2020-11-10: This Moment Comes Pre-Ruined
- Log: 20-11-10 This Moment Comes Pre-Ruined
- Cast: Belize, Seymour Guado
- Where: Bevelle - Temple District
- Date: November 10, 2020
- Summary: After hearing the truth about Seymour from Yuna and Lunata, and seeing this truth for themself from a distance when Seymour fought Yuna and the others after their escape from the Via Purifico, Belize speaks with Seymour directly.
========================<* Bevelle - Temple District *>========================= The center of Bevelle is the Temple of Yevon. This towering structure is at the heart of the city. The holiest place in all of Yevon, where its founder came to create the religion, is barred from entry to all but Summoners. Even here, the Fayth are the place of the Summoners alone. However, there are numerous smaller lower case T temples here. Places of worship, to venerate Yevon and different religious figures in the Yevonite faith, are spread throughout this region. Additionally, Bevelle holds numerous offices, shops, and other administrative facilities that keep the dogmatic and bureaucratic engines of Yevon running. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShBAcibfk-s&ab_channel=Ultimatefighter343
<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.
Seymour hasn't needed to heal.
No, he healed quickly -- pull in enough pyreflies, and an Unsent can regenerate their body. Seymour keeps a nearly ridiculous number of pyreflies; technically, enough to make the immense bodies that he uses for a fight. But, he had to climb out of the ruins deep under Bevelle, and make his way here.
Now, he is in the Bevelle Temple. He is in his solar, where the sun shines down, and he looks out over the sea -- and the long, white and red spike that sticks out at sea. Not so long ago, he fought people there, on the day of his wedding. Things have changed now.
His arms are held behind his back. Periodically, his fingers flicker into prismatic light, and then back to a simulacrum of flesh again.
He is quiet -- but Belize is allowed entry, as ever. He has made his office open to them.
<Pose Tracker> Belize has posed.
Is it really regeneration if it crumbles again once those pyreflies are lost, though? It's a question that someone more science-minded than Belize might explore. As far as they're concerned, it's honestly bad enough to have lingered in the world against the teachings of Yevon. It would be even worse to... *experiment*.
And yet there are even worse things still than that. The clergyperson had borne witness to Seymour's battle on the Highbridge, had discussed the matter both before and after with two different people. They'd returned to Bevelle Temple also--likely much sooner than Seymour, given that they didn't need to climb out of the ruins far below--and reported their failure to kill Yuna to Grand Maester Mika. They did not report on the details of Seymour's battle, or that they had seen any of it at all. They're morbidly curious what Seymour will report when he thinks there were no Yevon witnesses.
That aside, there is a task they must attend to, away from Bevelle. They enter Seymour's office to retrieve something they'd left behind, but halt when they see him further within.
There are so many things they could say. They can find the words for none of them. For a moment, they only stare at his back and the occasional pyrefly wisping from his fingers, feet rooted to the floor.
<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.
Some Unsent try to keep their humanity. Seymour doesn't as much. It is well-hidden -- he doesn't try to panic people or make it too obvious what he is -- but hidden behind his blue hair are a pair of eyes that he made, peeking out with limited vision. The end result is that he really does have eyes on the back of his head.
They vanish, once he sees Belize.
And when he speaks, it has that eerie quality that only comes with the powerful, the privileged, and the truly evil: the quality of sounding like nothing has changed. He has the same almost cheerful, relaxed, and yet subtly commanding voice as ever. "Ah, Belize," he says. "I had wondered when you might come by."
He turns, then; enough to look at them, and tilt his head to the side. "I see you are well."
<Pose Tracker> Belize has posed.
Being Unsent themself, it's not hard to guess how Seymour might have guessed it was them without (seemingly) looking. Their guess would be wrong, but it at least means Belize isn't further unbalanced. "And you," they reply with as much grace as they can muster, dipping reflexively into a bow. When they rise, they slowly move to join him, coming to a stop to gaze out at the vista before the two. Then they look at him.
"I'm making preparations to recover the fayth of Leviathan," they say. It's no secret, at least within the upper echelons of Yevon; Seymour in particular would know that this is an excursion they'd wanted to undertake for a long time now. If he didn't already know it was in motion thanks to his long time away from Spira, he'd surely hear about it soon from the other Maesters. "I don't know that I'll be successful, though. Althena's Guard has a lot of ships in between here and there."
They smooth their copper hair back with one hand. "So... this may be the last time we see one another for some time."
<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.
"It has escaped our grasp for some time," Seymour says, with a thoughtful glance at Belize. He knows, too, of what their connection is to it. He is quiet for a moment, before he glances outward. His head nods, once, to them. "I will ensure that you have any... necessary support to succeed. To the extent that I can."
There is an uncomfortable truth in Yevon: they are losing the war against the Guard. Althena's Guard has conquered so far north that they have besieged Bevelle. How long will the city hold? Do they even have forces to dedicate to such a venture?
"...So it would seem," he adds, then. "I wish you success. I would come to help, but... I have my own goals that I must tend to." He glances out the window -- but towards the northern part of the horizon, instead.
<Pose Tracker> Belize has posed.
It's true. It's questionable that they'll be able to safely retrieve the fayth. But Yevon afforded troops to storm Bikanel Island, which isn't that far from the sunken temple where Leviathan's fayth rests; if they take advantage of that now, then perhaps...
"Thank you. I appreciate it. I know this is a tenuous time, but... at this point, it's now or never. Besides, retrieving the fayth and bringing it to Bevelle so other summoners might pray to it might help turn the tide of war." At this point, having *more* Aeons on their side can only help--especially one as powerful as Leviathan, not to mention one that commands as plentiful a resource as water. If Yevon can hold out long enough to bring back the fayth... But then, that's a very big *if*, and both of them know it.
A faint smile flits across their lips when Seymour says he has other matters to attend to. "Goals from which even death could not keep you," they remark shrewdly. "I didn't expect to ever see you again." They turn their gaze towards the north, matching Seymour's line of sight. "...certainly not in a form like this."
<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.
"It is... but a tenuous time calls for measures that might save us," Seymour admits, with a glance at Belize. He looks sideways at them -- then, he bobs his head once with understanding. He catches the smile.
"No," he says. "Death did not keep me. I can understand your shock... perhaps better than most. It was a strange feeling, to open my eyes once again." To lay in his bed in Guadosalam; to see the faces of Biggs, Wedge, and Tromell as they looked down at him. It felt almost melancholy, at the time, to awaken again.
"There was... a clarity, after that," he says, softly. "Things I knew... things I understood. But I felt like my eyes were less clouded -- like I understood Spira better, after that. I must have given you a great shock. I hope that you can forgive that, Belize."
<Pose Tracker> Belize has posed.
Belize's smile fades as they listen to Seymour. It wasn't a smile of amusement, anyway. A strange feeling... Yes. They understand that well. They don't ask if he wishes he hadn't lingered. Obviously he doesn't, or else he wouldn't still be here. Only those with a powerful, unfulfilled wish resist the call of the Farplane. Sometimes it's a simple one, the mere frustration of a life cut short, and those become fiends. Sometimes it's more complex, a duty or calling or something else similar... and those become Unsent. The clarity of which he speaks is... not entirely foreign to them, but it's also not the same. They wonder if it's common to Unsent with variations between individuals, or if it's simply a matter of different personalities.
They do give him a wide-eyed look when he apologizes, sort of, for giving them a shock. "Me? Forgive you?" They bow their head. "...I'm the one who should hope for your forgiveness. If I hadn't been so absorbed in my own anger and suffering--perhaps I would have noticed yours. Perhaps I could have done something to ease it before it all came to this." They look away. "...I've been a poor friend to you. And there's nothing I can do to make up for that now. I'm... truly sorry, Seymour."
<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.
There are many problems the Unsent experience, Seymour has found. One of those problems is that there is precious little attention paid to their experience. They are anathema; they are something that should not be, and thus Yevon has paid them little attention to how they might think.
"Me?" Seymour asks -- blinking with genuine surprise. In recent days, he had come to think that he would drive everyone away. It was his fate, he supposed: visionaries were meant to be lonely creatures.
(Humble, too.)
"You've nothing to apologize for. This..." He looks down at his hand. "...I did not understand, at the time. But it is a blessing. Before, I had to balance the ideas of mortality with my idea of the world should be. But what room is there for notions like a personal future, when I seek eternity? It was a gift."
He looks at Belize, again, and smiles. "You need not apologize."
<Pose Tracker> Belize has posed.
Which is ironic, considering how many powerful members of Yevon are themselves Unsent. Perhaps it's that Yevonite self-hatred--this is a religion that has people atoning endlessly for a war that ended a thousand years in the past. Certainly it's still infected Belize.
When Seymour absolves them of any blame, they look up--but to call this a gift? A certain sadness settles over their expression, like the shadow of a cloud--like the yawning echo of the end of a cicada's cry. Yes... This statement of Seymour's certainly lines up with what they've heard and seen. A blessing and a gift.
They're about to leave it at that. But a thought occurs to them, and they can't help but ask: "Are you happy now, then?"
<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.
Seymour looks, for a moment, confused. Happy? He wonders about that. At first, he starts to respond automatically -- the way that people do, to insist that of course, they are happy. Of course, they are fine. Of course, they aren't hurting.
But it feels like a lie, and while he has no compunction about lying, it feels like ashes in his mouth in the moment.
He has to ask himself: has he ever been happy?
Only fleetingly. Happiness that always fled, after people left; happiness that never lasted, after he said too much. His brow furrows.
"...I am the same as I've always been," he answers, after a pointed pause. "And... that is enough, for the world I desire."
<Pose Tracker> Belize has posed.
It's a strange question, even in Belize's opinion. They're not entirely sure why it came to mind. But the answer he ultimately gives is telling.
In a way, it's a comfort. The way he answers is a way of saying 'no,' and if he's the same as he's always been, that means he's never been happy. It's tremendously saddening, but it also relieves Belize of a certain burden. If he'd be like this no matter what, then it's not their fault. Their presence in his life has merely been... incidental.
The realization hurts, as do its implications. But then, it was inevitable. One doesn't aim to destroy the world if there's anything in it one cares about. Belize may have been a poor friend to Seymour, but they might have been the only one who considered the two of them friends in the first place.
"I see," they say softly. They start to bow, then think better of it. Instead, they say, "Just in case this is the last time we meet, thank you for everything you've done for me, my friend. I truly do appreciate it." If nothing else, that remains true.
<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.
Seymour wonders, after that. Would it be enough? He feels a flash of anger at the idea that it might not be, that he might still just wish that his childhood had been different. Somehow.
"Ah..." He hesitates. Did Belize wonder if they would return? Or did they plan to never return? Seymour wonders, for a second at that.
"I am pleased that I could help," he says, and he finds he means it. "Belize... it was a pleasure to have known you for this time. If this is goodbye, then... in this world, you are one of the parts that I am pleased to have known."
He smiles, then tilts his brown to them. "Be careful on your journey."
<Pose Tracker> Belize has posed.
Belize pauses at that. Seymour is an excellent liar; he'd fooled them for, well, the entire time that they've known him. They really don't know, can't tell, if he means that or if he's simply saying it. They'd like to think that he does. They'd like to think, if they'd been with him at the Highbridge, he wouldn't have consumed them to give himself more power.
They step closer, closing the gasp between them, and--assuming Seymour doesn't stop them--wraps their arms around him in a platonic embrace. Before now, this would have been unthinkable for them; for all their fiery anger, for all the sharpness of their tongue, for all the close friendship they had with their guardians back in life, they've always held Seymour apart. Put him on a pedestal. To show such blatant affection like this to a Maester would have been inappropriate at best, and at worst a transgression. But... aren't their existences transgressions now?
At the very least, whatever happens to either of them after this, it would be nice to have a moment where they actually act like friends.
<Pose Tracker> Seymour Guado has posed.
If Seymour was pushed to admit whether he would have absorbed Belize for power -- or Lunata, for that matter -- he might not have an answer. Perhaps he is a monster, but not for a total lack of humanity.
He seems genuinely surprised when Belize steps closer -- he looks utterly unsure of what he is supposed to do then. He hesitates, when they hug him. Then, he relents, putting his longer-than-human arms around Belize, and he glances downward.
He is silent for a long time, after that. He doesn't trust himself to speak -- so sure that if he does, like most moments in his life where he feels closer to someone, that he will ruin it.
<Pose Tracker> Belize has posed.
The irony is that this moment comes pre-ruined. Belize already knows the truth of Seymour's ambitions, from Yuna, from Lunata, from Seymour himself. That they don't confront him about it is a result of their own fear--of prioritizing their own goals over whatever might come of such brutal emotional honesty, because they don't trust that he wouldn't end them too.
But for the moment, it's nice. To hug, and to be hugged. The silence only means they can each carve their own feelings onto this memory.
After that moment passes, Belize steps back and gazes up at him. Then, a small but genuine smile curves their lips upward. "I pray we will meet again, someday, somewhere," they say. "Farewell, Seymour."
Without bowing, they turn to leave.