PC: Su Waner

[trifocal]

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Week 0, Monday

[trifocal]

[ what's up, eupha is here on the beach fully-clothed like a person who has not heard of beachwear. ]

What a beautiful beach! God must have heard my prayers after all.

Oh, but I don't believe we've met, have we?

[jiaohua]

[waner is still pretty clothed, but slightly less clothed than eupha. they're both doing great.]

It is a lovely area, but ah... no, I do not believe we have introduced ourselves just yet. My name is Su Waner.

[trifocal]

It's good to meet you. My name is Euphausia, but you may call me Eupha, if it pleases you.

I felt rather uneasy when we first arrived here, but it seems this place is quickly becoming quite welcoming, isn't it?

[jiaohua]

A pleasure to meet you, Miss Eupha.

[she looks out at the water.]

Yes... I felt the same. But I suppose, this is "heaven," so it is meant to be ... welcoming.

[trifocal]

Have you been adjusting to all of this all right? It's quite a lot to take in, with all of this, and the talk of redemption...

[jiaohua]

I'm managing well enough. Even if this all feels very strange, there is no denying that it is the reality we're facing. And what of you? How are you adjusting?

[trifocal]

I'm quite well. This is not quite the afterlife I was expecting, but if there is hope of returning to life, then I must be grateful for that.

[jiaohua]

What sort of afterlife did you expect...?

[trifocal]

If the correct rites were performed, I would have been reborn as a guardian deity, so that I could watch over my brother.

[jiaohua]

...a deity?

[hello? you can be reborn as a god???]

[trifocal]

Yes. In this way, we can receive guidance and protection from our departed loved ones.

[jiaohua]

What sort of ritual can accomplish that...?

[trifocal]

Oh, well, when our loved ones pass away, we bring their bodies to the Orbwise Path, where they are made as offerings to the snakes there. Legends say that those whose flesh is consumed by the holy beasts will ascend to become guardian deities.

[jiaohua]

I see...

[honestly to her that sounds like it's just a way to dispose of dead bodies without having to bury him but she knwos better than to say that out loud.]

How does one know if they are being looked after by a guardian deity?

[trifocal]

Well... we cannot directly see into the spiritual world, so I suppose we have faith.

[jiaohua]

[her gaze flicks briefly to eupha's third eye.]

That sort of faith must be very comforting.

[trifocal]

[ there's a brief hesitation. ]

Well... yes, usually.

What did you think would happen, after death?

[jiaohua]

[she looks a little curious about that hesitation, but doesn't pry. they've only just met, after all.]

Well... reincarnation, truthfully. I did not expect to be conscious as myself.

[trifocal]

Oh! You thought that you would be reborn in another form?

[jiaohua]

[she nods]

Yes. It's a commonly-held belief where I'm from.

[trifocal]

[ neat!! ]

Can someone be reborn as anything? Another person, or an animal, or anything else?

[jiaohua]

In theory, yes. There are six... "realms," so to speak, in the cycle of reincarnation. Gods, demi-gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell beings. If you accumulate good karma in life, you will be reborn as a god, demi-god, or another human; bad karma, and in your next life, you will be reborn as an animal, a hungry ghost, or a hell being.

You can escape the cycle of reincarnation by achieving enlightenment, but by and large, that is how it works. Of course, there are also many levels of hell for those who are being punished, but...

[she shakes her head.]

...none of what I have been taught lines up with what we are experiencing now.

[trifocal]

[ there is a raised eyebrow at the mention of being reborn as "another human," but she refrains from interrupting. ]

... So it is your deeds in life that determine your fate? I suppose there is a sense of fairness in that...

Even if the details are different, the philosophy of it may be similar to this path of redemption we find ourselves on.

[jiaohua]

Somewhat similar, yes. But... it is your deeds in life, not in the afterlife, that are counted. If what I had been raised to believe was true, I should already have been judged by now, not standing here having a conversation.

[trifocal]

Well... it isn't so bad to have a little more time to prove yourself, is it?