mallowhallow | Level 0001: [Video | Action in Crystalden]

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Level 0001: [Video | Action in Crystalden]

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Well, looks like I finally got this damn thing turned on. Fancy as hell and all, but it could stand to have a better interface... and be made of something sturdier than see-through plastic. [He mumbles the next phrase:] Feels like I'm gonna break this thing.

Anyway, at first I thought this was some kind of dream or sick joke. Guess it's not, and I really shouldn't be surprised. Anyway, figured I'd introduce myself. Name's Adell, and I'm... [He hesitates, as though he was going to say something else, and then realizing that's irrelevant here.] ...new around here, I guess.

I'm currently in this Crystalden place... it's like something out of a cheesy sci-fi manga or something. Is this really where I'm supposed to live? I can't even find my apartment... [He sighs. At least it looked like there was a hell of a lot more freedom to move around here than in Luceti... He turns slightly away from the phone to look at the digital street sign he just passed, and the more diligent will notice something unusual on his back.] ...Pretty sure I'm going in circles.

Last thing, I guess. If the word "Luceti" means anything to anyone out there, I'd be interested in hearing from you.

[A risk to ask about it, perhaps, but worth a shot.]

[Action]

[Still wandering around Crystalden, the young demon is actually taken in by a number of sights, and even stops to linger in a highly advanced video arcade. That looked like fun, and he made a note to remember where it was. Afterward, he set out once more to find his new home. He can be encountered in person at any time along the way.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

About a month since I got out of there.

[Fortunately for them both, Adell does catch what he's suggesting. This person's responding anonymously, and probably wants a meeting. It could be a trap, but Adell was plenty confident in his ability to just bust out of any trap they may spring on him.]

Amusing name for a bar. But I suppose a drink wouldn't hurt. It has been kind of a long day.

[Adell looked around the city block... and began approaching what he thought was the bar itself.]

Full memories?

[Primo is already on the move before seeing Adell's message proving that he has caught what he said, after all, even with his teleportation powers he still has to go from his place in Whitewood to Crystalden. It's slightly annoying to have to cross from one district to another before he can teleport to the end of said district, specially with Highcrest standing between both places. Fortunately that should give Adell time to find the bar and settle.]

It's going to get even longer, though you probably expect that.

Mostly. Few things are foggy, I think. But most everything in the village I remember.

[His only concern was if he was meeting with one of his enemies. Of course, it would be unlike Kefka or Hazama to play the anonymous game and would've likely tried to provoke him directly. Either way, if it was one of them, he'd take them down. Simple. But he had a feeling it wasn't them, either way. But who of his friends would prefer to remain anonymous with him? Tired of the texting, he simply spoke a reply to the last sentence.]

Figured it probably would be when I first asked the question.

[He wonders if he's one of the foggy things in his memory. Though he had trusted Adell with a lot of things, it would be wrong to say they were close. Primo knows better than to have expectations even if this Adell might be his Adell, nothing says he will be remembered, nothing says he will be recognized.

None of those things really matter though. Adell is here, it's the one he knew, the one he trusted in. They may not have been close before but that can be solved yet. And whoever tries to touch a single hair of his head will be skinned alive and feed to the wolves. Not that Adell needs protection.

There aren't any more replies on his part, not until he arrives to the bar, silently ignoring everything and everyone while scanning the place. Nothing interests him except for a redheaded demon, and once he has him spotted, he makes his way there without second thoughts.]

I would have figured it would be a long day the moment I found myself here, had I been in your place?

[Adell simply waited at the bar when he got there, ordering a drink... whiskey, an old favorite of his in Luceti. But he kept his head up, and looking for anyone familiar. Somehow, Primo had drawn close without him noticing, and when he spoke a line that was familiar to one he said on the way in, he quickly turned around.]

[He did recognize the man. Or at least, he thought he did. He was half-right. Or perhaps more than half, but not entirely correct either.

His eyes widened, though, upon them taking a second to study his face.]

Keiichi? Is... that you?

[A smile quickly grew on his face at seeing his friend. Even if they hadn't been close, Adell would've fought with every fiber to protect or help him, if he needed it. That was just his style, after all.]

...Hey, did you get taller?

[Primo pauses and looks at Adell with wide eyes for a long moment, surprise aside the other hadn't even hesitated to call him Keiichi. It was... Really not what he had expected, it was better, certainly better and it makes a smile spread on his lips as he chuckles.]

I guess. It has been a really long time since I last saw you. You know you left some people hanging, right? I hope it was worth it.

[Probably yes given that he returned home and didn't have to endure anymore with friends leaving left and right. Primo sits besides Adell, ordering a drink for himself.]

[Adell managed to keep a smile, despite the question that dug at him a little. It probably wasn't meant in any bad sort of way, so he just nodded. Keiichi stayed longer than he had, apparently.]

Well, for what little time I actually got away, it was. But I would've preferred to leave alongside the rest of you guys.

What did I miss? Is everyone still okay, last you heard? And more importantly, how have you been?

[Frankly, he's just glad to see a friendly, familiar face.]

Last I heard everyone was the same as always, crashing constantly against the Malnosso and the Third Party. Still trapped, still with no improvement in the general situation, still with too many questions for too few answers, still with too many enemies and no real allies. They probably are still at it, or maybe not. It's hard to say how much time has it been there.

[He speaks of it with the fondness someone uses to speak of their childhood vacations and with the careless of someone who gives a weather report. He certainly doesn't care about what happened or will happen in Luceti since he left, sooner or later everyone will leave and he has all the time he wants to wait. That's all that really matters about it.]

And I've been fine. Busy, I suppose. But still with lots of free time in my hands. Finding myself here is almost nostalgic despite the change in the setting.

[Well, that attitude's a little disconcerting. That's not quite how he remembered Keiichi. The guy he remembered would be filled with a similar sort of righteous anger that he felt, even if Keiichi was better about controlling it and using it more constructively.

Still, the news of no improvement bothers him deeply. He turned to look at his old friend more closely.]

You've been gone from there for a long time, haven't you? Seems strange that you don't even sound worried about them. We both had friends there...

[He blinks, the significance of the second phrase currently flying right over his head. No, instead, it was something else about him that caught his attention.]

...Keiichi? Weren't your eyes blue back in Luceti? You're not wearing colored contacts, are you?

[Patience and the blessing and curse of eternity can change even the most passionate heart into what Primo is now. Then again it's probably better this way. It's not pretty when Primo gets passionate about something. A smirk plays on his lips as Adell talks, widening when the other finally seems to notice his eyes which seem to glow even brighter at the comment.]

You're right.

[He doesn't specify about what because both instances are right. It has been a long time since he was in Luceti and his eyes were blue back then. Back when he was Keiichi.]

Sooner or later every world meets its end, that one won't be any different and rather than waste time worrying about them like a new father frets over his kindergarten kids do at school. I prefer to focus on doing things that will serve for something. We both know that the people there aren't weak-willed, if they were they would have been broken years ago, they will be fine, maybe not perfectly but fine is a great thing given the situation.

[The eyes aren't the only thing off, neither his height, the tone as well, though it's still clearly Keiichi's voice it seems to have a deeper tone, some sort of ancient echo despite the youthful sound.]

[Well, those glowing eyes definitely are not normal. At all. And that description, and that tone definitely sounds like someone quite unlike the Keiichi he knew. But it's still him. How... he's speaking like he's an old man, someone who's seen more than his years could ever suggest.

He sighs, and then downs the rest of his current drink, then signals for another.]

Well, it definitely is going to be a long night.

[He rubbed his temples with his fingers for a moment.]

Okay, so... I'm just gonna cut to the chase, man. What's with those eyes? And the new attitude? Because there's something going on here that I clearly just... don't know about.

[Another smile dances on Primo's lips, almost apologetically, clearly sad, but void of regrets. He takes a sip from his drink, setting the glass down and looking at it for a moment. It's almost a familiar memory, sitting at the bar with someone he trusted and staring at the glass in search of the words to start speaking with.]

... Whatever I tell you here... Can I trust that you will listen to it all until the end?

[He said it once before to Adell, long ago when both were still in Luceti. When Takano appeared, before he knew anything about his future, about the possible future that awaited him. He repeats it almost with amusement.]

When Keiichi left Luceti he was returned to his world, his memories of Luceti gone, free to continue his life normally. For three days at least. On the third day, Takano, who had been put under custody and observation, escaped and killed Rika. The shock of what happened despite having won against fate, despite having showed mercy to her, caused a breakout of the syndrome in Keiichi and the others. The rest of the village followed soon after. It was truly a bloodbath.

[He pauses briefly. He talks about it as if it happened to someone else, as if it happened centuries of years ago. The tone of someone who knows that what happened was bad but that there's no way around it. Nothing can change the past.]

Before they truly lost their minds though, Oyashiro-sama came to them and told them the secret of their world. How she had been sending everyone's souls to parallel worlds in hopes of finding a world where Rika didn't end dead. She required the power of their faith in their capacity to overthrow that destiny to bring forth one last world, one last chance for them all. When they did that, though, the power brought up Keiichi's memories of Luceti as well with all the memories of the worlds he had been in. And he became me, an entity that exists at the edge of reality, beyond the human realm. A wizard who has demons called furniture as his servants and has an eternal existence outside of all the worlds.

I'm technically more Keiichi than any of the ones you could find in the human realm. However that's a name I gave up back then, hundreds of years ago, changing it for the name of Primo instead. The Wizard of Fate.

[When Primo asked the question, of listening until the end... that did ring a familiar bell. His only response at that point before he opened his ears to him once more was simple, single nod.

He took in the story, trying hard not to react when he related the disaster that unfolded upon him when he escaped Luceti. Adell had to visibly fight back a lot of anger and frustration, knowing that his friend and fought and sacrificed so much to try to get a happy ending for everyone... all to see it fall apart at Takano's hands. It was a bitter rage, because he remembered that Keiichi himself was the one who wanted mercy for Takano, that he felt bad for her. And that's how his kindness and righteousness was repaid? There had been no justice there and it stoked a fire in his soul impotently.

Primo's tone told the story: it was too late to stop it for him, so all of that anger Adell felt for his friend ultimately would do nothing right now.

...And then the rest of the story. Keiichi, or more properly, Primo, was now centuries old, and a being of eternity.

Even after Primo finished his story, Adell remained silent for a good while, trying to think of what to say.]

...A wizard. An eternal being... with what I'm guessing is the power to alter one's one fate. [His next statement is... oddly bitter, but clearly not directed at Primo, but rather fate itself.] Fitting, I guess... a man who was forced to battle fate over how many worlds to see it to a proper ending.

[He looked straight ahead, gazing at the bottles of alcohol in front of him. Or perhaps, he was gazing through them.]

You gave up the name. But not the memories. Not the experiences. You carry a new title, and clearly you possess powers you didn't before. [He has no idea what they are, just that... it's clear he's a being of power, if his eyes could glow.] Honestly, I can't even begin to imagine the kinds of things that have happened to you over those centuries.

You're like a paradox, Primo. You're the man I used to know in Luceti, and yet you aren't; you hail from a different time, and have experienced so much that would change almost anyone. And if what you said is true, you have the memories of many other Keiichis in you as well. In this sense, you are entirely different men.

[Adell rests his chin on his hand, as he leaned on the bar.]

But... you are the same person I knew back in Luceti. You're still that Keiichi. Even if there are multiples of him in you, clearly that one holds enough sway that he is the one that makes decisions. If he weren't, you wouldn't have bothered to tell me any of this at all. What would be the point?

[He sat back upright and turned to him again.]

Gah, I'm just rambling. Look, the point I'm trying to make is...

I don't give a damn if you're the Wizard of Fate, or Primo, or whatever. You're still the person I called friend back in Luceti. Even if you don't share the body, shell, or whatever, even if that Keiichi died back in his home. You have his memories... and more than just that. And... if there's one thing I've learned in life, memories are precious, irreplaceable things; they define us... and shape us.

Point is... new things have happened. Things do change. But not everything. Friendship's one of those.

[And he's still willing to call you friend.]

[Primo listens to Adell's words, patiently waiting for the other to make his point, his own expression unreadable even if Adell had been looking at him. There are things Adell is wrong about but it's only natural, he never told him about that part really, so it's obvious he would misunderstand. It doesn't really matter, not when he finally gets around to what he wants to say. He closes his eyes, letting the words wash over him.

There is no rejection. No "you're not really Keiichi then".

There is no doubt. No "you're joking right".

There is no accusation. No "why are you alive and the Keiichi I knew dead?".

And it feels good, it's a pure and deep relief washing over the wounds he carries. It won't heal them but it's still good to feel it. It's still nice to not have to argue about who he is, about who he was or try to make the other understand that there is no longer a Keiichi that knew them, because that one was him. He has never forgotten why he trusted Adell with the information he did back then despite their not close friendship, but even if he had this now has just reminded him of it.

Honest, loyal to his friends and unable to just give up on them. Blunt and rough on the edges, with not much skill for words but still capable of making his point come across. A trustworthy demon who always cared for those whom he called friends, even if they had changed and were centuries older.

Primo smiles a bit.]

Thank you, Adell. Though you're wrong in one thing. I don't carry the memories of many Keiichis, Oyashiro-sama had been using her powers for a long time, for the equivalent of hundreds of years to make sure that the souls of everyone got moved to another parallel world for another try. There weren't multiples Keiichi, only one with multiples lives and during the time he was in Luceti he was already capable of remembering fragments of those other lives.

Only after our victory, after I abandoned that last world, there have been multiple Keiichis, one per parallel world there is. Before that, there was just me. So it's not that the one you knew has more or less control, there is only me, there has been only me since the start even if I didn't exist as I do now.

[It's the reason why being rejected by his former friends is something he fears, because it only means pain for both ends. Because they will keep looking for a Keiichi that is no longer there, since all there is now is Primo.]

Honestly the only thing the memories of Luceti have done is make me able to retain some humanity in me and not be consumed by my birth. Oyashiro-sama's power gave the spark for me to exist separated from Keiichi, so he could be a complete clean one, not haunted by nightmares or strange deja vús. I took with me all the former memories we had, as well as all the pain and hate he felt for seeing his trust and mercy broken. Part of him never wanted to forgive Takano but the words of a friend made him decide to try, to give her the chance to be able to be happy and not condemned for things that probably weren't under her full control. But when she still killed Rika... Reasons didn't matter anymore, it didn't matter anymore if she was also a victim or not.

I couldn't exactly let him go into a new world with such a grudge, with so much hate, not when what we needed to win was Keiichi being at his best. So I took them with me. And had it not been for the time I spent in Luceti, I probably would have been consumed by that grudge. Even now I can't really forgive her and if she were to appear before me... I may not kill her but it won't be pretty.

[His words are blunt and honest, with a ring of truth in them. He's not going to hide his grudge, his own self, he has no reasons to and it's better that way anyway, much better than to hide it and have it later be discovered.]

I get it, then. So it was all the same you, living the same series of events over and over, each with different variations, so the memories of the whole thing are yours, and yours alone.

[That makes a lot more sense, actually... in a weird, roundabout way.]

So in an attempt to make sure your new self, that separate Keiichi, could have a truly happy life, you shouldered all of his burdens and sorrows for him.

...That sounds like something you would do.

[There's a mirthless chuckle from him. Always so selfless, Keiichi. He may not have been very close to Keiichi before, but he had always held a lot of respect for the young man's strength. Still, such a huge burden of pain, collective, over countless iterations and failed runs, would be enough to crush most people's souls to dust.]

If your memories of Luceti were all that kept you from succumbing to anger... then they're even more important than ever. [He looks over to Primo again.] And if it means I can help you keep from that fate of falling by being your friend, then you can count on me.

[Primo echoes the mirthless chuckle.]

I suppose that's a way to see it. But it's also probably because I just was too selfish to let another Keiichi running around with memories of things that I lived. Every Keiichi Maebara will remember Hinamizawa, all of them will remember the battle that took place for we didn't remove that from happening, we just ensured that it would always have a happy ending for them from then on. But only I remember Luceti and all the previous worlds, it's what makes me the Keiichi you knew but also what sets me apart from Keiichi Maebara.

[It's complicated, to want to be acknowledged as the Keiichi he was and yet want to be different from Keiichi Maebara. Because he is different, his memories, his life, his friends, they are all different from those of Keiichi Maebara. He was so close in time to being born that in retrospect it's hard for him to not think that the one in Luceti was himself already, Primo, just without his powers or new name.]

Besides, ensuring a blank state of memories for everyone but Rika was the only way to avoid the game being called null again and have everything destroyed.

[It really wasn't such a selfless act, it was necessary, that's all. Primo smiles at Adell and bows his head a bit in appreciation for his words.]

I don't think I'm in any danger of being consumed by it, but I'm glad to still be able to count you as a friend. As well as for seeing you again, you all are very hard to find, you know? Terribly so.

[Necessary, and a little selfish, maybe. But even if it wasn't completely necessary, he imagines Keiichi would've done it anyway.]

Basically making yourself literally one unique example out of an entire universe of infinites, huh?

[The idea, given everything he's learned in Luceti, doesn't quite sound so selfish to him as it would've if he were a different Adell. Just... the establishment of identity through memories that define them.]

...So you've been looking for me this whole time?

For you, for Minato, for Ange, for Haruhi, for Hughes, for Elicia, for Winry, for Grell, for Sokka, for Patchouli, for... Everyone. Everyone who was in Luceti. Who is in Luceti. There were so many of us there, many with a lot of problems waiting for them even back home or uncertain futures even if back then they were standing in a happy ending.

[Like he was, thinking that everything was fine only for later to be revealed that... It wasn't.]

However finding the ones that were in Luceti is a hard task. There's an infinite amount of parallels for each world, and only one among all of them was there. I'll need several eternities to be able to find everyone properly. Fortunately once I'm done I'll still have plenty of time to spare.

[Eternity is such an underrated word. No one really knows what it means until they are truly placed on it.]

It's one of the reasons why I'm actually happy of being here now, since I was brought here despite having been in a similar place before, I figured the chances of some of you appearing here weren't as low as the ones of me searching for you.

Eternities... [He knew he echoed the word, but...] Even as a being that can live for tens of thousands of years myself, an eternity would still make that look like the blink of an eye.

You've really ascended so high that time has no meaning whatsoever to you?

[He doesn't mean it literally, of course it still has meaning, it still passes and still exists. People and worlds will age, be born and will die. But the idea of living outside the concept of time itself is... very hard for him to comprehend. It sounds simple on paper, but to actually ponder a meaningful existence in such a manner is difficult.]

...And that would make sense, especially if there were certain people more prone to being pulled through dimensional space. Arguably, the very reason we ended up in Luceti in the first place.

[Primo merely nods as an answer.]

Normally I live outside of worlds and time. The whole vast infiniteness of worlds could come to an end yet my kind would still exist. We only stop existing when we stop thinking and when we think again we return to existence.

[It's the kind of thing one doesn't really understand until it happens to them, though, so he really doesn't expect Adell to get it clearly.]

So far there's two of us, that's already a success as things go.

I got a gut feeling there'll be more of us showing up. As for how many, I'm not sure. But something tells me we're not alone here.

[And they aren't. Koakuma at least, is there as well, even if she wasn't someone Keiichi knew well.]

Say, can I ask you a question about something? You said you called your servants 'furniture' earlier, right? I think I met someone in Luceti who said something similar and claimed she was a Witch.

What was her name... Be... Beatrice, I think? Do you know about her at all?

Edited 2013-03-17 05:57 (UTC)

[Those who he knew were the ones he looked for first, but that didn't mean he had no interest in others. So long as they had been in Luceti, he was interested in them as well. He's not surprised at all when Adell mentions Beatrice, not when he knows that Bernkastel was around for a good while.]

Beatrice, the Golden Witch. I know her, I knew her too. She's the hostess of the game I'm currently involved in, a truly unfortunate kid if you ask me.

[There was no other way around it. Beatrice was really unfortunate in his eyes, both for her story and for being the current toy of Lamdbadelta and Bernkastel under the excuse of "helping" her. It was the perfect proof of how even among witches and wizards there were ranks, the years that Beatrice's life accounted for were nothing compared to the ones the others had, she couldn't even compare to Primo. Because she had inherited the powers, she had inherited the name and thus became the "new" Beatrice, yet she herself hadn't lived that long, hadn't been a witch for that long. Unlike the others who had really lived through countless of years both before and after becoming witches and wizards apart from their human forms.]

[Adell's confusion is evident on his face as soon as Primo says she's 'unfortunate.']

Huh? What do you mean? ...Or is that something that's really none of my business?

[Because at this point, that might be asking too many questions.]

Level 0001: [Video | Action in Crystalden]

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