piratejournal | 001

Entry tags:

001 - audio

Okay.

[Deep breath. It's not that scary to talk to a book. Even if it's really weird and she hates this and wants to go home. She was supposed to actually have some time off. Be a slightly normal teenager.

That was the deal.

Save the world, get a week off.

Was it really that hard?!

So, early afternoon on the eleventh, after some exploring, she's sitting with her journal, posing her question.]

I jus' need t' ask y'all somethin'.

[Because this is important. Seriously important.]

Has anyone seen pyramids? Here. They might be stone or maybe metal. I just need t' know if there are any.

[If there are, maybe Apocalypse is still trapped, pulling them here to get his 'keys' again. To open whatever doors there are in this world.

Because that's who she suspects this 'Davy Jones' is. Just another name of Apocalypse for another place in space and time.

The last part, she says to herself, more as an after note. She doesn't quite know how these things work yet.]

Cracks of time, huh? Great. Really.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No. Least not where I'm from.

But that don' mean he don' have a lot of names in a lot of worlds.

Yes... I very much was thinking along those lines myself... can you tell me anything more about him? What form he normally had, what his objective typically was, what weaknesses he seemed to possess if any...

Looked like an Egyptian pharaoh. Blue-gray skin with greenish markings. Wanted t'... remake the world.

Only weakness I saw was that he had t' power the device he used with his own life force. Didn' kill 'im, but left 'im weak enough t' trap in it.

Hmm... that does sound similar enough in its own way that it could be him. This Pharoah, or whatever it was... do you think it was a living, breathing, alive being?

[Rogue thinks about that long and hard. Because Apocalypse was something else. Something powerful beyond her comprehension. What he did was more than the powers she brought to him. It was beyond anything she could really grasp.

And yet...]

I think it used t' be.

That is what I was afraid of... It definitely sounds like it could be the work of Grima, known as the fell dragon of the apocalypse in my world. I would suggest you speak to my son Brady about it, as he has had much more personal experience with Grima than I have ever had.

"Dragon of the Apocalypse"?

[Oh, yes. That definitely sounds right.]

My world, he just called himself "Apocalypse."

Tell me... did your Apocalypse use armies of the dead to help achieve his ends? Because it could simply be that he imbued his powers into one of his many agents to try to claim your world, not trusting his true form to remain safe after some of his previous defeats in our world.

No armies of the dead, but he did take people an' turn 'em against us. People we knew. Strong ones that we could hardly fight.

But I thought he could only do that with the fire emblem... no... no that was Validar...

I think that it's possible that Grima could be capable of such a feat, though I have only ever seen it come close to happening once or twice. I think oftentimes he considers humans to far beneath him to bother... yet he wasn't capable of taking...

Are you familiar with the concept of parallel universes?

[She should answer the question, but the rambling... Well. Something struck a chord. Something she feels worth mentioning.]

The ones he took weren' human. Not really.

[That... That stops her dead in her tracks.]

You know... that might be it... The only one he ever came close to taking control of, had the blood of a dragon inside them... it's possible he can't actually take control of humans, and perhaps that's one of the reasons he wants to destroy them.

Where I am... There are people who're different. In their genetics. Called mutants.

He took over the minds of four of the strongest, an' he wanted to make everyone in the world a mutant.

If he was capable of taking over their minds, I can see why he would prefer to have a world of mutants rather than your average humans. It does still sound quite a bit like it could be Grima, except Grima was much more... extreme in his line of thinking.

An' that mighta only been step one. We weren't too keen on findin' out what he'd do next, y'know?

I can hardly say that I blame you. From what I recall of confrontations with Grima, there were very few ways to defeat him, one of them was to try to seal him away... which was one of the more difficult... because how would one seal away such a being? Another was gifted to us by the divine dragon Naga, a hope against the impossible, a blade that couldn't actually kill him, but it would put him to sleep for a thousand years. Then of course there was one other possibility... a chance to end him once and for all... yet it is the most impossible, for Grima can only be killed by his own hand, his own power.

His own power...

[It makes sense, and it puts an idea in her head. A dangerous, impossible idea. But it's a spark. It's some little hope that she can hold onto. That she can plan for. Just in case the chance comes.]

One of ours not controlled... could take other powers. Took someone who had the ability t' temporarily neutralize power. That stopped the attack long enough t' seal him away.

[She... doesn't want to reveal herself just yet. Doesn't want her powers to be known. Not until she's more sure of this place.]

Then... perhaps there is a chance... however... the one who used his power against him might have to do so at a terrible, terrible cost.

In so doing... I was told by Naga that there was almost no way for the one who used his power against him to survive... even worse, they may cease to exist completely, their body fading into nothingness even as Grima suffered the same fate. The chance of surviving is... very slim indeed, but I was told that if their bonds were strong enough with those who cared about them... about those who... l-loved...

I-I'm sorry... this has become much more personal for me than I thought it initially would.

[She was afraid of hearing that. But Logan had said Jean and Scott and the Professor were gone. Not against this threat but against something else. Yet he hadn't known about Apocalypse.

...It didn't make any sense.

But one thing did.]

Sometimes y' have t' make a sacrifice.

[Her voice remained quiet. Because it was a grave risk. Still, the reward was worth it. Not like she had much of anybody who'd really miss her. Not who wouldn't move on. Better than Kitty or Jean or someone managing to do it.

Someone with a family.]

[Perhaps if Maribelle had been able to tell her that it was the ones who had the most to live for, the most bonds with all those around them, the one who would be creating a black hole in the world for everyone around them with their absence, that had the best chance of surviving. Perhaps then she might have been able to tell Rogue that without this there would be no chance for her to survive it, that she would simply fade away. Perhaps because she felt she didn't have as many people to live for that was exactly why she'd feel it wouldn't be so bad a loss.]

Sometimes... yet when there's another way... any other way... perhaps you should take it, so that you can live, so that those who you never knew loved you so don't lose you. Sometimes... sometimes certain sacrifices are too great... and you'll never get to know what could have been because someone never had the courage to speak up when they should have.

Where I'm from--

We're trained t' help people. Even the ones who hate us. Even the ones who spit at us. Even the ones we'd like nothin' more than to kill ourselves. We're taught t' fight for 'em.

To face danger so they don' have to.

[She doesn't consider herself noble. But she was willing to stop Apocalypse once. Especially since he'd used her to rise again. It was her fault he was only locked away. That she hadn't been able to permanently stop him.

There's still a debt to be paid.]

If it means savin' the world? One life ain' too much t' pay.

Don't say that!

Please... I beg of you... please don't say that...

I don' know how many people are here or in your world, but mine? Billions.

Billions of lives.

[It's dangerous to say it. To voice this thought, but it's true.]

No one life is worth that.

If it meant endin' Apocalypse? I'd give up any of my team. Or me.

I know... I know it's true it's just... I... we... lost someone very close to us to the very same fate I warned you of. Someone we all loved, someone we gladly would have laid our own lives on the line to protect in the blink of an eye... someone who could never truly be replaced. They sacrificed themselves for not only the sake of the billions of lives living in our world... but the trillions, and quadrillions and the infinite quantity of lives that may yet be lived without fear of living in Grima's shadow ever again.

Who can really say if one life is worth more than another? If the lives of a thousand are as worthy as one? They are the kinds of thoughts that have caused war and strife for eons, and to make those calls...

Just... please... before you consider doing such a thing... think about those you will leave behind, say the things you always feared to say... because never knowing... never knowing what could have been is nearly the worst part... please... I must... take my leave of you now.

Edited 2014-08-11 21:42 (UTC)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

001 - audio

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice]

[voice] 1/2

[voice] 2/2

[voice]

[voice]