Private - Cloudy Reasoning

Cold winds howled in the distance and dark clouds clogged the blue sky, a fitting scenario for the aftermath of the war. It has been a few days since everything happened, but it appeared the horrible stench of blood never left her nostrils. Screams of pain reverberated in her ears, but those weren’t memories from the gruesome war a few days ago, no — they were real cries of pain. “Oversurge and pulverize my enemy, Snapbolt.” With a simple snap of Indra’s fingers, azure lightning crackled from her arm and was launched at the the one responsible for the blood-curdling screams, a bandit.

“Ughaaagh! You blonde bitch!” Despite his screams and the fact that he received the lightning discharge of her magic, however, he seemed to be fine. “Ya mage shit! Ye will run out of mana at some point, n’ I’ll have tons ol’ fun with ya!” He charged forward once more, only to be struck by lightning again. “Indifferent. Do you honestly believe that will happen? It appears intelligence is not your forte.” The magecrafter commented, her ever so lifeless eyes stared at the man. Beyond them, the scenery wasn’t exactly pleasing either; a small and fairly secluded ranch at the border of the forests of Astorea destroyed by the chaos of war.

“Sarcastically impressed. I never thought I would need to deal with the likes of you. Considering that these nations engage in needless war, it makes sense to a degree.” Behind Indra, a family huddled and trembled in fear; from the bandit? From the mage? Accurately, it should be both. If one were to arrive at the scene, it would be hard to tell the good and the bad apart. “M-miss mage..!” The farmer, with both wife and daughter on his arms, pleaded. “Don’t you think that’s enough? I’m sure he understands stealing is bad, so please… If you go on, he will end up dead.” As soon as the farmer finished, another painful scream ensued. The blonde set her gaze on the family.

“Indifferent. Would you rather have him do whatever he pleases with your home, wife and your daughter?” Another monotone sigh escaped her lips. “Annoyed. You shouldn’t worry about his death… Killing him would be too easy.” Her eyes returned to the bandit, his body sizzling because of continuous exposition to electrical attacks. “...However, I am indeed getting tired of this. Aggressive. Cease. I have been reducing the amount of mana particles to the minimum possible, but you will die if you receive another attack.” The stubbed and large thief cackled in response to her words and charged again, knife on hands that seeked blood.

“Holy sword of Agleam.”

This time, lightning crackled as a powerful aura around her.

“Barbaric blade bathed in blue.”

On her hand, lightning gathered in the shape of a thunderbolt. Screams and lightning melded together, resurfacing recent memories of the war again.

“Cleave right from wrong.”
​

But then...

 

... "SEIGI DROP!" The feet of the small-girl hit the magician right in the head. Maybe she was too busy enjoying herself, maybe Seigi became a true ninja despite lacking the mastery, or maybe it was simply to help the narrative! Nonetheless, having gained enough momentum to execute a justice-delivering drop-kick on the other player.

There wasn't too much power behind the heroine's kick, but enough to move Indra out of the way and interrupt her edgy chuuni chant. In fact, Seigi was actually nimble enough to not drop like a rock on the ground. Instead, she managed to twirl her body enough to land standing. "Perfect Entran- URGH..." It hurt. Fuck. Once again all that real pain. Not as bad as on the wall but... "How dare-"

The criminal's face, despite what he had gone through, betrayed a few seconds of hesitation and confusion upon realizing that he missed the target. He had given it his all. Ignored the numbing pain. Ignored the absolute fear of certain death. All that mattered now was to stab the blonde-haired bitch. So why, why did his knife end up in the side of some... some brat?! The blonde whore had been standing there all along as he had used the last of his strength to power through and stab her faster than her fucking ego allowed her to cast. So why-

"JUSTICE!" Not only did Seigi bled from the side, avoiding internal damage like a miracle, but as her thick-head collided with the bandit's blood started flowing from there, too. Even so, the bandit was still standing. If a countless amount of magical electricity flowing through his body wouldn't let him stay put then a single head-butt wouldn't do him in, either. "GO." A second one. "TO." Third time was the charm? "SLEEP!" One more for good measure.

The criminal scum fainted as his body fell backward onto the ground. He was still breathing at least.

"YOU!" What felt like a minute long exchange was in truth only a few seconds as Seigi, still with a knife in her side, pointed at Indra. "You can't just...urgh..." Seigi wouldn't be undone by a pathetic little scratch! RAWR. "YOUCAN'TJUSTKILLLETALONETORTURESOMEONE!" She yelled out without taking a breath. Fuck. Her entrance was supposed to be way grander!

@Indra

 

Suddenly, her grand spellcasting was interrupted by a powerful drop kick to the head, knocking the girl out of her edge. The world spun and she hit the ground face-first, tasting a bunch of the slightly umid and grassy dirt. Despite her ability in using magical arts, Indra was but a squishy mage — receiving a blow to the face like that would definitely knock her down like a pebble. While on the ground, the blonde tried to make sense of just what the hell happened a moment ago, but her mind felt too foggy to properly think of anything, not counting the numbing pain on the entirety of her head.

Indra sit up to see what happened, but her blurry vision didn’t help much. Apparently, someone else was on her previous spot and a noisy and brat-like voice ringed in her almost deaf ears. Judging by their movements… What? Were they kissing? It was strange how their blurry heads approached each other for some unknown reason, but she couldn’t wrap her head around the sight. When Seigi was done with the bandit and referred to Indra, the blonde tilted her head in confusion at her weird, distorted voice. “Cuwwious. Woi werhe yu kizing him?” Wait, what? Why was she asking the orange person something like that agai---

Seigi's great entrance fell to deaf ears.​

And then, the aeromancer unceremoniously dropped back to the ground like a bag of potatoes, unconscious from the sudden drop kick. “Uuuh, excuse me, little girl… You’re here to help, right? Thank you for defusing that situation.” The farmer approached Seigi in short, wary steps. Should the farmer receive confirmation of our heroines’ good intentions, he’d approach her with a handshake. “You should come in and git that wound treated, quick. It doesn’t look good.” He pointed to her wound. “Maggie, Alessa, help the girl with her wound. I’ll figure out what to do about the other two. It’s gonna rain a lot soon, so I’ll get the big guy to an astorean outpost nearby.”

Heavy rain poured outside and thunders made it clear none of them were leaving anytime soon. The small but comfy house had seen better days; many of the wooden planks that composed the ground were damaged, some parts of the ceiling had quick fixes done so the house wouldn’t drown inside the rain that raged outside. While the family minded their own business fixing their home, which was raided by falderen soldiers a few days ago, they left Seigi and Indra alone for the time being. Indra’s blue eyes stared at the kitchen window, observing the thick rain cover almost of the entire view outside. She then glanced back to Seigi, facial features as blank as ever.

“Thoughtful. Is dropkicking people some sort of special greeting you do to others? Annoyed. If only it had rained a few minutes before you arrived, I would have loved to see you plant your face on the mud.” Although her words were monotone, anyone could tell that her tongue was overflowing with sarcasm. “On a different note, you should be careful. If I realized you were coming closer, I could have killed you. Indifferent. Truth be told, it doesn’t matter anymore at this point. One more to the dozens I’ve killed doesn’t make that much of a difference.”

She proceeded to sip some of the coffee offered to them by the ranch family earlier.

@Seigi

 

Not only did Seigi ruin her grand entrance but things weren't going how she had planned even after. Either the blonde mage was made out of paper or the hero chick underestimated her power. Her wounds, worse than she liked to admit. And to top it all off, the city-child could clearly smell the humid air of pig-shit!

Truly, not a heroic situation at all. But what is a hero if not for dealing with things like this?! About to correct the weird-talking blonde about All.The.Things. she, instead, simply decided to fall unconscious.

Luckily for Seigi, however, the farmer family happened to be a bunch of lovely people - even if they haven't heard of Seigi before. Sure, the girl would have preferred to turn the bandit into a good guy rather than turning him over, but surely fate would make them meet again.

Instead. Here she was now. Her wounds more-or-less fixed while sheltered from the rain. Together with a robot dressed in human clothing. While Indra was speaking, Seigi's face seemed rather nonchalant until the last sentence Indra dropped.

"NO! Don't say that. Ever!" She shook her head as her fiery eyes tried to stare Indra down. As if it could help drilling the words she was about to say right into her head. "It makes a difference! Each and every single one matters. Life is precious. And it's never too late for anything." Having initially calmed down now, she continued.

"Alright. I don't like talking over people. So let's start over!" Giving Indra a warm smile Seigi tried to lighten the mood. "I am Seigi Ling Ling, a Hero of Justice! I drop-kicked you for your own safety! Did you see my landing? I managed that perfectly! Hehe... . On the matter of me getting killed. I'm way too awesome to just die like that!"

Taking a sip of some very simple tea, as a coffee-induced Seigi would most likely spell doom for all of those around, she nearly dropped the cup. "Hothothot!" Before expecting curiously for Indra to introduce herself, now, too! Just like that.

 

“Conflicted. Telling me to not say it, yet saying that every single life matters is hardly believable. Genuinely curious. If each and every life matters, why is it that thousands of Astorean soldiers died?” One could think that behind her cold and monotone words were ideals about the issue at hand, but truth be told, she wasn’t quite sure herself. She first logged in Terrasphere to feel joy in life again, and she had success on her attempt. Now that she had part of her enjoyment of living back, dealing with it wasn’t quite as simple anymore. It had been too long since she really cared for anything.

“Introduction. I am Indraneel, Seigi. You may not call me Indra, thank you very much. Sarcastic. To be honest, I knew your name already because I managed to hear it before receiving your drop-introduction.” Despite her rather snarky introduction, her dead fish expression did not change much. Indra observed Seigi’s radiant, warm, and welcoming smile. Truth be told, she had a great deal of envy of those capable of wearing such a genuine smile with ease. Recent memories resurfaced in her mind as the young girl’s words echoed in her thoughts.

“Nostalgic. Every life matters and is very precious... Someone told me similar words long ago.” She gazed back to Seigi, taking another sip of her coffee. “Stubborn. I still believe it is too late, however. I can’t save the ones I murdered.” She muttered under her breath, though Seigi would likely have heard Indra. “Interested. A hero of justice, you say? I am but a simple magecrafter. Genuinely worried. Please don’t take my magic lightly. It just happens that I was lacking in mana reserves after using a spell to slow the incoming downpour so the family had time to set up their crops.”

Another sip of her coffee would then spark an idea in the magecrafter. “Curious. What do you think of the whole situation regarding the war, Hero of Justice?” Indra stood up and moved away from the table with slow steps, staring at the rain outside. It was such a calming sight. “Contemplative. Did you know? The king of Falderen had to be slain for Astorea to claim victory over the war.” She half-turned to look at Seigi. “Do you think the outcome could be any better, or different?” She paused to sip on her coffee and let the young girl process her words. “Inquisitive. In fact, do you think we could have saved King Theodore?”

Indra then returned to the table to get her refill of coffee. “Apologetic. Forgive my inappropriate wording before. It appears the war still takes its toll on me.” Oh how understated and bitter those words were, especially after having to use the arcane arts she studied so diligently to do something as low as murder people.

Indra was eager to hear Seigi’s response. Her words and compassion with justice were very much welcome to the blonde aeromancer.

@Seigi

 

"I..." Indra had quite a bit to say about all of this. "But..." Enough that Seigi's unbreakable positivity seemed to crumble for a second, only for a second tough.

"You got it all wrong!" The flames in Seigi's eyes were fully rekindled now. Passion. Or...anger? "What should define you are your future actions and plans! Not what happened in the past! It doesn't matter if you took a single life, a hundred lives or a thousand! Saying what you do and will do doesn't matter because you're already lost or some edgy bullshit?! That's cowardly and no different from being a walking corpse! Hiding away in self-pity is what weaklings do. Don't give me that crap. A pathetic person like you could never slay me. I'd just come back over and over again." Having said that, Seigi calmed down once again before adding a bit more civilized.

"All these dead soldiers... the King. I wish I had been there to help and talk things out. But I wasn't." Seigi closed her eyes for a second and shook her head, as to tell off a certain thought.

"I want to live without regrets. Every decision I do is something I absolutely, never, want to regret later on. I... killed, too. Knowingly. Not even self-defense. But that won't stop me from doing things better in the future. To get stronger. Strong enough that I don't have to kill anymore. While doing so, I also swore to myself to talk to every single player and NPC alike and convince them of what is right. One by one, if I have to."

Taking another sip from the finally cooled down tea Seigi pointed her finger at the blonde-haired magician. "Beginning with you, Indra...neel. That's a cool name by the way!" The girl wasn't even subtle about it.

@Indra

 

The blonde observed as Seigi seemed to waver under the pressure of her words. So the words that left her mouth and that led to her drop- actions before were just superficial ideals she learned from media or from someone else trying to look good? Much to her surprise, she was wrong. Within a moment, the orange-haired youth had her fiery eyes back at full power, light shining oh so powerful regardless of the clouds and rain. That was a great sight, though the blonde felt bad for finding relief in the words of someone she should probably look more responsible around.

“Interested. Where am I wrong, then?” In contrast to the fiery presence in Seigi’s eyes, however, were deep blue and cold eyes staring at the hero of justice. She listened in silence, quick sips of her coffee and gaze focused on the rain outside, though her ears were very much aware of the reasoning articulated by the younger girl. “Inquisitive. So none of the lives I ended a few days ago matter anymore? Whether I save you or the world tomorrow will not change the fact that I mercilessly killed people as well.” Truth be told, she only answered back out of stubbornness, because Seigi’s words did hit quite hard.

“That is what I am trying to tell you. Negotiation was not an option. The enemy forces were mind-controlled by the king. I am sure the assassination team weren’t welcomed with…” She glanced at Seigi’s cup of tea, and then back to her coffee. “Joke. A cup of tea, or coffee, for example.”

A monotone sigh escaped her lips as she finally decided to sit down to continue her discussion with the aspiring hero. “Impressed. That is an admirable trait and viewpoint. But think for a moment, Seigi. Even if you are so relentless about becoming strong enough that the need to kill will be inexistent, you should look at yourself, me, and the adventurers as a whole. King Theodore De Falder faced immortal people to stand by his ideals in a battle he had little chance of winning to begin with.” She paused, another quick sip of her coffee would allow Seigi to speak up or just let her words sink in better. "Don't you think he was just as relentless as you are right now?"

Although Indra put on a facade up until this point, Seigi’s words still refreshed her foggy mind. In a way, the orange-haired youth had valid points that her mind almost wanted to take up on and accept it — yet, her heart did not. Because it knew the pain of killing those subdued forcefully to fight. If someone was to blame for all of this, it had to be Theodore.. Right? Actually, was it even right to blame anyone after war?

“Giggly. Ha, ha. Ha. Feel free to call me by Indra, I was joking, Seigi. Interesting name choice for a Hero of Justice.” She proceeded to take another sip, although this time around-- “Gyaaagh.” A monotone wannabe shriek escaped her lips while she waved her hand near her mouth. “Annoyeth. Buhning yor tongue is sumthing, but biting it as well i’on an entire neww leveul…”

After a few moments, Indra recovered and continue speaking, “Curious. Why a Hero of Justice in a world like this, Seigi?” She said, waving to the family’s daughter that came to check in if everything was alright.

@Seigi

 

"They do matter! They'll live on in the memories of those around them. In your memories. But... the notion of revenge is ridiculous." Seigi shook her head before getting too off-topic. "The dead are dead. Yes, but..." This was... ridiculously sounding coming from someone who was basically immortal? "But they're definitely not the ones holding you back from stopping killing! So stop throwing excuses as if you didn't have another choice!" The justice girl kind-of pouted, why was Indra so stubborn?! Nonetheless, she seemed to simply move on.

As she kept listening to Indra, Seigi let out a small sigh. Who was supposed to be the adult here?! Or maybe Seigi simply picked up on the actual important things in all those hero fiction things she read and watched. "It doesn't matter if we're immortal or not. Strength isn't just about that kind of power alone. It has to do with your convictions. What you believe in. These people who, ultimately, killed the king, were too weak for that, too? It happened. I... wasn't there. But, see. When I told you earlier your thunder can't kill me. I'm very well aware it could, but that wouldn't stop me from standing up again and come at you over and over until I'd get through that thick skull of yours! I am 100 percent certain you'd rather get tired of killing me over and over again before I'd tire of temporary defeat!" Seigi nodded. "I dare say true strength is to never give up. To not take the easy way out, no matter how dire the circumstances may be." Damn, the girl should really write a book!

With that, the talking actually stopped and Seigi was able to take another sip of her tea. The hero really had to get used to the scary fact how real this actually tasted. While scary though, it also meant she'd be able to eat and taste the weirdest things! Maybe she should have picked some sort of cooking herself... .

"Me, why I am here?" Seigi went silent for a second as Indra asked such a question. "Well, despite everything, Terrasphere is a game, no? We play games to have fun... ." After having given such big words, Seigi's reason to play seemed rather silly, didn't it? Though that harmless question was clearly something that made Seigi's mood drop as she thought about it. "But that doesn't mean what I said isn't what I believe in. I... I want to not lose myself while playing. Everything I said is what I honestly believe in... or want to believe." The hero girl added with way less gusto as she stared a hole into her tea. Maybe there was more, but if there was, now wasn't the time for Seigi to share it.

Spending some long seconds in silence, Seigi ultimately looked up as she displayed a devilish grin on her face. "You could also say it serves as a learning process, for myself! What about you, Indra?" Seigi sure was quick in getting her mood back up to good.