Imeeji Inbox

[leaveofabsence]

[ The default voicemail message greets you. ]

Comments

[abovefate]

For what was taken from me, I'll have you tell me what happened in your dream world to Tartaglia.

For your question, I want you to tell me what are your plans in being here, and what you will do when you go back to your world. Retired or not, why would Morax let himself be used by this place?

[leaveofabsence]

For your first request - you will swear that you will not use that information to cause him intentional harm.

[abovefate]

Are you seriously so naive that you think me swearing it right now would mean I'd follow through? Either you'll trust it with me or you won't. But I am not forcing you to forget about what you saw in mine though I have the power to. So at least one of us is being gracious here.

[leaveofabsence]

If you will not agree to my terms, then there is no agreement. I am still the God of Contracts regardless of what this place deigns to do with me.

And if you have a way of leveling the field and choose not to use it, that is your choice and does not bear on my own decisions.

[abovefate]

Fine. I won't intentionally harm him with the information. I'm only asking because he was in a bad state.

[ surely nothing to do with what he did to him in his dream no sir ]

[leaveofabsence]

Then let the contract be formed. And let any who renege of the contract face the Wrath of the Rock.

[ Unfortunately for Scaramouche, you've got Zhongli in a bad mood.

A real bad mood. ]

[abovefate]

[ he has a talent for that ]

Out with it already.

[leaveofabsence]

If you have ever researched Liyue, you will know that is a burial ground for countless gods, friends and foe of Morax alike. As well as the resting place for many adepti and other companions long past.

My ideal world was one where I had not lost those companions.

To wake me from the dream, Tartaglia took to systematically removing each and every one at great personal cost to himself.

[abovefate]

… there were side effects for killing them? Murder wouldn’t bother him.

But he did die a few times in my dream as well, and each time he experienced my encounter with Lilith.

If he lost part of himself with each murder … that would explain it.

1/2

[leaveofabsence]

[ WHAT happened in Scara's dream world?

Ugh. His poker face is practically non-existent at this point, so he visibly tenses at "did die a few times" and "Lilith".




. . .

Well fuck. ]

[leaveofabsence]

[ Also how to explain this very human concept: ]

He did not lose a part of himself with each murder.

The people he was killing were important to me. And for myself caught in the dream, it was very distressing to see them killed. He was upset because he was hurting me.

[abovefate]

[ give him a few moments, he’s trying to figure it out ]

But he was fine when we left my dream together. Even after all that.

Does he think he failed you? He had a stuffed animal in your liking, and he was clutching it.

Well. You should handle it.

[leaveofabsence]

Handling it is a very poor turn of phrase. As if it was a task to be completed off of some checklist.

Yes, I will tend to Tartaglia - and that would be true regardless of your request. Because I want to understand what is bothering him and help him through it.

Do you not feel the same?

[abovefate]

I will not beg you to help him, so that’s how I’ll phrase it and if it bothers you, isn’t that too bad for you, mm?

But he wanted me to leave him alone after the dream. And I did. I want to understand what happened but I can’t help him. Even if I tried, we both know I’d make it worse. Isn’t that why you asked me to swear I won’t hurt him with this knowledge?

[leaveofabsence]

The contract specifies intentionally.

Learning how to navigate another person's emotional state will naturally result with both success and failure. It will take trial and error and practice and patience. That is how the relationship between the two of you will grow.

What I do not wish is for you to use that information as a result of anger or any other negative emotion just to get a rise out of him.

As for leaving him alone, Tartaglia has a certain amount of pride and does not like to appear vulnerable. A trait that I'm sure you can also relate to. Just because he wants space now does not mean that will always be the case. He just may need some time to recuperate.

[abovefate]

I wasn't looking for advice, Morax.

[ he's crossing his arms at his chest and looking at him, and then he shrugs ]

I just know he will benefit more from your presence than mine. I don't like you, but he does. When he's ready to see me I'll talk to him too.

I am grateful for what you did in my dream. And it's why I invited you here. I will not try to push Tartaglia away from you again.

As for your original question.

I was never a pawn to any higher being. My creator abandoned me and let me live my life as I saw fit. Everything I did was because I wanted to do it. I was not cursed or manipulated by any other higher being.

If I had the chance at another life perhaps I'd simply want to never know who I truly was, and why I came to being.

[leaveofabsence]

I was never concerned about your attempts to do so. Tartaglia is free to make his own decisions.

. . .

But if that is your wish, then your unit abilities provide you a way to make that a reality.

[abovefate]

No. I don't actually want to forget. If anything forgetting would be terrifying now that I know. There's a reason why my meeting with Lilith entailed losing my sense of self little by little over and over again.

Had I never known from the start perhaps I would have had different expectations. Different experiences. Maybe my ties would have truly been severed fully.

But I'm not living that life, and I will not change it now. I simply want to make it clear that my actions have been my own. It'd be so much easier to shake it off as me having been bound by fate. But what I've been bound by is my desire for revenge and hatred. And whether it will keep consuming me and everything that's unfortunate enough to come across me remains to be seen.

Still.

I'm thinking perhaps after all of this ... I might just wander a little longer. Travel to other Worlds. That was a suggestion you wrote, wasn't it?

[leaveofabsence]

It was.

The stars and places that exist outside of Teyvat are almost limitless in number.

And we have the rare chance to get to experience some of them firsthand here. Surely among them, you could find a place that you would enjoy.

[abovefate]

And if not I could always hop onto the next one, looking for something new and exciting. Endless wonder without being pathetically stuck in a single moment for eternity.

[ like someone else was hoping for ]

Alexander invited me to see his world too.

[leaveofabsence]

Alexander is very wise and seems to have taken quite an interest in helping you find your feet.

I think that might a good place to start your journey - so that you may have someone to guide you should you desire such a thing.

[abovefate]

I don’t need “guidance”.

[ he definitely needs guidance ]

What about your answer, then? About what your objective is. There’s something else I need to tell you, but go on first.

[leaveofabsence]

[ And the realization of that seems like an Emet problem. Not a Zhongli problem. Ganba, other grandpa. ]

My objective is simple. I wish to tell the story of Teyvat and its people beyond our stars. Doing so with the Traveler was the first instance of such a opportunity. And while the circumstances of being here are quite unfortunate and against my will, the fact that Travelers from dozens of worlds exist here makes that wish all the more possible.

[abovefate]

Do you care about Teyvat so much that you just couldn't help that? That's not worth all this effort.

[leaveofabsence]

I care greatly about Teyvat, yes. And for those who no longer have the chance to let their stories be told. Such is the duty of those who survive.