Audio

[dragonsgrasp]

[Kain sounds exhausted when he speaks. He's still got some recovering to do, clearly. He ended up in a hell of a shape after being defeated by his double, and now he’s only just coming to enough to really think about what that battle had meant… Failure. He had failed to defeat his darker self, the one thing he’d devoted his life to achieving…]

[He's seriously wondering again if Hadriel is some sort of eternal punishment.]

So… it sounds as if the doubles are gone entirely? A shame. I for one wouldn't mind if mine returned. He owes me a rematch.

[No, it's probably not a good idea to even wish for such a thing, but he doesn't care. He needs this to happen, one way or another. He has so much to prove.]

Did anyone manage to defeat their other selves? If so… how did you manage it?

Comments

[dragonsgrasp]

Why is that?

[Does he really want to know? Kain is a little creeped out by any sort of mental manipulation, so it does unsettle him a little.]

[ushahin]

When one lives long enough in the dark, they forget what the light looks like. It's easy to forget to be gentle with people instead of destructive.

[He is trying though. It's more than he's done in a thousand years.]

[dragonsgrasp]

[Interesting he should speak of darkness like that... it's all too familiar for Kain, in some sense. Succumbing to his own darkness is one of the things he fears most.]

Is it possible, to return to the light, even after so long? It sounds as if you at least mean to fight off those darker impulses...

[ushahin]

Not for me. I am too old to change my ways completely now. And my powers won't allow me.

[He hears thoughts from people almost constantly without any control. It prevents him from ever stopping his invasive behavior.]

[dragonsgrasp]

So the key is... not to fall into those ways for too long...? [Maybe it's not too late for him, who knows?] But why wouldn't your powers allow for it?

[ushahin]

Exactly. Stay in the light if it's at all possible. That way you can't fall into darkness. [His voice becomes a bit more clipped as he speaks of his powers.] I can never fully disengage myself from them. I always hear everything no matter what. So I am never fully alone in my mind.

[dragonsgrasp]

It's just too bad that the darkness has so much appeal... it's hard to resist it, sometimes. [He's a bit uneasy about the notion of anyone around here getting into others' heads in any sort of way, hearing things... but it doesn't sound like this can be helped. And it sounds more like the reverse, the way he'd put it.] That's a frightening power to have... everyone deserves to have their mind be free of outside influences.

[ushahin]

I can only speak from my own personal experience, but I've often found light and dark, good and evil, they're all just a matter of perspective. What the majority of people think is not always correct. [So he'd like to think. He'd served a god most had considered evil, but had been kind to him when no one else had been.]

It was the price to pay for having such powers. Do not worry. I've grown used to it.

[dragonsgrasp]

Perspective... hm... perhaps so. I've had many bad experiences with those who might be labeled as evil, but... I'll just... take your word for it. I can think of instances where it may be true.

[Hasn't he, after all, done evil things for a good cause?]

As long as you're fine with it...

[ushahin]

There is a great question that my Lord used to ask me. If all that is good thinks you evil, are you? I never had a good answer for him. I still don't.

[There were no easy answers in a world full of grey.]

Indeed. I wouldn't know what to do with myself without them.

[dragonsgrasp]

What a difficult question to answer, especially if you yourself don't see yourself as being evil, in such a way...

[He's still very uncomfortable with the fact that the world isn't so black and white, but he knows it's something he has to accept.]

That part, I can understand, though. Any sort of power is a meaningful part of who you are.