dear_mun | canon is 7th Dragon III

It sounds as if you're trying to atone for something.

[...He's trying not to stare at the horns. Is one of them growing out of his eye socket?]

I suppose I am. [Yuma tries to smile, though it probably looks odd, considering how his mouth and cheek look cracked on the side where the horns are.]

I was too focused on being the most powerful being in my world. When I finally realized that it doesn't really matter whether you're weak or strong, it was too late.

[It sounds like it's time for some old man wisdom. Somehow, the young man's cracked features just make him seem...well, fragile. Like he should be helping him.]

Ah...many people have hurt others in trying to gain power. I've seen it many times. You should start with the one you feel is most likely to forgive you. Having a friend at your side can make atonement much easier.

You don't understand- I've killed, drunk on power as I was. I murdered my superior, swatted him as though he was a fly. And I killed the man who was my mentor.

[Though only one eye is visible and the cracks in his features, Yuma looks visibly ashamed.]

That may be once upon a time, in a universe that no longer exists, but... That doesn't change what I've done.

... I wish I could. Unfortunately, when the new universe was formed, I was not formed with it. Man-made beings like me have no place nor reason to exist in that universe.

[He pauses.]

With any luck, I'll meet them here.

New universe?

[Well, isn't that uncomfortably familiar from this point on the fourth wall? He decides not to say anything further about it.]

Ah...well, yes, perhaps you will. Very little is truly beyond redemption if your feelings are real. Whatever you've done doesn't matter - atonement isn't about changing, but about setting things right, both for those you've wronged, and your own heart.

Yes. From what I've understood, a new universe was created when the 7th True Dragon was defeated. A universe without dragons, where mankind can flourish in peace.

[He's happy about that, really. No unfortunate beings like him will be created there.]

Yes, I suppose. I hope I will get the chance. I have so much to apologize for...

[Um. What is that stuff growing out of this person's head that isn't hair?]

...Are you all right?

[Those are horns.]

I've been told that the correct and polite answer to such a question is "yes".

So it sounds. I cannot promise they will listen to me, but should you need someone to help speak for you, I can vouch for your sincerity.

[He doesn't doubt for a moment he's sincere. His faith in humanity is too great to entertain doubts in the absence of any obvious shiftiness.]

[Yuma has never been more sincere about something in his life. He truly wants to apologize for all he's done.]

... That is very kind of you, but... Why? My understanding of basic human relationships is that you generally only vouch for someone you're friends or otherwise close with.

[They don't look like they belong there. They look like some kind of disease...?]

But...you have a growth coming out of your eye.

... Yes. A result of having dragon specimens installed into my body. Honestly this monstrous form suits me...

[~~Because Enoch is an overly empathetic fool, that's why.~~ He just smiles.]

Usually. But I can sense it - how much it means to you. And because you've done some very grave wrongs, it may be difficult to regain trust without help. And if I can help, I will.

You can sense it? Is that some kind of human ability that has passed me by?

You mean, you've been merged with dragons somehow!? By what kind of magic?

[The second part, that's a problem, but psychology as a study doesn't really exist yet for her world and she's considering physical and potentially magical problems first.]

That is one way of saying it, yes. Not by magic, but by science.

That's-

[It's not magic? It's not magic? She can't even comprehend the idea. How does science, which struggles to affect people as it is, manage to do this?]

-...how is that possible?

[He gives Yuma a warm chuckle.]

In a sense, though it's certainly not unique to humans. I've seen many animals show it too. It's more like an instinct - empathy. Your feelings show in your face and your voice.

I assume we are from different worlds or, at least, different points in time. Science in my world must be more advanced than it is in yours.

I see. Perhaps it's something I will learn too, in time. Honestly, many things that come naturally to humans seem to take longer for me to comprehend.

Perhaps I'm just dense. [He chuckles a little. Unsure. But honestly, he probably is dense when it comes to certain things.]

It must have-...every non-magical process that mimics magic uses lyrium, do you know if that was used? It would have been a glowing blue substance, either a crystal, powder, or liquid.

[If she knows what it is she might be able to respond to it.]

I don't believe that exists, where I'm from. Or at the very least it is something we have not yet discovered.

You're different. There's no shame in it. I have many good friends who aren't human and have had to learn how to understand us in order to be a better friend to me.

[Well, and do their jobs among the Heavenly host, of course. But he hasn't said they're angels so that would just be confusing.]

Technically, I was human, I suppose. But I was created in a laboratory, not born as regular humans are. I didn't so much have a life as twelve years of battle experience.

[Sure, he got to experience a little bit of a regular human's day, encouraged by the admiral, but... It wasn't a lot.

Probably not enough.]

...So it really is something I can't understand.

[She clearly doesn't know what to do with herself for a moment. There is a problem here and she can't respond to it.]

Do you really think it suits you?

Humans are intelligent. You would come to understand if had I been adequately equipped to explain it to you. While I am intelligent though, science is not my field of expertise.

[Humans can come to learn a lot of things, really. Even if they were previously foreign to them.]

Yes. My actions in my home world were deplorable, so if I look like this eternally, then that is fine.

Oh...

[He's only a boy then, no matter how much he looks like a young man. The poor thing.]

We are so much more than warriors. You have an opportunity to see what an ordinary life is like now.

[...With horns growing out of his head, but all the same...]

[Just don't call him a boy to his face, Enoch. He'd insist he's an adult.]

I... Suppose. I have no idea what to do with myself though. They said that "sleeping all day" is something that young people do, but I could only manage about fifteen minutes when I tried.

[The next question is an obvious one.]

What did you do?

I murdered my superior in cold blood. Tore out the hearts of two girls- Though they were not real humans, that doesn't excuse it. I murdered my mentor. And I saw nothing wrong with it. I thought only the strong deserved to live, and couldn't handle being challenged on that. The level of arrogance I had honestly baffles me now, after the fact.

That's all right. My friends I mentioned before, they don't need sleep at all, and haven't needed to in order to know I need it. Being human isn't necessarily about needing what we do - the things that define us are more than merely physical matters.

They don't need sleep? ... Are they dragons? Though dragons are not really known to make friends with humans.

[It's eerie, how straightforward his words are, and yet, he still clearly feels. His voice is not the monotone of one who has been robbed of emotion. She doesn't know what to make of it, and in all honesty, feels uneasy about the whole thing.]

I, um. So you're trying to move on from that? To make up for it?

Yes. My greatest desire now is to apologize for what I've done and atone for my sins.

[Pause.]

... And protect those who need it. I still have the power of dragons... I might as well put it to good use.

[Another of those chuckles. He really is more child than man...

But then, the same curiosity can be seen in him.]

Does your world have angels?

There is organized religion, but I've never paid it much mind. None of the dragon specimens within me seem to have any knowledge of angels either. Of course absence of evidence does not means absence of existence all together.

[...]

I guess what I'm trying to say is "I don't know".

That's a noble goal. Not everyone in your situation would choose it.

[Sure, he didn't at first. But then, neither did she. Her own childhood self seems like a different person.]

[...setting aside the fact that he seems to have gained dragons' memories...]

But you know the concept, at least. That is what my friends are - angels, in the service of God.

It's the right thing to do.

[He's sure of that.]

Of course, I'll only be able to do so here and over what my mundane calls "memes" since I was not lucky enough to be created in the new universe that was born.

I see.

[...]

I do doubt that God exists where I was from, though many humans did believe. The one who created all life on my planet in the beginning was the first True Dragon Iod.

[She nods. That's good - that he's trying. She knows she has her own missteps to make up for, some of them grave and some trifling...

After a pause, she gestures at the top of his head.]

Does it hurt you?

The dragons - but you said mankind would not be living in peace while they lived as well. Why would a dragon create man?

No. The horns are simply part of me now. They've perhaps added a little to the weight of my head, but not enough to where it's an issue for my balance.

Dragons devour planets and all the life on them. To Iod, I'm sure it must've been like setting the breakfast table.

... And also setting up for the birth of the seventh True Dragon VFD. All humans in that world unconsciously wanted to become dragons, but it is something reserved only for the strongest and a poisonous flower called Dragonsbane was there to weed out the weak and leave only the strong, those with the potential of becoming a new True Dragon. Honestly, had I not been defeated at the point I was, the seventh True Dragon would have been me. And I would surely have created a universe where dragons continued on as they always have.

Is that why you, ah...have those?

[Enoch gestures at his horns.]

My current appearance is a result of having the specimens of five True Dragons, as well as several High Dragons, installed into my body.

As it is, I'm more dragon than I am human.

Physically, perhaps, but, which would you consider yourself? Do you still feel like a human?

I would consider myself a human. Had my mind been as draconic as my appearance, then I wouldn't have cared much for any form of life at all.

Then you are human, regardless of all else. As I said, there are things that define us beyond our physical bodies.

Are the dragons'...are their minds still present within you? You referenced their memories before...

canon is 7th Dragon III

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