animus_network | A story for everyone [Video]

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A story for everyone [Video]

[Majora's been doing a lot of thinking since talking to Ruana. Well, she's been doing a lot of thinking, period, lately, but mostly since Ruana. So she'd spent all evening and today working on some pictures for a story.]

Hey, Tower? I want to tell you a story.

[She holds the first picture up and begins to tell the story.]

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful land. And in this land there ruled four major gods. They lived happily together, because they were just small children and their world was so young, everything was a game.

[She switches to the next picture.]

Then, one day... Two foreign gods arrived from a foreign land. And they were welcomed, at first. But one of them liked to play tricks. She didn't mean any harm, but the other gods didn't like it.

...So in the end, they began to shun her while they welcomed her friend with open arms. She was left all alone...

[There's a pause here. It... Hurts to tell this story. But soon enough, she picks right back up.]

"Why am I alone?" she kept asking, "What did I do wrong?"

She only wanted to play with them, after all, so why did they hate her?

Soon enough, her tricks became even more cruel.

She lashed out at the people of the land. If she cursed them, then she felt better! It was all a game to her, after all.

One day, though, the god she arrived with came to her and she wasn't alone anymore. She was happy for awhile. They danced together across the land, and destruction fell in their wake, burning the earth until it was a barren wasteland.

The people cried out. In the end, he ran because he didn't want to see anyone hurt. This made the lonely god angry, and so she cursed more and more people. Because she felt better, right?

[There's another pause as Majora changes to the last picture. Her voice softens, becomes quieter.]

...But maybe, what she really wanted, was someone to hurt as much as she was.

[The feed cuts there, though Majora will still be waiting at the terminal. She's moping now, tracing fingers over the images.]

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[Tetra listens quietly and when the story is over, she just pushes the buttons she needs to in order to reply. It doesn't occur to her just WHO the story is about though.]

Is she still lonely? Because if she ever comes here, I'll be her friend. Pirates are s'posed to cause mischief too so I'd be a good friend t'have, right?

...She's getting better. She's making friends now that she realizes what she does hurts people.

Oh! She's here then? Where is she, I wanna meet 'er!

Maybe you'll meet her someday.

[D'aawww, Tetra. ;u; Such a nice girl.]

[She can be, sometimes.]

Maybe. I'd rather meet her now instead'a 'someday' because waiting is pretty boring. Yanno?

Maybe you've already met her and don't realize it.

Ya think so? What's her name?

[La la la, still not catching on.]

_{[Sayaka's voice is low, and livid.]}

Tell me the end of the story.

Go on.

Does she regret it?

Did she ever learn and stop?

...

She regrets it a lot.

[And Majora has stopped. Cursing people doesn't solve anything. It just makes them miserable and so she doesn't feel alone.]

So what finally made her stop?

Hey, who knows, maybe we can use it, apply it to our current situation.

You never know.

...She got to experience what they experienced. She didn't understand before that, why curses were such a big deal to people. She couldn't die--not like them. Only disappear for awhile. She couldn't understand what they went through. But now she does, and she's sorry for all the pain she caused to people.

Guess that won't work for us. We're kinda in a reverse situation. Ours already knows what it's like to be us, and really doesn't care to think about it too hard!

Yeah. That's why I thought about this story. ...She's kind of the same as that goddess, though. In a way. She just... ...Wants someone to play with her. And she can't seem to see how cruel her games are.

So what.

I've been-- _{[Sayaka's clamps down on the sentence halfway through it, with nearly enough force to make her teeth click. She was going to say "I've been in her head," but she's not going to blather that all over the network.]}

--I mean, what does that even change for us?! We don't have another doom tower to toss her into 'til she realizes the meaning of human suffering or whatever. No matter how much we play along, it's not gonna change anything. As long as everything's still okay to her, nothing's different!

...I don't know. If I knew that answer... I'd be helping her right now. Until we know the answer, we can really only keep trying to find it.

[Majora gives an audible sigh.]

...She talks like a kid. Maybe she's... Just a lonely, hurt, scared little girl... ...Just like that goddess was.

[The Princess had been working, furiously writing key parts of Ruana's little Q&A down for future reference, when a familiar name popped up on the terminal screen. But it's certainly not one she's particularly used to seeing on the network, and the story that follows prompts her to tuck her notes away for the moment and go searching.

So, that's what happened, huh?

It takes her a while, if only because the main clusters of terminals are so far apart now, but she eventually stumbles upon the lonely god.]

... But causing pain does not help, does it. Not in a way that lasts.

[She'll look up at you, Zelda, but it's from the side. Her head is still down.]

...It just makes things hurt more. Because then even more people hate you... And you're right back where you started.

Ending up back where you started is frustrating...

[That's okay, she'll just take a knee then, so she can see Majora's face. And it's small and kind of sad, but she tries a reassuring smile.]

... but that also means you have a chance at a new beginning. Try again, making different choices this time.

...But will there be anyone left to make new choices with? how can they forgive me for all that I've done...?

[She almost crashed a moon into Termina.]

...

[She doesn't respond immediately, apparently struck silent by Majora's words. Slowly, her other knee falls, and she's left kneeling on the floor, that smile gone from her face.

When she speaks again, it's quiet and uncertain, but...]

... May I tell you a story now?

...Of course. I told you one.

[Majora will listen. She's amazingly docile right now, perhaps a tiny bit depressed over the events of the month and Acala's disappearance.]

[It's... a reversal of the norm, and not something Zelda's entirely comfortable with, but she nods, taking a deep breath before beginning.]

Once upon a time, there was a young princess. She was curious and stubborn, but she had the perfect life. The land was at peace, she had a caring nanny, and her family was loved by their people.

One night, the princess had an awful dream of the destruction of her country by a cruel man. She had prophetic visions before, so she told her father, the king... but he wouldn't believe her. The man was a prince, and there were diplomatic matters to attend to. So the princess watched anxiously, and waited for the other figure in her dream, a light that shone through the darkness, to appear.

And he did. A young boy, no older than herself, snuck into her courtyard. He had awful dreams too, and together they resolved to save their country from destruction.

... I do not believe they truly realized what they were doing.

The boy went out and collected three stones they could use to protect the power the man sought, and the princess remained to keep the final key safe. ... But while the boy was out, the man started a coup, killing the king he had sworn allegiance to.

The princess ran for safety, the man on her heels, and at the last minute, she gave that final key to the boy, telling him to go through with their plan. Then she disappeared. The boy did as he was told, but something they never expected happened. The boy was put to sleep for seven years, and in that time, the man seized the power the princess wanted to keep from him, allowing him to take her kingdom.

[There's a moment of solemn silence here, with obvious regret in her eyes.]

... After seven years had passed, the boy, now grown, awoke and beat back the darkness that had enveloped the kingdom. The princess, an adult now as well, reappeared, and began working on atoning for her mistakes. Her perfect life was gone, and her foolishness had cost so many lives... but even now, she works, hoping that one day her sins will be absolved.

[Again, there's quiet, but this time in conclusion. She bites her lip, trying to find the words...]

I suppose... what I am trying to say is: maybe there will be no one there to make right choices with. And maybe there will be some that will never forgive you. But you have to try. You have to try, or else nothing will change.

A god is not simply a being of power, or an immortal
A god is someone with a duty to protect their charges

Even if their charges are not truly theirs
And even if they feel they cannot act

She's not that kind of god. That's not how they work in this world.

She's a god of mischief. She doesn't have charges. I don't think any of them really do.

You would be surprised by what others will believe in and follow
Many gods simply don't realize that they have charges until it's too late

I could not consider humanity to be my duty until it was almost much too late

Maybe. I don't think anyone would want me, though.

Old Man Goht turns the seasons. He shares his technology with the Gorons in the mountains.

Feisty Odolwa wants to be a war god, but he's not. He's more a god of festivals, and he enjoys them. He's why the Deku have so many of them.

Proud Gyorg is vain, but he still grants favorable seas to the ocean-dwelling Zora.

The life-giving, death-bringing goddess Twinmold doesn't have anyone anymore, though. Her people died in the wars they waged over petty disputes.

Acala was a war god. His favor could grant victory. But he was forgotten long ago, just like the mischief goddess.

I liked the part where the world was on fire.

Was she ever thrown out of heaven?

[Rei is so curious that, despite her now freakish appearance of having crystal wings extending from her back and many eyes opening all over her body, she uses the video function.]

Could she not try to love the people who were also hated by the Gods?

What's heaven?

And she didn't think anyone wanted her because of her tricks.

Heaven is the realm of those above humanity. Angels of all shapes sing in one voice to salute their creator. It is a beautiful paradise, but also a cruel one. For the angels in themselves are cruel.

[Rei laughs, though the laughter might sound strange to a human's ear, for it is like the laughter of multiple beings rolled into one.]

Silly. Tricks pulled in good fun are all part of existence. Me and my sisters used to do that all the time.

That's a good story.

It's hard to know when too much is too much.

It is. But she's learning.

Tricks and pranks are pretty fun. I like to consider myself a kind of connoisseur of them, y'know? I always used to think people were really thin skinned if they couldn't take a prank.

What kind of, you know, pranks did she play at first?

...It's hard, being lonely like that. But all that cursing didn't make the loneliness go away, did it?

[Loneliness is something Rise remembers all too well, and clearly enough to put a serious damper on her usually-upbeat attitude.]

So...what happened to her? That can't be the end of the story...

Edited 2012-11-26 05:40 (UTC)

...She's here, in the Tower. And she's learned now. And she's very sorry for having hurt so many people as badly as she did.

[At that, Rise smiles slightly at the screen. Because...this person sure sounds like she knows an awful lot about this lonely god, and from the way she's speaking, it's pretty obvious why that is.]

I'm glad to hear that. I guess this place isn't always all bad, huh?

[She leans in a bit, and there's a flicker of clear concern there.]

She's not still lonely, is she?

[ .. Ah, ironically enough this is something Evatrice knows a lot about.. but not in the end that there's a sad lesson at the end or whatever, she'll never admit that, but wanting to hurt people to feel good? Very, very familiar there. ]

.. So? What's wrong with it all?

Because, in the end, she was still alone. Even if other people were hurting as badly as her, it didn't change anything. It was just a cycle of people getting more and more hurt, and her still being lonely.

What does it matter? If she was still feeling so bad, then she should've just gone right on! There's no way you can't feel good in the end when you just keep doing what's the most fun to you..!

What's wrong with being alone?

What's so wonderful about being with people?

[...Well. In some regards that story has a familiar ring, kind of. He can certainly empathize with some parts at least.]

Lashing out didn't make her feel much better, did it? The loneliness only got worse.

[Yeah... he certainly knows how that feels.]

Maybe, she didn't necessarily want someone to hurt just like her, but... wanted someone to understand her pain.

[The story immediately appealed to Shiro. The drawings too.]

Her friend left her... That's sad.

Well, so long as we're sharing stories...

There was once a trickster god who a boy could call upon.
He helped save both his world and another from being lost.

This god became facade of determination for him that reflected the friendships he had with his closest friends. All of them were rather silly to begin with.
He was a sign that they weren't alone, no matter how cruel life became.

It may not have helped in the long run, since we're all here.
But he still is, and always will be, a 'friend' to the boy.
...Even if some of the pranks he pulled were a little mean.

That's really sad. Kinda reminds me of someone I know back home...

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