third_liberator | Holly Heights: Mailbox

Do you mean in a personal sense?

Sorry, I didn't mean to doubt you... [ Since he knows it has to sound like that. It's not a good idea to offend one of his friends. ] It's just...not everyone's future can be happy, can it?

No, it isn't you doubting me. It is a reasonable argument. While the land is promised prosperity it means for very little. It should not have to make people feel that they must see war because of something that is simply written into a stone. There are other ways to achieve happiness and have it so things are peaceful.

...

[ Isn't that heretical? Or at least contradictory. It makes no difference to Tyr even if it does strike him as strange. ]

...I don't completely understand... That's true, but...

[ He trails off again, wondering where he's even going with this. Somehow he hadn't expected Ion to say that people follow predictions for a happy future and then continue to say that there are other roads to happiness. That's what keeps catching him.

Of course, this is just a conversation. Ion can be impartial and think logically. Tyr has known Ion long enough to know that he really can't know him. ]

If it's not true happiness or prosperity, why do they... [ follow it? - but he's not going to say that. Instead, he continues: ] It sounds more like an excuse to start a war.

It isn't logical. But the Score existed long before my own birth. Asking people to take a step away from it would be too much especially with believing in it.

[But it's soon he is nodding.]

Wars have been written in the Score. When I came to sit as the head of the Order it was written that there was to be a war between two other countries.

So it's not just an excuse...

[ That really doesn't sound fair... He wants to ask so many things like "How can they start a war just on those grounds?" but he's sure the reasons are more complex than that.

In the end, he just shakes his head. ]

Sorry... I shouldn't be asking about all of this.

You have no reason to apologise... The teachings and the religion are to be a peaceful one. My country is also one that intends to keep peace between the other two countries. It's also the Order's duty to uphold the Score.

[Ion's only able to shake his head again.]

But I could not allow the war to follow through.

...So when it came down to choosing between keeping peace and upholding the Score...

[ Ion chose peace even if it seems like he wasn't successful. It feels like a weird disconnect, that Ion's religion would be about peace but the "Score" they follow predicts violence.

But if it had existed for so long and really could predict the future, maybe it was just realistic. ]

...Were you able to see it end?

...It became much more complicated than simply ending a war. There was a great escalation into seeing that the planet would be completely destroyed.

[Granted, Ion has held back on a few details but he isn't here to talk someone to death. Though that may have already been put into motion.]

... That couldn't have been foreseen, could it?

The Score would truly state that the planet would come to an end. But there were many things that were not written in the Score, Tyr, as it was pushed off its track.

......

[ "Happiness," Ion had said. No wonder he wanted another way. Tyr frowned both because he couldn't understand and he didn't want to. ]

Ion...

What was the point of following it if it was already off course? If people knew that...

I may have been the head of the Order but it did not mean that a majority agreed with my opinion. It is more of a matter of what people were wanting to hear and believe.

I see... I...

[ He should have stopped asking a while ago. Things were just getting worse and worse and he knew he had to be dredging up bad memories for Ion.

Reaching over, Tyr grabbed Ion's wrist. ]

It's getting late. [ no it isn't ] Let's have lunch together...

[It had been too much for Tyr, in the end. And this had all been for the sake of trying to help clear his mind for a few hours. He isn't able to muster an apology as he glances down at the hand on his wrist. But he doesn't fail to make eventual eye contact and brings himself to nod.]

I would like that.

[Time to get moving.]

Then let's get going...

[ Leave it to Ion to not call Tyr out on his bad excuse. Although he notices Ion looking down at his hand, he simply loosened his hold as they walked back out of the building. ]

You know...I agree with your opinion...even if it doesn't count for anything here...

[Lunch does not sound as though it is a terrible idea, in the end. It may make the both of them feel a little better.]

You do?

[ Tyr nods and releases Ion's arm. ]

Even if wars are sometimes necessary, they should always be a last resort...something to try to avoid at all costs.

[He is relieved that it did not sound like complete madness to the other.]

...That's right, you said you served in the army. You would be aware of this knowledge, firsthand.

[ Fear not, it didn't. ]

That's right...

[ During a civil war of all things. ]

If I had to do it again...I wonder if anything could have been done differently.

As in the choices that had been made? The idea of getting somewhere at a better time?

[Even if those things may not matter so much they do plague the mind.]

If it isn't a bother that I ask, what was your rank?

[ While Tyr had purposely left all of that vague for their first meeting, Tyr only hesitated for a few moments before confessing: ]

I was the Commander of the Liberation Army... And...that wasn't what I meant... I meant that I wonder if...anything could have been done to end the war without any more fighting...

[ He's almost certain the answer is "no" or Mathiu would have suggested it. Or any of his generals. There probably wasn't anywhere to go but to completely dismantle Scarlet Moon.

It's still a thought that comes to him, though. ]

[For now, Ion stops outside of the church's doors.]

The Liberation Army...

[Things are making sense so easily.]

I can't fault you for having to question the matter in that way. The grounds of war are cruel and sometimes unnecessary. Discussion isn't something that can be used to reason others with...

[He is not sure if he has anymore in mind to say but he does pause.]

It is safe to assume that your army was victorious in the end?

[ At least thinking of the outcome is enough to make Tyr smile a little. If they hadn't won in the end...for one thing, he'd probably be dead along with Ion, and for another, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. ]

That's right... That was a few months ago even before I got here... From what I've heard, it's doing well now.

Anyway, I...don't think there really was any other way about it, yet...I wonder sometimes if there could have been.

[It is then that Ion proceeds to walk once more.]

It's only natural to want to explore other possibilities. You must have only justice in mind.

[At least Tyr has cheered up a little.]

Congratulations.

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