Currently homeless; voicetesting

[sturmunddrang]

I believe they call this being out of your element, Fräulein. So many responsibilities to shift between, I've seen traumatic breakdowns over less. Of course some of us would love to see you able to manage your time well, but it is not a task for the feeble.

You would not want to let me down, would you?

Comments

[flightofdeath]

You speak of disappointment as though you are not the cause of it. Whatever may end up your fate, it is yours alone to bear.

[sturmunddrang]

I beg to differ; I aim to avoid disappointment. Though you sound rather acquainted with it yourself.

[flightofdeath]

That would be your failure to discern my meaning, a fault which lies with you, Gellert. Not myself.

[sturmunddrang]

Or your historied ability of refusing to admit the slightest fault, my friend. But in the end, I suppose you are right in that it matters little. Fate decides how much of a liar we are. Let us just say I intend to keep my promises. [Especially the threatening ones.]

[flightofdeath]

Historied? Are you not speaking of yourself? As for lying, you are the one who sits upon a platform of morality. You are the one who claims to be at the beck and call of goodness when in fact you are like me and only do what you wish. "Good" has nothing to do with it, and yet you lie and pretend it does. All you want is power, and you lie to get it.

I have studied your reign. I know its fault well.

[sturmunddrang]

But Good is exactly what I wish. Not all lies have to deviate so from the truth, my lord.

[No, he isn't honest. Least of all to himself.]

It does not always have to end that way. Will not.

[flightofdeath]

Good is a lie in and of itself. It's a construct men such as you have used to justify your whims. Do not underestimate my intellect.

Destiny has had its way with you. Struggling against it here will not change anything.

[sturmunddrang]

My dear Lord Voldemort, you forget. Destiny itself can be rewritten with the proper application of Will.

[Why else would anyone seek power except to use it? He sounds almost like Albus, with this "fate is what you make of it," but he did have a point. A misguided one, of course, with little appreciation for being brought together for a purpose, but even Gellert is not foolish enough to be able to admit it. They had been drawn together for a reason, and however that ended--will end--the experience had been for more than naught.

Of course, this also leaves open the question of failure, but again, with the proper application of will, there is no room for even the consideration.]

[flightofdeath]

Come now, Grindelwald. How are you to know the application is necessary? You are in a limbo, separated from any resource you may have to recall this intention upon your returning.

[sturmunddrang]

Because it is always necessary.

[Son, don't argue with your elders. He knows what he's doing. Or will if he tells himself he does with enough fervor.]

[flightofdeath]

And yet, I distinctly recall your downfall at the hands of your former lover.

[Mocking is his tone, amused is his voice, biting is the expectation of the delivery.]

It has already happened. You do not possess the time magic capable of altering the course of events.

[sturmunddrang]

[Not yet. Who's to say it simply has not been invented yet?]

And you profess to know so much about the incident, my lord? Please do enlighten me.

[flightofdeath]

I went to school during the height of your reign. As an aspiring young wizard with the intention to rise to power myself, I did as any student would and studied. Not long after I left did I learn of my old professor's victory over you. That is not how I've been informed of your involvement, however. I learn of it from my own experience traveling through the dimensions. You see, I've met you before, horribly besotted and all the worse off for it.

[sturmunddrang]

[Well.]

Constants and variables...interesting. Had it not happened yet, or not at all? [He's going to assume Voldemort knows what he means, if the boy is supposedly informed of his and Albus' history.]

[flightofdeath]

Yet. I met with the both of you, and it seemed as though you were both determined on avoiding it.

[sturmunddrang]

[There is a glimmer of possibility in it, knowing Fate's design before it happens, given a chance to alter it. But that matters so little now.]

A great many things can be avoided with foresight, but alas I believe my own chess game still requires a bit of practice. [There has been an inarguable mistake. Gellert knows it, Voldemort knows it, there is no denying it. But the best mistakes are learned from. And not repeated.]

[flightofdeath]

[The news makes Voldemort smile.]

And so the stage is set up upon creating your greatest enemy. Do not allow him to fester, Gellert, or he will destroy you.

[sturmunddrang]

Through what? Morose dalliance and craven indecision?

[He loved Albus once. The idea of him, at least. But he knows when a partnership is one-sided, when shared sacrifice is not at all shared responsibility. It is like a wagon with a broken wheel, the functioning side left to work twofold.

He sees what Albus has become, his once-ambition a hollow shell, and it disappoints him. But he cannot picture such righteous complacency as threatening.]

[thegreatergood]

*Other!Gellert looks at this!Gellert with an amused grin*

It is like a mirror, yet not.

[sturmunddrang]

Indeed. It looks the same, sounds the same, but does it likewise act the same?

[thegreatergood]

We shall see.

But do I doubt myself? That is the question.

[unluckychild]

It would be a shame if she let you down. You've been so polite to her.

[sturmunddrang]

I keep saying as much. I can only hope that one of these days that it sinks in.

[unluckychild]

I'll put in a good word for you if you like?

[rainbowpants]

[ Don't mind him, this warlock is just arching his eyebrows at that whole thing really.] >

The people you trust tend to let you down in the worst ways. Well. Mostly.

[sturmunddrang]

[Incredibly true. What a pity.] But if I had truly placed my trust, there would be no need for the plea to begin with.

[palebee]

Upon occasion, it is necessary to disappoint one in order to preserve the well-being of the many. I would expect you of all people to well know that.

[sturmunddrang]

Just as one failure can lead to the disappointment of many, my dear Albus. What we want, and what is necessary are not always so removed.

[palebee]

Desire without discernment is a dog without a master, Gellert. You may only allow it to run wild for so long before you'll find your hand in its teeth.

[sturmunddrang]

And limitation is for those too weak to change the world themselves. And what would you have me do instead, my friend, endlessly mourn those things that cannot be changed when there is a whole world out there screaming for direction? For help?

[palebee]

I would have you learn from your mistakes -- only a madman does else. Temperance must be half the measure of any free decision, lest one be ruled by impulse alone. There lies only destruction down that road.

[sturmunddrang]

I have done naught else but learn from my mistakes, Albus. You mistake ambition for rash foolishness, but I argue that we have waited long enough.

["We." Old habits.]

[palebee]

You have waited, but for what? The fleeting dream of conquest? To what end have you idled so? -- Or tell me, do you honestly still believe that a good king casts his own crown?

Truly, Gellert, I thought you more wise.

The world that we look upon now is not a place to be seized or to be claimed. There is no triumph to be found there, and your competition clamours for blood at the gate.

We have always spoken of greater things than this, you and I. Asgard holds rich opportunity to accomplish great things, indeed -- if you will put aside, however temporarily, that foolish old aim of power. It is a temptation more ancient than the apple, and it ever does ill service to your youth.

You once spoke of saving a world, Gellert; you may yet be given the opportunity to save hundreds.

I would not have you for an enemy in this place.

[sturmunddrang]

[It is but a means to an end. Helping one in turn "helps" the other. It is, perhaps, not as direct a path as he would have liked, and his impatience is a loathsome flame licking at a dynamite's fuse. There is a truth to Albus' words, much of which is lost to willful ignorance, but it is enough to temper him momentarily.

They would not have been drawn together, not only once but through fate's cruel design again after they had long parted ways, if not for a purpose.

That much he does believe.]

I had not wanted you for an enemy at all, my friend. [Which is true enough, but whether it is a caution borne out of attachment or fear for a power with potential to rival or even surpass his own, not even he could say.] That much has not changed.

[Despite the fact that he believes he is not the one changing at all.]

[palebee]

[ The words taste thick and oily against his tongue. Hate wants to pour out of him like so much glacier melt, frigid and bristling with icy spar. Then you never should have left.

But no. No, anger wins nothing and no one to a cause, not in any useful, lasting manner. There remain certain necessities to see to; Riddle cannot be allowed to lay claim over this one.

They are too proud for such an alliance to ever flourish, of course. In short time, they would tear at each other's throats over the prize of their victory. But he cannot chance the havoc that they might wreak against others in their fall.

He cannot chance that anyone but him should bring it. ]

Then show me; show yourself. We are not children any longer, Gellert, let us endeavour to demonstrate it now, that divergent paths might still wind together under the auspices of higher purpose.