[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Lord Windos]

Spoiler

Nathan sighs in response to that last statement.  "...if it's primarily for selfish reasons that you'd be helping, Ventus, then maybe it would be for the best if you didn't help.  Mesprit has already assured Heart that the odds of getting a favor for helping are high, but...well, this isn't mercenary work, to put it lightly.  I asked because Mesprit trusts you, and because I still think you can do some good.  But if you would put that trust in danger...*sigh*...well, it might just be a baseless concern I have.  The decision is ultimately still yours.  And I'm telling you this before everyone else so that you have a better idea of what you might be getting into before you make a decision.  That it's very much a real, human threat.  A powerful one, but human nonetheless."

A moment of silence follows as Nathan turns around, his back to Ventus, and looks at the floor sadly.

"...though there's little that's earned the ire of the Lake Trio to the degree that selfish intentions have in the past, and you should probably think very carefully about why you want to help if you decide to do so.  They've had to deal with selfish humans countless times, and were ultimately split apart because of it. So I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be selfish lately.  Trying to consider why things happened in certain ways.  Honestly, I...can't fully condemn all of the Scimitars any more.  Kelda showed me they're not all bad people, and I need to apologize for the way I treated her when we were in the Skull Ruins...honestly, I kinda understand a little of Terra's viewpoint after thinking about it...not all of them deserve a second chance and need to face considerable punishment for what they've done as a part of of the organization, but some of them might also be genuinely good people, if a little misguided.  But why do I want to help them, which ones deserve my help, and how can I do so without coming across as selfish myself in some capacity?  Considering their individual viewpoints is probably a good place to start..."

He kinda started talking to himself out loud halfway through that little speech, but he turns back to Ventus eventually.


"...I'm still looking for answers myself, to be honest.  That's why I'm planning to search for Kelda.  To talk to her.  Maybe find some answers to various questions I have.  And if you think less of me for this opinion, and for wanting to talk with a former Scimitar...well, I can only apologize with words, for it's what I've learned from my ever changing experiences, much like how your opinions have been shaped by yours."

"So yes, I understand.  If I or Mesprit were worried about it enough, though, I wouldn't have asked you in the first place.  I just hope that the trust isn't misplaced in the end.  I made my decision, so now you get to make yours.  And if you have legitimate concerns about safety or trust issues...then don't come with us to the front lines.  I trust you'll make a good decision, though, regardless of what you decide."

Well, that was quite the wordy response.

Ventus listens very carefully to what Nathan has to say at first.....and couldn't help but snort at it and give them a somewhat wry smile. "I highly doubt that Mesprit has invested as much trust in me as you imply, Nate. Or at least not trust in me. If the Lake Spirit's Empathy and Insightful is as great as the Legends subscribe to it are, they've seen plenty enough in me to have more than a few doubts of my integrity and character. More likely it is that they only gave me as much 'trust' as you  trusted in me, or that I ended up sharing in 'the windfall' of your fruitful relationship with it. Besides that, I once again have to question your faith in me Nate, because so far as I can observe we really haven't had the best of times together to qualify for it in quantity, quality, and goodness - quite the opposite, honestly. *Grins turns more wry* Methinks you have too much faith in me, but I'm flattered by that none the less, no matter how bewildering a fact that is.

"*Sighs* .....Regardless, you haven't dissuaded me of guaranteeing Favors out of Mesprit if I decide to help it. If it takes offense and decides to punish me for having the gall of creating a contractual agreement between us to do a quest that is as nebulous as it's dangerous that you and everyone else decided to take on as a Favor for it yourselves upfront and without them giving much information about it, then it can, pardon my language, rightly continue to and increasingly be royally screwed. To paraphrase an old saying, 'Beggars can't be choosers, and certainly not when some decide to take up their task practically as charity work.'  Plain and simply I don't have much reason to trust in Mesprit enough to do anything for it with only the vague or ill defined possibility for reward. And this is in spite of what it did to help you fight that foul Deoxys and its clones. From what I've gathered it only aided you partially out of its own self interest and in exchange for you releasing it from its 'prison' , and it hardly did enough to directly help you and the others out in my opinion. *Shrugs* Of course, my opinions is just that, and you're free to disagree or disregard it if you so choose.

"Ultimately you're asking me to take part in your Favor to Mesprit, and it's my right to dictate how I undertake it if I so choose. If you think my way is bad, then it would be for the best for me to refrain from helping it. *Snorts* I doubt it'd be wanting of my aid with you and rest of the group already pledge to help it. Hard for a researcher myself to contribute as much as Cheshire's Heroes , Slayer of the Mad Deoxys, Wielders of the Artifacts, and Friend to All Legends, after all."

Well that was a mouthful that could be summed up as 'I respectfully disagree with you, and my choice or opinions haven't been changed.' Can't say they didn't try, though.

The rest of what the young historian has to says initially catches his interest greatly......before the bottom of his stomach fell out like a Munchlax from a Honey Tree as they gave him a metaphorical Sucker Punch to the gut. Nate actually self-reflecting on one of his more intolerable and terrible traits of his, and deciding to do something positive and constructive about it? Bloody fantastic! Doing so in regards to revising his opinions on the Scimitars and becoming sympathetic to some of them? Hoo boy. His everpresent (if questionable) smile immediately morphed into an expression of pure astonishment and then horror as they realized what they were getting at, before it rapidly twisted into one of equal parts stupified, irritated, and downright furious. Then, as they finished up that point, his face just......collapsed into one of the most bitterly disappointed and resigned dismay, as if he had come to terms with their (to him) radical and beyond foolishly idiotic change of heart and.....

Gave up on him. Like he was a complete lost cause, making a huge mistake, but unable to do anything about it other than cutting his losses. Ouch.

".......Yes, I do believe my confidence in you have fallen, Nathan. Greatly. Very greatly."

His tone is heavy, positively laddened with the emotions he's visibly broadcasting. Ventus lets out a most unpleasant chuckle, riff with bitter amusement and hollow understanding.

"Hardly could I fathom you so irrevocably fucking over our relationship again, and to do so in a manner that surpasses our previous feuds? Outstanding."

The researcher goes quiet for a brief moment, before giving Nathan a piercing yet soft look that almost seemed to glow.

"You've made a mistake, and you're making a big mistake, Nathan. But I know you. Nothing I will say can ever change your mind, no compromise or bargain too great on my part will make you alter you decisions. It just can't be done. Not at this point, and not that I even want to anymore. You can only try so much and be meet with so much disappointment, after all.

"One day, Nathan. One day, you'll make a foolish, reckless decision that will backfire on you tremendously. If it hasn't already happened now. You have been resourceful, capable, and exceedingly fortunate in making such decisions profit for you, but one day all of that will not be enough to spare you the consequences a bad course of action brings. Or others, if they suffer with you. or instead of you. One day, Nathan. Mark my words."

A heavy silence befalls the two associates, before Ventus gives a simple smile and claps his hands together.

"That's enough, I think. You've given me a lot to mull over, so I will take my leave and do that. I'll get in touch with you when I have my answer to you about Mesprit. Until then......good bye."

And with that, Ventus turns around and leaves Nathan and Terra.

That went poorly.