dadbeatdad | Seasons - Lucifer's Voicemail

No, please don't apologise! It was nice to have you join us.

[Despite her nervousness, there's warmth in her voice - no matter how difficult the day ended up being for her, she still thinks highly of the Morningstars for both the overall hotel endeavour and for the inviting welcome they provided to their guests.

Talking about her fate back home is still nerve-wrecking, even though she already confided in Barghest about it - but surely, this conversation is subject to the Haven Hotel's confidentiality rules. She takes a deep breath.]

I'm... more or less in the same boat as her. I have a duty to destroy my own nation to prevent a repeat of the oppression my people brought upon the rest of our world for centuries. I don't feel equipped for the task because the people who live alongside me in exile haven't personally harmed anybody, but I know from fellow countrypeople here in Ellipsa that if I remain passive, war will break out in the future. I have to prevent that.

Very well. I am glad that it was welcome.

[Lucifer listens and he raises a hand to his mouth. He swallows. Oh that sounds somewhat familiar to back home.]

That...sounds like an impossible choice. Sacrifice your entire nation to stop a war? Is peace truly not an option?

Sadly I don't think so. What my people did is unforgivable. We enslaved other nations, not sparing the old or the young, forcibly assimilated them into our empire, and grew our power at their expense. The treatment of those we subjugated was barbaric; wanton cruelty became normalised over the centuries.

[She's seen truly terrible things in her ancestors' memories.]

My people are the only human race in my world with the ability to turn into flesh-eating monsters. We terrorised everybody with our titan armies, and if I don't make the first move, it will happen again.

[Granted, she can't be completely sure of that - after all, the means to turn Eldians into titans will be locked away from her successor Eren -, but she does know that he's determined to meet the outside world with violence. That alone is already a disaster, something that was never meant to happen again.]

[An empire of flesh-eating monsters. Terrorizing, killing, and enslaving countless others. Truly a force of evil in the past. There is no arguing against that. No rationale or reason can justify such acts of wanton cruelty and injustice.]

You bear the weight of centuries on your shoulders, my dear. And it sounds like you hold yourself personally accountable for the past and for the future.

Is there no way to simply remove this ability from your people? Keep them from turning into these things?

[His acknowledgement of her burden makes it feel much more real all of a sudden, and she tears up at the sympathy in his voice, just a little - he shouldn't hear it in her speech, hopefully. God, she's dumping all her huge problems on him when she just wanted to apologise for her rudeness..! She wants to bring back a tinge of light-heartedness and insist that he bill her for this unbooked therapy session - but his suggestion puts that thought on the backburner.]

Keep them from...

[She trails off. Past holder of the Founding Titan were able to use its powers to make their people immune to plagues and diseases. It absolutely is possible to alter their very biology. But to remove the titan "gene"? Is that feasible?]

I... I need to investigate that option with everything I've got at my disposal. If that were possible, it'd be our salvation.

[This is what he's trying to do for Charlie. Help people. She would just seeing someone in need. Frieda seems in need for help. Which is why he's doing this now.]

It sounds like it might be a worthy option. If we can help, do let us know. Salvation is a little beyond what we aim for but I know I'd be glad to assist in any way.

[For only - or primarily - being in it for Charlie's sake, Lucifer's doing a fantastic job!! For a moment, Frieda's mind feels like its swirling. Why did nobody think of this before?! Even King Karl, the one who made the vow she inherited after growing up with disgust for his forebears' violent rule, the one who dissolved his empire once he assumed the throne, could only think of killing them all - and, unable to enact such a deed, chose an isolated exile instead.

Is it not possible..? Maybe the Founding Titan's powers won't allow me to undo itself... but I have to try. I have to.]

I can't help but feel like someone - anyone - should have thought of that over the last century, but... I didn't, either.

[She feels so stupid right now. Were she and the rulers before her really not seeing the forest for the trees? Or was it a compulsion to not consider the option? Already, she can feel some gears in her subconscious moving, but she can't yet tell in which direction, and whether she'll find a new door opening or be thrown into a violent relapse.]

Thank you, Mister Morningstar.

[She feels too overwhelmed to put the full depth of her gratitude into words.]

It is hard to see solutions that exist outside of a box you were taught and lived in. It isn't your fault you didn't see the path. As an outsider, I don't have the enormous weigh you must be carrying on your shoulders. When you are holding the future of your people, your nation, and so many lives, how can you raise up to view all the paths before you?

You are very welcome, Ms. Frieda. I hope you are successful.

[Once again, he is so compassionate and tactful - and there's wisdom in his words, too. Are he and Charlie really demons?! How could humanity ever end up with such a bad image of their kind?]

Before I hang up - how do I compensate you? I ended up taking a lot of your time..!

Oh. Uh if you feel you must. How does five hundred Mooncoins sound? I think for the time we spent speaking, that is a fair price. If you think so.

That does sound good! Please invoice me at your convenience.

[Look at how well she upskilled herself from her horse-cart-and-candle home to digital payments!]

I wish you a nice day, and... thank you again.

[She'll certainly reach out to him or Charlie to discuss the matter further at some point, but first, she'll need time to let it settle and to actually explore her options. The power of the titans isn't an intuitive tool at the best of times, not even with the memories of her predecessors at her disposal.]

Seasons - Lucifer's Voicemail

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