and in some ways sheltered--but it didn't mean she wasn't intelligent nor prone to her own heavy thinking.

Her best friend was a ghost and she regular went to the land of the dead. For all that she was happier and more well-adjusted back home than she had been, it didn't mean she hadn't wrestled with existentialism on her own at times. Crystallis had just made it worse, in some ways.

She listened as Lust spoke, and was quiet afterwards while she thought that over. Trying to make sense of some of the words, and against what she remembered from science (or other relevant classes) in her schooling. "Where I'm from, the Philosopher's stone is a myth. But Alchemists who persued it believed it capable of all sorts of things. Usually turning lead into gold, or conferring immortality." A shrug, and her grin was still easy. "Then again, where I'm from alchemy never lead to the miracles they sought. It was more a precursor to modern chemistry, but with a magical bent to it. Most magic doesn't really exist in my world--not like it does here."

"Well," Lust chuckled. "Any alchemist can transmute objects into gold. But it's forbidden, considering how that would completely ruin the inherent value of gold if it could be made out of coal. There are other laws as well, but they would bore you." There really wasn't any point trying to educate Lydia, as she didn't look like the sort of person who'd be interested in such things. Given how plainly she dressed, without expensive baubles and bangles, gold and immortality likely held little worth in the girl's eyes.

"If you'd do me a favor and keep an ear out for anyone who does know how to create the stone, I would be very grateful," she smiled, laying her fingertips lightly against her tattoo. "I've been searching for a long time for one who possesses the talent, as well as the inclination."

Gold and immortality weren't really in Lydia's interests no, but the idea of Alchemy was still fascinating to her. It sounded different than the way it had developed in her world; like the magic inherent in it was stronger. Clear enough that Lust didn't want to go into it just then, so Lydia would ask later if she found a better time.

"I don't mind keeping an ear out. This world definitely has things I wasn't expecting." Easy enough for Lydia to agree, even if Lust didn't seem the kind to her who wanted immortality or gold either. "Can I ask why you're so interested?" Genuine curiosity in the tone, no judgement.

Best not admit that she was interested in alchemy, because Lust was always on the prowl for more prospective students, and Lydia would have been a prime candidate given how easily she seemed to be conversing with Lust.

Even when she was being brutally honest about what kind of monster she truly was.

"Haven't you guessed?" Lust replied with a smile, her voice still soft. "So I can become human. While this world has made me mortal, it hasn't conferred a soul to me, nor a conscience. I still exist solely to pursue my desires." She folded her arms with a sigh, as if it were all so bothersome. "It's a sad thing to feel so incomplete."

Event || The Festival Of Light

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