[He nods at the explanations. Nothing unexpected. A little disappointing that he missed Flins' visit, but the man will be back next month like clockwork.
The locking of the door makes him tense up again in a way he can't quite explain.]
It was...I don't know that I can explain all of it.
[Now that he's given in to the inevitability of not being able to lose himself in work, the facade he's trying to put up is crumbling more and more by the moment, the distress starting to come through on his features. He can't do this in his work space, if he's going to fall apart he needs to at least be back in his room.]
[He wasn't expecting the arm around his waist, but he doesn't have the willpower to do anything but lean into the touch, even knowing that the moment they walk out of the office door they'll be visible to everyone. It's not like they're a secret, especially now.
Lighter knows the way, so he just stays focused on putting one foot in front of the other until they're back in his room. And then...then they're here, safe, with the door closed, and he still doesn't know what to say. He sits on the edge of the bed, hunched over with exhaustion, as he tries to put words together.]
We were responding to the distress call from Zodiac. People who went to a festival and vanished. It was there when we found it. A carnival in the middle of the jungle, run by a man called Baron Omatsuri.
[They know they're just friends here. They'll clear up whatever misunderstandings arise, it's fine. Lighter sat right next to him on the bed, patiently waiting for him to recall his experience on this mission. Even removing his shades to Maxima knew full attention was being given.
A carnival in the middle of a jungle, huh? Well, he's had enough of jungles for one lifetime...]
I'm gonna take a shot in the dark: that carnival wasn't all it was cracked up to be and the guy running it was even worse.
[Lighter's tone was grave. Despite his words being more casual, he knew it must be heavier than that.]
[He just nodded. Thinking back, there's a lot that doesn't quite make sense about how things played out. There's only one explanation.]
I think...from the moment we approached it, we started falling under his control. We lost track of why we were there and fell into playing the games instead. But...
[He'd been so easily irritated, over such small things. He'd been petty with Rose, of all people. He's supposed to be better than that.]
Everyone began to bicker with one another over minor things. Tensions rising, friction and irritation between even close friends...and it only grew worse after the first body was found. Over the following days, everyone was at one another's throats, some of them seemed to be seeing things that weren't there, and anyone who wandered too far from the group never returned.
Eventually...we were able to confront Omatsuri and kill him. When it was all over, those who had been killed were returned to us, and the gate opened again to allow us to come home.
[As miserable as all of this sounds, it doesn't really explain why Maxima can't raise his head now.]
[Again, Lighter listened intently. His brow furrowed at knowing that friends of his were manipulated by this Baron Omatsuri, it made him angry. But then Maxima mentioned the first body that was found. He couldn't help but voice shock.]
Jesus Christ...
[Lighter was... no stranger to coming upon bodies. Even when his old band was still alive, they'd find bodies a lot. In the places he lived, he'd find bodies a lot. It never stopped being a shock to the system. For that to happen with someone known? For that to raise the possibility that the missing people may have been dead?
But he kept listening, worry and anger painting his expression even more. A tinge of regret that he wasn't there to help them. That he wasn't there to...
He wasn't foolish enough to think he'd be immune to whatever affected them, though. Even with the Big Guy's protection.
He definitely wasn't about to question how they all came back as a man who cheated death himself. He was glad they did, even if they'd need help. They had their families to help them, their friends, their homes. And so did Maxima. He had a friend by his side right here and now.]
Are you? No, I know you're not alright. 'Could see that the second you walked into the office... [He shook his head, putting a hand on Maxima's shoulder.] How're you feeling? After all of that, you can't seriously think you'd be able to work at all.
[How is he feeling? The hand on his shoulder is simultaneously comforting and insistent.
How is he feeling?
Is that all that happened?]
I found the bodies of two friends myself. Zulius and Rose... I learned that Rose's soul was captured inside of a gem she's been wearing, and I don't know why. I... [His voice fails, and he has to swallow once to continue speaking.] I think I may have ruined one of my closest friendships in this city, in the name of keeping him alive to see the end.
... I'm sorry. Even if they came back... the sight of what your friends look like dead isn't something that just disappears overnight.
[Lighter did speak from experience. In his gut, a familiar pain roiled. The thread of a thought, of a curious concern. For two others in particular who he's not seen around...
Later. That's for later. Because while this conversation started with Lighter dodging a question... he's noticing that that seems to be Maxima's favorite thing to do (14). For now, a gentle hand. See how much he'll reveal on his own.]
Because I gave him orders. He's...a man from the same world as I am, but he was... [A slight shudder runs through his body, barely perceptible if Lighter wasn't touching him.]
He was a conscript of the Empire's military. As a former officer, I...knew that if I ordered him, he would obey me. So I did. For his own good, I...
[He's fighting to keep his composure, but he manages to steady his voice against all odds (20).]
I commanded him, and brought him to heel. I kept him at my side under orders until it was safe to return him home to his beloved.
After doing that to him, I'll be lucky if he ever wants to look me in the eye again.
[Even with his voice steadied, he sounds lost and broken.]
[Perceptible it was, though, and at that shudder Lighter tightened his grip on Maxima's shoulder.
And there it still stayed. Even after Maxima revealed why he felt he irreparably damaged a friendship. It stayed, but it'd be a lie to say it didn't loosen. He knew Maxima was of high standing in his home world, a person people relied on and looked to for guidance before... whatever happened to it. It just added up: he was a Military officer. All in all that was one section of the puzzle solved.
And he had to pull that rank against someone who didn't want to be part of his Imperial Army in the first place. Probably remind him about that time. The side of Lighter that valued freedom of choice did feel angry. But not at Maxima. Just at the circumstances.
Lighter was quiet for a while, letting the information sink in before taking a deep but quiet breath. What he wouldn't give to smoke, not that it would change what he thought.]
Why would you ever wanna remind a friend about a time they fought for something they didn't wanna believe in?
[Lighter was sort of an "officer" before. Places he's been followed their own codes and their own hierarchy. He only knew the periphery, he just hoped it'd help some.]
But if you didn't, he would have died right? Sometimes it's cruel to be kind and it's kind to be cruel. You understand him and what it would take to make sure he got home.
You're still... scared of how he'll look at you, though.
["Scared" is said deliberately. It was a way to feel and it could lead into many other things.]
Is he? Is that what this is? ...Has he spent so many years pushing aside his own emotions that he can't even identify them?]
I...yes. I'm afraid I've lost him. That I...hurt him so badly he'll want nothing to do with me from now on.
[He's afraid. It hurts. There's a lump in his throat and a burning in his eyes that he can't push away anymore. He runs a hand up under his glasses, brushing at his eyes, and his fingers come away damp.]
[And if Maxima's friend did... nothing could be done about it. He'd be well within his right to resent Maxima and never want to speak with him again. To pull what Lighter assumed was a trauma response to save him was kind cruelty. But it was cruelty nevertheless.
So, Lighter had no real words of advice or comfort to offer him. Just a hand on his shoulder that went slack as soon as the man mentioned the situation. But never left for some reason.]
You're both gonna need space for a little while. [When they're ready they can confront it. It didn't have to be any time soon, but if either of them wanted this friendship to continue they'd need to talk it out. And Lighter can only lead Maxima to water, not make him or his friend drink.]
Why are you apologizing to me? [He sounded genuinely confused.]
[At least for a moment, he's beyond words. All he can do is shake his head, and pull his glasses off to set them aside, and bury his face in his hands as he tries desperately to get his emotions under control once again. To stop the tears that will no longer be denied and steady the trembling in his shoulders.]
I shouldn't... I'm sorry...
[Every time he tries to speak more than a few words, his voice breaks again, forcing him to stop. He's finally reached some sort of limit on how much he can take.]
[It hurt. It hurt Lighter to see anyone this broken. All of this happened within a couple of days to Maxima. And he still tried to pretend he was fine to work. Lighter ought to take duties over for another week just to be sure Maxima was up for it.
Between what it took to keep his friend alive and being one of very few other survivors here... of course the guy would break. He's been overdue for one, it feels like.
So, Lighter just pulled him in for a hug, moving the hand on his shoulder to the opposite one and bringing him in close.]
[The permission is all he needs. He embraces Lighter back, pulls him close like an anchor in a storm, and crumbles into soft, half-choked sobbing. All the grief, misery, disappointment, and frustration pour out of him as he holds onto perhaps the only person he can still trust to keep him steady until it's over.
Eventually the waves of emotion loosen their grip enough for him to get his breath, and he raises his head, pulls back despite a lingering tremor that shows his reluctance.]
Thank you. I'm not...usually...prone to such...dramatics. I suppose everything weighed on me more than I realized.
[Lighter didn't pull back until Maxima did. He didn't have much to offer except a shoulder to cry on, but that suited him fine in this moment. Lighter didn't have to do much but hold his friend.
In doing so he felt more guilt creep up. The constant what if's that nagged at his heart.
Idly, he made a mental note to... to check on Hugo and Lycaon later...
When Maxima pulled away, Lighter's expression was a bit hard to nail down. Obviously he was still worried about Maxima, studying the man's mannerisms and body language. Seeing if anything else needed to be done. He counted on Maxima to say so.]
Don't mention it. Everyone's got a breaking point. It's gonna hit harder when you pretend it doesn't exist.
[...]
It'll be worth talking to your friend later on. You did what you had to do, if you explain that he'd understand.
[Lighter hoped anyway. Sure he also lacked some crucial information, but.]
[At that, Maxima grimaced, and pulled away more fully.]
...I don't know that he will, but thank you for saying so.
[His voice was coming out quiet, defeated. After all of that...he still needed to tell Lighter the whole truth, too.]
If you have time to listen...I...I should tell you about where I come from. About the Empire and what it means. So that you can understand why...what I did to him is something he shouldn't forgive me for.
You don't. But you don't know that he won't either.
[He'll never know until he tries. But he didn't need to try today. He didn't need to do anything today. Lighter would hold the fort for a little while longer.
And he would listen for as long as his friend needed. He won't say no to more pieces of the puzzle being filled in.]
[He takes a deep breath, holds it for a beat, lets it out slowly. Doesn't raise his head to meet Lighter's eyes as he sits at a careful distance, all too aware that doing this might be ending another friendship.
So be it. If he's going to lose everything, then so be it. Lighter deserves the truth.]
There's no two ways about it: my people were villains to all the world. Even I didn't realize the extent of that until I was forced into exile, to see for myself how the people outside our borders lived, how they saw us.
[Better to start from the beginning.]
Before I was born, before we were an Empire, the Garlean Republic and its people struggled to survive in the land of Ilsabard, the frozen north. ...Unlike all the other races of Etheirys, we are unable to use magic. Every Garlean schoolchild is taught that, because of this inability, we were easy targets for those who coveted our lands, and thus driven out and forced to live in places no one else wanted.
I don't know how much of that is true. That history is too old to verify, and if there are other facts that underlie it, they are long lost to the pride and resentment of a suffering people.
Around sixty or so years ago, the combustion engine was invented, powered by the abundant deposits of ceruleum beneath Ilsabard's ice. ...Think of it as gasoline, or at least the oil that it's refined from. That was when our lives began to change. The soldier who invented it was hailed as a hero, and quickly rose through the ranks on his ingenuity, becoming supreme commander and eventually being crowned Emperor. All the while, machinery enabled by his engines was on the rise in every aspect of life. We could till fields, run trains, heat our homes. Drill for more materials, for ores and ceruleum to build and power more and grander machines.
And of course, we could make war on those who had driven us to such extremes in the first place. [He lets his eyes fall closed again.] We could take back what we had lost so many generations ago, and more besides. We with our ingenuity and resilience could rule all the world if we chose - and why should we not? After all we had suffered, so the sentiment ran, why should we not deserve to claim our place at the pinnacle of civilization?
[If at any point Maxima glimpsed Lighter, he'd see the man's face go on a quiet, subtle journey. With a connecting thread of anger following each step and each revelation.
If "Etheirys" was a world with a lot of magic, of course it'd put the Garleans at disadvantage. You work with what you have to protect yourself, they had oil. They had machines, they had quick transportation.
... The Outer Ring. The Outer Ring had oil. The Outer Ring had Cinderglow Lake. They almost lost it. They did lose their Overlord because of an ambitious traitor. They were on the outskirts where no one in the big city cared for or about them until it was convenient. They had their own law as outsiders.
Gangs have their own law in the roughest ghettos, the lowest income neighborhoods. People you don't fuck with. Turning a blind eye to turning tricks and dealing.
In all of these, one person always decided they wanted more. They wanted to be the big shot, the top dog, the "Emperor". And with Garlemald... that need to protect one's self turned into the worst of the worst on a national scale. A sense of entitlement. Of superiority, "the better" race of people.
It's sickening.
So that's the kind of land Maxima came from. In the end, Lighter's face journey seemed short. Traces of anger, of frustration. That lost look in his eyes as he tried to navigate his current and past life memories. When he finally spoke, the look in his eyes was difficult to read.
But his tone was... perhaps eerily neutral.]
That's the place your friend got roped into fighting for, huh?
[Sharper:]
The kinda place that thought it'd oppress before it got oppressed. It ended up led by the kind of men who thought they were owed the rest of the world just because they found something useful. And thought they could lead the way even though no one wanted it. It wasn't about what other people wanted in the end, it's about the upper crust.
[A pause. And then softer:]
That's the place you wanted to rebuild into something different, right?
[Maxima flinched and seemed to withdraw into himself a little further at each sharp word, each just castigation. The Empire had never truly been about uplifting the weak, only about turning the tables and making someone else suffer for once. He understands that now, better than he ever had before he was forced into exile.
And then the last sentence was an open hand instead of a fist. His shoulders slumped a little, and he finally dared a glance back at Lighter.]
I did. I do. I... [He grimaced, hating the words he was about to speak but knowing them for truth anyway.] I don't trust the people who remain to...to build something that's better than what we had, unless the right people are there to remind them what that needs to look like. There are a few with hearts in the right place, but...
[He shook his head.] In any case, my good intentions aren't the point. The point is, my friend, Takame...he came from one of the places we took over. He was raised under the Empire's thumb, had only in recent years begun to truly shake off the scars that upbringing had left on him. He trusted in me, as a dissenter against the common view, to treat him like an equal. ...And now, whatever my intentions, I've broken that trust and reminded him of where we sit in the hierarchy of my homeland. ...He shouldn't forgive me for that.
[More quietly:]
He never should have put so much trust in me in the first place.
[There's another long pause from Lighter. And then an inaudible exhale.]
I won't go speaking for a guy I don't know, but... isn't it his choice to forgive you or not?
[His tone was still on the softer side, but Lighter was always rather blunt. Usually it got him into trouble. But that suited him just fine.]
You may be right, he may not forgive you. But that's for him to decide, not for you to assume.
[He leaned over a bit, enough so Maxima couldn't avoid looking at him entirely.]
You still think it's an injustice that he was raised under the Empire's thumb, and it was. You still care about him enough to be this upset about what you had to do to keep him alive. Based on what you're saying, I figure not a lot of officers would give a damn about being forgiven or not. You do.
That's the difference here. You care. You still wanted your country to be better and you still want to do good by the one who suffered at its hands all the way in another world.
[...]
But it doesn't make the regret hurt any less. It doesn't make you want to scream into the sky any less. I know that.
[He lifted his head a little more as Lighter leaned into his space, no longer so avoidant. No longer so afraid that the things he can't help being might poison everything good he's managed to build for himself here.]
...It doesn't. But...I was right. [A long beat.] ...You really are a kind man at heart.
[He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, feeling the weight of everything settle into his bones.] You're sure I can't help you with the paperwork? I probably shouldn't be speaking to clients right now, but...
[He really won't know what to do with himself if he isn't keeping busy with something.]
[If Lighter allowed himself to resent Maxima over where he came from, well... he'd be no better than folks who thought that of him. Maxima's a good man. A good friend.
Lighter hoped this Takame guy could find it in his heart to at least hear Maxima out. If only for his friend's sake. That's all he could do.
He did find himself scratching the back of his head a bit sheepishly.]
Hah, c'mon now this ain't about me. Besides, look who's talking.
[Said while giving Maxima a light pat on the back.]
I've got it all covered. Give yourself a couple days to just veg out and recover. It'll do you some good.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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The locking of the door makes him tense up again in a way he can't quite explain.]
It was...I don't know that I can explain all of it.
[Now that he's given in to the inevitability of not being able to lose himself in work, the facade he's trying to put up is crumbling more and more by the moment, the distress starting to come through on his features. He can't do this in his work space, if he's going to fall apart he needs to at least be back in his room.]
Not here. Not like this.
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Welp. [And wrapped an arm right around his waist, pulling him along to the door he unlocked and walking right out of the office with Maxima in tow.]
Time for you to hold up your end of the bargain, then. Vamos, flaco. I know the way by now.
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Lighter knows the way, so he just stays focused on putting one foot in front of the other until they're back in his room. And then...then they're here, safe, with the door closed, and he still doesn't know what to say. He sits on the edge of the bed, hunched over with exhaustion, as he tries to put words together.]
We were responding to the distress call from Zodiac. People who went to a festival and vanished. It was there when we found it. A carnival in the middle of the jungle, run by a man called Baron Omatsuri.
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A carnival in the middle of a jungle, huh? Well, he's had enough of jungles for one lifetime...]
I'm gonna take a shot in the dark: that carnival wasn't all it was cracked up to be and the guy running it was even worse.
[Lighter's tone was grave. Despite his words being more casual, he knew it must be heavier than that.]
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I think...from the moment we approached it, we started falling under his control. We lost track of why we were there and fell into playing the games instead. But...
[He'd been so easily irritated, over such small things. He'd been petty with Rose, of all people. He's supposed to be better than that.]
Everyone began to bicker with one another over minor things. Tensions rising, friction and irritation between even close friends...and it only grew worse after the first body was found. Over the following days, everyone was at one another's throats, some of them seemed to be seeing things that weren't there, and anyone who wandered too far from the group never returned.
Eventually...we were able to confront Omatsuri and kill him. When it was all over, those who had been killed were returned to us, and the gate opened again to allow us to come home.
[As miserable as all of this sounds, it doesn't really explain why Maxima can't raise his head now.]
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Jesus Christ...
[Lighter was... no stranger to coming upon bodies. Even when his old band was still alive, they'd find bodies a lot. In the places he lived, he'd find bodies a lot. It never stopped being a shock to the system. For that to happen with someone known? For that to raise the possibility that the missing people may have been dead?
But he kept listening, worry and anger painting his expression even more. A tinge of regret that he wasn't there to help them. That he wasn't there to...
He wasn't foolish enough to think he'd be immune to whatever affected them, though. Even with the Big Guy's protection.
He definitely wasn't about to question how they all came back as a man who cheated death himself. He was glad they did, even if they'd need help. They had their families to help them, their friends, their homes. And so did Maxima. He had a friend by his side right here and now.]
Are you? No, I know you're not alright. 'Could see that the second you walked into the office... [He shook his head, putting a hand on Maxima's shoulder.] How're you feeling? After all of that, you can't seriously think you'd be able to work at all.
[... (10)]
Is that all that happened?
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How is he feeling?
Is that all that happened?]
I found the bodies of two friends myself. Zulius and Rose... I learned that Rose's soul was captured inside of a gem she's been wearing, and I don't know why. I... [His voice fails, and he has to swallow once to continue speaking.] I think I may have ruined one of my closest friendships in this city, in the name of keeping him alive to see the end.
[He closes his eyes, leans into Lighter's hand.]
...I don't know what to do about it.
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[Lighter did speak from experience. In his gut, a familiar pain roiled. The thread of a thought, of a curious concern. For two others in particular who he's not seen around...
Later. That's for later. Because while this conversation started with Lighter dodging a question... he's noticing that that seems to be Maxima's favorite thing to do (14). For now, a gentle hand. See how much he'll reveal on his own.]
Why do you think that? What happened?
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He was a conscript of the Empire's military. As a former officer, I...knew that if I ordered him, he would obey me. So I did. For his own good, I...
[He's fighting to keep his composure, but he manages to steady his voice against all odds (20).]
I commanded him, and brought him to heel. I kept him at my side under orders until it was safe to return him home to his beloved.
After doing that to him, I'll be lucky if he ever wants to look me in the eye again.
[Even with his voice steadied, he sounds lost and broken.]
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And there it still stayed. Even after Maxima revealed why he felt he irreparably damaged a friendship. It stayed, but it'd be a lie to say it didn't loosen. He knew Maxima was of high standing in his home world, a person people relied on and looked to for guidance before... whatever happened to it. It just added up: he was a Military officer. All in all that was one section of the puzzle solved.
And he had to pull that rank against someone who didn't want to be part of his Imperial Army in the first place. Probably remind him about that time. The side of Lighter that valued freedom of choice did feel angry. But not at Maxima. Just at the circumstances.
Lighter was quiet for a while, letting the information sink in before taking a deep but quiet breath. What he wouldn't give to smoke, not that it would change what he thought.]
Why would you ever wanna remind a friend about a time they fought for something they didn't wanna believe in?
[Lighter was sort of an "officer" before. Places he's been followed their own codes and their own hierarchy. He only knew the periphery, he just hoped it'd help some.]
But if you didn't, he would have died right? Sometimes it's cruel to be kind and it's kind to be cruel. You understand him and what it would take to make sure he got home.
You're still... scared of how he'll look at you, though.
["Scared" is said deliberately. It was a way to feel and it could lead into many other things.]
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Is he? Is that what this is? ...Has he spent so many years pushing aside his own emotions that he can't even identify them?]
I...yes. I'm afraid I've lost him. That I...hurt him so badly he'll want nothing to do with me from now on.
[He's afraid. It hurts. There's a lump in his throat and a burning in his eyes that he can't push away anymore. He runs a hand up under his glasses, brushing at his eyes, and his fingers come away damp.]
I'm sorry...I...
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So, Lighter had no real words of advice or comfort to offer him. Just a hand on his shoulder that went slack as soon as the man mentioned the situation. But never left for some reason.]
You're both gonna need space for a little while. [When they're ready they can confront it. It didn't have to be any time soon, but if either of them wanted this friendship to continue they'd need to talk it out. And Lighter can only lead Maxima to water, not make him or his friend drink.]
Why are you apologizing to me? [He sounded genuinely confused.]
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I shouldn't... I'm sorry...
[Every time he tries to speak more than a few words, his voice breaks again, forcing him to stop. He's finally reached some sort of limit on how much he can take.]
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Between what it took to keep his friend alive and being one of very few other survivors here... of course the guy would break. He's been overdue for one, it feels like.
So, Lighter just pulled him in for a hug, moving the hand on his shoulder to the opposite one and bringing him in close.]
Don't worry about it. Just let it out.
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Eventually the waves of emotion loosen their grip enough for him to get his breath, and he raises his head, pulls back despite a lingering tremor that shows his reluctance.]
Thank you. I'm not...usually...prone to such...dramatics. I suppose everything weighed on me more than I realized.
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In doing so he felt more guilt creep up. The constant what if's that nagged at his heart.
Idly, he made a mental note to... to check on Hugo and Lycaon later...
When Maxima pulled away, Lighter's expression was a bit hard to nail down. Obviously he was still worried about Maxima, studying the man's mannerisms and body language. Seeing if anything else needed to be done. He counted on Maxima to say so.]
Don't mention it. Everyone's got a breaking point. It's gonna hit harder when you pretend it doesn't exist.
[...]
It'll be worth talking to your friend later on. You did what you had to do, if you explain that he'd understand.
[Lighter hoped anyway. Sure he also lacked some crucial information, but.]
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...I don't know that he will, but thank you for saying so.
[His voice was coming out quiet, defeated. After all of that...he still needed to tell Lighter the whole truth, too.]
If you have time to listen...I...I should tell you about where I come from. About the Empire and what it means. So that you can understand why...what I did to him is something he shouldn't forgive me for.
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[He'll never know until he tries. But he didn't need to try today. He didn't need to do anything today. Lighter would hold the fort for a little while longer.
And he would listen for as long as his friend needed. He won't say no to more pieces of the puzzle being filled in.]
I'm listening.
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So be it. If he's going to lose everything, then so be it. Lighter deserves the truth.]
There's no two ways about it: my people were villains to all the world. Even I didn't realize the extent of that until I was forced into exile, to see for myself how the people outside our borders lived, how they saw us.
[Better to start from the beginning.]
Before I was born, before we were an Empire, the Garlean Republic and its people struggled to survive in the land of Ilsabard, the frozen north. ...Unlike all the other races of Etheirys, we are unable to use magic. Every Garlean schoolchild is taught that, because of this inability, we were easy targets for those who coveted our lands, and thus driven out and forced to live in places no one else wanted.
I don't know how much of that is true. That history is too old to verify, and if there are other facts that underlie it, they are long lost to the pride and resentment of a suffering people.
Around sixty or so years ago, the combustion engine was invented, powered by the abundant deposits of ceruleum beneath Ilsabard's ice. ...Think of it as gasoline, or at least the oil that it's refined from. That was when our lives began to change. The soldier who invented it was hailed as a hero, and quickly rose through the ranks on his ingenuity, becoming supreme commander and eventually being crowned Emperor. All the while, machinery enabled by his engines was on the rise in every aspect of life. We could till fields, run trains, heat our homes. Drill for more materials, for ores and ceruleum to build and power more and grander machines.
And of course, we could make war on those who had driven us to such extremes in the first place. [He lets his eyes fall closed again.] We could take back what we had lost so many generations ago, and more besides. We with our ingenuity and resilience could rule all the world if we chose - and why should we not? After all we had suffered, so the sentiment ran, why should we not deserve to claim our place at the pinnacle of civilization?
cw mentions of gang activity and rascism
If "Etheirys" was a world with a lot of magic, of course it'd put the Garleans at disadvantage. You work with what you have to protect yourself, they had oil. They had machines, they had quick transportation.
... The Outer Ring. The Outer Ring had oil. The Outer Ring had Cinderglow Lake. They almost lost it. They did lose their Overlord because of an ambitious traitor. They were on the outskirts where no one in the big city cared for or about them until it was convenient. They had their own law as outsiders.
Gangs have their own law in the roughest ghettos, the lowest income neighborhoods. People you don't fuck with. Turning a blind eye to turning tricks and dealing.
In all of these, one person always decided they wanted more. They wanted to be the big shot, the top dog, the "Emperor". And with Garlemald... that need to protect one's self turned into the worst of the worst on a national scale. A sense of entitlement. Of superiority, "the better" race of people.
It's sickening.
So that's the kind of land Maxima came from. In the end, Lighter's face journey seemed short. Traces of anger, of frustration. That lost look in his eyes as he tried to navigate his current and past life memories. When he finally spoke, the look in his eyes was difficult to read.
But his tone was... perhaps eerily neutral.]
That's the place your friend got roped into fighting for, huh?
[Sharper:]
The kinda place that thought it'd oppress before it got oppressed. It ended up led by the kind of men who thought they were owed the rest of the world just because they found something useful. And thought they could lead the way even though no one wanted it. It wasn't about what other people wanted in the end, it's about the upper crust.
[A pause. And then softer:]
That's the place you wanted to rebuild into something different, right?
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And then the last sentence was an open hand instead of a fist. His shoulders slumped a little, and he finally dared a glance back at Lighter.]
I did. I do. I... [He grimaced, hating the words he was about to speak but knowing them for truth anyway.] I don't trust the people who remain to...to build something that's better than what we had, unless the right people are there to remind them what that needs to look like. There are a few with hearts in the right place, but...
[He shook his head.] In any case, my good intentions aren't the point. The point is, my friend, Takame...he came from one of the places we took over. He was raised under the Empire's thumb, had only in recent years begun to truly shake off the scars that upbringing had left on him. He trusted in me, as a dissenter against the common view, to treat him like an equal. ...And now, whatever my intentions, I've broken that trust and reminded him of where we sit in the hierarchy of my homeland. ...He shouldn't forgive me for that.
[More quietly:]
He never should have put so much trust in me in the first place.
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I won't go speaking for a guy I don't know, but... isn't it his choice to forgive you or not?
[His tone was still on the softer side, but Lighter was always rather blunt. Usually it got him into trouble. But that suited him just fine.]
You may be right, he may not forgive you. But that's for him to decide, not for you to assume.
[He leaned over a bit, enough so Maxima couldn't avoid looking at him entirely.]
You still think it's an injustice that he was raised under the Empire's thumb, and it was. You still care about him enough to be this upset about what you had to do to keep him alive. Based on what you're saying, I figure not a lot of officers would give a damn about being forgiven or not. You do.
That's the difference here. You care. You still wanted your country to be better and you still want to do good by the one who suffered at its hands all the way in another world.
[...]
But it doesn't make the regret hurt any less. It doesn't make you want to scream into the sky any less. I know that.
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...It doesn't. But...I was right. [A long beat.] ...You really are a kind man at heart.
[He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, feeling the weight of everything settle into his bones.] You're sure I can't help you with the paperwork? I probably shouldn't be speaking to clients right now, but...
[He really won't know what to do with himself if he isn't keeping busy with something.]
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Lighter hoped this Takame guy could find it in his heart to at least hear Maxima out. If only for his friend's sake. That's all he could do.
He did find himself scratching the back of his head a bit sheepishly.]
Hah, c'mon now this ain't about me. Besides, look who's talking.
[Said while giving Maxima a light pat on the back.]
I've got it all covered. Give yourself a couple days to just veg out and recover. It'll do you some good.
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[He sighed. Let himself fall backward onto the bed, a touch melodramatically. Maybe he's allowed just a little bit of dramatics, after all that.]
...I'll try. ...I don't know what I'll do, but I'll try.
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