thenearshore | -Overflow- for 24

If discussing that between us would actually stop anyone else from being that oblivious, we wouldn't still need to be talking about it.

[Shun sounds a little exasperated, but unfortunately, alert people discussing reasons to be alert among themselves isn't going to change anyone else's habits.]

It would stop them if it did not occur to them to think of this whole structure as 'created' to begin with. [In other words, they should be spreading awareness, right?]

I doubt that's going to be something people will just be convinced of. Everyone's going to have their own opinions, and people tend to be stubborn about those.

[If there's one thing people will cling to with their life beyond all else, it's an opinion.]

A fair point. Yet it is difficult to imagine how any could reconcile this system, as it exists, with no element of intervention or creation.

[Particularly with the experience of a true god to support it.]

It's hard to say, but then, I never saw any indication of anything like this in my world. So this is my first experience with any kind of pantheon or afterlife.

[It's made certain things annoying, not having any kind of proper comparison point for it, but most of it is the kind of thing a lot of others here wouldn't be familiar with either, so that eases it a bit.]

You had no knowledge of the gods that ruled your world, or existence after death?

[Now that startles her.]

There were legends, obviously, but they never came to anything. People believed in different gods or pantheons, like this world, but there was no actual proof or real signs of a life after death or gods watching over. People had to take it entirely on faith.

[Which was never something Shun was all that interested in doing, and even less so after the war broke out and confirmed for him that even if there was a god, they didn't give a damn.]

...That was insufficient?

[Here she lacks utterly the mortal perspective. What else did mortals require to understand? They were told, and so ought to have such faith...]

Faith isn't good enough for most people. Having no beliefs like that isn't uncommon, but I especially turned my back on it in the last few years. I saw too many people beg and pray for help and die unanswered.

[Shun may be a rather pessimistic version of the mortal perspective, but it's also not an uncommon one, and so one Lenneth should probably be made aware of.]

...Ironic, then, that the answers only come after death.

[What an empty life that must have been.]

I wonder what I would have made of you, had I been called upon to deliver your fate.

I suppose it depends on whether you consider faith or a worthy death more important. [Because chances are if he'd died, it would have been in battle. He's not all that well-versed in other pantheons despite his research, but he does know that's the role of a valkyrie.]

Both matter little compared to a worthy life.

[That is the goddess of fate speaking, with a slight shake of her head.]

Everyone has a different opinion of what that is.

[So neither of them could judge unless that situation actually happened, which makes him think the tangent is a little pointless in the end.]

That may be true. But in the end, mine matters most.

[Goddess of fate, Chooser of the Slain -- she isn't bragging or being arrogant. Her words are quite literally true. She has the power to Choose where she would.]

It only matters most to the system you're part of. [Regardless of how true it might be, it does still sound arrogant to him to try and apply it to everyone here. No judge of anything is going to be completely impartial, as far as he's concerned.]

[She makes a mild gesture with one hand.] I am part of this system here, and I continue to Choose the Slain. That will not end wheresoever I go, so long as I am the Valkyrie.

You're not going to "choose" among us, though. So your opinion on the worthiness of our lives isn't that relevant in the end.

[Shun just isn't really interested in having others judge how worthy or not his life is, regardless of what position they're supposed to hold.]

Am I not?

[Shinki are already dead, so perhaps not there. But as for the gods... well, she has not had the chance or opportunity to determine that the statement is true.]

Plenty of gods have died, and shinki died a second time. I haven't seen any of them "chosen" yet.

[And there have definitely been some who he'd imagine would have been worthy of it. Most people here don't seem to have clean slates, but most of them also seem to have some sort of heroic bent regardless.]

Shinki are already dead, and may not be eligible. As for gods...

On one hand, I do not know of any gods who perished in situations where I was both present here and capable of reaching their souls. I have not detected any, but it may be that none were worthy. On the other, it may be that souls of the gods who perish return to their proper worlds, in which case you would be correct.

That's what it's been sounding like so far. [Nobody's found anything conclusive yet, but what information Add's come up with in his previous studies and posted seems to point to that being the case, at least for people who disappear. If nothing else, they might return to whatever afterlife their own world has.]

If you only detect "worthy" souls, it sounds like the decision is already made for you anyway.

To be precise... I detects souls that resonate with my own, as they grow closer to death. [Which is an impartial explanation, but nonetheless is meant as a counter to his statement. She has more options than he might suspect.]

[...Perhaps to her dismay. If Odin were to order her to Choose souls in particular, then she could. Her own estimations aside.]

That just makes it sound like it's based on who's most like you. [Which sounds like it's more likely to catch those who follow a doctrine and go by their world's rules than anyone who might fall outside that but still live an honourable life.]

But considering what we know so far, you shouldn't have to do it for gods.

There are many here who I believe would be worthy.

[The Valkyrie looks away, slightly.]

[She is not meant to live among others; she is a goddess of fate, one whose interactions with mortals are meant to come only at their moments of death.]

I would not wish to make that choice.

[That gets Shun's attention more than most of the rest of this conversation has. He imagines that in her world, "choosing" was limited to people she didn't know in life, in a position like hers. But in this place, it could very well mean people she'd become allies or even friends with.

He watches her closely for a few silent moments before commenting, tone straightforward.] I don't think anyone would, in your position.

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