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[creidim]

the arms of the ocean are carrying me
the arms of the ocean delivered me

[ text | voice | omen | action ]

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[possessum]

( Again, he falls silent, absorbing everything Inlé says for a few long moments. Perhaps somewhat ironically, it is easier for him to make sense of things with Luna being used as example — though given how much of him belongs to Paimon, perhaps it isn't such a strange concept. )

She issss. Ssssoft and gentle. ( He agrees with a quiet fondness there; he has a specific relationship with the girl, one that comes with a softness of its own. She's really the only Sleeper he's interacted with so much; even after all this time, nosing away from the touch of others, but finding a place of comfort near her when he's out. )

But it isss... sssstrange. I am not actually sure he issss hardening.

( The snake isn't quite sure how to voice it. Peter feels... different, but maybe he was mistaken. Maybe hardens wasn't the right word. Because he can feel it within himself, too. Something... )

I think perhapsss he isss.... opening.

[creidim]

[ Strange indeed. The boy has pushed against this world in ways that Luna has not. Not integrated; perhaps it too strange and foreign to him. The very simple fact he still dresses like he would in Deerington. His aversion to the Patrons, to simply... life around him. Even she knows he doesn't always seem quite a ease when she is around him.

Inlé could not blame him, not really. He is born in a world where he did not think of magic or demons existing. His life, to him, even with all its horrors and difficulties, had been mundane in the grand scale of things. She does pity him a great deal for that. ]

Opening. [ Echoed quietly, thoughtfully. She is not sure what to make of the word. Opening, but in what way? Even if it is hard to explain, Susurrus will know Peter better than she. She requires more information. ]

Explain.

[possessum]

( It's a difficult thing to try and explain. Susurrus does know Peter's spirit, but there's much within it that can't be put into concrete form. It shifts and swirls like too many past lives, like voices that call out, muffled. Before he came to Deerington, the boy was hollowed out, almost completely. Enough that the Other could fill him up, and while the power of the Dream initially kept Peter's spirit alive while bringing him to Deerington, it was... precarious in the months to follow. If Luna hadn't acted when she did, Peter's spirit truly might have been lost.

Then there was the rebirth to this place, Trench. And Peter and the Other were born into something Else, together. So much is wound into some complicated thread of power and identity and memory. There are several days Peter isn't fully Peter, and days Paimon is one of many different voices. There are days they're too full, and days they're too empty. And inside, some power... waits. Made stronger by this place, still not fully uncovered, but.... )

There wassss a brightnessssss before. Murky. Beneath the dark. Beneath the wet. Could barely ssssseeeeee it.

( There are images of black water, and something hardly visible, so deep beneath the surface, pale and unmoving. Less of a light than a faded glow. )

Now... the brightnessssss issss more. My Boy... and my Other... both... wider eyessss. More open. )

[creidim]

Curious.

[ It's all she can say at first. This is... something big, she thinks. A brightness within the boy, becoming more? But what is the brightness within him? But it is not something that affects only Peter, either. The Other, too. Which is... understandable, considering their circumstances. How they have entwined up in one another, often too much at times. It worries her because it often worries Luna — how often it feels so precarious of who exists within one body.

But once more she sounds hopeful, as she sifts through the information given; tries to come sort of plausible conclusion to what Susurrus speaks of. ]

It is potential, perhaps? They speak of potential often in regards to Sleepers, do they not? And this world, this life for them — it is a second life, born anew. There is room for potential, for what Sleepers may come to be.

[ There's a thoughtful hum, a hushed whisper of a sound. ]

That could be it. Potential of both the boy and the Spirit within him.

omg Susurrus talking a LOT now

[possessum]

( Potential.... It's true, it's something that's been spoken about in this place, though no Sleeper yet really seems to know what that means. This place may be ancient, but Sleepers are something fairly new, here. Luna and Peter have only been here a single year, yet that's longer than most. So much is still uncertain. What may become of them now that their year is cycling into a second one? How will they develop and grow? )

What they may come to be.... Yessss. Yesss, I believe that isssss it.

( Whether it involves "hardening" or "opening" or however it may be, it's... a shift. A growth, on a spiritual level, and one that will then extend outwards. )

My boy doessss not dessssiiiire power, shirkssss from it. The Other inssssiiiide of him ssssseeks to resssstore itssss power. Becaussssse of thissss, in the Dream, there wasssss.... a clash.

( He knows Inlé will understand what he means. Those two opposing spirits were like two same-ends of a magnet being forced together: abrasive, a spark. But here.... while Peter may still be resisting that other spirit within him, it isn't the same as it was. They're... adapting to one another. Forming something greater, perhaps. )

Perhapssss what they will become, together.... isssss sssssomething new.

( There are... concerns about that thought, but it isn't his role to rebel against what this place may have in store for his Sleeper. Only to help guide Peter and the Other through it. )

Do you yet seeeee it in your Luna? The Potential thissss placcccce may have for her.

he said nothing for a whole year and now he got a lot to say!!!

[creidim]

Something new is does not necessarily mean something bad.

[ She senses the concern. Inlé does not fear the new, the unknown — even if Luna may quietly worry about it in her ways. She frets often for the boy and the Spirit, as brave and curious as she can be. And rightly so, sometimes. Oh, the Omen understands right enough. She knows plenty of how badly the two clash, how they stand on two opposite sides. ]

Perhaps this might signal peace.

[ Now there's a wishful thought. Luna navigating between the two of them like some poor, stressed middle-man often is the ire of the Omen. ]

I do. There is plenty choice for her. She has room to grow here, out from the shadow of war and uncertain fate. [ Children die in war. Luna could in the final battle. There's a rare kind of warmth in her tone: she will always speak fondly of her. ] The world has much to offer, sometimes she seems almost spoilt for choice in her new life. It is very exciting for her.

[possessum]

( Like Peter, Susurrus is more apt to keep tucked away somewhere safely and watch from a distance (...which isn't to say that he won't strike if a hand draws too close). But like Paimon, the snake does yearn to learn, to expand his knowledge. He worries for what may come and keeps his head down, but he will ultimately accept whatever is new, because knowledge is always the desirable outcome. It's a strange mixture, but now that he's speaking... perhaps he will continue to blossom in ways that can better assist the being he's tethered to. Certainly, changes are happening. )

They will have to adjusssst. ( He agrees with her. It's some strange balance to try and achieve, and there's still some... quiet threat that ultimately they may end up merging into one entity, an outcome that would devastate Luna. As someone named Duty said to Paimon recently, for them to merge into one new shape would also be something of a death of them both. Or the threat that Peter's spirit could still be consumed somehow, with its weakness, its softness.

But Paimon is actively and fiercely protecting Peter's spirit in this place, and Susurrus does have a trust in the demon's capabilities. He's... powerful, even if he has yet to recover his true self, and possibly never will, not fully. )

Peeeeacccce would be nice. ( Another thing he has to agree with her on, said with a soft sigh. The household can certainly get... chaotic. )

Sheeee isssss doing well. ( There's a soft pride in the young witch on his part, too. ) If my boy could learn to sssseeee thisssss placcce assss a realm of choiccessss.... I believe they could esssstablish their placcce here, together.

( Of course they have their separate identities here in Trench, separate paths of growth and individuality. But Luna and Peter, and even the demon, also have a certain journey and identity together, as well. )

[creidim]

Do you think it possible for them? Your boy and his demon quarrel too much. [ Is this a complaint? Yes, it's very much a complaint. She has grievances.

But... can they adjust? She hopes so. It's been so long that they've fought against one another, sometimes even Luna isn't quite sure if they'll ever truly get on. At least the demon is far more agreeable to the idea and doing his best. But the boy—?

The argument between he and Luna was... troubling. Inlé has not forgotten it. Not simply the fear that had the omen tumbling into action, ready for a fight, but the truths that lay under the anger — the boy's thoughts on the demon, their respective places in life, and Luna's. ]

My Luna wishes for this. She chose her life with him, after all. He must see past the foreignness and horror. Even in a world like this, there is the mundane, there is familiarity. There is a way of life, it is simply under a different lens. [ He may not have his creature-comforts of his world, but in its way this world can be normal, too. ]

[possessum]

( The snake falls silent again for a longer stretch this time. Neither Peter nor Paimon really function through the concept of "hope". Peter due to how his personality has been formed, how his traumas have left him: fearful of false promise, and admittedly rather pessimistic in nature. With Paimon it's a bit different — the demon king is neither pessimistic nor optimistic in nature, but an even line in the middle of such concepts, if not transcending them entirely. Logical in his spirituality, there are no false promises; he can only ever satisfy those he is meant to satisfy.

Likewise, the snake doesn't really utilise "hope" as a tactic for building a future or making plans to. Even in the shape Inlé asks it — do you believe it possible, it's a question that could involve hope, but Susurrus's initial answer is... weighted, not too pleasant to hear. )

I believe their exisssstenccccce together will always be ssssuffering. ( Perhaps that is a separate issue, though, even if one connected to the matter at hand. ) But the common tether between them isssss your Luna, and I believe they may both.... continue to adjusssst in wayssss, becaussse of that.

( There's already been progress. It's possible, he thinks, for it to go further. But could they ever fully adjust to one another....? Perhaps not, not with the nature of their... union. So it's not exactly a hopeful answer, but not an unhopeful one, either.

Though Susurrus certainly hasn't forgotten the fight, either. And it's something that weighs on his own thoughts as well, like Inlé — what lies underneath. )

There are thingsssss insssside of him that he sssstill hassss not allowed to breathe. Thingsssss.... from the passst. Perhapssss one reasssson I have been given voiccce now isss.... sssso that I may sssspeak with him about them.

( He realises this, slowly. Peter is still so... haunted, by so many things; they keep him from being able to move forwards in certain ways. Trench... desperately needs a therapist, it's true. But perhaps the snake can... help. )

[creidim]

Not complete suffering, I do not think. But I hope things will be better for them, in time. [ Meanwhile Luna very much is a creature of hope and belief. She is realistic, but she has her optimisms. Sometimes Inlé wonders if Argonaut might have been a better Pthumerian to be Luna's Patron. That sense of hope does encompass the Omen too, at her core. Still, it is a fair answer, she reasons. ]

From his past. [ She echoes it softly, sombre. ] His family, his sister. The little one was nice, Luna liked her.

[ Luna might not have met Charlie in person, but she has met her in... other ways. Like when the fireflies gave her form, or... perhaps, when she appeared within Peter, back in July. ]

It would be wise to offer him counsel. Luna will do this for him often, but sometimes there are things that can only be spoken to yourself. [ Sort of speak. Sleepers are in an envious position where they might talk to themselves but have someone there to still help, by having Omens. ]

You must be very gentle with him when approach him with such matters, but I am sure you are aware of that. I wish you luck in that, Susurrus.