Asa

[residentflorist]

code

Digitalis
Old English folklore said that foxes wore the flowers on their paws
to silence movement and stealthily stalk prey.
Healing, pain, insincerity, insecurity

Comments

[halved]

[... she shakes her head.]

It didn't come up when I talked to him... But when I asked about his plans, he said he wasn't going back home. He wanted to start a new life in another world.

[residentflorist]

[there's a frown.]

And now that chance is gone, too. I don't think this counts as starting a new life at all.

[halved]

... Yeah.

[just. quiet. man. ]

[residentflorist]

[a quiet pause.]

I wish there was something we could do for him now. For all of them. With Aventurine and Boothill gone, too, it's the same, isn't it? It's unknown where they'll go from here.

[halved]

If they'll even go anywhere. If they've already been sacrificed to a god... Is there anything of them left at all besides their bodies?

[residentflorist]

It depends on if those who have been sacrificed are being used already, or if they're somewhere else until more of us join them. [morbid, but.] We don't know what the ritual is like or how they're really using us. For all we know, they can't act until there's enough blood shed so the three of them have been set aside.

[halved]

[hm. bad. she makes a face, vaguely horrified.]

That's way worse than just being gone, you know?

[residentflorist]

Maybe. [but...] But maybe not if they're somehow able to be reborn or brought back. That's not uncommon in some places.

[sometimes you're from a place where people die, go back into the stream, and then can come back. it's fine.]

[halved]

What, like a devil?

[residentflorist]

Depends. What's a devil?

[halved]

A monster. Every time they die on Earth, they're reborn in Hell. And then, when they die again in Hell, they're reborn on Earth.

[residentflorist]

Oh. Maybe not exactly like that. I don't know about dying again being a requirement for coming back, but it's different for every world. [also she called them monsters and aerith is kind of like "well when people come back from the lifestream they...usually...aren't monsters." usually.]

Does that mean it's a perpetual cycle for them then?

[halved]

Yeah... Public Security puts them down but they always come back to Earth after a while. We can't stop it.

[residentflorist]

Is there at least some time between when they die and when they come back? I guess it's hard to say if it's just when they die in hell.

[halved]

Depends on the devil, I guess. A really weak one would probably be killed again as soon as it gets back to Hell.

[residentflorist]

Kinda sounds like a pain for the devil to constantly go back and forth without being able to settle then. Not to mention anyone who has to deal with them.

[halved]

[she lifts her eyebrows.]

You're worried for the devils? [a little scoff.] Don't. They don't remember anything about their past lives. And besides, they only care about one thing.

[residentflorist]

I wouldn't call it worried. [you can think something's annoying without being worried, asa.] Let me guess. The one thing is killing?

[halved]

[nods.]

Right. They become stronger the more humans fear their names, so... Most of them only care about killing as many people as they can before they're sent back to Hell.

[residentflorist]

Because they want to make a name for themselves so by the time they come back they're more powerful and can keep going. [sephiroth is a devil...] ...what can devils do? How do you try to fight something like that?

[halved]

Yeah. [the way zia made that same joke.] Depends on the devil. The Eternity Devil can trap you in an infinite loop inside a building, for example. But something like the Cockroach Devil is just... a giant bug the size of a skyscraper, and strong enough to take one down too.

[residentflorist]

Cockroach. Devil. [the way she just repeats this so dubiously.] That makes it sound as if there can be a devil for just about anything.

[halved]

Of course there is. [looking at her, like, duh.] I told you, they're powered by human fear. So as long as at least one human knows of a thing or a concept, and fears it... A devil with its name will exist. And a lot of people are scared of cockroaches.

[residentflorist]

[i don't want to think about how there's probably roaches around the slums so she's just nodding thoughtfully.]

What about if there's a person who doesn't fear anything? Would they be able to go up against those devils?

[halved]

Everyone's scared of something. [point blank.] ... But even if a person like that existed, that doesn't mean they'd be more effective. Devils get stronger the more people around the world fear their name.