Heaven's BBS | text

[connivingbird]

Posted: May 25
From: Fortuna

Humans are irritating
Most of you are irritating
Most of these prayers are irritating
Explain to me again why I must bother with this ridiculous cycle of answering these ridiculous requests only to have the very same people ask for more

I almost regret siding with you idiots in the first place.

Comments

[revolutionfalcon]

[That's a rather direct question, and one Shun has to hesitate before answering. On one hand, he's seen the death of his own shinki, one brutal enough that he finds it hard to believe it was fiction, and knows the one from his world was a spirit before coming here. On the other, he's not prepared to give up the possibility of bringing that person back, nor is he certain of how his soul came to be here.

Still looking as if he's deep in thought, Shun's answer is weighty and calculated, and a little slow because of it.]

I think they're at least the souls of people close to death, or in a similar state to it. I can't say if they have to be completely dead before coming here, or if being here means they can't be brought back somehow, but there's something about them that's at least walked on that path even if they aren't dead in the usual sense.

[connivingbird]

[There's a stiffness to his shoulders as he draws his head closer to his body, a slight huff at Shun's words. While it was a little comforting to hear, it didn't reassure him. He could deny that it worried him loudly, but he didn't really feel it. After all, he gave up his life to see Eiji safe. The idiot shouldn't have tossed it away like that.]

Idiot.

[It wasn't directed at Shun, even as the skin around his eyes tightened and he looked away.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Even if it was directed at Shun, it's been a long time since he's let insults that simple bother him. However, the attitude isn't unfamiliar to Shun, and though he's not certain, he's reasonably sure that the word is being directed somewhere else right now.

And given his own experiences here, and the questions he's had about shinki, he has one guess to put on the table, tone still somewhat measured.]

You knew your shinki before you came here. [It's not a question. The gods who ask questions like Ankh just asked are the ones who knew a shinki before - Shun knows, since he is one of those gods, and has asked similar ones.]

[connivingbird]

[There was a flinch at that. Ankh didn't want people to know that he knew his shinki, that Eiji was much more important to him then anyone else he had ever meet. Sure, he was fiercely protective of him, but that was natural. At least, it was suppose to be natural considering what the older gods were saying when it came about the shinki and god bond.

Though it wasn't like Eiji was here any more. But still, it hurt in a weird way and he did not like that feeling at all. Stupid humans leaving bits of them inside his Cores from the time he had to merge with them.]

He's the human that taught me about humanity.

[revolutionfalcon]

[That's...not as much of a surprise as Shun expected it to be, after the initial moment to think on it. After all, from what he's seen of Ankh so far, it would take someone remarkable to have their disappearance even do this much to him.

There's a more bitter element to his lack of outward surprise, too, and he lets out a slight sigh as a mournful note crosses his face.]

Those kinds of people seem to find their way here easily. [After a moment to weigh how much he intends to share, he elaborates.] He was never bound to me, but the person who tied me to my morals as best he could when I was ready to throw away everything is a shinki here as well. It's impossible not to think about what it was that brought them here in the end.

[connivingbird]

That's because they're idiots.

[The flare of temper from him only lasted a moment and he just curled up again, as if trying to protect a hurt. Before Shingo, before Eiji, before Hina, Ankh never had these weird sensations. Like all Greeed, he was built with the world muted against him. But they left pieces of themselves in him. Shingo having been his host, Eiji and Hina because they held his Cores, pieces of them rubbed off, and he could feel things, even if it was still muted. And he wasn't sure how to deal with it.

After a moment, he straightened and concentrated. There was the sound of coins shifting and forced up out of his hand was a red medal. It glowed slightly, almost pulsating like a heartbeat. It also had been cracked, a long line of melted reddish material crossing over the stylized hawk. Someone had spent a lot of time putting it back together, thin threads of gold and silver binding the two halves together.]

He spent years of the life given to him to heal me. Because he felt I was his friend and no other reason. I told him he was an idiot and yet all he said was that he wanted to give me his hand one last time.

[Ankh adsorbed the Medal back and straightened, tilting his head and looking at Shun.] What will you do if your idiot ends up disappearing?

[revolutionfalcon]

[In another situation, Shun might be more ready to take offense on Yuto's behalf at that remark, because even if he'd be ready to call Yuto an idiot himself on occasion for the kinds of things he does, hearing it from someone else is different. But with an outburst like that and in a conversation like this, Shun figures that it'd be disingenuous at best to derail things with something like that, especially when the focus here is more on Ankh's own lost friend.

As the strange medal comes into view, Shun only watches, raising his eyebrow slightly at the rustle of coins as it rises from that hand. Despite knowing Ankh is a shapeshifter and not human to begin with, it's still a little odd seeing things like that with his own eyes. The crack, though, is obvious, and as Ankh explains, Shun focuses on that sight until the medal vanishes again, and he lets out a hard breath.]

That's what friends like that do. They'll give their lives if they think it'll save someone, especially someone close, like it won't hurt just as much knowing they had to give their life or part of it for you to live. [He can't be too critical of that attitude, because he's at least come very close to it himself, but it still hurts to think about in the context of knowing someone is at least close to death because of something unknown.

As for his own matter...Shun grits his teeth slightly, a pained snarl flickering over his face, but it settles momentarily into something more morose.]

I've lost him once before, or I thought I had. I carried on then, even though I thought I was alone, and I'll do it again now that I know I'm not as well. It's never easy losing someone, but I've lost too many by now to let just that stop me in my tracks.

If there turns out to be someone to blame for the disappearances, then I'll take it out of their hide. If there isn't, then I'll keep trying to get to the bottom of all this like he would've wanted.