expiationnet | ( video | un: revanche )

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Greetings, people of Aldrip.

I am a new arrival to this place. My name is Rafal. I am a dragon from another world. As familiar as I am with the mechanics of multiple worlds and travel between then, I am afraid the technology gap here is rather large. I would like to request the aid of a master, someone who is proficient in it and is willing to teach me.

Of course, this does not need to be for free. You are welcome to request a boon or a favor. I lack money at this juncture but I will see to it soon enough. I am no longer in the business of resurrecting the dead and I do not kill for others . . . but I am open-minded in other requests.

Thank you.

— Ah, yes, a picture of my true form since that seems to be a sticking point among skeptics.

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I mean.. [ Her voice trails off a little, like even Ange - whose wit is usually rather quick - isn't immediately sure of how to answer a question like that. ]

It depends on what you are thinking of. I wouldn't say it's as intelligent as a regular person is. After you have played enough chess matches against this thing, you can kind of figure out what sort of moves it's going to make based on what it has done during past games. [ ... ] Or maybe it's just not that good at chess.

[ that is interesting. he notes it down. especially in light of what happened a few days ago. ]

I am rather good at chess. I have played against kings and queens.

[ though. they didn't know they were engaging in chess with them. ]

Then you might have a few initial good games until you start figuring it out.

[ Especially since Ange knows she could figure it out, and if he was playing chess with important people high up-- well, then it's likely he's better than her. She can easily concede that. ]

But if you get bored playing against the device itself, you can also play with other people here in town who have the game installed on their tablet. So you don't need to actually go to see them to play chess together. You can do it whenever. [ ... ] Even on the toilet.

[ Thanks, Ange. Truly the pro tip he needs. ]

I rather not get obsessed with it to the point of playing everywhere.

[ that seems unhealthy, even to rafal. the most unhealthy. ]

But I appreciate your input.

[ Dang, Rafal. Some of us are actively trying to escape reality at all times! ]

I wouldn't call it obsession.

[ Ange has to say that much though in defence of herself. Not that it's really full of passion, but hey. At least she said it. ]

Is there really anything else important to do here? Other than find a way home, but-- if you're really as used to travelling across worlds like you said you are, then you've already found that it's not really an easy thing to do here.

Helping a world can be time-consuming.

[ and that's what he wants. he wants his time eaten and used, he wants to be used and used until there is no more stretches of time that go on until eternity. thousands of years and he has nothing to show for it. ]

I imagine it will keep me busy.

[ ... ]

You want to help that badly?

[ Apparently it's surprising enough to have made her pause for a moment before speaking up. ]

Is that just something dragons do where you come from? [ Maybe that thought makes more sense to her than the idea of a person just being kind enough to dedicate themselves to such a purpose. ]

[ a brief hesitation. ]

Not that kind of dragon I am. But yes. There are divine dragons who support humanity throughout the ages.

[ So that didn't really answer her question, huh. Or rather, it skipped right past her assumption. If it's not that he wants to help because it's what dragons do, then why does he?

.. Ange is still curious, but she recognizes something that might be just a little bit too direct or personal when she sees it, so she skips over it. For now. ]

I didn't know there were different kinds of dragons. I mean, if you're one that can turn into a human..

[ Since Rafal is clearly looking pretty human right now! ]

Then I figured you had to be a pretty powerful dragon. [ Especially since she's never heard of transforming dragons before in stories. ]

[ his chest puffs out a little because he is! powerful! after so long and all that suffering, he can finally claim that. even if it tastes bittersweet. ]

There are many kinds of dragons. Manaketes, Earth dragons, dragons of silence, mage dragons. Fell dragons and divine dragons. We all vary in power.

So where would you say you fall on that scale?

[ A slight pause, and then she adds: ]

I guess it kind of potentially nefarious. [ Like she's trying to see if she could take him. She knows some people here would intend it that way. ] I'm just curious about other kinds of beings. It's interesting.

[ hm. rafal weighs his response. he is proud, but boasting is another thing altogether. and centuries of hiding haven't crippled his good sense completely. ]

I am a Fell Dragon. A dragon of the underworld. I can raise the dead.

Raise the dead?

[ Any last remaining hints of deadpan or a flat tone fade out of her voice entirely.

Ange sounds interested, still, but now she sounds surprised on top of it. Like something about that statement absolutely hooked her. ]

To what extent? I imagine a power like that isn't unlimited. [ Even Beatrice's hadn't been, after all.

Besides-- That's the power Ange always wanted. Of course she's immediately going to cling on to even the slightest mention of it like this. ]

[ he cocks his head at her. everyone jumps at the mention of this power, so the reaction isn't surprising. he just wouldn't have attributed it to ange though. ]

That depends on what you consider limitations. I brought an entire world to life with my own power.

[ "life" within his . . . restrictions, but life all the same. ]

Well, that means you practically have no limitations, right? I can't imagine anyone else doing that for an entire world.

[ And that's saying a lot, considering the stuff she has seen back home. ]

How come you're that powerful, and yet even you can't do anything about the people keeping us here? I don't want to think what it means for our captors that they're stronger than a dragon that can bring entire worlds to life. [ It mostly spells out bad news for them, as people trapped within the influence of people like that..

Ugh, how annoying. ]

There are always limitations to power.

[ and rafal knew that best. even with that much under his fingertips, there was more. more he needed, more he had to have, more to prove himself as sombron's heir, someone of value, someone worth —

nonsense. ]

And what exactly do you want me to do? Wave my hand and create armies of the undead from nothing?

[ Ange exhales, before speaking up with: ]

Sorry, I didn't mean it in that way.

[ It's rare for her to apologize, but when she's thinking back on her own words now, she can kind of see how they came across that way. It's not like her frustration was aimed at him, just at this place, but-- she gets what it sounded like. ]

It's more just that it's annoying that we're dealing with such powerful entities. I really don't know what a girl like me is supposed to do about them if they were even able to trap someone as powerful as you here. I really don't have that much power at all.

[ ah. his expression lessens in severity for a moment as he mulls this over. despite his overwhelming strength and his age, rafal never really looked down at humans. he never loved them the way nel did, caring for the "little ones" as she would put it, but he never saw them as . . . lesser. sombron did, of course, but sombron considered everyone to be lesser to himself.

Everyone has power. It may not seem like much or manifest like mine, but power exists as much in you as it does in me.

I am not fool enough to think my power is the sole power or the greatest. It is simply one facet of power.

Perhaps yours will manifest when the time is right. As it had for me.

[ .. It's such a surprisingly optimistic statement that it kind of hits Ange hard. Relatively hard, anyway.

Just enough for her to be quiet as she tries to process it. Even if she may slowly be getting used to people being more kind to her in some ways, it's the first time anyone has - even slightly - attempted to bolster her confidence about this in particular.

Maybe that's why the girl sounds a little more unsure than a moment ago as she asks: ]

You really think so?

[ It feels kind of dumb to her, asking for confirmation like that, but it's really hard to believe that her power matters when it feels so.. insignificant. Ange often feels like she's outright powerless, especially when the forces she's up against are often so strong. ]

[ rafal nods slowly. he was powerless once, of course. that's why he had to become "nil" and lean on nel's power. that's why he worked so hard, scrapped and scrimped while his true self withered, dying under the gaze of the world.

and here he was. more powerful than nel, than almost anyone. pyrrhic as it may be, it still matters to him. ]

I do. And I'm not in the habit of spouting useless words for no purpose.

People think the only kind of power that matters is destructive, painful strength. They are wrong. I know this for a fact. You will find your own power.

Well.. It sure helps, having that sort of power.

[ Not that Ange fully buys into it either. It sounds like it's a little complicated for her too as she speaks about this. She has seen power that wasn't destructive back home, yet seemed more powerful than any display of strength she has ever seen otherwise.

So she's not arguing the point. But she can't help but think about this out loud for once, instead of keeping it all to herself. Maybe the things he's saying give her the confidence that she can tell him these things without being ridiculed. That he'll realize she's being serious, and even a little more vulnerable than she usually allows herself to be. He has seemed entirely reasonable so far.

So.. ]

If someone here really had that kind of destructive strength, then surely they'd be able to force the people keeping us here to let go of us, right..? Sometimes I can't help but think of that, especially since some of us have been stuck here for so long now. I've tried investigating so many times, but it never feels like it's enough by itself. [ ... ] I couldn't help but blame that on my own lack of power.

It probably sounds dumb, putting it that way.

Not necessarily. These people have control of a world. For all we know, they can simply make more. Destruction doesn't necessarily guarantee success.

[ he pauses, mulling over her words. ]

I can understand the frustration. Especially over a long period of time. It is hard to believe.

But what I said is true. Power is more than simply beating down enemies or killing.

[ The girl is quiet for a second, seeming to take it in until she exhales. ]

Alright. Let's hope then that I can develop some sort of power relating to inter-dimensional travel then so I can get everyone who wants to leave home, huh? [ It's said a little dryly, though - like Ange at least doesn't believe anything to that extent will happen.

Unfortunately, considering how bad she wants out. ]

So far all I know are a few small magic tricks, but it's been difficult to find out how I can do more with it in this place. The person who taught me magic back home isn't here.

[ hm. rafal cocks his head at her. ]

Can you not learn magic from another source? Surely some competent mages reside here.

That's the problem. Multiple people have offered to help me with my magic here, but every single time they do, they disappear really soon after.

It's almost starting to seem like a curse.

[ Ange's tone is dry enough that she's likely just being deadpan about that, but-- at the same time, she would believe it at this point, honestly. Maybe an attempt on the part of the beings in charge to keep her in check. ]

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