On the Vagaries of Life and Undeath

Kada · Sep 7, 2016

"...and so, Socrates was tried and convicted for refusing to recognize the gods of Athens and for, in the words of the dikasts, "corrupting the youth." His punishment was to drink a tea brewed with hemlock, a poisonous plant. This was a legal consequence for..."

Clèment stopped mid sentence, a phone alarm beeping incessantly cutting off his speech. Looking around the study hall from his spot at the front, it seemed to take the Lich a moment to realize that the sound was coming from his own pocket.

Pulling the alien phone from his pocket,che silenced the alarm and looked back at the mass of students facing him. "My apologies, everyone. It seems we are out of time for today. We will continue this discussion next class period. Please do not forget the review papers on Plato's Allegory of the Cave. They are due this Friday, and as you are all aware by now I do not accept late papers.
Have a great day, and if anyone has any questions, I will be available from now until three pm."

As the students filed out of the room, Clèment worked to arrange his desk and place his books and papers in the leather satchel he carried around with him. He really didn't expect anyone to stay behind.

Saber · Sep 7, 2016

Aedan stayed behind, he leaned against the far wall, rubbing the dark circles under his eyes, he didn't look. All in all he was an emotional mess, his PTSD was getting worse, his talks with Nia were helping, but he needed help from elsewhere.

Once the other students had filed out he approached him, "Mr. LaMont sir.....um.....could I talk to you for a moment." Aedan never talked about his past, too much pain there, but the flashbacks were getting worse as were the nightmares.

"I............," he wasn't sure where to start. He couldn't exactly start ranting at him. "I'm.....not......doing well," it was a start. His left hand started trembling, he clenched it in an attempt to stop it, he closed his eyes trying to stop it, "how do you deal with it?........seeing so much....."

Kada · Sep 8, 2016

Clèment was somewhat shocked as a student actually did stay behind, and part of him was elated that someone was taking an interest in philosophy. The young man was Aedan Drago. A good student, but the lad always looked haggard, as if he never slept.

The lich turned to listen, but wasn't expecting the emotional plea coming from the boy. This was more in line with Finnegan's area of expertise. But Clèment was a professor. His students' welfare was his duty, and he had always tried to be approachable. And now that a student had approached him, it would be wrong to merely turn him to someone else.

"Ah... Aedan. Where... to begin. First off, why don't we sit down? That might make this conversation more amicable."

Clèment took one of the memory desks and gestured for Aedan to follow suit. "Now, young man. What are you dealing with having seen? I've lived a long time, but I need a frame of reference to understand what you mean."

Saber · Sep 8, 2016

He took a seat and took one of the memory desks, he wasn't sure where to begin. So much happened over those two years. So much pain, so much blood, how does one even begin to tell about it. He closed his eyes, he let his memories come, it was odd, he normally tried to keep them down. "I remember the fire.....I remember it so vividly," the mercenaries invading there, his family being tied dow as the house burnt down around them, while he was dragged away.

"My father....he made something....something meant to help the world," he shook his head, remembering where his father got the genetic material from. "But.....so many just looked at it...and saw it as a weapon...or rather a potential way to make weapons"

He looked at LaMont the energy behind his eyes swirling, "It...was a genetic process to cure diseases...make people healthier. But...." he gritted his teeth. "If used properly......it can grant normal humans...powers."

Kada · Sep 11, 2016

"I... see..." The lich scratched his skull and looked at the young man. He sighed and took a moment to collect his thoughts. "I don't know everything you've been through, Mr. Drago. But I do know a bit about overcoming traumatic events."

"When I became a lich, it was a horrific process. I haven't forgotten it. Any of it. But time has taught me how to cope with it. I imagine it must be harder for you, you being so young and your trauma being so recent."

"So these... powers. I take it, you may have been introduced to this use of your father's discovery... firsthand?"

Saber · Sep 12, 2016

He didn't know what to say, it was true, but there was more to it than that. He just nodded. He sat there a moment, uncertain of what to say next.

He sighed, "everything I'm telling is classified by the British military....." He decided to start with them, "they didn't have a name, they didn't want one. They just existed...hidden in the Brutish military. They were led by a former general named Jonathan Alistair"

He closed his eyes, letting the anger sear within, "he found out about my father's process...he came to our home....took it, dragged me outside and made me watch.....as they burnt our home down...with my family inside."

He clenched his teeth holding back his tears, "they....took me...put me through the process...and made me into a weapon." He shook his head, "two long years....they controlled me....made me do awful things."

He looked his eyes showing his distress, "when I escaped....I killed forty seven soldiers, six scientists and Jonathan Alistair....they took everything from me...but..," he went silent, his guilt weighting on him.

Kada · Sep 15, 2016

For a while the lich just listened. That seemed to be what the young man needed most. To vent his frustrations and fears. So he sat in silence while the boy told him about the troubles of his life.

When it was clear that Aedan was finished speaking, Clèment paused and tapped his cheekbone thoughtfully, creating a small tinking sound as bone struck bone.

"Well, that is quite the tale, Mr. Drago.
I believe that you are primarily overwhelmed because you feel responsible for the deaths of your family and all of the terrible things that this shadowy organization fixed you to do."

"But you must realize two things Aedan. You were a child when your family was taken from you. And they were taken. You did not steal your father's research and you did not light that fire. That guilt rests on this Johnathan Alistair."

"Second, you seem like you want to be a good person. If you had had any choice in the matter, don't you believe that you would have rather fallen on your own sword than act out those terrible deeds? If so then you cannot blame yourself for those actions, because you did not have the choice."

Clèment sat unnaturally still the entire time he spoke, the dim lights in his skull brightening and dimming with his words, rather than his jaw moving.

He wasn't done speaking exactly, but he was sitting through his centuries' worth of knowledge to see if there was anything that might help provide a good example of what he wanted to say. In the meantime, he waited for Aedan to respond.

Saber · Sep 15, 2016

He listened as LaMont, everything he said was true, but there was one more thing bothering him, something he hadn't talked to anyone about, "my father's name was Jacobi, like I said he was a scientist.....but he was a doctor too...so he did all our medical stuff..including bloodwork."

He looked directly at him, "he found something....a unique gene....he found it while doing my bloodwork....," he stopped, forcing his emotions back, "and with that gene...my unique gene........he perfected his process." There it was, all out in the open. The mistakes, the guilt and the anger.

"My father....he believed in such grear things.....things I try to live by......but..he perfected that damn process using my DNA...and now..despite..everything he taught me..I don't know what to think anymore. If I hadn't been born.....so many things would have been different."

Kada · Sep 17, 2016

Clèment continued to listen as the boy threw up an excuse about how the whole ordeal must be his fault since the gene that started it all came from his blood. The lich merely shook his head and placed a skeletal hand on Aedan's shoulder.

"Hm... But that still does not make it your fault. Mr. Drago, the world keeps on turning regardless of our actions or inactions. Your life is not a mistake any more than your father's decision to try and help others with your gene was. Because you exist, his work could still be put to good use."

Sitting back in the seat, he pondered for a moment.
"There are many who believe that suffering has a purpose. Some believe that sin or wrongdoing causes suffering. But I disagree with that notion. I tend to agree with Friedrich Nietzsche, who believed that men of great virtue, those destined for great things, suffer the most.
That suffering will not always be tragedy. Great men suffer from a hunger for justice, a thirst for adventure, and a pull towards the unknown with every step they take."

"Perhaps," he added with a slight lilt of compassion in his voice, "you are merely going through your crucible. A test of will where you are refined into the man you will become. When you come out on the other side, you will be a great man who will do great things."

Saber · Sep 17, 2016

Aedan listened as his teacher talked and explained what he believed, in truth Aedan had hard time believing that suffering had a purpose beyond causing pain, but his words made sense in a way. He looked at him nodded, he wasn't fully convinced but it would make him, "thank you sir......I'll try to focus on things like that."

He gave him a smile, it was a sad smile, but still a smile, "It's not going to be easy....but I guess....most things in life aren't." His smile faded again, a part had hoped he would leave relieved with weight gone, but one conversation cannot heal emotional wounds scars, one conversation cannot change one's perspective on pain, no that would be a long road.

He held out his hand to shake Mr. LaMont's hand, "thank you." It would be a long while before Aedan realized how important this conversation would be, but it had in fact put him on the right road, it would be long, it would be hard, but one day, Aedan might yet find his way. Living life was a challenge, starting a new one was a greater one.

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On the Vagaries of Life and Undeath

Kada

Comradmin

Saber

Push through the Darkness, Find the Light

Kada

Comradmin

Saber

Push through the Darkness, Find the Light

Kada

Comradmin

Saber

Push through the Darkness, Find the Light

Kada

Comradmin

Saber

Push through the Darkness, Find the Light

Kada

Comradmin

Saber

Push through the Darkness, Find the Light