013 [video]

[argentcruelty]

[Kadaj is smirking down at the NV when the feed starts, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. The childish tilt of his head contrasts strangely with the cold malice in his eyes.]

I hope you're all listening, because I'm not going to repeat myself. You have something which belongs to me, so we took something of yours. See?

[The video swings

Comments

[voice]

[deathlessness]

[...Yaha can never just have normal friends, can he?]

If you don't mind my saying so, this doesn't seem like the best of plans.

[voice]

[ysobritish]

Like his beloved gnomes? [He sounds thoughtful.] It's good that they have limits like that. Otherwise there could be a power-overflow. People taking on something like that frivolously. It would reduce everything to chaos.

[voice]

[deathlessness]

[Okay, you get a brief chuckle for that.] It's already chaos enough, believe me.

In any case, the thing with pact partners... They all have their own agendas in seeking a pact. Sometimes it's necessity, sometimes just for their own amusement. From what I can tell, it's generally a selfish thing. And I don't know how it is for others with their partners, but mine certainly doesn't make good company. Yaha's gnomes mean he's never completely alone, but... Well, I'm sure you've already met them. Simple creatures.

[voice]

[ysobritish]

Simple creatures that eat people. Yes, I've met them a few times. Yaha usually makes them leave us alone, but sometimes he doesn't. [A slightly thoughtful pause.] Wait. Does that make Yaha your equivalent to a crazy cat lady? I never thought of it that way. Although he seems to adore them.

I suppose it was rather obvious that some would be drawn to it regardless of cost; power does lure one after all. But I can see it having advantages too, depending on what you got out of it.

[voice]

[deathlessness]

...Crazy cat lady. [Guess who's never heard that term before?] Do make sure he doesn't hear you call him that. He's never been too fond of women, as I'm sure you're already aware.

[There's a quiet sigh from Urick.]After General Oror died, and I left the Knights, Gismor took over command. The people he picked out as his new lieutenants were all pact partners chosen for their strength, rather than... Well, rather than anything else. Yaha was one of them. Another was a woman named Hanch. The stories say that she was beautiful as a child, until one day she nearly drowned and was saved by the kelpie with which she made a pact. The price was her charm, and now no man will so much as look at her. She... She's as bad as Yaha. Lieutenant Zhangpo, too. Of course, I was still bound to my district, so I didn't need to be replaced

[voice]

[ysobritish]

Oh, I'm aware. [He laughs.] Oh god. You're just as bad as him, aren't you? With the phrases, I mean. [Liquid clears his throat.] A "crazy cat lady" is actually a stereotype in popular culture; an old woman who isolates themselves and only keeps, trusts and loves a massive amount of cats, usually without being able to afford to keep them. Considering cats are actually known to scavenge from corpses if there's no other food, it can get ugly. But that's rare enough in itself.

[A much longer pause.]

Don't take this the wrong way, but do all pact users tend to be insane? And what is a Hierarch?

[voice]

[deathlessness]

[...] I see. Then yes, I suppose he's something like the equivalent to your... crazy cat ladies.

[You people are bizarre, you know that?]

The ones I know? Mostly. Perhaps they have to be insane to make the pact in the first place. Perhaps the price they pay drives them mad, or simply the weight of the pact itself. I couldn't say with any kind of certainty.

The Heirarch is... traditionally, the highest of the priests and only one allowed to speak with the Goddess. But, well. Nobody's spoken to the Goddess in a long time, I'm sure. She's the fiery sort, if you follow me.

[voice]

[ysobritish]

It was a joke. Don't worry about it.

[He knows.]

Hm. It sounds quite dangerous, for power like that to be in the hands of the insane.

Ah... yes, I know women like that.

[voice]

[deathlessness]

Everyone with power ends up insane sooner or later. Well, either insane or dead. Question is how long they last before one or the other catches up with them.

[voice]

[ysobritish]

Everyone ends up dead sooner or later. Why take that as a deterrent for anything? Life is one long game of survival and it's you or the rest of the world.

[voice]

[deathlessness]

...Death is a terrifying thing. Can you really blame someone for wanting to avoid it?

[voice]

[ysobritish]

... [Weren't you the one that was all "I want to rest in peace"?You misunderstand. Death should be held off as long as possible, but the fear of death should not stop you from anything that's worth it in your eyes. In my case, a lot of things are worth that risk; defying death is of the very few things I enjoy. The mere thrill of it is enough to justify it to me. I don't see why people would be afraid of death. I think I used to be, once. But that was a long time ago when I was very young. I've learnt since then. Death comes so often and so unpredictably that fearing it is pointless

[voice]

[deathlessness]

[Urick listens in silence, and is silent for a moment or two more after Liquid is done.]

...I suppose you're right. Though it's a little late for all that by now.

[voice]

[ysobritish]

Why? You're not dead. Until the point of no return, it is never too late for anything. It's true that some people and some events cannot be fixed, but from the ashes of everything springs something new. Each disaster leads into a new story. Until you lie lifeless, the game doesn't end.

[voice]

[deathlessness]

If only it were that simple.

[voice]

[ysobritish]

Only ghosts and fools evade things for their difficulty.