TDM #1

[aionmods]

TDM #1

DREAMING

At first, there is nothing. You are nothing. Whatever existed before ceases to be if for a moment. Then, bit by bit, you start to become aware. Where there was not even darkness now is a dim haze, gentle and almost mist-like. You have limbs again and beneath your feet lays a path of light reaching out like limbs of a great tree beneath you, twisting and climbing out into the horizon.

You take a step forward for what else is there to do? As you walk you begin to remember what it was you were doing before the nothingness; maybe something as simple as chatting with a loved one or close friend. Maybe you were just beginning a great journey or facing off against an old foe. Whatever it was, you get the distinct feeling that wherever and whenever that was, it is not here. Not now.

The path of light twists off into different directions. When you look up you can see that it is not a sky above you but the sky of everything, a grand cosmic tapestry littered with not mere stars but galaxies and clusters of galaxies that gleam like crystals against the velvety backdrop of space. Admire it for a moment, if you will. You don't know how long you will drift here, but you are not alone. Other wanderers will come and go as you bask together in the vastness of creation.

It seems to you that there are two paths to walk in this place, the light and dark beckoning in turn.

❖ THE LIGHT AT THE CENTER
One leads you to the center, splintered fragments folding together and colliding until only one thing remains: a light that speaks to you with the voice of all there is and has ever been. It greets you simultaneously as an old friend and as a lost child, both rejoicing in and mourning your arrival. You remember it too, somehow, with a feeling of complex nostalgia, as if returning to a place recalled from your distant childhood.

You’ll feel the same of the other wanderers that join you in the light; you know their faces, their voices, and as you reflect upon the world of your birth, you may witness fragments of theirs as well. You feel a comradery, then, a synchronicity of thought and emotion. Are the lives of others truly so different from your own? Or are you simply two hands of the same, greater being? Though some individualistic part of you may resist, the longer you spend in the light, the more you will find yourself becoming one with it.

Despite this welcoming call, no matter how eagerly your pursue its embrace, before you can fully submerge yourself in this oneness you will find yourself being torn away. As if seized by the impossibly long, cold arm of a creature unseen, you are plucked from the edge of fulfillment. The last thing you will remember is the sensation of your world, and all the others your experienced here, collapsing into nothingness.

❖ THE DARK OUTSIDE (CW: deep despair, ego death)
The other leads towards the outside, where the splintering becomes so great that the vestiges of reality can do nothing but collapse back into the abyss at the end of everything. As you wander to these barren outskirts, your thoughts will not be drawn to familiarity and oneness, but instead to memories of discontent and waste. The darker the path becomes, the more you find yourself dwelling on life’s disappointments and injustices, of the things about yourself and your world you find wanting.

If you see others here, at first they will feel frightening or contemptible, as if representing to you the worst experiences in your life. Even if they are someone you’re certain you know, that familiarity and affection will be stripped away in the face of the great emptiness before you. In the end, you were all the same. In the end, none of this was worth it. If you approach the end together, you may even form a kind of kinship around this acknowledgment, as the need for paranoia and hatred fades.

Slowly, the darkness encroaches, and you can see it devouring all the things you once knew. Memories of your home, of those you loved, dissolve into nothing, and you can only reflect on the barren emptiness in your heart as you see it happen. In your final moments, though, you feel peace with it all, knowing that there was no other way. You step from the edge of the last dwindling fragment of being and are greeted by silence.

❖ THE END
No matter which way you go, you are left with a single impression: you feel the world you came from die. It's a realization that transcends logic or sense; it weighs on your heart and leaves the vestiges of dark memories dancing in your thoughts like motes of ash. It's a memory of your home crumbling away into nothing as if consumed from within by rot. Returned to the void, all that's left to you is to be reborn.

REBIRTH

In a new time and place, you awaken. Stirring within a capsule of warmth and isolation your senses will slowly return, only to observe that you are trapped. Your body, as it wakes, is tangled in close, yours eyes unable to open, as if still within the womb. You are held tight in the embrace of something unyielding, so smothering that at first you only have the strength to struggle for moments at a time. Yet, as you persist, the pressure begins to relent in turn; it may take hours, but eventually you will find the purchase to push, to claw, to fight, and it will all give way.

The chrysalis surrounding you bends like flesh and cracks like glass. It tears as you force your fingers through, finding liberation one inch at a time, until finally you have emerged. As if having undergone metamorphosis, you feel old and new all at once. You are weak, piteously so, but the markings and scars of your previous life remain. As you slump down upon the smooth cavern stone, you realize that you've just wrenched yourself free of gigantic crystal, though its hollow, shimmering form is now in pieces on account of your passing. Somewhere on your body, a shard of similar material remains embedded.

The cave itself looks almost like the inside of a geode, the walls and ceiling bedazzled with greyish crystal that shines with all the colors of the rainbow. While they vary wildly in size and shape, only a few have grown large enough to hold a form like yours, and you can see the one you just escaped isn't the only one bearing a passenger within. They may have already hatched, or they may still be lingering in stasis. Either way, there's enough time that you may have a chance to speak to yours unexpected peers, or to perhaps to struggle to find something to cover your naked body with. You feel the chill of the open air against your moisture laden skin, a distant light trickling in through the cavern's opening.

Make the most of this time. It won't be long before you're interrupted.

[Mod Note: If you don't want to deal with your character being naked in front of the others at that location, feel free to assume they emerge at a different time than the others of their legacy. Characters will be 'hatching' over a period of several hours.]

CAPTIVITY

It seems that someone was waiting for you to arrive, and not in the most friendly of ways. Though the specifics of who comes to get you will vary according to which legacy shrine your character awakens at, there are certain commonalities: most notably, how they are ostensibly here to capture and imprison you. It's easy for them, all considered. You can barely stand, so fresh out of your chrysalis, and whatever powers or special abilities you may have had will not answer your call. Even worse, your would be captors are well equipped for the job.

Each group arrives with several 'whips' made of unknown materials. What makes them so special only become obvious when one of them inevitable snakes its way around your body. Whether it be your ankle or your neck, being bound by these cords puts you under the influence of whoever is holding the other end of your leash. Your mind remains untouched, but you will find yourself physically incapable of performing physical actions that go against their will. While the possibilities are frightening, thankfully they all just seem to want one thing: for you to come along as a good little prisoner and to not cause any of them too much trouble.

The rest depends on your character's legacy:

❖ THE LOVER
The small island the shrine is built upon is approached by several modest boats with colorful sails. They carry what appears to be a collection of fearful fisherfolk and town guards. They are reluctant to speak with those being pulled out of the shrine or even look them in the eye. If they have their choice, the entire process will be done in silence. If you try too hard to upset them, the guards will sternly bring you to heel.

❖ THE CELEBRANT
The infrastructure of an entire festival ground seems to be built around this shrine, and as a result, there are an usual amount of people present. While most keep their distance, a few will engage with the local guards that arrive to capture the Aions, complaining that this is going to interfere with their preparations for the upcoming Lover’s Festival. They are pushed aside in short order, and the rest of the retrieval will be done in a stern but business-like manner.

❖ THE MARTYR
At first, those arriving to capture the Aions will be hesitant to even enter the barren crater this shrine is held within. Once the presence of the new arrivals becomes clear, however, they will run in as if crossing the no man’s land of a battlefield and complete their work with gusto. It appears to be mostly military folk and they seem to lack any patience or sympathy for those they capture.

❖ THE SOVEREIGN
The captors here seem to be a mixed bag, almost as if two separate squadrons have arrived at the same time. One is a gathering of people who give off the impression of mountain folk, while the others are well armored soldiers. Though it will be hard to make out the specifics, there seems to be some manner of disagreement between these two parties over what should be done, but the ones kitted out in full military attire win out in the end. By then, they are completely out of patience for further resistance.

❖ THE ARTISAN
The people here seem to have mixed feelings about your arrival. On one hand, it seems to be a moment of considerable trepidation, on the other, they seem unbearably curious about your nature. They will ask questions about any unusual features you have, or what your skills are, while others from the group try just as hard to shush them. Ultimately, they don’t seem that enthusiastic about having to capture you, but they also don’t seem to think they have much choice.

❖ THE INNOCENT
Among rolling hills of flowers, at first it seems as if this shrine may not be visited at all. Before the arriving Aions can escape it, though - naked and weakened as they are - a group of fairly normal looking townsfolk will arrive. They pause as they spot you near the shrine, almost like they are hesitating about coming at all. In the end, they will converge upon you and ask for you to please cooperate. They won’t hurt you, as long as you come with them.

❖ THE SEEKER
Armored soldiers are the ones to first pull you from the shrine, but as you arrive outside of it you'll see that it is situated at the edge of a great forest. An ancient observatory is build into the cliff face behind the shrine, and your captors are apparently in the process of negotiating with a series of robed individuals that have emerged from it. According to them, the soldiers kidnapping you are trespassing. Unfortunately, they are not the ones with weapons.

❖ THE WANDERER
When you first emerge from the shrine, it will appear as if you have just missed a skirmish. There are a few bodies scattered about, all wearing woodland armor made of leather and fur. The victors, it seems, come in the form of fully armored soldiers. Thoroughly irritated by the fight that just happened, they will not waste time on niceties. If you try to ask them what just happened, the best you may get is a sneer about ‘those damn forest people.’ You may spot a couple more bodies on the trail leading out of the forest as well.

❖ THE FIREBRAND
The first thing to be seen beyond the cavern entrance is a sheer drop into a raging canyon river far below you, with only a narrow path leading up the steep cliff face. It would be a difficult situation, even without black-cloaked warriors making their way down it to collect you. Struggle too much and you'll be at risk of being thrown into the chasm. These masked assailants are largely unmoved by your protests and will drag you the entire way up the cliff if you force them to. "Your soul will be claimed," they say.

❖ THE VISIONARY
The view from the mouth of the cavern is awe inspiring, revealing the foreign shapes of a world you've never seen before. Unfortunately, the altitude of this shrine means you will also be greeted with sharp wind and biting cold. Fortunately, or not, a party of mountaineers and three black-cloaked warriors will arrive to collect you. Despite their seeming inability to defy the orders of the warriors, the mountaineers will toss you some shoes and blankets for the trek down, even if they are taken away from you later. If the warriors speak at all, it's mostly in the form of ominous utterances.

❖ THE CHAMPION
Even if one were to stagger out of the shrine's cavern before being approached, the Aions arriving here will swiftly find themselves in a hopeless situation. Not only are there soldiers here to collect there is a moderately sized military barracks built around the shrine itself, and this particular squadron is not on your side. You will be swarmed before you can get far at all. There seems to be a mix of two squadrons here, some wearing heavy armor and red accents, while the others wear full face masks and dark cloaks.

Once you've been captured and pulled from the shrine, you will given a formless white gown made of moderately comfortable fabric, with sleeves reaching your elbows and its bottom reaching down past your knees. You will not be given pants or shoes. You're in for a journey, apparently - no matter who plucked you from the cave, most of the heavily armored soldiers in the prompts above will turn out to be 'Hylician soldiers', while the smaller number of black-robed warriors are referred to 'Achamites'. After the initial dealings with the shrines, all prisoners will be passed off to a squadron of Hylicians, though a few Achamites may follow along depending on the location.

Where are you all going? Back to Hylici, apparently.

WAITING

After you've been handed off to the the Hylician military, you have a long road ahead of you. Loaded up onto carts, and then eventually onto river borne boats, the people collected at the shrines will all be brought to a forest in the center of Horos. Along the way, the squadron ferrying you will combine with others from neighboring shrines, more and more captives arriving in your group the closer to your destination you get.

Along the way you will be fed and watered well enough (though only with military rations), and at night you will be given flimsy bedrolls to sleep around the fire with. Captives will be under constant watch by the Hylician guard, and anyone who shows any signs of resistance will be required to be bound by one of those magic whips, usually around the ankle or wrist. The rest of the trip is spent being pulled along in carts or the storage bays of boats. After the groups start converging, captives of the same legacy will not necessarily be kept together.

The final muster point of the Hylicians and their captives will be among forest ruins. For what purpose you have arrived they will not say, but the entire group will be camping there until preparations are complete. Sadly, you won't be allowed much space to explore - not without being bound and under watch. If you've behaved yourself it's possible to move about the central ruins, but only if the guards are confident they'll be able to wrangle you when necessary. It does allow for moderately private conversations along the pillars and walls of the ruins, but venturing out into the forest itself is definitely out of the question.

From beginning to end, characters will spent about two weeks in transit and waiting in the ruins. To what end is yet to be seen, but if you listen closely, you may hear whispers of a 'ritual space' being prepared.

QUESTIONS

Are everyone's homeworlds really gone?
That's a complicated issue, and while the fate of their world is not without hope, they may certainly get the impression its been destroyed from the dream they had. Alternatively, they may refuse to believe what they felt and attempt to dismiss it as only a vision. More about this situation will be revealed as the game goes on.

Can I only experience one end of the dream sequence prompt?
Characters may experience one ending, both endings, or neither. If they experience both they will struggle to recall which came first or which feels the most 'true' to them, as both will simultaneously be the thought they are reborn with. If your character refuses to pursue either path they can simply linger in the middle until the infinite worlds above them start being extinguished one by one, eventually expelling them into darkness in a similar style to the light prompt. Which dreams they experience will not dictate their intial sect affiliation.

Is it possible to pull another character back from the end of the light or darkness dreams?
Yes! If your character is able to resist the pull of either end, they will have the chance to try to pull another character back from the edge of the abyss or the edge of oneness. Whether or not they succeed is entirely up to the other character, though.

Do you come out of the chrysalis wet?
For most intents and purposes it's the same experience as hatching out of a real butterfly chrysalis, so yes, a bit.

Can my character resist the influence of the whips?
Those possessed of particularly strong wills may be able to struggle with the whip's control in brief spurts, but not long enough to make a full escape attempt. They may be able to take an impotent swing at one of the guards or fight against being pulled along, though. Naturally, doing this will indicate to the Hylicians that you are a problem, and their handling of you will become harsher the more it occurs.

How cruel will the Hylicians be to the player characters?
The Hylician military are not friendly people and come across as being a bit callous even at the best of times. However, unless you provoke them, they will be primarily focused on just getting the job done with as few interruption as possible. If your character makes a habit of pissing them off, either by constantly fighting back or just by being persistently obnoxious, their treatment will get worse. If driven to it, they may take the opportunity to take out their frustrations on particularly troublesome prisoners, via physical punishment, humiliation, or deprivation.

Comments

[affal]

( and makoto would be happy to keep it close to the vest that he's been a rising star in the social hierarchies of hell, especially if it can trick others into underestimating him for his perceived youth or naivety. as it is, since he can sense that all of the rules he had been living by after becoming a demon are no longer at play here, he's cautious. does a name hold the same amount of power? it's already an unwelcome reversal to see strength of arms rising to precedence rather than the beguiling power of a silver tongue. if those rules that he was familiar still reigned here, all it would have taken to get out of here was one weak-willed guard.

but as it is, he's far to physically weak to get anything done, even without the enervation that had settled over him after getting out of that chrysalis. so they can play at being useless idiots together, or at least for the time being, waiting for whatever optimal time to lay down their cards might come (if it came at all). )

Well, it's nothing concrete, of course, but, ( and as he speaks, his hands splay out, the pads of each fingers spread, ) we all woke up in distant, disparate locations, and yet, ( his fingers slowly move in towards the center before they meet together, ) we were all brought here. It could be this was just the most convenient location, sure, but... ( he gazes back at the broken piece of wall. ) That this is here as well... It makes one wonder.

( yes, he'd heard from one of the less observant guards about a "ritual," but that could be any number of things. in conjunction with the ruin of an ancient civilization, well... the context could get darker. he isn't certain. he had been searching the broken pieces of rock, hoping he might get any piece of an answer. )

[goldendeceiver]

[ If they could talk their way out of trouble, Ernesto would have already been long gone. He'd been trying to for some time with the guards, but they seem pretty staunchly dedicated to ignoring just about anything that their prisoners have to say to them. At least his demeanor has largely spared him from being on the receiving end of those whips outside of his initial capture.

If what's being suggested is true though, it might be a shame he didn't put up more of a fight. It doesn't seem like it would have done him any good, but his stomach churns uncomfortably at the insinuations there.

He doesn't let the nervousness show, trying to play any fear off as exasperation as he runs one hand through his hair, sighing as the considers what this all might mean. ]

It would be nice if they'd just tell us what they want from us, but I guess that's too much to ask for.

[affal]

( the soldiers were just as useful to him as this stone wall was. makoto had given up on them as a resource within the first hour or two of his escorted march to this camp. )

Ignorance is far too convenient of a collar.

( if they were all aware they were going to imminently suffer and perhaps die, they would not be so placid, even if they knew the odds were stacked against them as adversaries to the soldiers. everyone but makoto, perhaps — he couldn't care less if this was the curtain falling on his existence, disappointed only he would die without satisfying his final goal.

he separates from where he had been standing, approaching the low piece of rubble that the stranger had been leaning against. makoto rests against its opposite side, expression cool and composed as he studies him with odd, grey-on-red eyes. )

What is the worst case scenario for you?

( he has his guesses what the answer might be, but he's always curious to see how mortals reply. )

[goldendeceiver]

[ Ernesto can't admit to being that fearless in the face of death, but it's not like he hadn't accepted that possibility for himself in the past. He walked a pretty dangerous line for a number of years, and was entangled with the army prior to that. It hadn't made him numb to death...

But it did mean that wasn't his worst case scenario at least. Not that it's an outcome he'd be happy with.

Ernesto gives the other man a curious look as he considers the question, but doesn't comment on the eyes. His own ears and tail put him out of the majority as well, though he's definitely not the only person camped out here with animal features.

He hums thoughtfully, looking away from Makoto now as he gives his answer. ]

Something like our free will being permanently stripped from us probably. Those whips of theirs do a pretty good job on a temporary basis, and I imagine if they can mass produce items like that, they can probably do a lot worse with the right tools.

[ His eyes sweep across the ruins as he delivers that last line with a nonchalance that doesn't fit his words. ]

[affal]

( being granted what's essentially eternal life when you hadn't asked for it tends to shift your perspective on these things.

makoto tends to be a presence of harsh and conflicting contrasts; affable yet unsettling all the same, and even as he breaches the sudden question at an oblique angle he does so blithely, mien perfectly casual and conversational. he appreciates that ernesto gives it some thought and doesn't just supply the first thing that comes to mind. )

What a relief! ( said with a few peals of laughter. ) I was worried you were going to say something boring like "dying"!

( one thing immortality makes you realize, very quickly: there are far worse things than death.

he breathes a short sigh, nodding. a curtain of wild, dark hair falls over his face as he does so. ) I agree with you. Having been on the receiving end of one of those nasty things on the way here... To be subjected to something like that forever would be unbearable.

( it had reminded him far too much of what it felt like to be around J for too long - hooks digging into his mind. )

What, then, would it take for you to agree to help them willingly? Assuming of course that there's something they need for us to do, and it doesn't involve imminently dying.

[goldendeceiver]

[ Well that's an unusual response to Ernesto's answer. His attention snaps back to Makoto the minute the laughter starts, ears perked up, brows furrowed a little, even as he smiles uncertainly. ]

To be honest with you, I don't really want to die either if I'm given the option.

[ Which he may or may not be. It's a little hard to say right now.

That new question also takes him a minute to think about, though this time he watches Makoto carefully, brows still furrowed like he's trying to figure this guy out right now. It's an interesting question to ask, and he's got to wonder the motivations behind it. ]

And I guess it'll all depend on what they want my help with, what they're planning, and if I actually believe them when they tell me. I'm not prideful enough to not be able to set this whole thing aside if there's a good enough reason to.

[ He pauses, letting the muscles of his face relax finally. ]

It's kind of hard to imagine people like this would be taking us hostage for a noble cause, no?

[affal]

Well, of course. Who would?

( though the way he says it, so flippant and nonchalant... one would not be blamed for putting more than a little doubt in how much he means half the things he says. i'm sorry, ernesto, he is simply like this.

as the question is pondered over, makoto turns so he can leverage himself up to sit on the edge of the piece of broken wall, hands smoothing the fabric of the white robe over his knees. he turns over his shoulder to face his companion, always watchful whenever a question is answered — typically, as a demon, he would have an inherent idea of the shape and contents of a soul (it's how they made their living, after all), but blind to this now, he has to guess at it the old fashioned-way.

he tends to think he's pretty keen at reading people, apt to pick up on deceitful tells, but... there's something to this one. he's harder to read than most, which is interesting. it meant one of two things: he's utterly guileless and there's nothing to read or he's quite skilled at lying. makoto is really just questioning people because he has nothing better to do, but any information about his fellows is useful to him — based on how the stranger answers, he might be able to find out the answer to that question too. )

A moral imperative, then? ( my, what a honorable boy he is, then! if that's the truth, that is. makoto taps at his chin with one forefinger. ) I would think more about what they could offer me, personally... Because I do think you're right. None of this really gives me the impression that they wanted to recruit us to a virtuous endeavor.

( if they wanted to recruit them to anything at all. again: all under the assumption that they aren't going to be used like the herd of cattle they currently are. )

[goldendeceiver]

[ Ernesto is hardly one to judge a person's tone. He says almost everything with a smile and a laugh, even when conversations take a pretty heavy turn. He certainly doesn't look as grave as he probably should right now for the conversation the two of them are having.

Then again, it's kind of easy to not take it by so serious when you're talking entirely in hypotheticals and now waxing a little philosophical on morals. He started this conversation with the real intention of doing some intelligence gathering, even if he had started with a pretty innocuous question.

Though he does kind of doubt any of the other prisoners are going to be able to tell him much, so might as well size this one up as well. He certainly seems chatty enough, and those interesting questions and comments just keep coming; interesting enough to get Ernesto to fully ease his brows out of that furrow as they slowly raise in curiosity. ]

That's a surprising confession, Señor.

[ He tilts his head a little to the side now, smile at little more relaxed as if he's catching onto the game. ]

Though I'm not judging the choices others might make. We're in a pretty difficult situation, after all, and they haven't really told us what they're willing to offer us.

[ He laughs almost dismissively now. ]

Not that they seem that willing to offer us anything at all.

[affal]

( when there's little to no useful information to extract from their surroundings or their captors, their gazes turn inward to their fellow prisoners. really, there's not much he expects to learn from any of them that will influence or change this situation they've found themselves in — the most he could hope for would be to discern some sort of pattern in who they are and why they have been brought here, but so far it's been such a random assortment that he'd stopped trying to find fictitious order in chaos. but to spend time idle would be to waste it, so he gathers what information he can, hopeful that some scraps of it may be useful to him in the future.

you know. if they had a future to speak of. )

Is it?

( he doesn't really think so. if you strip away enough layers, the desires of all creatures are on a base level selfish. if you act "selflessly" because of the gratifying feeling it gives you, can you really call it that? are you not just tailoring your words and actions to what morals, society, or your own gut tells you is "correct" for the sanctity of peace of mind?

makoto doesn't deal with any of it. he cuts to the quick, focused specifically on what is useful to him, though he's a honest enough salesman — he's always interested in a good trade or deal. )

At this point, they could offer us "freedom," even just in part, and expect virtually anything from us in return. ( observed lightly and with a thin smile. it's a way to hedge their bets — take away something from the other party so you could obtain something from them for "free" by just returning what they had already rightfully had. this is probably the best case scenario they can expect, makoto thinks. in any other circumstance, they stood to lose more. ) From my observations, several of our fellow captives have already found their patience running thin. I'm only interested to see, if that really is the shape of the offer that is made to us, how many would take it without argument.

[goldendeceiver]

[ In this one particular way only, Ernesto might be kind of innocent. While he's seen people do some pretty awful things, and bloodied his own hands at times, it still hasn't been enough to shake his belief that good people exist. Mind you, he's not deluded enough to believe in some underlying good in all people; it's just that somehow his world hasn't jaded him enough into believe in the fundamental rottenness or even selfishness of humanity.

That said, he wouldn't classify himself as one of those good people.

One ear twitches as he considers the potential offer of freedom back. It does seem like a pretty poor trade considering they shouldn't have lost their freedom in the first place. Still, Ernesto won't pretend that he's a principled enough man to not swallow pride and take the deal...

If the cost isn't too high. ]

I'm sure some will, and it's hard to blame them. Though personally, I don't like making deals without fully understanding the terms first.

[affal]

( when makoto had still been human, he would've most likely agreed. he would've also turned away from designating himself as one of those good and decent people, of course, but he would acknowledge that it was a quality that could exist in others. years as a demon had warped that, but of course it would. demons are even more predisposed towards selfishness, because it was by stamping their existence upon the world that they ensured they would remain in it (and they were after all in the end... demons). that, and he had only ever seen humans through windows into their lowest points — it was incredibly rare for a human to summon a demon for a contract for good and noble reasons...

even makoto's had been selfish when he'd done it, though he had found the trappings of faux-nobility to wrap it in.

he turns to beam at ernesto. ) Good. I'm happy to have found someone so diligent among us. That might end up being important.

( just like a demon to value someone who respects the inherent power of a contract... )

Might I ask your name?

[goldendeceiver]

[ All that considered it certainly wouldn't surprise Ernesto if he knew the full truth both of and behind Makoto's opinions. It wouldn't necessarily change his own in this particular case though. Something about letting your feelings on humanity be swayed by a demon seems like a very poor idea.

Assuming of course he ever finds out, or that Makoto can't eventually persuade him of something else. He's certainly making a decent enough argument for why someone might want to agree to terms their captors offer them, though it'll take a lot to buy Ernesto at this point. ]

I think you're expecting too much just from a little wariness on my part.

[ He chuckles dismissively, as if his diligence is hardly of consequence, even if it sometimes feels like the only thing Ernesto has going for him. ]

It's Ernesto. And what about you, Mr...?