♫ contractors

[falsehymn]

❝But I tell you, do not swear
an oath at all:
either by Heaven, for it is God’s throne;
or by the earth,
for it is His footstool;
or by Jerusalem, for it is the
city of the Great King.
And do not swear by your head,
for you cannot make even
one hair white
or black.
All you need to say is simply 'Yes' or 'No';
anything beyond this comes from
the evil one.
—Matthew 5:34-37

Comments

[hjadningavig]

...That was part of my own decision making. I had my own personal reasons, perhaps to the point I wasn't thinking from an unbiased lens.

Seeing Sika's state didn't help my suspicions. Not to mention, it seemed reasonable. We...would then be working together with the information we had...whatever the case, Sika has more than enough people at their ready.

[ Dainsleif grants a pause at this, and also nods, before turning back to his drink; he idly wonders if the other can drink, but holds off on asking. ]

Though, considering the subject, the lie isn't exactly a small one.

[heartstringless]

Right. I've learned that sometimes you have to lie to help people... Even if I'm not supposed to.

[Being a puppet, and all, lying is a rule that he's not supposed to break.]

But I don't know if this lie counts. I do think Sika believes what they're doing is right. I think it's just a matter of deciding for ourselves if we believe that. [ ... ] Can I ask what your own personal reasons were...?

[Or is that too, you know. Personal.]

[hjadningavig]

[ Dainsleif takes another sip of his drink and nods at this, but is quiet for a little as he listens to this. ]

Personally, I am certain Sika believes mostly that "this is the only way". But, somehow I feel that there is an element in that too that "what they're doing is right", maybe not all in the traditional sense...but, I can't accept this.

[ ... ]

As for my reasons, I had also experienced acts of cruelty by the divine. Seeing how the way the so-called "god" treated them here, with the same effects of memory loss, that constant physical pain, and even eternity thrust upon them, I could not help but relate. A curse of immortality that tears you apart, while their own suffering seems to be reminiscent of that, and the fact they were used as sustenance. I was disgusted as well.

[ Even if Sika committed such terrible acts, this has gone on so long, he had thought at one point...that hadn't at least some of them been repaid? Not all of it, but how can they truly begin to change for the better, like this? ]

[heartstringless]

[Right. He agrees with Dainsleif on that — it's nice to know that this man's conviction remains unshaken.

At the latter half of that, P's eyes widen slightly.]

Oh. I hadn't realized.

[This... throws their last conversation into more light, then.]

That's awful. But it says something that even though you relate to awful things, you still feel like this is wrong. Having sympathy, without compromising what you believe is right... It's admirable.

Not that it makes this any easier, though.

[hjadningavig]

[ Dainsleif doesn't exactly feel deserving of the praise, but...he has been mulling on it in such a way that it doesn't bother him, either.

Maybe it's just the honesty, and having heard the Abyss Order before consistently complain about that very nature of him does help. ]

Were it that it was easy.

At times, the heart can falter. Become swallowed in the familiar shadow of the abyss when its echoes seem the same; but, I have always tried to keep myself from doing that, even if it would be simpler to do otherwise.

[ Dainsleif gives a pause, however. ]

It's good whatever happened didn't shake your faith entirely in moving forward, either. Revelations are not always easy to weather, whether the individual has been in the world for long, or otherwise.