Sol ☼ Thomas "Tan" Moore (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
secretofthefox) wrote2015-09-07 09:20 pm
secretofthefox) wrote2015-09-07 09:20 pm
Entry tags:
Memory 32
Neutral Significant: the inherited knowledge of the Flame
Won: Day 169
Game: memshare
Summary
This memory begins in the kitchen of the house Tan lived in until he was five. But he's fifteen in this memory, so how can that be? And how is he having a conversation with his mother over hot chocolate? Well, the fact that she's slightly translucent could be a clue to that... Ambre is sitting in the corner, her expression furrowed in concentration.
Nina pulls out an old candle that feels, somehow, that it holds some sort of power, saying that she had been waiting until he was sixteen to give him this, but, well, considering the circumstances (ie. she's dead and he's already come into his power), there's no reason to wait any longer. Light the candle, and... well, she laughs a little and says if it's anything like when her father gave it to her, it'll be a trip, but she and Ambre will be right there, and it's nothing bad, just maybe a little overwhelming at first.
Tan and Fiere glance at each other, but ultimately they trust their respective mothers, and Tan lights the candle as instructed. And as it steadily glows, the wax starts melting, and it gives off a sweet-smelling smoke, Tan and Fiere are filled with an unfamiliar but comfortable warmth...
...and their minds, as one, are enveloped in a consciousness that isn't their own, in memories and knowledge that aren't their own, and yet it all feels familiar, as though it's been there all along, sleeping, part of them. As though it is theirs, even as it isn't.
And a story that isn't theirs, and yet simultaneously is theirs, and at the same time they're just a small part of...
There is a single being, a Creator, whose first creation was the world that the spirits live in, known as their Paradise. At the start, it was just the spirits that lived there, and all was good. The Creator then experimented and made humans, a special kind of creature that was born from the world itself, and whose passion held the power to change anything they desired. And for a time, everything was good.
But a malevolent force known as the Null came into existence, the physical manifestation of negative emotion with the singular goal of erasing Paradise. There was no way for it to invade Paradise directly, but it found a single weakness it could exploit in the frailties of the human heart. It wrapped itself around the hearts of those humans particularly susceptible to sadness and anger, and exploited them and their passion to wreak havoc on the world the Creator cherished so.
A small group of humans, however, noticed that this was a thing that was happening, and appealed to the Creator to try to help find a way to both protect Paradise and stop the Null from using humanity. And so, the Creator made a second world for the humans, one that their passion could not change as easily and that would not be directly under the Creator's protection, but one that would make it safer for everyone from the Null threat. All of the humans in Paradise moved to this new world (the world where Tan would eventually grow up).
It wasn't a perfect solution, though, because humans were born from Paradise itself, and so a part of each one - a Footprint - could not be separated from it that easily. These Footprints could still exert influence on Paradise to an extent, and the Null could still infiltrate human hearts. So the spirits were tasked with protecting these Footprints, cleaning them of Null wherever it was found.
The Creator also took the elemental forces that built the world and formed them into ten Angels, bonds that would connect a human and a spirit to grant them power to combat the Null directly and defend both worlds. A human's passion, with a spirit to ground it, and a holy focus to amplify that power through a particular element.
All that is seen, all that is heard. The flames of life, the ice of rationality. Lightning and energy, metal and matter. The waters of the sea, the winds of the sky. Reliable flora, and ever-changing fauna. And when all ten powers gather together for a single purpose, even miraculous things can happen - nothing is impossible.
These Angels were given first to the humans who had worked with the Creator, along with spirits who had proven themselves fine partners for the humans, and these bonds would be passed from generation to generation. Most of them don't pass it down by blood-line (though how they choose the next one exactly is known to them and only them); Fire is the only one that does, passing from mother to son and father to daughter. (Should no suitable candidate exist, then it searches back as far as it needs to to find the next living blood relative of the proper gender and passes it to them, though this hasn't had to happen for many generations.)
But pretty much, for generations, the Angel of Fire has been passed from parent to child, and the current Angel has gone where they felt they were needed, helped people wherever they were, and eventually settled down, had a family, and passed it along to their child. There's a sense that the family line has traveled pretty much all over the world, throughout the centuries. Some vague impressions of memories of past humans and spirits in the Angel pair, though nothing super strong.
(Also the vaguest, vaguest impression that Tan is not the first Angel of Fire to have shattered his soul, by a long shot. Nor will he likely be the last.)
And the final piece of knowledge that settles in his mind during this experience is that the Angel of Fire has a name, one that he'd called for instinctively a couple times up to this point, but he should know that he can call it at any time: Michael.
...When Tan and Fiere wake up (had they fallen asleep?), the candle is spent, its wax all in a pool on its dish, and Nina is still sitting on the other side of the table, watching them. After they've got their bearings, she asked if they're okay, and they're fine, it was just. Trippy, like she said it'd be.
She asks if he's sure, and says that he doesn't need to pretend to be fine. She missed a week of school from being overwhelmed by everything when she inherited all of it, it's perfectly normal. He insists that he's okay, really. ...But if he could stay here, for a while, that would be great.
She smiles. "Now what kind of mother would I be if I didn't have room for my own son?"
What He Learns
☼ His mom's a ghost who's been hanging around until she could pass the knowledge of the Flame on to him.
☼ His mom's father, his grandfather, was also an Angel of Fire.
☼ It is, in fact, kind of a family Thing. Mother to son, father to daughter.
☼ An 'Angel' is the bond between a human and a spirit, that amplifies their combined power and gives it an elemental affinity.
☼ There are ten of them.
☼ All ten together create a miracle.
☼ He can match most of them, then, from what he remembers so far. He's fire (his mom used to be), Laura's metal, Jennie's water, John's wind, Rena's flora, Kim's fauna, Norbert's sound, and Jessica is probably ice. Tony is also one, so he's either sight or lightning. That leaves one more.
☼ (Seven charms and three strands on his bracelet. ...What if that was an 'all ten powers come together' scenario...? Which raises further questions, especially why he remembers there being only six charms.)
☼ Angels exist to protect both worlds from the Null, and to help people and spirits.
☼ Also there's a Creator.
☼ You'd think the Creator would have a better name, but then, the evil's name is Null, we ran past the 'creative names' station a while ago.
☼ Michael...
Notes
The Fire inheritance contingency plan is basically a tree search.
And then I continued to lampshade my obvious placeholder-y names that I didn't decide to change...
Won: Day 169
Game: memshare
Summary
This memory begins in the kitchen of the house Tan lived in until he was five. But he's fifteen in this memory, so how can that be? And how is he having a conversation with his mother over hot chocolate? Well, the fact that she's slightly translucent could be a clue to that... Ambre is sitting in the corner, her expression furrowed in concentration.
Nina pulls out an old candle that feels, somehow, that it holds some sort of power, saying that she had been waiting until he was sixteen to give him this, but, well, considering the circumstances (ie. she's dead and he's already come into his power), there's no reason to wait any longer. Light the candle, and... well, she laughs a little and says if it's anything like when her father gave it to her, it'll be a trip, but she and Ambre will be right there, and it's nothing bad, just maybe a little overwhelming at first.
Tan and Fiere glance at each other, but ultimately they trust their respective mothers, and Tan lights the candle as instructed. And as it steadily glows, the wax starts melting, and it gives off a sweet-smelling smoke, Tan and Fiere are filled with an unfamiliar but comfortable warmth...
...and their minds, as one, are enveloped in a consciousness that isn't their own, in memories and knowledge that aren't their own, and yet it all feels familiar, as though it's been there all along, sleeping, part of them. As though it is theirs, even as it isn't.
And a story that isn't theirs, and yet simultaneously is theirs, and at the same time they're just a small part of...
There is a single being, a Creator, whose first creation was the world that the spirits live in, known as their Paradise. At the start, it was just the spirits that lived there, and all was good. The Creator then experimented and made humans, a special kind of creature that was born from the world itself, and whose passion held the power to change anything they desired. And for a time, everything was good.
But a malevolent force known as the Null came into existence, the physical manifestation of negative emotion with the singular goal of erasing Paradise. There was no way for it to invade Paradise directly, but it found a single weakness it could exploit in the frailties of the human heart. It wrapped itself around the hearts of those humans particularly susceptible to sadness and anger, and exploited them and their passion to wreak havoc on the world the Creator cherished so.
A small group of humans, however, noticed that this was a thing that was happening, and appealed to the Creator to try to help find a way to both protect Paradise and stop the Null from using humanity. And so, the Creator made a second world for the humans, one that their passion could not change as easily and that would not be directly under the Creator's protection, but one that would make it safer for everyone from the Null threat. All of the humans in Paradise moved to this new world (the world where Tan would eventually grow up).
It wasn't a perfect solution, though, because humans were born from Paradise itself, and so a part of each one - a Footprint - could not be separated from it that easily. These Footprints could still exert influence on Paradise to an extent, and the Null could still infiltrate human hearts. So the spirits were tasked with protecting these Footprints, cleaning them of Null wherever it was found.
The Creator also took the elemental forces that built the world and formed them into ten Angels, bonds that would connect a human and a spirit to grant them power to combat the Null directly and defend both worlds. A human's passion, with a spirit to ground it, and a holy focus to amplify that power through a particular element.
All that is seen, all that is heard. The flames of life, the ice of rationality. Lightning and energy, metal and matter. The waters of the sea, the winds of the sky. Reliable flora, and ever-changing fauna. And when all ten powers gather together for a single purpose, even miraculous things can happen - nothing is impossible.
These Angels were given first to the humans who had worked with the Creator, along with spirits who had proven themselves fine partners for the humans, and these bonds would be passed from generation to generation. Most of them don't pass it down by blood-line (though how they choose the next one exactly is known to them and only them); Fire is the only one that does, passing from mother to son and father to daughter. (Should no suitable candidate exist, then it searches back as far as it needs to to find the next living blood relative of the proper gender and passes it to them, though this hasn't had to happen for many generations.)
But pretty much, for generations, the Angel of Fire has been passed from parent to child, and the current Angel has gone where they felt they were needed, helped people wherever they were, and eventually settled down, had a family, and passed it along to their child. There's a sense that the family line has traveled pretty much all over the world, throughout the centuries. Some vague impressions of memories of past humans and spirits in the Angel pair, though nothing super strong.
(Also the vaguest, vaguest impression that Tan is not the first Angel of Fire to have shattered his soul, by a long shot. Nor will he likely be the last.)
And the final piece of knowledge that settles in his mind during this experience is that the Angel of Fire has a name, one that he'd called for instinctively a couple times up to this point, but he should know that he can call it at any time: Michael.
...When Tan and Fiere wake up (had they fallen asleep?), the candle is spent, its wax all in a pool on its dish, and Nina is still sitting on the other side of the table, watching them. After they've got their bearings, she asked if they're okay, and they're fine, it was just. Trippy, like she said it'd be.
She asks if he's sure, and says that he doesn't need to pretend to be fine. She missed a week of school from being overwhelmed by everything when she inherited all of it, it's perfectly normal. He insists that he's okay, really. ...But if he could stay here, for a while, that would be great.
She smiles. "Now what kind of mother would I be if I didn't have room for my own son?"
What He Learns
☼ His mom's a ghost who's been hanging around until she could pass the knowledge of the Flame on to him.
☼ His mom's father, his grandfather, was also an Angel of Fire.
☼ It is, in fact, kind of a family Thing. Mother to son, father to daughter.
☼ An 'Angel' is the bond between a human and a spirit, that amplifies their combined power and gives it an elemental affinity.
☼ There are ten of them.
☼ All ten together create a miracle.
☼ He can match most of them, then, from what he remembers so far. He's fire (his mom used to be), Laura's metal, Jennie's water, John's wind, Rena's flora, Kim's fauna, Norbert's sound, and Jessica is probably ice. Tony is also one, so he's either sight or lightning. That leaves one more.
☼ (Seven charms and three strands on his bracelet. ...What if that was an 'all ten powers come together' scenario...? Which raises further questions, especially why he remembers there being only six charms.)
☼ Angels exist to protect both worlds from the Null, and to help people and spirits.
☼ Also there's a Creator.
☼ You'd think the Creator would have a better name, but then, the evil's name is Null, we ran past the 'creative names' station a while ago.
☼ Michael...
Notes
The Fire inheritance contingency plan is basically a tree search.
And then I continued to lampshade my obvious placeholder-y names that I didn't decide to change...