Richie looks properly abashed at the scene, especially at Eupha's reaction to it. It's not the worst thing to share but certainly not a matinee he'd invite anyone too. Looking at it from nearly thirty years on makes his gut squeeze. God, they were all so fucking small]
Not ordinarily, no. [He grimaces as a nast blow lands, a firecracker goes off.] Henry had always been a bully and a bruiser, but he got especially bad that summer. Went off the deep end.
Honestly, I couldn't point to any one thing. I think old Hank just hit his limit. We'd all given him the slip in the weeks leading up to this. And I know things weren't so happy at the Casa de Bowers. [He watches things escalate, mouth pressing into a thin line.] He cracked, eventually. A few weeks after this he got himself arrested, and then institutionalized. He killed his father in his sleep. And they pinned other things on him too.
...Eupha, we don't have to watch this, let's just scoot. Okay?
[Things are winding down now, Henry's on the ground and spitting mad, but beaten. Licked, well and true.]
[UNFORTUNATELY the exit is rather hard to find. It is a not very fun house.
It gives them time to finish the whole piece. Henry and the boys retreat, tails between their legs and building a tempest that won't hit for weeks to come. It leaves them seeing to war wounds, Eddie's asthma kicking up. It leaves Mike, the only black boy in town, staring at the pack of losers who'd helped stave off distaster.
Richie does slow a moment. Just to see them.
'What's your name, kid?' Beverly asked.
'Mike Hanlon.'
'You want to shoot off some firecrackers?' Stan asked, and Mike's grin was answer enough.
He smiles a little. Bittersweet. Then the vision ends.]
...I'm real sorry, Eupha. You shouldn't have had to see a mess like that.
[He laughs a little, well-meaning. Pats her on the shoulder amicably.]
Thanks, kiddo. [He nods though.] Sure we did. The one truly good thing to come out of that dust-up. Mike's a solid guy, optimistic but not naive about it. He was a good kid. Took too much shit from people like Henry, just because he was black. But I guess all of us were taking shit for something stupid.. Stuttering, being too fat, being too poor, too sickly. Being Jewish.
[He points a thumb at himself.]
Funny looking with a mouth than quicker than your brains or feet. Bad combination.
[pazu you can also throw in your memory whenever...unless she has more questions first.]
... I suppose it is not so different from Euchronia, in some regard.
[ discrimination everywhere you look, even when all people are of one tribe... it's kind of a bummer to think about.
but yeah!!! while they're talking, the mirrors shift and display a new scene!
You see villagers gathered before their chief, clamouring for action. There are intruders on the island, they say. Sanctists, come to steal the divine relics. They must be put to death. The chief tries to calm them, explaining that the outsiders have done no harm, but they will not be placated. This is but the latest in a series of disasters.
But the scene flips. Richie has to shake his head a moment, reorient himself. The change in milieu is drastic, and the scene itself is unexpected.
Look, he knew a little of her story. Not enough to guess at this. Offering her life as a sacrifice to a god (there's a part of him that longs to roll his eyes at the mention of a dragon, this place so tests his patience), and walking off cool with no bones about it. Not one ounce of trepidation at all.
He looks back down to her, shocked.]
Eupha...That's not how... [His brows come together in a worrisome knot.] You didn't go through with it, did you?
I had fully intended to complete it... but when I reached the altar where the Dragon God dwells, there was something else there. A malevolent entity, that had attached itself to our god as if it were a parasite.
I... well. I despaired. My entire purpose was to be an offering, and even that was denied to me.
... But then I heard a voice in my head, telling me to choose a path. And I decided... that if I cannot save my people in death, then I will protect them with my life. At that moment, I was granted a new power, and I used it to slay the human.
You saw it? [ her expression lightens a little at that. ]
Then you know of Archetypes. Yes, that was the power that awakened in me. Mine was the Summoner... With it, I gained the power to call monsters to fight by my side.
The role of a priestess is to give her life... in service, not in sacrifice. To take the Dragon God's power in hand and to use it to protect her people. This, I believe, was the original purpose of our ritual, and so it shall be from now onward.
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Richie looks properly abashed at the scene, especially at Eupha's reaction to it. It's not the worst thing to share but certainly not a matinee he'd invite anyone too. Looking at it from nearly thirty years on makes his gut squeeze. God, they were all so fucking small]
Not ordinarily, no. [He grimaces as a nast blow lands, a firecracker goes off.] Henry had always been a bully and a bruiser, but he got especially bad that summer. Went off the deep end.
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[ the firecrackers, too... damn ]
cw: patricide?
...Eupha, we don't have to watch this, let's just scoot. Okay?
[Things are winding down now, Henry's on the ground and spitting mad, but beaten. Licked, well and true.]
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Oh, um... all right. As you wish.
[ turning to look for the exit... ]
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It gives them time to finish the whole piece. Henry and the boys retreat, tails between their legs and building a tempest that won't hit for weeks to come. It leaves them seeing to war wounds, Eddie's asthma kicking up. It leaves Mike, the only black boy in town, staring at the pack of losers who'd helped stave off distaster.
Richie does slow a moment. Just to see them.
'What's your name, kid?' Beverly asked.
'Mike Hanlon.'
'You want to shoot off some firecrackers?' Stan asked, and Mike's grin was answer enough.
He smiles a little. Bittersweet. Then the vision ends.]
...I'm real sorry, Eupha. You shouldn't have had to see a mess like that.
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It seems you were able to make a new friend amidst that chaos, too.
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Thanks, kiddo. [He nods though.] Sure we did. The one truly good thing to come out of that dust-up. Mike's a solid guy, optimistic but not naive about it. He was a good kid. Took too much shit from people like Henry, just because he was black. But I guess all of us were taking shit for something stupid.. Stuttering, being too fat, being too poor, too sickly. Being Jewish.
[He points a thumb at himself.]
Funny looking with a mouth than quicker than your brains or feet. Bad combination.
[pazu you can also throw in your memory whenever...unless she has more questions first.]
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[ discrimination everywhere you look, even when all people are of one tribe... it's kind of a bummer to think about.
but yeah!!! while they're talking, the mirrors shift and display a new scene!
They are right. It is time to perform the ritual.
(also, the little particles in the air? you can 100% see those. they are everywhere.) ]
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But the scene flips. Richie has to shake his head a moment, reorient himself. The change in milieu is drastic, and the scene itself is unexpected.
Look, he knew a little of her story. Not enough to guess at this. Offering her life as a sacrifice to a god (there's a part of him that longs to roll his eyes at the mention of a dragon, this place so tests his patience), and walking off cool with no bones about it. Not one ounce of trepidation at all.
He looks back down to her, shocked.]
Eupha...That's not how... [His brows come together in a worrisome knot.] You didn't go through with it, did you?
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Oh, er...
... I... didn't. The ritual did not go quite as planned...
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A human.
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A human? What, a human like me?
[discrimination is right here with us...]
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N, no! One of the humans of my world... They are not people, but twisted monsters that defy nature and reason.
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[oh okay. Uh. still weird but you do you gang.]
Did you have to kill it, then? What happened?
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... But then I heard a voice in my head, telling me to choose a path. And I decided... that if I cannot save my people in death, then I will protect them with my life. At that moment, I was granted a new power, and I used it to slay the human.
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A sort of dream awakening.
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Then you know of Archetypes. Yes, that was the power that awakened in me. Mine was the Summoner... With it, I gained the power to call monsters to fight by my side.
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So you flipped the switch, then. Turned it around on your own terms and kept moving. Did things change for your people? No need to sacrifice, right?
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The role of a priestess is to give her life... in service, not in sacrifice. To take the Dragon God's power in hand and to use it to protect her people. This, I believe, was the original purpose of our ritual, and so it shall be from now onward.