[ 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!
[Liem nods along to Quetz’s explanation; of course, all gods need worshippers. Even most evil and lawless gods understand the need to keep some amount of peace with the other Divinities, lest their warring entirely wipe out the world that they all watch over, and the faithful who live there. So, her brother was quarrelsome and difficult… by her standards, at least. Which, when he thinks about Set, could actually mean a lot more than it might sound like at first, especially if this Tezcatlipoca is worse.
Or, less cute? It’s a very Quetz choice of descriptors, yet somehow Liem feels like he knows exactly what she means. But then, if he didn’t agree that Set was at least a little bit endearing, he probably wouldn’t be sitting with her next to the pod containing his slumbering, reforming body. It’s not like Set’s domains are remotely complimentary with Abadar’s, unlike the god(dess) sitting next to him.]
Then we are surely fortunate to have you here with us, instead of him.
[One troublemaking god of conflict is enough for this world, actually. Liem firmly believes this.]
If I may ask, what do you mean by a “weird reputation” in history?
Sí, for sure! Tezcatlipoca would absolutely be Zenith too and for no real good reason.
[ She huffs, since knowing her brother, he’d say something like “what, and give one side a huge advantage?” or “this war needs more casualties, so we’re up again, Birdie”. Ugh…
However, her sour expression is interrupted by Liem’s completely fair question, but she definitely looks sheepish. It’s a little embarrassing, honestly! The Aztecs had a bit of a reputation, and it was earned, but not because of her. She loves her people unconditionally, sure…. But it sure would be nice if there wasn’t that particular association with her too! ]
Oh, well… It’s how they would worship, yes! Because of how we made the world, the Azteca always wanted to express their gratefulness for how difficult it was for us… There’s symbolism in it too, but… Well, we would receive sacrifices. Mine were all smaller things, though! I couldn’t bear to have the more intense things, so things like piercing themselves with a cactus spine or maybe a butterfly or hummingbird on a holiday, but…
[ She sighs and shakes her head ]
Well, there were a lot of human sacrifices. Tezcatlipoca would receive, um, fresh human hearts, for one. And that’s what my Azteca got to be known for, you know! None of the amazing stuff they did! Just the bloody stuff!
[Liem definitely has a visible moment of realization as Quetz sheepishly explains what she means by that weird reputation. That kind of worship is… well, yes. It’s on the more intense side of the spectrum. Even though Taldor’s history included its own fair share of bloody endeavours and practices, some of which still continued even into the present era, human sacrifice would still be shocking by their standards, and probably by the standards of many cultures in the Inner Sea Region.
He thinks that perhaps being a priest of Quetzalcoatl was very different from being a priest of Abadar, even if her sacrifices were small.]
I’ve been meaning to ask — in the “Modern Era” in your world, do the Azteca no longer live and worship there?
[The way she would speak of them sometimes, talking about how they were known in history, and what people of the Modern Era took from their culture, makes him think that perhaps something happened to them. It seems strange to him; as someone who hails from what is considered to be the oldest city in all of Avistan, he can’t really conceive of how different Taldor would be if its foundational people were not still living there.]
[ As realization comes to him, Quetzalcoatl nods a little more, almost shy and apologetic in her motions. It’s the strange thing about being a Servant and a god, honestly. Because of how the former worked and how it exposed often ancient people to the wider world, it also made it harder to keep the almost stubborn confidence of the latter, especially for her. As the Throne gave her understanding past Mesoamerica, it made it harder for her to confidently defend a practice that she had never liked all that much anyways… The knowledge of how it colored her people in history even stung a little.
However, that sheepishness does drop as Liem asks another question. She pauses with a little ah, and just with how her own expression shifts, it’s clear. This is a difficult subject. Her smile falters, but it settles again, though it seems forced. ]
…Mm. Not so many. Not anymore.
[ Where do you even start to explain…? She looks down at Liem’s handkerchief and turns it over in her hands, folding and unfolding it as she considers it for a few moments. In a way, it’s easy to explain. But the easy explanation also sets her heart on fire and fills her with bitter, vicious anger. She thinks Liem would understand because she thinks anyone would understand… But that’s a hatred that she can’t indulge in. She knows it would warp her into something else. ]
There are people that still worship us out there, but they’ve had to hold tight to their traditions and hide them away for generations now. And I love the descendants of my Azteca still—Even if they don’t worship me, they still carry my blood, so I’ll always love them. It’s not their fault.
[ She feels that’s important to say first, because that’s the thing she’s clung to. Nothing lasts forever, and a principal part of their own view of the universe was that very prospect. One empire fell, but from it came countries that were beautiful all on their own, and they made great, beautiful things that her Azteca couldn’t even dream of. But when things end, it’s supposed to be something that the gods could understand too. War between neighboring peoples, an earthquake, even a great, impossible meteor.
Not a mortal man from a faraway land.
Quetzalcoatl abruptly stops toying with the handkerchief, instead holding it tight in her hands. ]
A foreign army so far across the sea that I'd never heard of them came and conquered the Azteca. To them, my people were savages.
[ Behind that smile and the simple words, there’s more anguish than she can express. Her people may not have been perfect, but no one was. They certainly didn’t deserve what the Spanish brought to them. She’d watched a whole culture die out so fast that she could scarcely believe it. Disease, cruelty, subjugation, evangelization—All of it brought the Azteca and every other surrounding tribe to their knees. And when her people cried out for their gods to save them, she couldn’t. The Age of Gods had ended. Never again could the Divine set foot on the Earth as they truly were, even to save their beloved people.
Her grip turns white-knuckled, but still, she’s careful to not tear the fabric all the same. She can’t get into the details and maybe doesn’t want to. So, her last little comment is deceptively simple too. ]
[The quiet with which Liem listens to the god’s brief explanation goes beyond just attentiveness. Her grief and her suppressed anger weighs heavy in the air despite her smile; he isn’t able to return it, even to pretend.
He too had been thinking perhaps her people had been conquered or pushed out by a rival civilization, or had vanished from the world as the Azlanti had: smote from the sky by a meteor that had plunged the world into centuries of darkness. For an entire people’s culture to be ground up and spat out by a country from across a distant sea—]
Yes; I can.
[A country such as Taldor did not get to be so old, so large, or so wealthy without a great deal of bloodshed. All Taldans educated enough to know their history had been told of the empire’s glorious expansion campaigns, led by its numerous Armies of Exploration. Although the empire had fractured long before even Liem was born, Taldane was spoken so widely across Avistan that it was the dominant language as far west as the coast of the Arcadian Ocean.
In Taldor, this was painted as a triumph. The old days of the empire were so glorified that even in the present day, there were those who wished for their return — enough to plunge the country back into war, all for the chance to bring Taldor’s “wayward colonies” back into the fold.]
I cannot fathom what it is like, to be in your position and know such a thing.
[ She considers it in silence for a few moments that’s uncharacteristically dour for her. It’s a quiet that’s almost heavy because she’s partially not sure what to say either. She can’t think of a way to explain it, or at least not well. Like Liem can’t fathom what it’s like to be divine and to still know tragedy, she has trouble imagining herself as a mortal and perceiving the fullness of the loss.
In a way, mortals aren’t meant to. They have small lives and small scopes compared to the divine, and it’s a good thing, in her opinion. It lets them live more freely. They don’t fully bear the burdens of what time alone will bring, the cycle of beginnings and ends that will never stop and cannot be stopped, no matter how much even a god wishes to do so.
She twirls a bracelet of gold and jade around her wrist idly, just to have something to do with her hands and for something for her gaze to focus on. ]
If there was one thing I wished that people better understood about gods, it’s that we aren’t all powerful. We can do big, amazing things! But a lot of our power and our work comes before people even exist. Once the world is made, we’re guardians, and it’s up to people to guide the world. We can provide help, but it’s for big things or to help people with knowledge of natural things. When it comes to conflicts between the people themselves… We don’t interfere. Even if I wanted to, more than anything else, I’m still a guardian. I can’t fight the battles between people for them.
[ And that’s part of the hard part to explain. Anyone would ask “why not”, and she can’t give an answer that’s satisfying. She simply can’t, because that’s what it meant to be a god. It was no more possible for her than it was for a human to fly. ]
But it’s… sad. I have all the power in the world, enough to make and unmake the world, but that doesn’t matter when it’s something slow and deliberate like a country over the sea coming to steal from our land and our people. Wiping away invaders means wiping away our people too. So… You just have to watch and hope that your people are strong enough to bear it.
[ She laughs a little, but it’s soft. ]
So, it’s ironic, yes? Even a god can feel powerless in the face of that.
[Perhaps Liem is better suited than most to understand Quetzalcoatl’s lament about not being all powerful, given his role as a priest in a world that also had many different gods. Certainly the gods were said to have achieved impossible wonders in the age before sapient beings inhabited Golarion, but in all Avistan’s recorded history, it was rare for the gods to act directly upon the world. There are limits to what even the gods can get away with, he knows. So they touch the world in innumerable small ways, in the hope that those small touches will be enough to work their will.
But of course, he cannot truly relate, no matter how much he might sympathize. The power and understanding of the divine will always ultimately be beyond him.]
I’d thought the powerlessness of being here might be difficult for you and Set, but I suppose that feeling is not unfamiliar to you.
[The feeling of not having all the answers, of being unable to save everyone you might wish to, of being a pawn in some grander game. Since meeting Kenos’s own resident divinities, he’s been surprised to learn that even gods can suffer these things.]
That is, I think, the sort of thing those committed to Zenith would struggle to understand. How you could have that knowledge of your people’s fate, and still fight to save the world just as it is.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
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 ]
no subject
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.
1/2
Mm, he was having a hard time recently, but that’s why I was worried about him! He does his tipo duro thing, but…
no subject
¿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?
no subject
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.
no subject
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?
no subject
(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.
no subject
[ 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?
no subject
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.
no subject
[ 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!
no subject
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?
no subject
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?
no subject
(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.
no subject
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?
no subject
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.
no subject
[ 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!
no subject
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?
no subject
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!
no subject
Or, less cute? It’s a very Quetz choice of descriptors, yet somehow Liem feels like he knows exactly what she means. But then, if he didn’t agree that Set was at least a little bit endearing, he probably wouldn’t be sitting with her next to the pod containing his slumbering, reforming body. It’s not like Set’s domains are remotely complimentary with Abadar’s, unlike the god(dess) sitting next to him.]
Then we are surely fortunate to have you here with us, instead of him.
[One troublemaking god of conflict is enough for this world, actually. Liem firmly believes this.]
If I may ask, what do you mean by a “weird reputation” in history?
no subject
[ She huffs, since knowing her brother, he’d say something like “what, and give one side a huge advantage?” or “this war needs more casualties, so we’re up again, Birdie”. Ugh…
However, her sour expression is interrupted by Liem’s completely fair question, but she definitely looks sheepish. It’s a little embarrassing, honestly! The Aztecs had a bit of a reputation, and it was earned, but not because of her. She loves her people unconditionally, sure…. But it sure would be nice if there wasn’t that particular association with her too! ]
Oh, well… It’s how they would worship, yes! Because of how we made the world, the Azteca always wanted to express their gratefulness for how difficult it was for us… There’s symbolism in it too, but… Well, we would receive sacrifices. Mine were all smaller things, though! I couldn’t bear to have the more intense things, so things like piercing themselves with a cactus spine or maybe a butterfly or hummingbird on a holiday, but…
[ She sighs and shakes her head ]
Well, there were a lot of human sacrifices. Tezcatlipoca would receive, um, fresh human hearts, for one. And that’s what my Azteca got to be known for, you know! None of the amazing stuff they did! Just the bloody stuff!
no subject
He thinks that perhaps being a priest of Quetzalcoatl was very different from being a priest of Abadar, even if her sacrifices were small.]
I’ve been meaning to ask — in the “Modern Era” in your world, do the Azteca no longer live and worship there?
[The way she would speak of them sometimes, talking about how they were known in history, and what people of the Modern Era took from their culture, makes him think that perhaps something happened to them. It seems strange to him; as someone who hails from what is considered to be the oldest city in all of Avistan, he can’t really conceive of how different Taldor would be if its foundational people were not still living there.]
cw: colonialism, fr,
However, that sheepishness does drop as Liem asks another question. She pauses with a little ah, and just with how her own expression shifts, it’s clear. This is a difficult subject. Her smile falters, but it settles again, though it seems forced. ]
…Mm. Not so many. Not anymore.
[ Where do you even start to explain…? She looks down at Liem’s handkerchief and turns it over in her hands, folding and unfolding it as she considers it for a few moments. In a way, it’s easy to explain. But the easy explanation also sets her heart on fire and fills her with bitter, vicious anger. She thinks Liem would understand because she thinks anyone would understand… But that’s a hatred that she can’t indulge in. She knows it would warp her into something else. ]
There are people that still worship us out there, but they’ve had to hold tight to their traditions and hide them away for generations now. And I love the descendants of my Azteca still—Even if they don’t worship me, they still carry my blood, so I’ll always love them. It’s not their fault.
[ She feels that’s important to say first, because that’s the thing she’s clung to. Nothing lasts forever, and a principal part of their own view of the universe was that very prospect. One empire fell, but from it came countries that were beautiful all on their own, and they made great, beautiful things that her Azteca couldn’t even dream of. But when things end, it’s supposed to be something that the gods could understand too. War between neighboring peoples, an earthquake, even a great, impossible meteor.
Not a mortal man from a faraway land.
Quetzalcoatl abruptly stops toying with the handkerchief, instead holding it tight in her hands. ]
A foreign army so far across the sea that I'd never heard of them came and conquered the Azteca. To them, my people were savages.
[ Behind that smile and the simple words, there’s more anguish than she can express. Her people may not have been perfect, but no one was. They certainly didn’t deserve what the Spanish brought to them. She’d watched a whole culture die out so fast that she could scarcely believe it. Disease, cruelty, subjugation, evangelization—All of it brought the Azteca and every other surrounding tribe to their knees. And when her people cried out for their gods to save them, she couldn’t. The Age of Gods had ended. Never again could the Divine set foot on the Earth as they truly were, even to save their beloved people.
Her grip turns white-knuckled, but still, she’s careful to not tear the fabric all the same. She can’t get into the details and maybe doesn’t want to. So, her last little comment is deceptively simple too. ]
So, you can guess what happened, yes?
no subject
He too had been thinking perhaps her people had been conquered or pushed out by a rival civilization, or had vanished from the world as the Azlanti had: smote from the sky by a meteor that had plunged the world into centuries of darkness. For an entire people’s culture to be ground up and spat out by a country from across a distant sea—]
Yes; I can.
[A country such as Taldor did not get to be so old, so large, or so wealthy without a great deal of bloodshed. All Taldans educated enough to know their history had been told of the empire’s glorious expansion campaigns, led by its numerous Armies of Exploration. Although the empire had fractured long before even Liem was born, Taldane was spoken so widely across Avistan that it was the dominant language as far west as the coast of the Arcadian Ocean.
In Taldor, this was painted as a triumph. The old days of the empire were so glorified that even in the present day, there were those who wished for their return — enough to plunge the country back into war, all for the chance to bring Taldor’s “wayward colonies” back into the fold.]
I cannot fathom what it is like, to be in your position and know such a thing.
no subject
In a way, mortals aren’t meant to. They have small lives and small scopes compared to the divine, and it’s a good thing, in her opinion. It lets them live more freely. They don’t fully bear the burdens of what time alone will bring, the cycle of beginnings and ends that will never stop and cannot be stopped, no matter how much even a god wishes to do so.
She twirls a bracelet of gold and jade around her wrist idly, just to have something to do with her hands and for something for her gaze to focus on. ]
If there was one thing I wished that people better understood about gods, it’s that we aren’t all powerful. We can do big, amazing things! But a lot of our power and our work comes before people even exist. Once the world is made, we’re guardians, and it’s up to people to guide the world. We can provide help, but it’s for big things or to help people with knowledge of natural things. When it comes to conflicts between the people themselves… We don’t interfere. Even if I wanted to, more than anything else, I’m still a guardian. I can’t fight the battles between people for them.
[ And that’s part of the hard part to explain. Anyone would ask “why not”, and she can’t give an answer that’s satisfying. She simply can’t, because that’s what it meant to be a god. It was no more possible for her than it was for a human to fly. ]
But it’s… sad. I have all the power in the world, enough to make and unmake the world, but that doesn’t matter when it’s something slow and deliberate like a country over the sea coming to steal from our land and our people. Wiping away invaders means wiping away our people too. So… You just have to watch and hope that your people are strong enough to bear it.
[ She laughs a little, but it’s soft. ]
So, it’s ironic, yes? Even a god can feel powerless in the face of that.
no subject
But of course, he cannot truly relate, no matter how much he might sympathize. The power and understanding of the divine will always ultimately be beyond him.]
I’d thought the powerlessness of being here might be difficult for you and Set, but I suppose that feeling is not unfamiliar to you.
[The feeling of not having all the answers, of being unable to save everyone you might wish to, of being a pawn in some grander game. Since meeting Kenos’s own resident divinities, he’s been surprised to learn that even gods can suffer these things.]
That is, I think, the sort of thing those committed to Zenith would struggle to understand. How you could have that knowledge of your people’s fate, and still fight to save the world just as it is.
(no subject)
(no subject)
ykw theyre both leaning on the Pod™ it's slimetime
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)