driftfleet | (no subject)

No... After all, I agree with you. War is in the end, always futile, and more trouble than it is worth.

But it does undeniably bring results.

Results aren't always a good thing, but such thoughts never seem to stop those who are eager to start the wars, unfortunately.

It's true. Honestly, mortal lives are such short, depressing things already, and still they rush to make things even worse... It's something you can never understand, looking down on them from above.

Going by that, and what you've already said... can I ask what it is that you are?

[It's already pretty obvious that she's not human, but beyond that, who knows.]

Well, isn't that a question... A fox, a shrine maiden, a lovely girl who dreams of being a good wife... But those aren't what you're asking, right?

I'm a goddess.

[...Yeah that definitely wasn't what he was asking. But a goddess, huh. It's rare that anyone makes that sort of claim. Even the seraphim don't really call themselves that, even if humans do.]

Are you associated with any specific power or mortal's needs?

... To be specific, I am but an embodiment of one single facet of a goddess's personality, incarnated as a mortal to achieve a desire of hers.

Specific power, or needs? Well... Not exactly. In the first place, by the time I became aware of mortals, I had already gathered many worshipers. It was pretty strange to look down upon the Earth and realize, oh! Those little things down there are offering such intense devotion to me?

But, well, I am needed. Or, my original self is. Though I am now my own separate being, I am still fundamentally a single facet of Amaterasu, the embodiment of the sun itself.

The sun...

[Okay, that's actually pretty cool. Someone like that would be on par with the Five Lords, those who have chosen a significantly more impressive vessel than your average seraph.]

Wait, a goddess who became a mortal? How does that work?

... Did you just seriously ask how a god did something?

...Yes? Even gods can have methods and processes you can study, even if you yourself can't recreate them.

[If he ends up meeting Maotelus you can sure as hell bet he's going to grill the bastard for everything he knows.]

I see. It's a nice thought, but unfortunately, you're wrong. It's mortals and spirits that have to bother with such trivialities as 'methods' and 'processes'. Gods simply have 'Authority'. Gods can make things just happen, simply because they have the right to do so. That is all there is to it.

That's... rather arrogantly simplistic.

[To humans, seraphim can just "make things happen", too, but they're still artes.]

It's the simple truth. Gods are not bound by the conventions of mortals, you know? A god has Authority- The rights of godhood. Alteration of events, creation of worlds, manipulation of the flow of time... There is no method. The results come simply because of the Authority of the gods.

[Not that it matters much. The Age of Gods ended thousands of years ago, and a god trying to use their Authority in modern times... Well, maybe it would be all right for a full-fledged goddess like Amaterasu, but as a Servant? Even the attempt would likely kill her.]

That might be the case for your world, but not mine.

[Their "gods" might seem like they're all-powerful, but a seraph is still a seraph.]

Hm... I wonder if that's better or not? No matter the world, a god is still nothing but a part of a system.

It works more or less the same if you have beings that are treated like gods to those who depend on them, I think. As you say, it's a system- as long as that system works, what one is is just a technicality.

I see. You're not drawing a difference between that type of god and a true god? Well, from anyone else's point of view, the difference isn't that important, anyway. But one who becomes a god through deification isn't the same as those who were truly gods from the beginning.

You're assuming there are no seraphim who fit that criteria.

It isn't an assumption. Even if one is born as a high-level spirit... One can be born as the strongest Elemental, or a True Demon above any other. One could be deified through the the combined prayer or curses of the entire earth.

But it is not possible for a human to become a god. A spirit, as well. It's possible for a high-rank spirit, such as a Seraphim, to perhaps be stronger than a god, I will admit... But even then, they will not truly be one. A pale imitation who replaces Authority with power, that is all.

[Wow. Wow. That's rude.]

We're not pretending to be gods. It's humans who make that choice. And if being some kind of "true" god means having your level of arrogance, then I'd much rather be an imitation.

Is it arrogant to say the truth? What is impossible is impossible. A human may never truly become a god. Similarly, a god may never truly become a human.

[She appears to be aware that this contradicts what she said earlier, and her ears droop down.]

Even if one becomes a Bodhisattva, who escapes the cycle of suffering and Samsara, whose existence is on a scale above humans or spirits, that's still a separate kind of being.

It is humans who make that choice. It is humans who deify you. But... That is all. You have simply 'been deified'. But you don't need to be so angry about it, after all. You have much more freedom that way.

The freedom to be looked down upon by someone who doesn't know a thing about me?

[Thrilling. And yeah, he has no idea what the hell you were talking about there, but his irritation is overriding his curiosity at this point.]

I don't recall looking down upon you.

Everything you say is degrading my kind, you're only justifying it by saying it's "truth"!

You were the one who insisted you seraphim are gods, you know.