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.

Comments

[a_noble_flame]

Yet as battered at they are they still fight to live. You would have us execute them then in the name of mercy? While they strive to try to exist?

[He is sorrowful and gently resolute. She is a stalwart flame in this moment.]

If they wish to fight then I will fight for them. Until I hear from the worlds themselves in whatever way they wish to tell me that they want to end then I won't be the one who ends them.

[She pauses a moment, her flames dimming some. Her tone is soft for now.]

You may mean well, Drizzt, but you do not speak for them. Concentrate on helping where you can.

[twohand]

You all keep calling me an executioner — that isn't what this is! We are not choosing for them to live or die, we are choosing how they die!

[ How can Meridian be so callous with people's lives? ]

It's as though, in the effort of your trying to restore what is gone... you've forgotten that sometimes, people need helping dying too. They're going to be alone, Alice. They're going to die alone, and scared... because we're not going to be there. We'll choose to give them a chance that doesn't exist, and they'll be in pain because of it.

[a_noble_flame]

I don't believe you know me well enough to know what I have forgotten and what I haven't.

[She says so gently, yes, but there is steel to her voice. Even if he's obviously using a general 'you' she just can't help it.

The terrorists who wished for an honorable end, the princess from Pelion who died for her ideal of justice, Haarkenmeijer and her wholehearted sacrifice -- all of it rushes through her in one long, somber moment.]

I do appreciate your sentiments. However the fact remains -- you chose Zenith. I will not hate you for it but there is only so far I can take your talk of death for these worlds as well intentioned.

[twohand]

I could say the same of your choice in Meridian, you know. That... your talk of giving them a choice is not well intentioned either, but solely so that you can prove your way is the "right" way.

[ It pains him to have to point it out, judging by the way his inner world recoils. It flinches, heartsick and so deeply understanding. He's not angry with the Meridian, and had he not expected this sort of opinion from them, he would have grown more frustrated. If anything, he is simply despondent — disappointed and pained by them, their refusal to consider anything other than "life" sacred. ]

To live is to die, Alice. You cannot have one without the other. It's not about Meridian or Zenith, it's just... about making sure we do not forget to honor and cherish the memory of those who have and will pass.

[a_noble_flame]

[She pauses a moment. Life and death are precious topics to Alice after all. Hadn't she told Lionel much the same? "Time, sickness or the sword will take it all from you. That doesn't mean you give up on living."]

Yes. And you ask me to honor and cherish those memories by killing them before they are ready to die, for fear of what they will face after without thinking of if they do or don't wish to face it. No matter how terrible it is, no matter how fearsome or painful.

[... A deep sigh follows.]

When I was a child I was very sickly. There were many who thought I could never rise up to wield a sword, much less fight. Yet I did and for that I can't give up on others who wish to fight until the bitter end, as sorrowful and painful and dark as it might be.

Forgive me or don't for that as much as you will or won't for my talk of choices.

[twohand]

There is nothing to forgive. I'm very glad you are alive, Alice. To be able to have this conversation with you, hard as it is, is a blessing.

[ He listens, because that is what he does. However badly he wants to convince someone to at least conceptualize his point, at least understand where he's coming from, even if they do not choose it — Drizzt still finds value in being quiet, and still, and listening attentively to someone who is speaking of their life lessons, their morals.

He understands the value of fighting to live, as much as he understands the value in dying. Sometimes you do not die satisfied, but you must make your peace with what will happen no matter how hard you fight. ]

— I was the third son born to a noble family, in Menzoberranzan. By the law of my people, my only value was in being slaughtered for the goddess of the drow. I lived only by the virtue of my oldest brother being murdered, bringing the number of sons back to two. I also understand the value of life and being alive, of fighting for it... and I also understand that sometimes, our ability to take our next breath is far, far beyond our power to control.

[ In his mind, there is a gentleness. A peace and calm that betrays how unhappy he is about her choice, but that he will not be angry with her or begrudge her for it. What she believes in is ironclad, and if even for a moment in her life she thinks of what he said today and finds sense in it... he will be content. Within the clasp of their Communion, he does not reach for her, but he does stand politely within reach of her. ]

I don't think the people of these worlds will ever be ready to die. Not even I was, when it happened to me. I just don't see how they're ready to fight until the bitter end. They are ignorant of what is going to happen to them, and it's going to blindside them like it blindsided us.

[ That's a fact, to him. The worlds are going to die, unprepared and screaming, or snuffed out by merciful hands that care about it. ]

I wish someone would have chosen to grant us a more peaceful end, instead of having to feel our reality devoured by Oblivion before we even knew it was upon us, is all. I hope you keep that in mind, when you weigh the value of their impending death.

[a_noble_flame]

[He stands politely in reach and Alice's fuzzy mental image of herself seems to take this as unspoken allowance. The hand placed on his shoulder then is as fuzzy as the rest of her but the warmth she tries to impart is real enough.]

Believe me when I say I will keep all of your words in mind, Drizzt.

[Her tone dips soft and a little sorrowful.]

If I could I would prefer none of us fight as we are. We could strive for our worlds and make this one better for all of us. One doesn't need to preclude the other. I want to offer my hands out to everyone so we can all strive together. Keep that in mind as well.

[twohand]

[ There is a soul-deep exhaustion in him, now. As if his young, young life has seen too much strife and turmoil for him to bear at times — companions who have died, homes that he has lost and been taken from, even his own life forfeited to the natural end all warriors come to have: a bloody, lonely one. He fights and fights, still. He has to.

Gently, he finds the impression of her warmth and holds it to himself. As if cupping a mote of sunlight against the dark bridge of his nose, closing eyes that would be burned and pained to look upon even the sweet rays of dusk. ]

I, too, wish that our choices were not so opposed, Alice. Meridian's dream is a wonderful one, one that I would have once embraced — if not for Oblivion. I want to move forward together... and that means saving you from returning your soul to it. Saving these people, too.

[ It's clear he truly, vibrantly believes that, too. That he is coming from a place of impossible kindness, and hates himself for voicing such an "evil" thought to the world. ]

Please keep my intentions, not my shameful inarticulateness of them, in your mind. I would cherish your help and understanding.

[bakedapple]

Alice.

[ Link's mental intrusion is quiet, gentle. This is a difficult topic for the Meridian — he's well aware of that himself. But there's an element here that too many of them either fail to grasp, or have refused to believe from the beginning. ]

Our worlds are already gone. They aren't striving to exist. Even if the Meridian wins, you wouldn't simply be going back to someplace that's waiting for you to return.

These worlds the Oracle is showing us... from what I understand, they aren't right. Each of them so far has been different somehow from the place it's supposed to be.

The Oracle... it's showing us these places. They aren't our homes.

[a_noble_flame]

[The usual fire in her communion banks low now. Her mental image wavers.]

I knew that they weren't right, yes.

[Her tone is soft and saddened as his is quiet and gentle. It didn't take a lot to tell her that. She was a jinba in Hayame's world for goodness sake. Maybe traveling to other worlds did that to you but she somehow doubted it logically.]

I haven't pretended they were the worlds we left. I haven't even seen my own yet.

[There's a sharpness to those last words. The flames of her communion, banked and warm and typically inviting spike high in the moment. They near devour the mental image of herself, tracing out her fuzzy outline but spread nowhere else.]

You come and talk of mercy for broken worlds and claim they are already gone. Then show me! Show me the empty gaps where those worlds should be! Show me their broken pieces! SHOW ME.

[She is thunderous in this moment. For once since she arrived Alice Malvin is angry.]

I can accept the fact that both you and Drizzt and others on your side have good intentions and are following the code of your own justice but you apply your justice unequally. From Emperor to civilian my justice is equal and neutral. I won't kill based on your word or anyone else's.

[bakedapple]

[ ...whoa. That definitely wasn't what he was expecting. And he's really not sure what she's talking about when she accuses him of "applying his justice inequally" — he didn't say anything about justice. Does that have something to do with Drizzt, maybe?

In any case, he doesn't answer. Link is not one to argue with someone stating their resolve so bluntly. If that's how she feels, then it is what it is. ]