chlorokyll | inbox (duocaeli)

[And he retells it so pointedly, so straightforwardly, there is not even a mote of regret or guilt to be wrung out of those words.

So the question that remains is: why?]

Your sisters? What happened to them?

[ Oh no, V, you don't know what kind of floodgate you've opened here. ]

Humans require them as sources of energy and water among other things. They use them up carelessly as they cling to life on the surface of a planet that was never meant to accommodate them. They take no care at all and wring every last bit of life from them for their own selfish needs.

[Pandora's box hereby opened.]

Your siblings are used as energy? As though they were, what? Batteries?

[How is this possible, exactly? He must be missing context.]

They are plants. As in power plants, if you are familiar with the concept.

Edited 2023-05-11 05:15 (UTC)

I know what a power plant is, yes.

[But that ushers in imagery of huge facilities with a worrisome nuclear reactor in the middle, or something. Not something that looks like... Knives? He assumes that's the case.]

But those aren't sentient. Your sisters are?

[Is that rude to ask. He just wants to know. Because Knives sure is??? If so, then the man has quite the reason to be upset.]

I am an independent, meaning that I can exist outside of a tank and have free will and what you would think of as a soul. My sisters are dependents, created for the purpose of pulling in these resources that humans need to survive.

However, that does not give humanity the right to use them up and toss them aside as they do, wringing every last bit of life out of them. I intend to create a world where they can live peacefully.

[ Except then he was brought here. Womp womp. ]

[Not sentient, then. But... that means little, doesn't it, when Knives sees it as humans using up his siblings for little more than resources. Like livestock for slaughter.

Well, that's odd then, too, right? Why would humans then create a sentient version of these "plants" when he might not take kindly to the idea? That seems a misstep if he's ever heard of one, but of course he keeps that thought caged in his head.

Instead, more generally:]

Might I ask why you were created differently than the rest?

Some might have called it a fluke. Others a miracle. We were not planned, but came about unexpectedly, born from one of the dependents.

[ A pause, as he realizes what question will come next. ]

My brother and I, that is. It's possible you have memories of him as well.

From our supposed school days.

[He's right. He was going to ask after the "we", but Knives predicts that question and then throws him for a loop with the explanation.]

Your brother.

[Does he recall...? Again, dipping into memory, a face is dredged up from silt. More familiarity, the face of Knives' brother. Not much else, though; the rest feels faraway.]

I do remember.

Is he here, too?

He is, yes. I'm surprised you haven't met him yet. He's the sort of person to befriend everyone he comes across.

[ Human, Plant, and other non-human (since that is a category now, apparently) alike. ]

[He has technically met him by now but we're keeping this vague and blame it on wacky woohoo memories not lining up yet since thread is still ongoing-]

So not much like you.

[ Some people might view this as rude but Knives simply views it as a truth. If an annoying one, because his brother has been pulling this nonsense for over a century. ]

That's right.
I suspect you'll run into him soon enough.

And how did he feel? About decimating an entire town? Was he in support of that as well?

No. He is desperate for the humans' approval. If you were to ask him, I am sure he would speak to you ad nauseum about it.

[There’s a pause.

Something about this amuses him, though the context provided is serious. Worrisome, even. But V can’t help but draw a parallel-]

Two brothers at ideological odds, then. Doesn’t that sound familiar. You have my condolences; both of you.

[ That's hardly the response that Knives had been expecting. Condolences — to both of them, even? ]

Familiar? How so?

I have a brother, too.

[This is not a lie. Even in this form, half of who he should be, he still is who he is -- and that does include his relationship with his brother being so formative to... everything that's happened to him.

For good or ill.]

One that I've disagreed with time and time again, to violent ends. So you could say that I empathize, no matter how different our situations might be.

[ Ah. Knives can't say that he has ever had someone try to empathize with him on this point, especially since the bond between him and Vash is not something that can be explained or replicated.

But the fact that these disagreements that V has had with his brother were more than just petty arguments, but even became violent — it does make Knives the slightest bit curious. ]

I see. And what was the nature of these disagreements?

[The nature? Dante gravitating towards his humanity, and Vergil shunning it. At the very core of everything, this is what it boiled down to -- departed from his whole self, V could see that with more clarity than ever before.

But that's a little too deeply personal of a take to share. So he opts for an example of an actual event.]

The way to go about obtaining power. It's a long story, but I wanted something from the Demon World, once. He disagreed that I should have it at all. And so, we fought.

[ The Demon World. Knives stares at that for a long time, delaying his response because he doesn't know what to make of it. He's never heard that exact name before, but there is truly only one way to interpret it.

And this all feels oddly familiar, more than he was expecting, despite him doubting that it could be. ]

The Demon World. As in Hell? What sort of power did you hope to find there?

That’s right. Hell, the Demon World, the Underworld, the Netherworld. Whatever you feel like calling it.

There was once a demon named Sparda who defeated the Demon King in ages past. So, to say that he was simply strong is an understatement. Eventually, he sealed his own power within the Demon World, fearing his own strength had become too much.

I wanted to break that seal and make it my own.

[As you do.]

[ Knives is going to take a moment to process the fact that such a place exists where V is from. For all that the Eye of Michael spreads its rhetoric to the masses, he is aware that religion is manmade. Still, he's always wondered if there is truth to be found in it.

He and Vash, angels sent by God. Of course, they're also manmade.

And the Demon King, surely that is Satan? And V had wanted the power of the demon who bested him. Yet again, Knives feels that he has been lied to. ]

This does not sound like the ambition of a mere man.

Edited 2023-05-15 22:29 (UTC)

[He's not lying, he's just stretching the truth!]

You're wrong. It's the ambition of someone who feels that they're lacking in some form or another. In strength, in this case.

But that might as well have been someone altogether different. A lifetime ago.

You're telling me a mere human is capable of gaining the power of a demon who opposed Satan himself? I find that incredibly hard to believe.

[ Someone altogether different? A lifetime ago? Hmm. ]

I have lived a century and a half, and in my experience, a lifetime is not enough to truly change someone.

[ Just look at Vash. ]

[Who opposed Satan himself? The parallels are not wrong; the Demon King was otherwise known as the Prince of Hell itself, but also several other monikers that suited the ruler of the Underworld. He might as well be called Satan, too, but V feels the need to correct Knives anyway.]

His name is Mundus. And believe whatever you like, but a "mere human" is capable of plenty when one's mind is put to something.

[That's a gentle sidestep from the accusation that he's not telling the truth!]

There also has to be a willingness to change. That, I find, is the hardest part.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject