melodiesoflife | Event || Revelations

Lust was livid. Her eyes narrowed and her teeth grit, cold contempt written all over her face as she pushed Jade back. "Don't patronize me," she hissed. "Make up whatever excuses you want, this is about revenge, not your convoluted sense of ethics. The furball is right about you. ALL of you." Her normal tactics would have been to threaten to kill him or someone he cared about to get her way, but that wouldn't work here. She wasn't immortal, and she was profoundly outnumbered. Whatever chances remained to her without Palitutu would be erased if they struck her down now.

She whirled around, rage and desperation making her movements sharp and savage, more like an animal's than a person's, and her eyes fell on Jack. "You. You promised you'd help me. Show me that you weren't lying." She thrust her hand toward Palitutu. "Prove that humanity really does embody mercy and compassion, not just some pretty words that can't be backed up by action."

Sheena could only stare at the Moogle in a mix of shock and anger after he stopped speaking. Not understand sacrifices? Her? She understood more than she should.

And why she didn't want to sacrifice anyone else.

Turning, she took a few steps away from the portal--only to stop and look at Lust.

"If humans are so horrible, why do you want to be one so badly?" she asked before resuming her walk.

She'd go back eventually, but for right now, she just wanted to be alone.

Jack has needed a few minutes to recover, to let his Custom Job do its work and heal up the damage that the Curse had left on him. He hadn't been intending to get involved, trusting the Heroes to make a decision they could all live with. But when Lust looks at him like that. He knows the desperation that can come when something that you want this badly about to slip through your fingers.

But all she wants is to be human. Who is Jack to deny her that?

"The right thing to do really is to save her life, to give her back the choice as to what to do with her life."

But then Jack looks squarely back at Lust. "If she even has the knowledge that you're seeking, is getting it from her worth risking more lives? If we bring her back and we can't control her, she might make the choice to kill again. She's going to keep taking up our time, to keep pushing us further until we do what she wants."

"So I need to know: is it worth it? Is humanity worth that?"

There is a trick and a trap in that question. Jack wants to know if Lust even understands this thing that she's searching for.

And among those who have been silent is one Ruby Rose, who walks past the group and towards the portal.

"I'm bored now. Can we go home and deal with everything else instead of whatever she's talking about?" She griped, hands behind her head. "Maybe get something to eat, too?"

Her eyes narrowed at Sheena. Pitiful wretch. As if she could even begin to understand the emptiness of being incomplete, of not being whole...!

Lust's rage quieted slightly as Jack addressed her. He was listening, and that gave her some sense of hope that her desperate desire wasn't about to be destroyed. She faced him directly, relaxing her hands at her sides.

"You saw what she did." She gestured to the broken necklace, and the small gold crystal now being held by...she wasn't paying attention to who picked it up, honestly. "She wants us to stop the Calamity. She gave us the gift of time to do it." Lust raised her chin slightly. "We've already proved that we can be ruthless and brutal. She got exactly what she wanted, didn't she?"

Her head shifted slightly to the right so she could regard him with a sidelong glance. "And what if she or Artemicion is an Avatar of the Calamity?" she pointed at Palitutu. "If we want Narayana to show mercy and compassion in sparing your worlds, then you had best be willing to show it to her first."

Edited 2016-09-01 18:12 (UTC)

Jack was ready to accuse Lust of not answering his question, but when she makes her final point, he visibly grins. Because she did answer. And she gets it. "You're right. It doesn't even matter if she is an Avatar or not. The Calamity has grown curious about our actions. What will we do to a defeated enemy? Whether we have something to gain out of it or not?" Jack nods towards Lust.

Jack is in full-on Doctor mode, raising his voice so all the rest of the heroes can hear. "The Avatars are going to hear about what we did here today! The ones that are friendly towards us and the ones that are against us. Whether they know it or not, they are telling it to the very being that we are going to ask for mercy! What story are they going to tell?"

...

......

"You mean we have to SAVE HER NOW?!"

Cloud glanced over at Mary. He had no doubt that the Assassin would volunteer to be the one to put Palitutu down if it came to it. But even the weight of a life of someone who tormented them so was daunting to everyone.

"She wanted us to kill her. She kept telling us to prove to her that we could. This went beyond us 'proving we had another way'. We've always been willing to spare her but she keeps demanding that we finish her." He frowned and looked around at the remaining.

"We don't know how long the portal will be open, right? Let's take her back, put her somewhere safe. But no medical or life support unless she requests it. And...I'll stand by if she wants to be finished." Cloud felt a lump in his throat. He understood what he was taking on.

It was clear from Jade's face that he was neither happy nor convinced. Showing mercy was well and good, but that was assuming the Calamity would view it the same way humans did. From what Kalki had told them, it just wasn't that simple.

Cloud's idea was slightly better, but had a rather huge hole.

"And how do you propose we do that?" he demanded. "Don't forget that Palitutu is capable of not only teleporting, but also opening gates to the Rift. Where would we put her to prevent her from escaping?

"Palitutu believed in her methods absolutely, even at death's door. She only gave us the crystal because she believed this was her end and she had nothing left to lose. If she deems our mercy as a weakness -- and I believe she will -- she'll have no qualms about trying to stop us again. Do you honestly think she'd give us another chance?"

Lust eyed Jade. She doubted 'You're a researcher, figure it out if you're so smart' would go over well with him. He was harder to convince than Jack was. "Can you honestly say she wouldn't give us another chance? Neither of us are mind readers, nor can we predict the future. There are others who can do this, however. Let them see for themselves. I see no problem with keeping her sedated, as the boy offered," she nodded at Cloud.

"Palitutu, I believe, is essential to improving and perfecting the Soul Divider. She has knowledge far beyond anything any of us have. And her ability to send us to our own worlds is invaluable, as we have access to technology, magic, and knowledge we do not have on our own. I think she may also know how we may stabilize the Calamity fragments inside of us, that will allow us to better confront and influence Narayana when the times comes that we must stand before her. Logically speaking, she is an asset, one that should not be carelessly discarded because we are too afraid we will not be able to defeat her again. We've already proven we can, and easily." She folded her arms.

"If I'm wrong, I'll kill her myself. And you may kill me if you wish." She probably sounded a little too calm in offering to stake her life on her convictions, but that was simply the truth of it. The sin of lust wasn't merely physical satiation; it was desire, and being willing to sacrifice anything to see that desire realized.

She smiled slowly. "But I'm not wrong."

“Why do you want to save her? Out of genuine benevolence and concern for her life? Or because you’re hoping to gain something out of it?”

After having remained quiet during the whole thing, Parasraya stepped forward and laughed dryly. She eyed Lust in particular upon mentioning that they were hoping to gain something out of it.

“The Calamity has been compared to the likes of God before. Do you truly believe a God would not see past your intentions? What does our earthly kindness means in the eyes of such a power? Stop deluding yourselves.”

She stepped forward and looked down at the dying Tarutaru with disdain; and yet there was something akin to satisfaction in her eyes.

“She has said her knowledge can be found in files she left. And so long as she lives, she will never be anything more than a hindrance.” She stared for a while longer with a perfectly neutral expression, before looking away. “Let her die.”

Lust arched a slender brow. She'd never seen this woman before in her life, and yet here she was casting judgment? The homunculus was far from impressed.

"Who's that?" she asked the others. Certainly not someone Lust had ever seen around before. Perhaps it was just some peasant who'd wandered over out of curiosity once the fireworks started going off~

Sonic pointed to Parasraya. "She's right. Believe me - I've fought my share of evil, world-destroying beings, even those who claim themselves gods, and they don't get appeased by showing mercy unless there's a reason."

And he's certain the Calamity isn't Perfect Chaos

"We're heading back into the idea that's going to get us to... Fight... Each other." Sonic face palmed at that. "Greaaaaat..."

"Recently, I've been thinking... ever since Palitutu gave us that ultimatum, during the fight with the Ultima Weapon, and even up through the fight that just ended, I thought she reminded me of someone I knew in my own world," Chiaki offers, stepping forward into the debate.

"Her name was Junko Enoshima. A few of you know this already. Junko was obsessed with despair, and wanted nothing more than to spread it to every corner of the world. She didn't even care about throwing her own life away, because it meant she'd finally succumb to that same despair. I thought Palitutu had become like that from all the knowledge she'd gained up until now. It seemed like she'd given up on beating the Calamity, and had given into the idea of it destroying everything."

She pauses for a moment, shaking her head.

"But now I realize that was wrong. Palitutu had never given into despair, not even for a moment. She said it herself - she didn't give up on hope. The problem is, her hope had become twisted. She wasn't like Junko at all... she was more like another person I knew at home: Nagito Komaeda."

Another pause, as she chews her lip a moment. There are some bad memories associated with this guy.

"Nagito believed in hope as much as I do, but it was a black and twisted kind of hope. He felt that the only way hope could shine as brightly as possible was through the darkness of the deepest depths of despair. He wanted to see that bright shining light, so he did everything he could to drive the people around him to the absolute brink of despair. In the end, he believed so strongly in that ideal that he sacrificed himself for it. He believed so strongly in the ability of the people around him to embody and become hope, that he was willing to give his own life to give them that chance."

Frowning, she glances at Palitutu's body as the life begins to ebb from it.

"I think that's what Palitutu must have felt. She believed in her own ideals... but I think, in her own twisted way, she believed in us, too. And getting us to kill her was the only way to prove to herself that all her work hadn't been for nothing. Bringing her back now would be spitting in the face of her hope, of the dream she worked so hard to bring about. We might think of it as mercy, but I'm willing to bet she wouldn't see it that way at all. That's why I think we need to respect her wishes, believe in our own hope, and use what she left behind to save this world."

She knows not everyone will understand or agree, but Chiaki couldn't stay silent through all of this without saying her piece. There's a brief glance to Jack in particular as she finishes.

For a while, Ira watched in silence as the others made their arguments for and against sparing Palitutu's life. Really? This was a thing that needed to be debated before deciding to land the killing blow. They had a month to discuss this and find her. Now they had minutes.

"Whether the way she views the bigger picture is unforgivable or not, her heart was decided just like our own. We can't change that. Nor will it change one simple truth:" He narrowed his eyes, though for those that knew him, this was calm for him. "The longer we argue about this, the less time she has."

His tone is flat, though now more than ever, he wished so badly to deal more with the Admins over this crap.

To begin with, Sephiroth thought that Sparks had the right idea and he too was heading in the direction of the portal back to Aqures; as who didn't have a pile of things on their plate to be getting on with? Plus surely the others who remained could finish the job, everyone who had attacked surely knew what needed to happen now.

But first it was the way that Jack shouted out about the Avatars, and by extension Narayana itself would know one way or the other what transpires here and although every exhausted nerve ending in Sephiroth wanted nothing but to pass into that open portal, he found his feet rooted to the ground as he looked back over his shoulder.

Could they be-

But the discussion, now? Just as it had been before when Rialynn had been possessed. They were all just going to end up fighting each other, again, something which -undeniably- the Calamity seemed to encourage most of all. So Sephiroth listened to those with their opinions as he slowly sheathed his sword back into it's harness and came within conversation range himself. There was a deep frown already pulling between his eyes.

"Perhaps that's exactly what such a being wants to see?" He answers Parasraya, after a beat. "Maybe that's exactly what it is interested in and that might be the wrong perspective. We've certainly been through enough trials, enough games, by various Avatars so far as to indicate such."

A quick look to Lust, though by the look on his face Sephiroth isn't particularly happy to have reached said conclusion. It looked a little like he was trying to eat something really sour. It's clear he'd have been one of the first to put the final blow in if he hadn't thought it was already well in hand.

"Maybe it is a test of humanity. But the answer to that test isn't one that's so black and white."

Edited 2016-09-01 20:32 (UTC)

Cloud shot Lust a sideways glance. "I never said to spare her as the main point. I said to simply let her die. And to put her down if we have to. But she's demanded time and again we kill her, and I'm tired of doing what she wants us to do." Looking back at the prone Tarutaru he gestured at her.

"But she IS dying. Our third option is to let nature take its course. Let her die. And bury her back in her own world. If anything at all she deserves that." He looked around at his surroundings. "I also suggested we take her back because we'll do no good if we're stuck here."

Vincent had been staying quiet, wrestling with the decision and listening to everyone as they spoke and argued. It seemed however, that voices were being lost and something important was being ignored by most. Echoing the younger silver-haired Hero (who was not Sephiroth) as well as Cloud, he stepped up and closer, especially looking at Lust and Jade.

"Regardless of the ideological implications, time is running out and whether she lives or dies will be a moot point if you simply stand by and watch."

He'd done so before--stood by and watched, and it was his greatest sin. Nor could he say for certain that acting would be the better course here... Less personally invested in Palitutu's fate, than annoyed by the delay.

"It might also be prudent for us all to move her, and ourselves, through the portal back to Aquares Ixen, lest we be trapped here."

"He's right. We should move, and quickly." Ellana picked up her burlap sack of assorted poultices once more, looking between the other Heroes and the portal, before her gaze fell on the instigator of this argument. "The fact that you are pleading to show mercy upon one who is by all rights your enemy is a sign you already are 'human', though what all that entails will have to be explored at a later time."

With a sigh, she added, "I can grant her last rites once we're back in Crystallis. It is the least I can offer."

Jack is rather behind Lust's idea for one of the Seers to use their abilities. He can understand Jade's concerns, and even Cloud's. But when Chiaki speaks up, she gets Jack's full and 100% undivided attention. Junko, he's heard of. But then Chiaki talks about something even darker, hope twisted, and it's even more familiar.

"When you get so focused on an ideal that you cant accept failure. You'll do anything for the idea, instead of keeping your morals to the standards they once were." Chiaki. Why is she always guiding him back to the center?

"We would never have become so strong if we didn't have a great threat opposing us. She was strong so that she could make us strong. This was her twisted way of believing in us. Completely nuts." Jack feels the need to point that out. "But we wouldn't have gotten this far if we were just...waiting for someone else to take care of the problem."

Doctor.

Jack looks down, because he doesn't want to dash Lust's hopes, either. Human. She wants to be human, instead of rejecting her humanity like so so many other races that Jack has seen over the centuries. "If she had the knowledge that you seek...why didn't she use it on herself?" Jack looks up at Lust. "Why didn't she use the Stone to make herself immortal? Or to revive Crystallis forever? There's got to be a different way to find what you're looking for."

"But you're right. If there's a way to find out definitively, what she would do, if we spared her? Who has Seer equipped?"

Jade did listen to what the others had to say. Contrary to what Lust had claimed, he had no interest in revenge -- only in reaching a logical conclusion. After a while, he sighed.

"Whether we kill her ourselves or leave her to die, the end result is the same." He inclined his head briefly at Cloud. "Bring her body along if you must. I have no objections to that."

His gaze turned to Jack. "But if you want me to change my mind about saving her, I suggest doing so quickly."

"Wait..."

Levy's been listening this whole time, and she's just starting to put everything together.

"You said she was your only hope of becoming human. And Jack, you just mentioned a stone."

She looks at Lust, square in the eyes.

"You're talking about the Philosopher's Stone, aren't you? The legendary stone that's capable of miracles?"

Levy furrows her brow, glancing back to Palitutu. Killing her still doesn't sit right with her, but she knows she's not likely to back down if they bring her back either. But maybe there's a compromise.

"...I know this might not satisfy you, but I can try to make one myself. I've been working in Palitutu's lab since it opened, I've read all of the research notes we've translated, and I've trained personally with the alchemists in Mysidia. If this is that important to you, hire me, and I promise - on my honor as a wizard of Fairy Tail - I'll do everything I can to make this happen."

Edited 2016-09-01 21:17 (UTC)

In the pack he brought back from Ivalice, Ramza has his array of healing potions as well. He draws forth a Phoenix Down, which feels warm to the touch and glows a faint red. He doubts it will be as effective in this otherworld, but that matters not. He holds it up.

"We can all agree that Palitutu has chosen her course. She deserves whatever fate awaits her. But when it comes time to choose to show mercy or render justice, it is not a measure of your enemy. It is a measure of yourself."

He looks toward Lust, Jack, Chiaki, and all those who speak for and against. His gaze lingers on Sephiroth for a moment, or more specifically, on his sword, Masamune. The legend went that the great sword cut only that which needed cutting, sparing everything else from the destruction of its blade. It was a story from which many could learn a lesson.

"Allow me administer this Phoenix Down. It will not return all her strength, if it even restores her at all." Who knows how well the item would work here?

"It may takes weeks, or even months, for her to recover from these wounds. We place her in the hospital, under guard. In that time, we will face the Calamity, and Garland. She may awaken to find a world much changed, and that her mistrust of us was ill founded. Or we may all perish. But we will go and face our judgment knowing that we were the kind of Heroes who did not allow a foe to compromise our ideals, nor the kind who struck a blow when it was not absolutely necessary."

[ Listening to all the discussion happening around her, all the questions, Tear kept her silence as the heroes argued amongst themselves. They had all been united just moments ago, and to see them begin to fall apart again so quickly...

Releasing a tired and resigned sigh, she extracted the flute to call her own Moogle from her pack, summoning Sein to her side once more. Before he could even arrive she began to hum a soft melody, looking to the puffball as soon as he appeared. ]

Grant me the power of a Seer, Sein. [ Her voice was soft but firm, even as the Moogle looked ready to unleash a string of protests about this decision. Nevertheless he complied with his hero's wish, and soon enough the light the light of job changes was enveloping her. ]

Chrom had been quiet for a long while, listening, weighing the options. He couldn't shake the feeling that letting their enemy die like this was the wrong choice to make. Was this the side of themselves they really wanted to show? Was it right? Was it the trait that they wanted to see Narayana embody in return when it came to saving their worlds?

He looked at Falchion, still held in his hand, and his stomach tightened. To make sacrifices...

Chrom turned his gaze toward the portal. Through that gate, Crystallis was waiting. His future wife and son were there too, still locked in crystal. His little sister was unaware of what was happening, and he prayed that she never had to find out. So long as Robin and Morgan lived, Ylisse and her people were safe. They were safe. But if they couldn't reason with Narayana to stop what it was doing, that safety would not last.

"He's right," Chrom said unhappily, nodding at Artemicion (or at Kaji walking through the portal, whichever). "We don't know how to make the sacrifices that Palitutu did. But there are some sacrifices we can make, while others should never be considered. We have no right to put aside the lives of some for the sake of others, no matter how few, or how many." He bowed his head, torn. "Recall what the Sage showed to us. Some of us found the answer in sacrificing the lives of Heroes, but those Heroes never had any say in whether they wanted that path or not. None of us volunteered our own lives to spare those others, and if we cannot be willing to put our own lives on the line, what gives us the right to throw away others? Even our enemies." He looked down at Palitutu, his brow furrowed.

"The innocent lives on Crystallis should never be held in lower regard than any other life, whether we know them or not. Palitutu was right about that too, but we didn't want to listen to her." His face was solemn, and regretful. How long had they spent holed up in Aqures Ixen instead of tending to the needs of the people? How many refugees died in Hera, and Flence, and Aerilon, because there wasn't enough time, or not enough resources to escape?

His jaw clenched slightly. "I can't agree with her methods. But I don't think her intentions are evil, nor do I think she will continue to fight against us. She's bought us time, and for that, I am grateful. I can't deny that she has knowledge and power that would serve this world far better if she were alive." He sheathed his sword. "We are Heroes, not executioners. Justice is not ours to deliver. I would plea that she be healed and brought back to Aqures Ixen. Let Cid decide what is to be done in a proper court of law."

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