cancry | Superbia Intro Log

[ He smiles at that. ]

You’ll be fine, I’m sure you’re far from the last of scrapers this school’s seen. I’m pretty sure there’s at least one person here more likely to get kicked out than you.

[ And her name is Wolfsbane. ]

Besides, you’ve got some “faculty members” on your side now—

…Ah. I never properly introduced myself did I? I go by Achilles.

[Oh, well, at least SOMEBODY got a cool name.]

It's...Amber. Which apparently didn't go over well with the other students.

[It was a mix of that and the Alchemist thing, honestly.]

Which, by the way? The stuff they teach here is...kindof boring. Like I know it already. So...this'll be fun.

[ IDK MAN WAS BEAST ANY BETTER. JUST GIVE YOURSELF A COOLER NAME LATER LIKE ICARUS ok wait maybe not that one. ]

I’m sure it is. At the very least you don’t have to worry about doing well or anything now. And I’m sure we could find some ways to get you out of class.

…There’s one other thing I should probably tell you about, by the way.

[And yet I am looking respectfully]

Okay...what is it?

This is… not something you have to say yes to, for the record. However…

Specters who awaken are called eidolons. But our group… our group specifically are actually Executers.

It’s something only an eidolon can become, and further more only Rei has that capability to make you one, but we’re essentially protectors of Purgatory. It’s our job to fix things, but also make sure that…

…Nothing bad happens to the specters here.

[...

......

..........]

You know I'm 14, right?

[NOT THAT HE'S SAYING NO BUT

YOU SURE JUST OFFERED HIM THAT OPTION NO QUESTIONS ASKED]

[ ………

…………………………

…………………………………………… ]

…You know, I am very relieved to hear one of you children say that for once.

[ He always brings it up with STRONG EMPHASIS on the “you don’t have to do this to stay with us” part but like. Still. ]

It’s not necessarily an offer, it’s just something I felt you should know about.

Edited 2021-07-15 04:06 (UTC)

[Dooon't stay relieved for too long, Achilles...]

Well, I was going to add that just because I am 14 doesn't mean I'm not capable of helping out. And I'd rather be working on getting out of here if there's any chance of that at all.

[He's only been here for a day and he kindof hates it? Like, the science class was...fine, but equally as dull and mind-numbing. It's all way too easy.]

I remember two things. One, the name Amber. And two: I'm an Alchemist. With the right tools and elements at my disposal, I can come up with solutions you've probably never even heard of.

[ Ah… there we go. ]

An alchemist huh… [ This is where I have to make the hard call about whether alchemy exists in Rhearth or not UHHHHHHHH ] I’m sure you and Medic will get along swimmingly in that case.

But are you certain? You should know that… there’s fighting involved. With monsters.

Weell...I wouldn't exactly say my usual work involves fighting monsters, but...I think I'd rather do that than keep doing this school thing.

[He'll be a party buffer don't even worry about it.]

[ MMMMMMMMMMM he’s still kind of unsure about this but… ]

In that case, why don’t I call for Rei? She could give you a better explanation than I could anyway.

[ He pauses. ]

…and I think she’s due for a little bit of teasing from me after what happened earlier.

[ He’s the best dad, you see. ]

[He blinks. Wait.]

Rei is your daughter?

[The fuck she run away for then]

[ That gets a chuckle out of him as he heads towards the door. ]

Yes, though through adoption.

That’s the first time she’s called me “dad” since we made it an official thing, so I think she got a little embarrassed.

[ Which means TEASING TIME. ]

Oh, riiight, right.

[LMAO...OOPS....rip in rest, Rei.]

That kindof does make more sense with context, yeah.

[ He just keeps smiling and then opens the door. ]

Give me just one moment, please.

[ He leaves the office for a couple of minutes and soon after, there’s an announcement over the school intercom:

“Rei, your father would like to see you in his office.”

And then shortly after, Achilles returns. ]

There. She should be along shortly.

[ Despite the fact the she TOOK OFF RUNNING, Rei hasn't actually made it that far from the office when her name gets called over the PA system. Even so, it takes... probably longer than it should have done for her to return and poke her head around the door with a mildly distressed look on her face. ]

... I--is something wrong...?

[ logically she knows this can't be anything serious if it's not in the Executor GC and going by everything that's happened so far, this boy is probably a new Eidolon but the anxiety lizard that controls her brain has been banging the YOU'RE IN TROUBLE YOU'RE IN TROUBLE YOU'RE IN TROUBLE drum nonstop anyway ]

[ Achilles is just leaning, against his desk, grinning broadly like a Cheshire Cat. ]

Oh no, nothing’s wrong dear. I think you should introduce yourself to our new eidolon friend though.

[Amber turns halfway in his seat, waving slightly when Rei looks his way.]

Heeey, uh...sorry for insulting your dad, earlier? Turns out the whole horn and tail situation is a normal thing and I just didn't realize.

[ ... Rei Just Sighs. ]

No, it's fine. ... I should be the one to apologize for being so defensive.

[ She looks pretty embarrassed about the whole thing, for what it's worth.

Assured that nothing is wrong (probably), Rei slips into the room and pulls the door shut behind her. ]

Has Achilles already explained everything?

Awwww, back to just Achilles already? You wound me, pumpkin.

[ bruh you're on your way to being seen as BOTHER figure being like that. ]

But yes I've explained as much as I can - though not quite everything. Do you have any questions for her, Sir Amber?

[Oh my god, this guy.

But after a brief moment of trying (and failing) not to smirk, Amber turns his attention back to Rei- wait, Sir?]

Yeah! Achilles was telling me about this whole Executor thing and, long story short- I want in.

[Be rubs his cheek with one hand.]

I'd rather be making some kind of progress towards something than just rotting in this boring school forever. The science class isn't even that good...

So what do I need to do?

[ Rei's face falls, just a bit. This boy... he has to be around her age, right? And he's not hesitating to jump right into things. She's not going to draw things out by asking if he's sure, since Achilles is certain to have had that talk with him already... but it unsettles her a bit that he's so ready. ]

Well... has Achilles explained what an Authority is to you yet? We're stuck here for now, but I'm certain that if we track down whoever the Authority here is, and we can reclaim their power, we should be able to keep moving.

Well...he mentioned there would be monsters we'd have to fight.

[He looks over at Achilles out of the corner of his eye, who...no offense, looks like a monster to Varian just on his own. But he's not going to say that.]

I'm assuming an "Authority" is one of those?

Not exactly. Though they... hm.

[ He taps his chin. Explaining that might need a bit more context. He returns to the snack that he singled out to represent Superbia and runs his finger along the top. ]

...Let me explain first.

An Authority is a Specter who has, as the name suggests, managed to gain absolute power over the specific layer. They cannot change the entire layer to their whims necessarily, but it is their domain and that affords them a level of privilege and power. For example it is impossible to physically harm them while they maintain the Authority - any attempt to and they will easily over power you. They are also the ones who close off the way forward, and while we have tried reasoning with them in the past, they have refused to let us through. The fact that we can also not go back this time is also more than likely the work of this layer's Authority. Whoever they are, they clearly want the ones already here to stay here and neither go forwards or backwards.

[ ...When he puts it like that he suddenly... gets a sort of sad feeling. But he pushes it back down. ]

The only solution we have for now for dealing with the Authority is to use our cunning to find a way to take the authority from them or transfer it to someone more cooperative. It's a fluid thing that can change hands at any time, though what makes someone the Authority differs on each layer.

[ He moves his finger onto the Invidia snack. ]

On Invidia it seemed to be whoever became the most "enviable" to everyone else. The Authority was a celebrity named Esme who everyone on the layer strongly envied and wanted to be like. Beating her in a contest was enough to secure that crown from her.

[ And then over to the Avaritia one. ]

And then Avaritia... where money ruled all. The Authority there was a gambler named Greta who had become the wealthiest person there and was ensuring her wealth with more gambling and stealing from others. As you can probably imagine, the solution to that one was a little simpler to figure out, though not quite as easy to pull off.

[ He taps his finger, thinking. ]

Some of us have brought up that back when they were alive there was a concept called the "seven deadly sins". Such a concept did not exist where I came from so I'm afraid I'm not familiar enough to recite them all, but two of them were envy and greed, which correspond a little too well with the last two layers. So it feels like a logical conclusion to think that the other layers might have a similar connection. It's just a matter of figuring out which.

Make sense so far?

Edited 2021-07-16 21:35 (UTC)

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I swear this isnt a gagtag

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