THE REGENT'S ADDRESS [OPEN TO ALL]

[aionpcs]

[It comes on fast, once the Regent has your spirit in their hold. Around you, you may see other Aions stumble in the same moment, as if shaken by the same tectonic motion. An inexorable darkness claws at your senses, and you have only a few moments, hard fought, to reposition yourself so that you don't simply drop to the ground when it overtakes you. It has similarities to Communion, to the way another entity's thoughts and words reach out to your mind, but by the same token it's entirely foreign.

This presence is not like another person, it is like a raging, screaming cacophony that drowns out everything else in its path. Whether you be Kenoma or Pleroma, the Regent's presence in this metaphysical realm is staggering. To the Pleroma, though, it also feels caustic, as if the movement of their aura is enough to erode your own, with time.

Gradually, a new world forms. Unlike other Communions, where you are ultimately grounded in reality, here you can been dragged to what seems to be its own distinct psychic realm. A vast, void-filled courtroom, where only the throne at its front has a defined form. Around you, you see shadows of other people, other Aions, that have summoned along with you... but for the moment they seem spectral and unclear, their identities obscured by the realm's aggressive focus on its master.

The Regent sits at their throne, their body swathed in dark fabrics that drift and flutter like smoke. They have no face to be seen, only a faceted silver mask, without any markings or the barest indication of what might be beneath it. Their size is indistinct, maybe a bit taller than you are. They at first sit reclined, but straight up as their 'guests' arrive.]

It's been a long time coming, my subjects.

[At first, they are the only one that can be heard. Though you feel as if you have some physical presence here, a shadowy body of your own, if you attempt to speak no sound emerges.]

To the Pleroma: well done surviving thus far. Granted, I feel as if my Kenoma have made things easy for you. How strange, that most of you were allowed to wander a city within my empire without recourse. Able to summon that wretched creature to your side, even.

I hope you've enjoyed yourself, in the time you've had, because this will be no more. You've spread your infection in Venera, in Godsblood, and it is only necessary that these wounds be cleansed by the touch of the Kenoma. Your presence gives the people ideas... ideas that would disrupt the fragile peace they've come to enjoy, after so many years of suffering. As a kindness, I will only trim the vine, rather than burn the vineyard. What Venerans have taken up your cause, I will see shorn from my empire. And in Godsblood... an example will be made, as of the Sovereign's moon.

My Kenoma will do this for me. Fight them, if you want. But know that I am no longer asking for your fealty. I am demanding it.

[As if opening their court for questions, you will find yourself more able to act. Those that speak or take action will find their physical forms taking shape, standing in the court as people rather than shadows. If you want to question the Regent, now is the time to do so.

OOC: This post is a free for all! We will try to response as the Regent to people who directly engage with them, but you are also allowed to threadjack and interact with each other if you like. Please note that we will not be responding to tag ins done later than the 12th.]

Comments

[inutilis]

Then... all I can do is ask you why, Mr. Kaeya. And after what you just heard...?

[ is this truly what he wants...? this is where he wishes to be, the cause he will stand behind? give is life for if it comes to it? ]

[subsist]

Does the reasoning behind it really matter?

[ even now, when abel is pressing kaeya on what he truly wants, he finds that there is no easy answer to give. he would say that this is no different from the duty he's had to carry on behalf of his fallen nation if he were to try being honest, but the truth is always so difficult to reel out of him.

he goes with something quite close to it: ]

Sometimes, you simply have nothing else left to lose.

[ if the city he's grown to love and the people he cares for are gone, then nothing else matters. ]

[inutilis]

That isn't true.

[ this answer firms something in his eyes; it isn't anger or indignation, but some deepening of grief. ]

You have your life. You have the lives of those beside you-- the memories of those you loved, and who loved you in return. You have everyone who will love you still, even if you keep down this path you've chosen.

The reason... matters. You matter. And there is always more to lose if you gamble like this.

[subsist]

Father Abel...

[ abel speaks as if he understands who kaeya is and what he's been through. maybe he does, maybe he doesn't, but there's one thing for certain. ]

You have no idea what kind of person I am.

[ a traitor. a sinner. all the things that no one will ever love. abel wouldn't be saying any of this if he knew. after all, if not even his sworn brother could accept the truth... what are the chances that others will? ]

But I appreciate your words nonetheless. I know you mean well.

[inutilis]

...Maybe you're right. I don't know you, even if I wish we had more time to correct that.

[ but they are far and away - practically worlds away, right now - separated in Horos. even so... ]

But I've seen enough.

[ seen a child longing to belong, to have a home, to be with his family. saw a man who acted to protect his allies, even if he had so little time to forge bonds strong enough to put his life on the line for them - and without hesitation. ]

...This is not a foregone conclusion, Mr. Kaeya. Even if you were to see yourself beyond hope-- that doesn't make it true. You haven't gone so far down this path that there's no turning back; if you wanted to... if any part of you feels this is wrong, that this is more than you can stomach--

[ he stretches a hand out, imploring. ]

You can start over. You can change course. It's hard-- it is very hard to make that choice where you are right now, I understand, but it isn't too late. Please... don't do this.

[ please don't cross a horrible line at the behest of a monster. they're talking about innocent lives, now-- this...

this is too far. does he see it? Abel prays Kaeya does. ]

[subsist]

[ of course kaeya can understand that this is going too far. despite all of his doubts and beliefs about who he is as a person, even he can't deny that this is crossing a line that he isn't quite ready to bridge just yet. getting innocent civilians should have been something of an inevitability, an outcome that he should have seen coming from a mile away, but he's just lying to himself at this point. he'd come to accept that this was a possibility ever since he'd made his choice, regardless of whether or not it was an explicit realization.

the past few weeks have been leading up to this, after all. some kind of half-hearted attempt in soul searching to figure out which way he should go at this particular crossroad. maybe abel is right. maybe he can still start over. maybe he can reach out, grab onto the other man's hand, and allow himself to believe that someone like him is still worthy of salvation.

but something stops him from taking that first step. ]

I heard that, in the beginning, everyone was meant to become part of the Kenoma. That when they made everyone suffer through its influence, some refused to accept it, no matter what happened. You were able to overcome it in the end, but I...

[ what did he do? for all that he struggled with it at the start, didn't he succumb to it at the very end? what kind of person does that make him?

(a monster, no different from the regent.) ]

It's too late for me.

[ he's made his choice. this is the gamble he wants to take, even if he doesn't completely agree with the regent and their methods.

if only abel could have gotten through to him before silco, before amos... then maybe... ]

[inutilis]

...It isn't too late.

[ but the way it leaves Abel, it's clear that he understands that no amount of pleading in the moment will be enough to sway this man's resolution. the heaviness of disappointment and grief remains, lingers in Abel's eyes as he slowly drops his unaccepted hand.

and after a beat, a breath... he offers a meager - if sad - smile. ]

No matter how far you go, there is always a route back. If... when you decide to take it, we will be here waiting to walk with you. Please don't forget that.

[subsist]

[ when abel tells him that it isn't too late, there's a split-second where kaeya gives him a familiar look — one that's lost, one that's painfully similar to how he'd looked up at the man as a young boy, when he was in thrall to the innocence's call. it only lasts for a moment because kaeya can no longer handle looking at the smile that abel now wears on his face.

he doesn't know what to say in return. he doesn't think he needs to say anything at all, but there's a terrifying feeling that manifests itself from deep within, one that he's always so afraid to consider. if he gives abel's words an inch, he knows exactly what would happen: he'll believe them, and then realize what a fool he was to do in the end, because promises like that aren't so easy to keep.

(diluc had promised him something just as significant all those years ago, and look what happened between the two of them. they no longer walk the same path.)

he doesn't think abel, or anyone here, can stay true to their word. he knows that better than anyone else.

so he turns his back on the other man, signalling that he's done. ]

[inutilis]

Kaeya.

[ no 'mr' this time or pretenses at pleasantries; Abel does not intend to implore the Kenoma any further. he understands that some battles can only be won through time - and he also knows this is a fight Kaeya isn't ready to concede inside himself, just yet.

it's okay. he can take the time he needs. Abel will be waiting for him when he turns around - no matter how far he has to go before he comes to. ]

...Please take care of yourself.

[ the priest's presence recedes, a hazy, fuzzy quality only found in dreaming, as Abel takes his leave. ]