Is it the ending that's hard? [Mod]

[Dialga]

The man quickly looks around, as if noticing the weather for the first time. "No more so than any other winter. But yes, I suppose it is rather cold, compared to last week. There was another man here, half an hour ago. White hair, like mine, probably a cane with a pompously large pearl on it? Did you see him, and if so why was he here?" The man's eyes are like Ice Beams as he speaks, his terse tone making it clear he wishes to be elsewhere, although there is no actual malice in his voice or expression. If anything he looks...impatient? Yes, he looks like a man who is already late for something important, and he's been delayed by a broken wagon-wheel. Except of course, that there are no vehicles in sight.

[Justice]

Justice listens carefully as the man who appears overly impatient asks him about the reason for Palkia's being here. Justice doesn't understand how this man could have possibly seen the two speaking, let alone enough to care. Justice is sure that there were no people around at the time, and yet this man seems to be very interested in their possible interaction.

Justice, now concerned, begins to think of all the possibilities as he often does. He considers sensory abilities, but he doubts that because of the man's demeanor, he consider's aural or psychic abilities, but then the man would have no reason to ask the questions that he is. Justice considers invisibility, but that too seems unlikely because the man had apparently just now noticed the snow, and invisibility requires a good sense of one's surroundings. Justice considers astral projection of some sort, but then, the man could have listened to the conversation without the need for questions.

Justice now thinks about the possibility of this person asking the question desepite already knowing the answer, or perhaps, despite not truly needing the answer. Justice imagines that there are many with abilities like the ones he considered that would be capable of exuding such a demeanor with such skill despite it being a mask, but something about the man makes Justice think that that, too, is not the case. Justice then thinks about what the man said about the pearl.

Of course, it is possible that someone had done their homework and figured out that Palkia and pearls go hand in hand, but is the information really that easy to get ahold of? Justice knows, almost for a fact that there are only three copies of the known literature stating anything about Palkia and things of it's appearance, and he knows their whereabouts. Justice himself has a copy in the library he built in the Inn, and Camellia has one in the palace library, and there is one, somewhere, hidden in the a mountain village, and Justice, from what he knows, is sure that the man before him is not from the palace.

Then, there was the "like mine" association the man made about his hair being similar to Palkia's. Of course, many people of age often have a fading in hair color, and the colors vary litte, but the association was still there, and the man himself made the link plainly for Justice. This, along with the lack of other, conflicting evidence, combined with the pearl tidbit and the pair's general location, make Justice's thougths solidify. Now, once again, Justice decides to make yet another leap of thought, and he decides to once again make an assumption that he is almost completely sure of. He begins to speak as he looks at the man with eyes holding more concern than they did before.

"Why yes, I did actually. Your brother seems to have just a strong an interest in me as you do. As to what such a spacially orderful man had to say? He merely wished to ask me some questions on where I stand on issues that apparently concerned him. May I ask why you are here, you seem out of time, something ironic considering.."

[Dialga]

As Justice takes his time, speaking with his usual air of refinement, the man gives Justice the noble equivalent of a dirty look. "Yes,yes, very clever, you know a god when you see one, give yourself a pat on the back. Of course he would care; your the enemy king on a chessboard, he's going to watch you with the eyes of a Staraptor. Talk about what issues? He's a god, there are thousands of issues he is concerned over, and you have control over none of them."

As he responded, the man was irritated, no doubt a byproduct of his rushed impatience, but when Justice commented about the lack of time and irony, the god turned around, looked up at the sky, and began yelling over his shoulder. "HA-HA, the god of time has no time, go ahead and laugh at the poor thing, the rest of reality seems to be!!!" Dialga turned back to Justice, his eyes like diamond drills. "Listen closely, I'm not going to repeat myself; I'm god of time. Every moment I exist, I experience everything that has happened or will happen. Right now I'm eating a meal with King George, First King of the Diamond. The theif-king is slipping cutlery down his sleeve out of habit. At the same time, I'm at a family reunion in a few centuries, discussing the events that caused the fall of that island kingdom Lugia loves so much. Darkrai blames himself, but the general consensus is it would have happened eventually no matter what any of us did. I'VE BEEN TALKING TO YOU HERE, ASKING YOU THESE QUESTIONS SINCE THE DAWN OF REALITY. FORGIVE ME, IF I'D RATHER THIS BORING CONVERSATION BE OVER WITH." Dialga doesn't raise his voice, never yelling, simply speaking with great emphasis and feeling.

His point made, and vented, Dialga pauses for the blink of an eye to reorganize himself, and calmly, though still impatiently picks up where he had left off before Justice brought up his impatience. "Now, my brother spoke to you about something. Multiple somethings, I'm willing to bet. What were they?"

[Justice]

TAGS: Mod, Dialga
WORDS: Pff
NOTES: All Justice's feels..

Justice smiles, just a little bit, when his guess about the man's identity is proved correct. Justice's eyes contract slightly, however, when the Deity makes his snarky comment about his "cleverness". Justice knows that anyone could have guesssed Dialga's identity, but he doesn't quite understand the need for sarcasm, as Justice was merely stating his own thoughts, the irony was in no way falsely placed.

Justice tosses those thoughts aside as Dialga asks his question, and of course, Justice knows that what he said about "issues" and the fact that Justice has no control over them is true, yet the next things that Dialga says makes Justice's mind bend beyond anything he had ever had to grasp before. As Dialga begins speaking, Justice's own heart begins reaching out; for whatever reason, though it is obvious the Deity doesn't ask it, Justice feels an intense sorrow for the being.

Justice, a mortal, can't possibly imagine the idea of being omnipresent throughout time, and for all of time, and it is because of this that Justice feels the emotions he does. The feeling Dialga continues to pour out makes Justice's own heart quiver, as if the cold itself has lept right into his very soul. Justice feels as if his thoughts on the matter wouldn't affect the God of Time in any respect of the word, but how could one not feel sympathy for someone, even a God, with so much happening within him.

Justice, for a moment, puts those thoughts aside and begins thinking about what Dialga said. "Since the Dawn of Reality". These words pierce right into Justice's very reason for existing. Justice's mind begins to spiral into a series of questions and examinations. These questions, however, have nothing to do with Dialga, but of himself. Justice is examining himself and all that he believes, or all that he thought he believed. Justice can't fathom how much the words Dialga said could possibly affect everything Justice has ever before thought.

Justice's thoughts, which might have sent him into shock otherwise, are interrupted when Dialga asks his question again with different wording. Justice tries to slow his breathing, which has increased in intensity as his own basis of ideas has been shaken. Justice regains his composure, and begins asking his questions, this time, his heart truly yearning for a response that he wishes for.

"Dialga..I am going to answer your questions first, and I pray that you will answer mine when I ask them. Palkia, at first anyway, wanted to know the justifications I had for the actions I took while incarcerated. He wanted to know the reasons that I acted the way I did, despite my conditions. I answered him, and your brother began speaking of order, and what is truly good for the kingdom of Diamond.

He spoke of Camellia..and how he believed that she is better suited for the throne, and I jumped at the opportunity to defend myself. Of course, your brother his own way of defending it, by speaking of how reprehensible it is to be chosen for the throne in the way I was. Which..I sadly could not argue..

Regardless, we continued our "chat" with a conversation about why he didn't kill me years ago, and he explained to me your agreement about the mortals..Then, he offered me a request, and I made one, and then he left, and now here we are.

Now then..My questions. I want to know, and I mean, I desparately want to know. Does any of it matter? Can any of it matter? Tell me, if you've been having this conversation with me since the beginning of time, then do we truly have any choice in the matter? If time is so set in stone, do the choices we "mortals" make truly affect anything? And, if time is set in stone as you make it appear, then why do you and your brother even bother arguing over who rules? Why bother if the end result has already been decided?

This..it bothers me so, because for all my life I have believed that it is our own choices that construct our future, that it is us who paves the way to eternity, yet..if none of that is true..then why do we pray? Why do we pray to Gods like you if the elements you control have no way of being displaced? If my decision to go against my own flesh and blood changes nothing in the grand scheme of things, then why have I tried?

And finally, I wish to say, with all of my heart..and with all of my soul..that I am truly and sincerely sorry for the burden you bear. The agony it must be, to continually be, I cannot fathom it, nor do I wish to, and I wouldn't wish such a fate on anyone. So I am sorry, sorry that you must go every second of every day with such a weight on your shoulders.." Justice says, his eyes almost tearing, almost.

Justice waits for a response as he struggles to keep his thoughts together as the existence he thought he knew begins to fall in around him.

[Dialga]

Dialga nodded as if to say 'get on with it', as Justice spoke about answering his questions, and planning to ask some of his own. He sighed, rolling his eyes, as Justice finally got around to telling him about Palkia. finally!

When Justice asked his own questions, however, Dialga paused, clearly thinking hard. Not because he had not considered Justice's question, or he didn't know what to say, but because this was a major moment in the young man's life, and he wanted to do it justice, irony intended. After several moments, Dialga took a deep breath, and answered.

"Justice. I'm sorry to have disturbed you. I have misrepresented the flow of time, and now I must explain it to you. There is a great deal of points to why you should continue. Most people think of time like a stream. a path that flows ever onward. Some believe there is leeway, others believe the river is bound by it's banks. Neither of these ideas is accurate, however. Instead, think of time like a stalk of grass in the middle of a windy field; time is always in flux, moving first this way, and then the next. In fact, from my perspective, the timeline has radically altered itself no less than 8 times since I arrived her to talk with you. Why, I started that last sentence talking to your sister, if you can imagine it. But because you are a creature bound by time, you are also bound by it's changes. Thus you don't perceive when it changes, because that "when" is outside of your very concept of time. You have a choice, and every time you make a choice, it adds to the wind blowing on the blade. sometimes you push it left, sometimes you push it right, but always you are making choices which influence the path and choices in the future. When I say I have been having this conversation since the dawn of time, that is accurate, but to be clear, this conversation doesn't happen in every possible position the grass can be in. I experience all those possible choices, those possible positions, at once. As such, I have more influential choices, because I know how my choices will influence the path people take, but that does not change the fact that your choices still have an influence. Do not lose confidence, for while I cannot guarantee you're success, it is possible for you to prevail if you continue to strive for your birthright."

Dialga looks out across the mountain, his speech finished, and gives Justice a chance to respond, his former impatience returning, but gradually.

[Justice]

TAGS: Dialga, mod
WORDS: :I
NOTES: Justice is depressed D:

Justice's eyes quickly return to their more natural state of what would normally appear to be unconcern as the God of Time explains that Justice was misunderstanding that facts. Justice looks at his hands, wondering if anything he could possibly do could actually "radically" change the "flux" of time.. Justice thinks to himself about these things, not noticing that Grace has now climbed onto her master's head in an attempt to escape Justice's grasp, which had become powerful in his distraughtful moments..

Justice looks to Dialga and speaks again, knowing that the deity knows exactly what he "could" say, and he knows that the moment he begins speaking, Dialga will know exactly what to say..

"Lord Dialga..Thank you..my mind has been cleared for now..and my resolve reassured..but..may I ask..what can I do now? With only Grace by my side..and but a dozen followers..the odds of my defeating my sister are little to none..I know what my resolve is..and I know "how" I want my resolve to play out in the course of time..but..no..I suppose there is always a way..I just have to find it I suppose.. Dialga.. thank you again..and I give my humblest apologies for your burder again..perhaps I will one day show you that your decision to chose me was not a decision you made in vain.." Justice says, his eyes heavy with consideration and worry. If only I had the means..to do so....