[It takes some time for Liem to arrive at the Tree.
He does not know of it immediately when Set passes, as their bond does not connect them in any way beyond the usual; a bond of companionship, sealed by word and deed alone, strengthened by the time they spend in one another’s company. Though he goes days without speaking to the god, it is only when Hayame contacts him to ask after Set that he realizes… he has not seen him in longer than he would normally expect.
(His thirst confirms for him that this is the case. It has been some time since he last supped from the god’s veins.)
So Liem goes looking. At his shrine in the Beyond, where they had shared intimate moments in days past, and where he thinks the thread of communion between them might spark loudest. At his home in Springstar — a place that he had never before visited, and had to be told even existed. He seeks him with his body and his soul, but the god of the desert is nowhere to be found.
And so, in resignation, he eventually finds himself here: at the Tree of Life, wandering its roots in hopeful trepidation of one familiar sight. Guided unerringly by the pull of magic leading him onwards, he searches for the swelling pod of a planted shard, nestled amidst the moss and dirt at the Tree’s roots.]
[ She doesn’t actually know that this cocoon is Set’s. It really only amounts to wishful thinking.
While Quetzalcoatl was a friendly, loving presence for (nearly) every Shard-Bearer, there were definitely a handful that she favored just a bit more. The reasons varied, since sometimes it was just a moment of gentle understanding that made her worry for them or maybe they were like Liem and devout enough to gods that she felt a little more responsibility. But they definitely received a bit more biased treatment, though it was through soft gestures. A little gift here, an invite to spend time with her there, but the important part was that she stayed in contact with these people more than others.
It's how she’d realized that Voryn was no longer here. She’d tried to reach out through Communion to excitedly tell him about these bells she’d found and say that she wanted to hear the music they had talked about, it he could play it. Yet it wasn’t just that there was no response. It was a message that just echoed out into nothing. Once she’d confirmed it with Cetina… Well, there was an ache, of course. She’s very human for a god, and that means she’s not free from the sorrow of losing a friend.
So, when she’d tried to reach out to Set a few days later, her reflexive response was almost panic. It’s a sharp pang where she’s immediately worried that he too is gone, but she realizes the difference as she tries to reach out again. It’s not a void, but it does feel… dark, in a way. She’s not sure what it means, but there’s only one thing she thought to do.
She’d wandered in the roots looking for—Well, she’s not completely sure what. She had a feeling that maybe she’d find a cocoon down here, since it’s not like she’s unfamiliar with dying here now. But she’d also worried, just a little bit, that she might find evidence that someone had pulled themselves out of the roots of the tree. But eventually, she only found the one cocoon.
And so, Quetzalcoatl has been down here for a while at this point. It’s boring, save for when she reaches out through Communion to find someone to chat with, but that’s okay. It feels like part of her promise to stand vigil here, and that’s all that really matters to her.
…Well. “Stand vigil”, as it turns out. By the time Liem makes his way down to find the cocoon as well, he’ll find Quetzalcoatl already there, but she’s leaned up against the cocoon with her blue cape wrapped around her tightly as a makeshift blanket. She’s sleeping while she waits, and Liem’s approach doesn’t immediately rouse her. ]
[Once he’s teleported to the Tree of Life, locating Set’s shard is a simple task. Following the tug of magic that manifests in answer to his spell, he descends to the tree’s base and traverses the roots until he finds the familiar shape of a growing cocoon — this time that of a friend, the pod immature and unbroken. The sight fills him with a melancholy sort of relief; though he doesn’t know how Set came to be dissipated, at least his shard is already safe in the Tree’s embrace, regenerating in its cocoon of greenery.
He is also relieved, and surprised, to catch sight of Quetzalcoatl leaning up against the rounded shape, apparently fast asleep.
Had she been the one to return his shard to the Tree? Would she be able to tell him what had happened to him? He is a little loath to disturb her, peaceful as she looks — but she must have been waiting here in solitude for some time to have fallen asleep like this, and he thinks perhaps she would welcome the company.]
Ma’am? Quetzalcoatl?
[He crosses the distance to Set’s cocoon and crouches next to it, regarding Quetzalcoatl soberly.]
[ When Liem speaks, Quetzalcoatl is at least quick to stir. She doesn’t seem startled as she wakes up (her sense of danger is a little, uh, lacking), but she is quickly surprised as her gaze focuses as she rouses. ]
Oh— Liem?
[ She says his name lightly, but it’s also interrupted at the very end by a yawn. She probably could have kept sleeping down here for a long time, honestly. It may not be comfortable, but since sleep is an okay way to regenerate mana, she’s essentially always ready for a nap… She stretches a little after the yawn, and it comes with a thoughtful noise. ]
Mmm… I don’t know? A while! A few hours for certain, yes. [ She really hasn’t been keeping track at all, though it’s largely because it didn’t particularly matter to her. ] Ey, what are you doing down here, though?
[Liem isn’t sure how he feels about Quetz’s lack of nervousness about napping in a place as publicly accessible as the Tree of Life. Sure, she is a goddess — but he recalls that she was one of the people in Meridian to get dissipated during the earlier portion of the Blight outbreak. And here she is next to Set’s cocoon, where his regenerating body is tucked snugly away. Clearly even the Divinities among Meridian’s number are not immune from danger, if the circumstances swing the right way.
Well. He’s no threat, so there isn’t any reason to get put out about it. He blinks, glances at the humped growth that she’s been leaning against.]
I came to find him.
[Set, he means. He assumes that she knows whose cocoon she was napping next to. Having found what he was looking for, Liem approaches until he can kneel down in the moss next to the pod, noting how thick and lush the greenery seems to be around it. There’s no sense at all of the person sleeping within; he hopes Set is having good dreams.]
[ Her surprise turns to a difficult expression as she looks to the cocoon, but she shakes her head. ]
No. I—
[ She pauses, since it’s not like Liem was clear who “him” was. Someone else that Liem knows could have died, so that would mean this one cocoon wasn’t Set. The thought gets her to sigh a little, and she places a hand against it. ]
Well, I don’t know who’s in here, to be honest. I was hoping it was Set.
[ She draws her hand away as she looks back to Liem, and though she’s smiling, there’s also an apology written into the expression. ]
[Liem's brows lift in surprise at her admission — then furrow ever so slightly, as he realizes what it means. If Quetzalcoatl didn't even know whose cocoon she was resting against, then she must be as lost as him on the matter of how exactly Set even came to be here.
And yet, she knew enough to be aware that he had vanished, and to come looking for him. It gives Liem a little comfort to find someone already here, watching over him, even though — once again — Set hadn't extended a request for such consideration.]
It is. And I've found him; his shard is here.
[He pats the curved side of the pod welling up from the ground, confidence mingling with melancholy in his tone. How had someone like Set managed to end up here, at a time when the blight was finally receding? Even though he expects Quetzalcoatl to be just as in the dark as he is, he can't help but ask anyway.]
[ She’s surprised again when Liem confirms so confidently that it’s Set’s Shard inside, but it’s a deep relief. Quetzalcoatl brings a hand to her chest in a gesture of it, and immediately, her eyes well up and spill over with tears. ]
Gracias a Dios... I’m so glad he is here. If this was just someone else…
[ Well, she would be crying anyways. So, even if she’s confused at how he ended up here, she’s still crying because she’s glad that he’s at least still here. It would feel especially tragic for Set to just be truly gone right after he had shared his heart with her. She can be a little happy to know that it wasn’t something as sad as that.
Quetzalcoatl doesn’t even reach up to wipe away the tears, seemingly having no embarrassment whatsoever at feeling and expressing such strong emotions. She just shakes her head. ]
No, I don’t. The last time I saw him was when we were doing a match at the Coliseum the other day! He even won. He was his usual self about it too! [ translation: insufferable ]
[Despite Quetz’s decidedly emotive and admittedly tender-hearted personality, Liem is still a little taken aback to see that, when he confirms that it really is Set’s shard nestled inside this cocoon — tears well up in her eyes and she begins to cry. Had she been holding back those tears back all the time that she’d been waiting here, or had she been crying here, alone, before she’d fallen asleep next to the cocoon of this dissipated person that she’d hoped was Set?
But she doesn’t acknowledge it, so he pretends that he hasn’t noticed anything at all.]
I haven’t seen him in closer to a week, [he admits.
How often has Set been the one to seek him out with some bit of news, some question, some aggressive offer of aid? The only time recently that he’d sought Set out intentionally was at the end of the Mnemosyno Sending, when he’d gone to see the god preside over that final ritual of passing and had instead found him in the grip of something far more strange and upsetting.]
It was when I was still with Zenith. He has seemed a little strange of late, but still… I do not know how he could have ended up here.
[ She nods a little as she listens, and now a little more conscious of the tears, she leans her head down a little so that her poncho will reach up to wipe at her face. It’s not enough to avoid flashing him a little, but just like the tears themselves, this goes completely without acknowledgement… Yet again, Quetzalcoatl is here to dispel any illusions that all gods are like. Smart. ]
Mm, he was having a hard time recently, but that’s why I was worried about him! He does his tipo duro thing, but…
[ Then what Liem says catches up with her, and her teary smile quickly turns perplexed. Unsurprisingly… She has missed A Certain Memo. ]
¿Qué?
[ You can almost see the wheels turning in her head, because she’d probably seen Liem around Alenroux at the time, doing his usual Liem thing. She’d be even more confused if she’d knew he still turned in his report… to Cetina. ]
[When Liem sees Quetz grasp the edge of her poncho and lift it to her face, his eyes dart hastily up to look somewhere north of her head — but he isn't quite quick enough with his realization to avoid catching an eyeful of divine tit. A faint, dusty-violet flush touches the delicate planes of his cheeks as he continues steadfastly to stare off into the Tree's depths, keeping his gaze there until the poncho has been dropped back in place.
Clearly, he was wrong to simply pretend nothing was the matter. Even as he returns his gaze to Quetz's puzzled face, pale fingers slide up to his breast pocket so he can retrieve his handkerchief and offer it wordlessly to her. Just in case of further tears.]
I was.
[He's a little surprised that this is news to her. Admittedly he hadn't been terribly public about it, and he'd continued to spend time in both Springstar and Alenroux, but Hayame, Claude, and Set had all known of his defection. He had thought that at least one of them might have made the knowledge more public.]
For a few weeks, at least. I was… forcibly recruited during the Oracle trial, and only returned some few days past.
[ Of course she misses his reaction at first, what with wiping away the tears, but when she looks up and sees the handkerchief offered… Well, first, she’s briefly confused, because no, really, she’s okay now! It’s just overwhelming to know that Set is indeed okay! But seeing the little flush on his cheeks a moment later— ]
Oh— Oh, Liem, you’re so sweet.
[ She laughs a little as she takes the square of fabric gratefully, and her comment is both at his blush and the fact that he offered. What a gentleman! She does at least use it to dab a little bit more at her face, but her expression quickly grows more serious as he explains. ]
Really? Forcibly? [ Considering the stress she puts on that word, the danger level for this mystery person may be rising… ] Ey, who did that?
[Liem allows himself to feel relief that Quetz accepts his offer of handkerchief, even if the immediate need for it has passed. Now that they have determined that this cocoon belongs to Set, it looks like both of them are intending to remain here for a while. Perhaps he can head off a second flashing incident this way, if she ends up tearing up again when Set actually emerges.
(He can’t remember the last time anyone called him “sweet.” Fortunately he’s already flustered enough from accidentally catching a glimpse of her chest that he doesn’t react visibly beyond a slight twitch of his mouth.)]
Well… Sebastian Michaelis made an attempt at it.
[He doesn’t hesitate to name the people involved; other Meris should know what they’re capable of, for good or for ill.
Bracing a hand against the pod’s side, he rearranges his legs below him so he can sit next to it, instead of kneeling. The thick moss provides a surprisingly comfortable cushion.]
I rebuffed him, but… I isolated myself more than I should have, during that period. John — not Mister Sims, but the other John — took it upon himself to, ah, convince me.
[ Quetzalcoatl frowns more deeply as Liem explains, clearly unhappy with this news. She knows of Sebastian thanks to the information Set had shared and thus his relation to Silco, most importantly. From that alone, she doesn’t exactly think well of him, so that opinion is only getting soured more. Little does she know that Silco is going for the the pvp angle…
But the eventual culprit does end up earning more of her ire. Like everyone else, she’d innately understood that they could “influence” others with the energy of Meridian or Zenith, but it wasn’t something she’d considered at all. It’s not surprising that others had done it, but it is… disappointing. She hopes for the best of people, and at times like now, she’s disappointed. ]
Mm… I hate to hear that, you know. Not because of you, of course, but I hate that people even decided to do that.
[ She frowns a little more as her expression sours in a way that’s uncharacteristic for her. She’s definitely considering doing… something about it. But what? That’s the part that’s hard when it comes to conflicts in Kenos. ]
[Converting people to Meridian by force had never been something that Liem had considered either, when they were all beneath the Tree. It had seemed unclean to him, to resort to such methods in order to claim victory. What did it say about those who were willing to rob others of their own agency in order to get their way? What did it say about the cause they fought for? During that interminable period in the Oracle chamber, with Zenith whispering in his ear, he hadn't felt confident enough in his own righteousness to assert his will over others.
He'd talked to them, instead. To look for trade partners. To try to understand other people's points of view, and to try to persuade them to see his. But despair had weighed too heavily on him; he couldn't claw his way back into the light.]
Well…
[He glances up, thoughtful, at the immense body of the tree above their heads. Is he mad? At John? The question hadn't even occurred to him until now.]
A little, I suppose. I think it's more accurate to say I've formed an uncharitable opinion of his character, now.
[He can't really be too angry. He was the one who ultimately let himself be swayed, after all. That was why Hayame was angry with him, when he left.]
I don't think it was personal. We'd never even spoken before that interaction. He was probably just looking for someone vulnerable to convert.
A little… [ She grumbles it out as she repeats it, then gives Liem a pointed, but small poke to his shoulder. ] Then I’ll be mad for you, yes! It’s not the worst thing to do to someone, sure, but it’s still not good! It’s… I don’t know! It feels like taking advantage of someone and for bad reasons! Not to mention that it’s totally dishonorable!
[ She huffs, clearly impassioned by the matter, but it’s partially because Liem is a special case among people she knows. While Liem may not worship her directly, she took it seriously that he was a man of faith and to a god with some similar domains to her own. She really does consider him like something of a follower-in-law… And with that, you get her unique brand of divine protection. It’s less magical than it is physical in this case, though. ]
Ay, next time I see him, I’m going to put him in a super cavernaria!
[Liem accepts the small jab to his shoulder with a slight brightening of his expression, a small relaxing of his posture. He doesn't need anyone to look out for him in that way; he's perfectly able to protect himself, if he needs to. And he doesn't really think that getting cross with John would accomplish anything of merit. But in spite of that, Quetz's desire to act on his behalf still makes him feel just a little pleased, in a way he has rarely had occasion to feel.]
He did not give me the impression of a man who cares overmuch about honour, [he agrees.
In Liem's admittedly incomplete estimation, he would have to say that a fair number of those who gravitate towards Zenith don't prize honour especially highly. In contrast, Meridian has had a rather telling number of members willing to get quite heated about it. Perhaps it should not be a surprise, when accepting Zenith's promise means leaving behind your own land with its customs and values.
After a moment, he adds curiously,] What is a super cavernaria?
[ Quetzalcoatl huffs with a nod, since no, he clearly doesn’t! This is an impression that will only become worse the more she hears about John and his activities, but for now? It’s at least isolated to Liem, where she disapproves, but it’s a matter that’s essentially resolved itself. Though she’d still seriously challenge him to a fight, it’s not anything she’d go adamantly pursue.
For now, anyways.
But Liem’s curiosity at least gets her mood to brighten quickly. She laughs, always happy to explain the finer points of lucha, and she moves her hands animatedly to help demonstrate as she explains. ]
Oh, it’s a submission hold! You put someone in a chinlock and stretch them back over your knees! It’s a classic one too! It looks like it hurts, but it’s actually not that bad… If it were lucha, it’s more about grabbing someone by their mask and pinning them a little bit that way! But in this case, it’s just a punishment for being mean, but not something so serious it’d, um, actually hurt him that bad! It seems fair enough, yes?
[The way that Quetz describes the move she wants to use on John makes amusement lift Liem’s features just a little. She sounds like someone discussing the punishment for an unruly dog, or a naughty child, which is a funny thought to associate with someone who is a fully grown man and, from what Liem understands, probably also an accomplished mage. But perhaps to someone like her, no one is beneath being punished like a naughty child. No mortal being, at least.
(From his perspective, the jury is still out on whether she might treat another god that way — but if he had to guess, when it comes to Set, the answer is probably still yes.)
He thinks about this for another moment, leaning against Set’s cocoon like the lumpy back of a green and growing couch.]
Do you tend to use moves like that very much in real fights, Ma’am? Ones where you’re not trying to perform.
[ The answer is absolutely yes because if there’s anyone that needs to be punished like an unruly child sometimes, it’s Set. Anyways,
As Liem gets more comfortable, Quetzalcoatl does too. It looks like they’ll both be staying here for a little while, which she absolutely doesn’t mind. It’s kind of the opposite now that she has Liem’s assurance that it is indeed Set inside the cocoon—it means there’s less for her to have to worry about now. So, she stretches a little bit to loosen up tight muscles from taking a somewhat awkward nap, but even as she does, she laughs a little sheepishly. ]
Oh, well… It kind of depends on how, um, seriously I’m taking it!
[ She seems a little embarrassed to admit it, but it’s because she wouldn’t want to admit to most people that she’s not taking their fights fully seriously. It’d be an insult to them and their prowess as warriors, but it’s actually a sign of respect in Quetzalcoatl’s view. It’s expected that she’s very strong, but no one really knows the full extent. Her love of physicality and wrestling is strong on its own but when she truly starts to tap into what makes her divine… Well, it’s no longer a fair fight, really. ]
Like there are some moves that are handy no matter what! A backbreaker, a piledriver, all of the classics! And if you’re not careful in the ring, you could really hurt someone, yes! [ She shrugs ] But lucha is still something I learned about much later… When it comes to a more serious fight, then I’d use my sword and shield. Lucha is for fun! But I’m still a warrior god, you know?
[The way that Quetz talks about lucha moves makes sense. Liem recalls her saying that it was a more recent invention from her world, and also that the sport was meant to be a performance, rather than solely a competition of wrestling ability. Even so, the names that she tosses out so casually (piledriver… backbreaker…) sound like moves that he definitely wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of.
Though, something else does catch his attention as she’s explaining.]
Hmm. Did I know that?
[Liem tips his head as he watches her stretch (though actually, if she seems like she’s in danger of lifting her arms especially high in that poncho, he’ll glance out at the tree’s limbs just in case). The expression on his face is thoughtful, and a little surprised. Obviously he knew that Quetzalcoatl was capable of fighting — it was probably a very rare Divinity that wasn’t. The goddess of redemption and healing, Sarenrae, for example, was known as a very powerful divine being who had led the fight against the Worldbreaker during the Age of Creation.
But still, that is not really the same as being a warrior god, he thinks.]
You must be skilled in many different disciplines, then.
[ She laughs, since sometimes she means “you know” as an actual question, sometimes it’s more a turn of phrase, but either way… Good to share it now, she supposes! ]
Most of mi familia are warriors! Definitely all of Tezcatlipocas anyways… It’s hard work creating the world, so we had to fight a lot for it, yes!
[ Quetzalcoatl nods, and she at least has the sense to not get too much further into it without Liem asking, since she knows the cosmology of her pantheon gets a little confusing… She can use words like “family” and other relationships like “brother” or “mother”, but they were analogies over anything else. For the gods of the Azteca, they had a structure that was totally different from humanity’s, ultimately. ]
Like my older brother and I! To make the earth for the people of the Fifth Sun to live on, we had to slay Cipactli, the giant sea monster that lived in the sea left behind from the Fourth Sun. He had to use his leg as bait to draw them out, and then I was able to strike the first blow. We had to fight for a long time, but obviously, we won! So, then we made the land out of its body, more or less!
[ It’s the very short version of the story, but it’s also probably a little fun to hear a Creation story told in such a blunt, straightforward way. They’re so prone to metaphor and flowery prose, but then there’s Quetzalcoatl to just say “Tezcatlipoca and I killed a huge crocodile, the end.” At least her stories are easy to understand. ]
So, we kind of have to be skilled! We’re, um, some of the major ones, after all! There’s only father-mother Ometeotl “above” us, and we did all the work!
[Liem has heard and read a number of creation stories before, and he listens with patient interest to Quetzalcoatl’s, short and unembellished though it is. Though it bears little resemblance to the story of how Golarion was made, he supposes it’s not totally dissimilar. Evidently the battling of giant monsters is a recurring theme in some creation mythologies… though, since he’s hearing this one straight from the source, perhaps mythology isn’t even really the right term.]
That does make sense. I can think of very few major Divinities from my world that never warred against other powers. Even the goddess of love and beauty fought bitterly with her own brother.
[There’s a bit more to it than just sibling rivalry in that case, but nonetheless, his point stands that even the meekest and least violent of gods needs to be skilled enough to defend their interests at times.]
Did you have to fight after you’d finished making the world, as well?
[ Quetzalcoatl nods in understanding, even clicking her tongue a little too in irritation. As it turns out, she can sympathsize with this other goddess, since it answers Liem’s question nicely… ]
Ay, maybe not on so big of a scale, but sí, Tezcatlipoca and I fight all the time! We only teamed up for the Fifth Sun because we kind of had to! There’s not much point in gods if you don’t have a world to overlook, right?
[ It was absolutely a one-time thing only. Even if a few Suns had managed to cool off their tempers from sabotaging each other, they were still rivals at best. There’s something to it where it’s probably fated, since their personalities and domains are so fundamentally opposed… But it also makes it annoying that she’s technically an aspect of his. At least she’d managed to distinguish herself as her own identity unlike Huitzilopochtli… But she waves a hand dismissively as she continues. ]
But, no, Tezcatlipoca is a lot like Set, de hecho, but if Set didn’t have anything cute about him! [ …Is cute the right word for it? It’s the one she’s picked, anyways. ] He’s the worst, just a troublemaker and a problem, no matter when or where! He’s the god of conflict, so I guess that’s what he’s supposed to do, but he still takes it too far, you know? It’s his fault that my Azteca have a, um, weird reputation in history, you know!
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He does not know of it immediately when Set passes, as their bond does not connect them in any way beyond the usual; a bond of companionship, sealed by word and deed alone, strengthened by the time they spend in one another’s company. Though he goes days without speaking to the god, it is only when Hayame contacts him to ask after Set that he realizes… he has not seen him in longer than he would normally expect.
(His thirst confirms for him that this is the case. It has been some time since he last supped from the god’s veins.)
So Liem goes looking. At his shrine in the Beyond, where they had shared intimate moments in days past, and where he thinks the thread of communion between them might spark loudest. At his home in Springstar — a place that he had never before visited, and had to be told even existed. He seeks him with his body and his soul, but the god of the desert is nowhere to be found.
And so, in resignation, he eventually finds himself here: at the Tree of Life, wandering its roots in hopeful trepidation of one familiar sight. Guided unerringly by the pull of magic leading him onwards, he searches for the swelling pod of a planted shard, nestled amidst the moss and dirt at the Tree’s roots.]
no subject
While Quetzalcoatl was a friendly, loving presence for (nearly) every Shard-Bearer, there were definitely a handful that she favored just a bit more. The reasons varied, since sometimes it was just a moment of gentle understanding that made her worry for them or maybe they were like Liem and devout enough to gods that she felt a little more responsibility. But they definitely received a bit more biased treatment, though it was through soft gestures. A little gift here, an invite to spend time with her there, but the important part was that she stayed in contact with these people more than others.
It's how she’d realized that Voryn was no longer here. She’d tried to reach out through Communion to excitedly tell him about these bells she’d found and say that she wanted to hear the music they had talked about, it he could play it. Yet it wasn’t just that there was no response. It was a message that just echoed out into nothing. Once she’d confirmed it with Cetina… Well, there was an ache, of course. She’s very human for a god, and that means she’s not free from the sorrow of losing a friend.
So, when she’d tried to reach out to Set a few days later, her reflexive response was almost panic. It’s a sharp pang where she’s immediately worried that he too is gone, but she realizes the difference as she tries to reach out again. It’s not a void, but it does feel… dark, in a way. She’s not sure what it means, but there’s only one thing she thought to do.
She’d wandered in the roots looking for—Well, she’s not completely sure what. She had a feeling that maybe she’d find a cocoon down here, since it’s not like she’s unfamiliar with dying here now. But she’d also worried, just a little bit, that she might find evidence that someone had pulled themselves out of the roots of the tree. But eventually, she only found the one cocoon.
And so, Quetzalcoatl has been down here for a while at this point. It’s boring, save for when she reaches out through Communion to find someone to chat with, but that’s okay. It feels like part of her promise to stand vigil here, and that’s all that really matters to her.
…Well. “Stand vigil”, as it turns out. By the time Liem makes his way down to find the cocoon as well, he’ll find Quetzalcoatl already there, but she’s leaned up against the cocoon with her blue cape wrapped around her tightly as a makeshift blanket. She’s sleeping while she waits, and Liem’s approach doesn’t immediately rouse her. ]
no subject
He is also relieved, and surprised, to catch sight of Quetzalcoatl leaning up against the rounded shape, apparently fast asleep.
Had she been the one to return his shard to the Tree? Would she be able to tell him what had happened to him? He is a little loath to disturb her, peaceful as she looks — but she must have been waiting here in solitude for some time to have fallen asleep like this, and he thinks perhaps she would welcome the company.]
Ma’am? Quetzalcoatl?
[He crosses the distance to Set’s cocoon and crouches next to it, regarding Quetzalcoatl soberly.]
How long have you been here?
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Oh— Liem?
[ She says his name lightly, but it’s also interrupted at the very end by a yawn. She probably could have kept sleeping down here for a long time, honestly. It may not be comfortable, but since sleep is an okay way to regenerate mana, she’s essentially always ready for a nap… She stretches a little after the yawn, and it comes with a thoughtful noise. ]
Mmm… I don’t know? A while! A few hours for certain, yes. [ She really hasn’t been keeping track at all, though it’s largely because it didn’t particularly matter to her. ] Ey, what are you doing down here, though?
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Well. He’s no threat, so there isn’t any reason to get put out about it. He blinks, glances at the humped growth that she’s been leaning against.]
I came to find him.
[Set, he means. He assumes that she knows whose cocoon she was napping next to. Having found what he was looking for, Liem approaches until he can kneel down in the moss next to the pod, noting how thick and lush the greenery seems to be around it. There’s no sense at all of the person sleeping within; he hopes Set is having good dreams.]
Were you the one who planted him here?
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No. I—
[ She pauses, since it’s not like Liem was clear who “him” was. Someone else that Liem knows could have died, so that would mean this one cocoon wasn’t Set. The thought gets her to sigh a little, and she places a hand against it. ]
Well, I don’t know who’s in here, to be honest. I was hoping it was Set.
[ She draws her hand away as she looks back to Liem, and though she’s smiling, there’s also an apology written into the expression. ]
I hope that’s who you came looking for too, sí?
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And yet, she knew enough to be aware that he had vanished, and to come looking for him. It gives Liem a little comfort to find someone already here, watching over him, even though — once again — Set hadn't extended a request for such consideration.]
It is. And I've found him; his shard is here.
[He pats the curved side of the pod welling up from the ground, confidence mingling with melancholy in his tone. How had someone like Set managed to end up here, at a time when the blight was finally receding? Even though he expects Quetzalcoatl to be just as in the dark as he is, he can't help but ask anyway.]
Do you know what happened to him?
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Gracias a Dios... I’m so glad he is here. If this was just someone else…
[ Well, she would be crying anyways. So, even if she’s confused at how he ended up here, she’s still crying because she’s glad that he’s at least still here. It would feel especially tragic for Set to just be truly gone right after he had shared his heart with her. She can be a little happy to know that it wasn’t something as sad as that.
Quetzalcoatl doesn’t even reach up to wipe away the tears, seemingly having no embarrassment whatsoever at feeling and expressing such strong emotions. She just shakes her head. ]
No, I don’t. The last time I saw him was when we were doing a match at the Coliseum the other day! He even won. He was his usual self about it too! [ translation: insufferable ]
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But she doesn’t acknowledge it, so he pretends that he hasn’t noticed anything at all.]
I haven’t seen him in closer to a week, [he admits.
How often has Set been the one to seek him out with some bit of news, some question, some aggressive offer of aid? The only time recently that he’d sought Set out intentionally was at the end of the Mnemosyno Sending, when he’d gone to see the god preside over that final ritual of passing and had instead found him in the grip of something far more strange and upsetting.]
It was when I was still with Zenith. He has seemed a little strange of late, but still… I do not know how he could have ended up here.
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Mm, he was having a hard time recently, but that’s why I was worried about him! He does his tipo duro thing, but…
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¿Qué?
[ You can almost see the wheels turning in her head, because she’d probably seen Liem around Alenroux at the time, doing his usual Liem thing. She’d be even more confused if she’d knew he still turned in his report… to Cetina. ]
You were with Zenith?
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Clearly, he was wrong to simply pretend nothing was the matter. Even as he returns his gaze to Quetz's puzzled face, pale fingers slide up to his breast pocket so he can retrieve his handkerchief and offer it wordlessly to her. Just in case of further tears.]
I was.
[He's a little surprised that this is news to her. Admittedly he hadn't been terribly public about it, and he'd continued to spend time in both Springstar and Alenroux, but Hayame, Claude, and Set had all known of his defection. He had thought that at least one of them might have made the knowledge more public.]
For a few weeks, at least. I was… forcibly recruited during the Oracle trial, and only returned some few days past.
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Oh— Oh, Liem, you’re so sweet.
[ She laughs a little as she takes the square of fabric gratefully, and her comment is both at his blush and the fact that he offered. What a gentleman! She does at least use it to dab a little bit more at her face, but her expression quickly grows more serious as he explains. ]
Really? Forcibly? [ Considering the stress she puts on that word, the danger level for this mystery person may be rising… ] Ey, who did that?
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(He can’t remember the last time anyone called him “sweet.” Fortunately he’s already flustered enough from accidentally catching a glimpse of her chest that he doesn’t react visibly beyond a slight twitch of his mouth.)]
Well… Sebastian Michaelis made an attempt at it.
[He doesn’t hesitate to name the people involved; other Meris should know what they’re capable of, for good or for ill.
Bracing a hand against the pod’s side, he rearranges his legs below him so he can sit next to it, instead of kneeling. The thick moss provides a surprisingly comfortable cushion.]
I rebuffed him, but… I isolated myself more than I should have, during that period. John — not Mister Sims, but the other John — took it upon himself to, ah, convince me.
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[ Quetzalcoatl frowns more deeply as Liem explains, clearly unhappy with this news. She knows of Sebastian thanks to the information Set had shared and thus his relation to Silco, most importantly. From that alone, she doesn’t exactly think well of him, so that opinion is only getting soured more. Little does she know that Silco is going for the the pvp angle…
But the eventual culprit does end up earning more of her ire. Like everyone else, she’d innately understood that they could “influence” others with the energy of Meridian or Zenith, but it wasn’t something she’d considered at all. It’s not surprising that others had done it, but it is… disappointing. She hopes for the best of people, and at times like now, she’s disappointed. ]
Mm… I hate to hear that, you know. Not because of you, of course, but I hate that people even decided to do that.
[ She frowns a little more as her expression sours in a way that’s uncharacteristic for her. She’s definitely considering doing… something about it. But what? That’s the part that’s hard when it comes to conflicts in Kenos. ]
Are you mad at him for it?
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He'd talked to them, instead. To look for trade partners. To try to understand other people's points of view, and to try to persuade them to see his. But despair had weighed too heavily on him; he couldn't claw his way back into the light.]
Well…
[He glances up, thoughtful, at the immense body of the tree above their heads. Is he mad? At John? The question hadn't even occurred to him until now.]
A little, I suppose. I think it's more accurate to say I've formed an uncharitable opinion of his character, now.
[He can't really be too angry. He was the one who ultimately let himself be swayed, after all. That was why Hayame was angry with him, when he left.]
I don't think it was personal. We'd never even spoken before that interaction. He was probably just looking for someone vulnerable to convert.
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[ She huffs, clearly impassioned by the matter, but it’s partially because Liem is a special case among people she knows. While Liem may not worship her directly, she took it seriously that he was a man of faith and to a god with some similar domains to her own. She really does consider him like something of a follower-in-law… And with that, you get her unique brand of divine protection. It’s less magical than it is physical in this case, though. ]
Ay, next time I see him, I’m going to put him in a super cavernaria!
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He did not give me the impression of a man who cares overmuch about honour, [he agrees.
In Liem's admittedly incomplete estimation, he would have to say that a fair number of those who gravitate towards Zenith don't prize honour especially highly. In contrast, Meridian has had a rather telling number of members willing to get quite heated about it. Perhaps it should not be a surprise, when accepting Zenith's promise means leaving behind your own land with its customs and values.
After a moment, he adds curiously,] What is a super cavernaria?
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For now, anyways.
But Liem’s curiosity at least gets her mood to brighten quickly. She laughs, always happy to explain the finer points of lucha, and she moves her hands animatedly to help demonstrate as she explains. ]
Oh, it’s a submission hold! You put someone in a chinlock and stretch them back over your knees! It’s a classic one too! It looks like it hurts, but it’s actually not that bad… If it were lucha, it’s more about grabbing someone by their mask and pinning them a little bit that way! But in this case, it’s just a punishment for being mean, but not something so serious it’d, um, actually hurt him that bad! It seems fair enough, yes?
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(From his perspective, the jury is still out on whether she might treat another god that way — but if he had to guess, when it comes to Set, the answer is probably still yes.)
He thinks about this for another moment, leaning against Set’s cocoon like the lumpy back of a green and growing couch.]
Do you tend to use moves like that very much in real fights, Ma’am? Ones where you’re not trying to perform.
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As Liem gets more comfortable, Quetzalcoatl does too. It looks like they’ll both be staying here for a little while, which she absolutely doesn’t mind. It’s kind of the opposite now that she has Liem’s assurance that it is indeed Set inside the cocoon—it means there’s less for her to have to worry about now. So, she stretches a little bit to loosen up tight muscles from taking a somewhat awkward nap, but even as she does, she laughs a little sheepishly. ]
Oh, well… It kind of depends on how, um, seriously I’m taking it!
[ She seems a little embarrassed to admit it, but it’s because she wouldn’t want to admit to most people that she’s not taking their fights fully seriously. It’d be an insult to them and their prowess as warriors, but it’s actually a sign of respect in Quetzalcoatl’s view. It’s expected that she’s very strong, but no one really knows the full extent. Her love of physicality and wrestling is strong on its own but when she truly starts to tap into what makes her divine… Well, it’s no longer a fair fight, really. ]
Like there are some moves that are handy no matter what! A backbreaker, a piledriver, all of the classics! And if you’re not careful in the ring, you could really hurt someone, yes! [ She shrugs ] But lucha is still something I learned about much later… When it comes to a more serious fight, then I’d use my sword and shield. Lucha is for fun! But I’m still a warrior god, you know?
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Though, something else does catch his attention as she’s explaining.]
Hmm. Did I know that?
[Liem tips his head as he watches her stretch (though actually, if she seems like she’s in danger of lifting her arms especially high in that poncho, he’ll glance out at the tree’s limbs just in case). The expression on his face is thoughtful, and a little surprised. Obviously he knew that Quetzalcoatl was capable of fighting — it was probably a very rare Divinity that wasn’t. The goddess of redemption and healing, Sarenrae, for example, was known as a very powerful divine being who had led the fight against the Worldbreaker during the Age of Creation.
But still, that is not really the same as being a warrior god, he thinks.]
You must be skilled in many different disciplines, then.
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[ She laughs, since sometimes she means “you know” as an actual question, sometimes it’s more a turn of phrase, but either way… Good to share it now, she supposes! ]
Most of mi familia are warriors! Definitely all of Tezcatlipocas anyways… It’s hard work creating the world, so we had to fight a lot for it, yes!
[ Quetzalcoatl nods, and she at least has the sense to not get too much further into it without Liem asking, since she knows the cosmology of her pantheon gets a little confusing… She can use words like “family” and other relationships like “brother” or “mother”, but they were analogies over anything else. For the gods of the Azteca, they had a structure that was totally different from humanity’s, ultimately. ]
Like my older brother and I! To make the earth for the people of the Fifth Sun to live on, we had to slay Cipactli, the giant sea monster that lived in the sea left behind from the Fourth Sun. He had to use his leg as bait to draw them out, and then I was able to strike the first blow. We had to fight for a long time, but obviously, we won! So, then we made the land out of its body, more or less!
[ It’s the very short version of the story, but it’s also probably a little fun to hear a Creation story told in such a blunt, straightforward way. They’re so prone to metaphor and flowery prose, but then there’s Quetzalcoatl to just say “Tezcatlipoca and I killed a huge crocodile, the end.” At least her stories are easy to understand. ]
So, we kind of have to be skilled! We’re, um, some of the major ones, after all! There’s only father-mother Ometeotl “above” us, and we did all the work!
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That does make sense. I can think of very few major Divinities from my world that never warred against other powers. Even the goddess of love and beauty fought bitterly with her own brother.
[There’s a bit more to it than just sibling rivalry in that case, but nonetheless, his point stands that even the meekest and least violent of gods needs to be skilled enough to defend their interests at times.]
Did you have to fight after you’d finished making the world, as well?
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Ay, maybe not on so big of a scale, but sí, Tezcatlipoca and I fight all the time! We only teamed up for the Fifth Sun because we kind of had to! There’s not much point in gods if you don’t have a world to overlook, right?
[ It was absolutely a one-time thing only. Even if a few Suns had managed to cool off their tempers from sabotaging each other, they were still rivals at best. There’s something to it where it’s probably fated, since their personalities and domains are so fundamentally opposed… But it also makes it annoying that she’s technically an aspect of his. At least she’d managed to distinguish herself as her own identity unlike Huitzilopochtli… But she waves a hand dismissively as she continues. ]
But, no, Tezcatlipoca is a lot like Set, de hecho, but if Set didn’t have anything cute about him! [ …Is cute the right word for it? It’s the one she’s picked, anyways. ] He’s the worst, just a troublemaker and a problem, no matter when or where! He’s the god of conflict, so I guess that’s what he’s supposed to do, but he still takes it too far, you know? It’s his fault that my Azteca have a, um, weird reputation in history, you know!
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cw: colonialism, fr,
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ykw theyre both leaning on the Pod™ it's slimetime
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