cancry | Avaritia Arrival Log

Nonsense. [He dismisses the very idea with an idle flick of his free hand.] Simply not true at all. Would you like to chat about it? Perhaps I can ease your mind.

...

[ He has to think on it for a moment. Does he want to talk about this? Honestly not really. He's not even sure where to begin if he does, or what anyone else might think of him. What he even thinks of himself now.

But he knows he'll just get trapped in his own head thinking about it otherwise. So... ]

...I do not know if I'm ready to talk about all that's on my mind quite yet but... talking a little bit about it might indeed help.

We can merely chat rather than address what's ruffled your feathers. As it were. I'm here to lend an ear.

[ He smiles again, this time much more more genuine. ]

Very well then.

We should probably find a place out of the rain first though.

[ Unless you want the occasional wet dog like wing shake. ]

Not a problem! As far as I can tell, none of these places make you pay to enter, save for perhaps the theater. You may get the stink eye and have it be suggested you do something than just stand there, but quite frankly, they can bite us.

How fortuitous for us.

[ He'll just look in the direction of whatever building they're nearest to, which in this case appears to be a lounge bar. He takes a step towards it. ]

Will this be all right then?

Oh, quite so. [The umbrella twirling continues gently until they are under proper cover before he starts to shake it out and put it away.] I daresay anywhere is all right so long as the company is acceptable.

Mm... agreed.

[ He's quiet for a moment once they're inside, trying to collect his thoughts and figure out what to say, but eventually something does come to him. ]

...I might take up your previous suggestion of finding a new name, by the way. I've now remembered what the significance of a "beast" is where I'm from.

Oh. Dear. [He frowns down at his umbrella, thinking, then leans on it as though a cane to keep him up.] If you're considering a change in nomenclature, it must not be terribly pleasant.

[A small smile.] Mona is, of course, the one I recommend if you can't think of something on your own.

Mmm, I shall keep her in mind. I have a few ideas, though I am uncertain still.

[ a sigh ] It... is not necessarily unpleasant what it means but...

[ "I... always forget that you're not really a man. You're just a beast, after all." ]

...There's something about it that makes my heart ache now.

I've a feeling the lot of us will be in for more heartaches as memories resurface. It makes sense that the strongest emotions might be the ones we remember best, good and bad.

Was there someone else involved?

[ He crosses his arms, thinking for a moment. ]

...Several someones, I'd say. An entire village even. Though there was one who was particularly involved more than any of the others.

Did they hurt you? [Biggest concern.]

Huh? Oh no, not at all. My memories may still be a mess but I can assure you of that much at least. If anything they saved me.

Ah, thank goodness. [He sighs, hand to chest.] Then it seems to me it's not a terribly large concern, hm? That there were others who so cares about you...

But the nature of the beast, as it were, bothers you, hm?

[ Beast mulls over it, closing his eyes. After a brief silence he starts to speak again. Buckle in Chiron, it's story time. ]

In the world I called home, a beast is not merely... a monster or large animal. They are forces of nature, manifestations of pure mana with immense power. They are not gods, yet it is said their presence heralds both beginnings and ends for the world. They are neither evil nor good - they simply are. You cannot appeal to their hearts like you would a human or other sentient creature for they are not in possession of a heart in the first place. To even attempt to do so would be like trying to talk to a tornado or a forest fire.

[ Though that sure didn't stop some people from trying anyway but whatever that's for another FAR more infuriating and distressing memoria. ]

Understandably most people fear them, a fear not helped by the many prophecies about nations falling or landscapes being changed entirely because of them. But the people of this village... they did not. They had built their home in a forest that grew from the corpse of one such massive beast, and over time the concentrated mana left behind began to permanently alter their physical forms. When it was clear that they were no longer "human" they chose to instead call themselves the Beastials, and revered all beasts alongside the goddess.

Imagine their surprise then, when one day one of their own discovered a strange creature deep in the woods. One who seemed very much like a beast in the traditional sense, yet was capable of speech and emotion. One who was also hurt and in need of help.

[ He's going somewhere with this he promises. ]

[He's buckling IN, they should take a seat mayhaps! As Beast speaks, he absolutely has Chiron's undivided attention. He frowns, lightly, but takes it in.

(Pure mana, immense power, forces of nature--and yet not gods? That seems a bit...huh.)]

One who, perhaps, had wings?

[BEAST ARE YOU...PERHAPS...A BEAST...]

[ #ADogNamedDog

He looks at Chiron with a wry smile. ]

Well, they did say it fell out of the sky. But I'll be frank: I do not remember a thing about my appearance back then. Any attempts to try and recall it right now just feel fuzzy and murky.

[ May as well not even beat around the bush that yeah it was totally him. ]

From what I understand, I was eventually able to change the way I looked and pass as a man, but if I could pass as a man I could theoretically pass as anything.

A Beastial. An Elemental. A Furred... or even a Feathered.

[ hence... the way he was looking at them earlier. ]

Is a Feathered different from a Beastial in ways other than simply being somewhat more specific?

Though, I could see now why the implications concern you so. You are potentially a great and powerful being yourself, to end or begin worlds all your own.

[ Oh god now we're going to go on a world building tangent, I'm so sorry. ]

Mmm...I would say so, even though they share the same ancestors. There's the physical differences of course but also the life spans and magic abilities vary quite considerably. Feathereds all have feathery wings obviously but they don't often live past their 80's and while their adeptness for magic isn't nothing it does require a substantial amount of study. The Beastials... well, when I met them none of them had wings or any stand out features besides their pointy ears and strange hair colours. But using magic came as naturally as breathing to them and they often lived to be as old as 120.

[ A pause. ]

Though that changed after a few decades or so of being around me. You see, in that world everything has mana and one's own mana can both influence and be influenced by the mana of other creatures. The Feathereds are the way they are because their ancestors were different clans of birdkeepers, and in the same way they mutated to have wings, all those species of birds now talk like them. The Furreds are almost all feline or canine in nature because that's what people kept around the most, the people who lived exclusively by or on the ocean became more like sea creatures, dogs that herded sheep for humans gained the ability to talk and fluffy woolen coats... and so on. But that sort of evolution is supposed to take thousands of years-- even the way the Beastials originally came to be took a long time.

But, if a being equivalent to a beast were to show up and live with a specific group for a few years or so, all while not at least attempting to suppress his own mana and keep it in check because he doesn't even realize he has to... well... it accelerates things just a little bit.

Soon enough all the babies in the village are being born with horns and everyone's ecstatic because beasts are supposed to have horns and your boyfriend is looking at you like it might be your fault but he doesn't want to say anything because he doesn't want you to feel bad about accidentally tempering with the very laws of nature.

[ Said with the exact same kind of energy as someone recalling an embarrassing high school memory they wish they could just forget about (again)

He's not going to touch again on being a potentially great and powerful being, this fuck up sort of says enough for that he feels. ]

[That sure was a lot! Hm! Let him just...ruminate on that for a second here.]

At least your boyfriend was looking out for you, if you were not aware of your own abilities. Would be difficult, I imagine, to reconcile with suddenly being accused of having great and unimaginable magical ability with which you had no control over.

It seems to me that the laws of nature were not really tampered with so much as...well, as you said, accelerated. Tipped? Altered, but only in that it came a bit faster than normal, but would have eventually happened all the same.

[ He sighs, releasing some of the tension from his shoulders. ]

I... suppose so. And in the end they were quite pleased with the results so it was ultimately... fine.

[ Pretty rad having your life span tripled and looking like a bunch of dragons and phoenixes and all other sorts of shit.

He pinches the bridge of his nose. ]

I must apologize... I am sure all of this must sound like the ramblings of one who has completely lost their mind.

[He lays a hand on Beast's knee.] Dear, we're in the afterlife as part of a small group of spiritual amnesiacs with fantastical powers roving through layers connected by stairs that are meant to showcase aspects of sinful behavior in order to make reincarnation work again.

I think it sounds perfectly reasonable.

[ Okay that gets a small laugh and a smile from him. ]

Well when you put it that way, I supposes it does, doesn't it?

You see? We likely all have wildly implausible stories in our lives. There's a fun to it, potentially.

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