DIRECTED TO MERIDIAN, OPEN TO ALL.

[twohand]

[ In the midst of the Advocate's beginnings, perhaps a few world adventures in ( ignore pax's belated posting in that case ), there is a quiet presence that coalesces within the minds of all. An Advocate, dusk-skinned and thoughtful as he addresses all present. Even his voice is morose, a little saddened by what he has taken notice of — though that is mostly on behalf of Meridian. He cannot imagine what it must feel like, to look upon something familiar and have it not be exactly what they want. ]

They're dying. These worlds — they're already lost, they're torn up and left in pieces, they're dreams of what was; please don't make them suffer when you can bring them a gentle end. Even if you fight to restore them in the long run, choosing to save them now is torturous. It is asking someone with a terminal illness to fight on, when they ought to be given the ability to rest.

[ He sounds like he is pleading with the Meri, a call not to stand so firmly with their impossible desire to restore all that they make such a glaring mistake. ]

All things have a right to live, I agree. But, all those same things also should have a dignified end. I am only asking that you understand this, and choose to help us give what is left of these worlds the ending that I wish our worlds could have had.

This time, please... just this time. I am asking on their behalf, for all to choose a difficult thing — but, the thing that only we now have the power to do for them.

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[ex_fend346]

How many worlds have you seen in your lifetime? Have you seen a struggling world recover?

[ His presence over communion is older than his face would suggest. Soft as his tone is, gentle as his presence is, the weight of experience resides behind these qualities. ]

I have seen many, and I have observed this. How can we deem them incapable of the same?

[ Tokyo had been a dwindling world, yet its people did not wish to quietly die out. They fought fiercely for every moment. And in the end, they had their path to recovery. To survival.

Can they rob any world of their choice? ]

[twohand]

I know of many. My world was part of a rich multiverse of planes, demiplanes, alternate realms, planetary bodies, life-and-afterlife... I watched my own world grow sick and die, once. It changed everything as we knew it, and even after it recovered it was never the same world that I knew.

[ The Spellplague was a horrific period of time; gods died, the world struggled and shifted on a castastrophic, apocalyptic level. ]

But, it was a whole world. These are not. It's not about whether this world is capable, not to the Advocate. It's about whether we ask it to suffer for a chance that won't come, or whether we can stomach giving them a gentler passing than what we experienced at the hands of Oblivion. I don't want to give them to Oblivion's hunger.

[ex_fend346]

I wonder whether that's the true nature of this test... My brother and I traveled dimensions, and many worlds were no larger than these. They aren't abnormal to my experience, even in the sense that they are some sort of dream.

[ Subaru feels he senses this, having been trapped in dreams for years before all of this. At first, it had made him question whether he'd awoken at all.

Yet he'd never felt pain so keenly in dreams. ]

What if we don't know the truth of what this is? Will you stand by your decision, even then?

[twohand]

I believe that it is.

[ Much as he doesn't like it, even as he advocates (hah) for such a difficult choice. He knew asking it of Meridians was going to be arduous, because the entire focus of their faction was to restore what is gone. And some of them believed, more than that, that Zenith was simply lying about the reality of things — that the worlds were just hidden away, or missing. That they weren't even gone at all. It's horrifying, to see how quickly the minds of the Meridians break down to believe that only life has value. ]

And I think that I must, now. I do not ever make a decision lightly, nor simply based on blind faith. I know that asking Meridian to vote for death in any capacity is revolting to them — but, I ask anyways, because I have to hope that in this moment, compassion will rule over all else. And that compassion can be extended to the dying and dead, because they're real too. They're real, and they need to be treated gently and protected just as the living are.

[ex_fend346]

[ Drizzt may find, through the nature of their Communion, that Subaru does possess a genuine desire to understand. In a sea of resistance, he's not met with as much from Subaru.

The reasons are simple: Subaru is possessed of (perhaps too much) empathy, and also— ]

I hope you took no offense to my asking. From the same intructions, I had a very different understanding. Maybe that was the point. Words which can be understood differently, depending on what one believes.

[ There's something evenhanded about the words; an unspoken acknowledgement that either of them could be right. That neither of them could be. He won't deny a man his convictions, not when they're rooted in compassion, even if the same bids him do differently. ]

I believe we all desire to save them [ a beat, the mental image of Silco crushing a Shard flits between them, an unbidden recollection ] ...most of us do. Likewise, I feel Meridian shares your frustration, because the living deserve mercy as well.

[ He's quiet for a spell, uncertain. Despite his age, he is yet new to this, so he knows he can't speak with any authority, and yet... ]

...I believe we would all benefit from speaking more.

[ It is a modest, yet fervent sentiment. ]

[twohand]

[ The nature of their being Advocate means that he can feel Subaru's empathy, his desire to understand and make good decisions on behalf of others. Because like it or not, the Advocate has asked them to make a decision on behalf of others — just because one might vote "preserve" instead of "release" doesn't mean they're any better than one another. Only an "abstain" vote would give anyone the moral ground to stand on, really. ]

I don't mind. I know that this is ultimately a fight between two different beliefs, and I have seen religions tear themselves apart for such things. I only want to do... not what is "best" for these people, but what is most compassionate for them. That it is monstrous and difficult for me to propose this has no bearing on my consideration for them.

[ Which is the part that frustrates him; the insinuation that because he is asking others to consider "euthanizing" or "mercy killing" these worlds, he cares for the people any less. If anything, and if he were any less humble a person, he'd claim he cared for them more, since he's able to set aside his own morality and desires to protect them to do what is most painful for his heart. ]

Were I able to save them, I would. Absolutely, without a doubt. All I can do, in this one situation, for these people... is advocate for mercy. I want to show them grace and dignity and gentleness, not Oblivion. I don't want them to feel the way we did, and have recently, too. Hunted and terrified to the point of our Shards, our souls, leaping from our bodies — I want to spare them that, is all. It's not about Zenith.

[ Not to him, not right now. ]

— mm, I think we would benefit from that too. I'd always like the company.

[ex_fend346]

[ The silence that follows isn't empty. Instead, it's an air of consideration. Subaru is not so young as many called into this place, yet he can't say he's had any experience rendering such a decision with such limited information. He can't help but wonder what becomes of the souls involved.

This is all some sort of dream, he's sure, yet that doesn't mean these worlds aren't real. That the decision doesn't matter. Because of course it does — it must, or they wouldn't have been put to this task. ]

I would not wish suffering upon them either... If only we knew what becomes of their souls.

[ If something of those people remains, it may not be the end. Not if anything here is at all like the worlds he's known, yet he has no way to gauge that, either. ]

While I can't say what choice I'll make, I will consider what you have said. I've never had to make a decision for so many beyond acquiring for them what they needed to survive, but we're faced with no such option, and now it seems we must do just that.

[ It's a heavy thought, and he fears in all his newness that he isn't in the best position to make a determination like this. But he must give it his best. ]

When this test is over, I hope we'll have another opportunity to speak. I suspect it it may be the only way all of this ends well.

[ He has seen factions grappling over limited resources, after all. ]