sieg catchall

[sageguidance]

"catchall" it's for one thread he's dying tomorrow



edit: nvm jae is all mine now :)

Comments

[ercnerd]

You do? Why do you think that is, then?

[sageguidance]

Erm, well...

I suppose I've only read the like in stories—where one person's life extends far beyond that of those around them, time and time again, and it becomes a source of great anguish.

[ercnerd]

Hmm . . . But there's still the joy of experiencing the worlds, don't you think?

[sageguidance]

I would agree, yet I can only speak from the perspective of a man who has only lived nineteen summers long, not hundreds.

[ercnerd]

You'd be surprised. Even among mortals, elves can live over a thousand years. A few centuries don't mean as much to them as they do to humans.

[sageguidance]

Is—is that so?

My kind do tend to live longer lifespans than those you would refer to as "human", but really, it isn't by terribly much. I certainly will never see two centuries pass me by.

[ercnerd]

Oh? That's around the time I stopped counting my age. It's a good stopping point, if you ask me.

[sageguidance]

[ ha ha... ]

And that, Sieghart, is why I thought it obvious.

[ercnerd]

. . . You caught me.

But I didn't feel the way you're thinking until another century after that.

[sageguidance]

... It seems it was inevitable no longer how long it took.

Is there naught that can be done for you?

[ercnerd]

Do you mean, in terms of my immortality?

Don't worry. There are plenty of ways to end it. Now just isn't the time.

[sageguidance]

Oh? So you're not forever trapped that way?

[ercnerd]

Not in the slightest.

[sageguidance]

Huh... ... It feels a little strange to be relieved for you, but I am.

[ercnerd]

Hahaha.

You don't have to worry about me. It's the same thing I told my persona at the temple—that I'd end it myself once I've done what I have to do.

[sageguidance]

Your persona?

[ you burnin' your dread sieg? ]

[ercnerd]

[If only.]

Ah, that's right. I told Souji earlier, but that was the piece of me you saw at the excursion.

[sageguidance]

I wondered, but assumed 'twas but this place playing a cruel trick. You know how those we know are oft used against us.

[ercnerd]

No, you were right. It was a cruel trick. The me you saw was an imitation of my persona, but none of it was real.

[sageguidance]

Not at all. So—what is a "persona"?

[ercnerd]

Simply put, it's a vestige.

As a soul travels, it leaves traces of itself behind. Over time, those traces come together to take form at the Soul Temple. That form is the persona.

[sageguidance]

[ His brow creases in thought. ]

Matters of the soul are complicated indeed. What is a persona capable of?

[ercnerd]

Should I say . . . everything?

A persona is an undiluted manifestation of a soul. It may be a vestige, but it has access to a soul's latent powers. That's why I went to the Soul Temple and challenged mine—to grow stronger.

[sageguidance]

[ bro what ]

That—that can just happen? Not to simply anyone, I hope.

[ercnerd]

Of course not. The crossroads between life and death isn't an easy destination to reach; I had to get permission to go there.