[CW] Impact: A Starry Night

[Chevaleresse]

The would-have-been emperor sat at the tip of what might have been called a crag, if it were made of rock and not a protrusion coming from the omnipresent mounts of metal. His knees were drawn up to his chin, and his arms wrapped around his shins. Daichi - he visibly flinched whenever someone referred to him as such, but the young man refused to give his true name and the others did not know of anything else to call him after his apparent transformation. The stars were clearly visible, without a single cloud in the sky. Unusual, in these days, with the amount of debris still present in the atmosphere from the cataclysm so many years ago. There was a slight breeze, just enough wind to stir the air and keep it fresh. All in all, it was a beautiful night.

If one watched closely, they might have been able to see him rock back and forth slightly. It was a small motion, belying what lay within and difficult to notice. His breathing had a hint of raggedness to it, and the darkness veiled the face underneath his hair, disguising the emotions that played over it. Daichi's clothing vastly contrasted his previous attire; it almost seemed like he had intentionally chosen low-quality, worn clothing, with frayed jeans and a shirt whose sleeves had been ripped at the ends.

The sound of metal, gravel, and dirt crunching echoed from behind and below where Daichi sat as another shape moved toward him. It drew no reaction for the longest time, and Jason took a seat next to him, sharing the view. The boy's broad shoulders and dark hair normally held a strong contrast to Daichi's lighter frame, but at this time of night they seemed about the same.

This particular viewpoint could be called beautiful as well. The shadow of night softened the harsh angles normally present in the terrain of endless junk, and allowed one to see a true rarity in it's entirety; bare earth, only dusted with a short, tough sort of grass and the few plants the ground could support. Jason still marvelled at it occasionally; the only plants he had ever seen before his journey brought him here were the sort that could survive on bare metal and shattered brick, snatching nourishment out of the air with grasping, twisted leaves and a metallic glint. The amount of buildings present in the bowl-like formation was unusual, too; many people had been forced to move here, and it was difficult to return, especially when one's new home was capable of feeding one's family.

Both of them just sat for a while. Jason knew from previous experience that trying to initiate conversation would get him nowhere, eliciting either a sort of friendly innocence that covered the truth or monosyllabic answers followed by a swift escape, depending on Daichi's mood. He wasn't the patient sort, but he wanted to know what lay beneath the mask.

Eventually, his patience paid off. "You know, don't you?" Daichi's voice was quiet, deep and soft, and someone without Jason's superhuman senses might have had difficulty actually picking out what the young man had said. It held a sharp contrast to what the rest of the world heard; while nothing had changed about Daichi's voice itself, he no longer spoke with the harsh, arrogant edge that had predominated his speech.

"Know what?" Jacen's voice wasn't quite as deep, and had a straightforward, plain quality. Still, he was aware of the mood, and adjusted his tone accordingly.

"I remember everything."

"Everything? I thought you said you only had an impression of what happened. I remember us explaining to you, and you looked shocked." Some members of his group, including Jason himself to an extent, hadn't believed Daichi at first. He claimed that he was manipulated somehow, a weakness in his psyche used and exploited to allow someone else to gain total control. That sort of ability was unheard of, and thought to be quite impossible.

"It was an act. I don't think anyone was really fooled. I tried to tell that to myself, but you can't run from your own actions." He breathed deeply, and the exhalation was more ragged than the last. He turned his head downwards, burying his gaze in his knees. "Do you have any idea what this is like? I thought I would be a hero someday. I already was, to an extent. I protected my little town from the world. I scared off anything and anyone who wanted a piece of our home. I'm sure you did the same. I always wanted something. . . more, though. I wanted to do more, something I would be remembered for." He let out a bitter, harsh laugh. "I guess that part's taken care of."

Jason stayed silent for a change, unsure of how to respond. He was surprised to hear all this; normally Daichi was a fairly cheery individual, at least after his - for lack of a better term - transformation. The young man was always quick with a joke or a playfully biting comment (always immediately followed up with an apology, or a disclaimer stating that most of what he said was intended as nothing more than humor). This was strange.

"I always prided myself on my morality. If I ever made a mistake, I tried my hardest to fix it. I'll never say that I'm infallible; I am human, after all. But this. . ." He trailed off for a moment. "I don't know if I can thank you for sparing my life."

"You can try to make up for it, or something."

"How? I ordered death and was obeyed. There are so few people left alive across the entire world, and I rendered the landscape lifeless for miles around here. I watered what is possibly the only fertile land left in the entire world with the blood of the innocent. I don't blame those who carried the orders out, either; if anyone disobeyed, I threw their bodies on top of the pile of their butchered family. I did so many horrific things to so many people. Those women. . ." He stopped again and took a few more breaths, almost gasping as he struggled to maintain control over his voice.

Jason again remained silent, though this time his uncertainty was mixed with shock and horror. People had told him many things about what the mad emperor had done, but he had never known which were true.

"I am a maelstrom of villainy and sin." He picked his head up and looked in Jason's direction, though he didn't meet his gaze. "They say that psychic suggestion is just that. You can't make someone do something they would never do. That means that there is some sort of circumstance in which I would do these things." His eyes rose to finally reach Jason's, though the other boy was still staring out over the ledge. "I am not sure if I even deserve the release of death, but I cannot 'make up for' this."

"Daichi-"

"Don't call me that." Jacen looked back towards him, though he had already returned to looking out at the small city nestled in the depression below. They both remained silent for a few moments. "It isn't my name."

"I understand." It made sense. Wanting to go by a new name, leaving the old one to rot along with the memory of the deeds committed under it.

"I don't think you do." The other teen's reply held a double meaning. "I am telling the truth; that is not my name. My mother called me Kaede."

"Oh. Well, Kaede, my own mother always said that there was no use worrying over what has been done. Worry about what has to be done. Sound like a deal?" Jason wasn't really sure of how to respond to the situation, other than moving on as quickly as possible.

"I could sit here and point out the problems with that ideology, but I'll refrain from doing so."

"That sounded like a yes."

The only thing this response elicited was a sigh of exasperation.