Beyond Good and Evil [Aerith]

[Slash]

I've been in your home, let me show you mine.
[August 3rd, 2010]

[/center]

Back to the End of the World. He had been looking for a reason to come back here, and now he had one.

Aerith was completely bathed in light, and was anathema to this place- yet Jericho kept its force at bay. They could talk here.

Jericho did not seek to corrupt her, no. Merely to make her understand the darkness. He wanted to see if she could. And could she be corrupted? Perhaps not. If she took darkness into herself, she would harness it for beneficial means. Such a thing was hardly human, but Aerith was inhuman in all ways besides the physical. They had that in common.

Besides, the light interested him in the same way that one would find a bubbling volcano or a cobra about to strike interesting. He wanted to know more about it, if only to combat it better.

"This is the End of the World. It is the world of the Heartless, but they won't harm you if I'm here. I wanted to talk."

This place was also the closest thing he had to a home until the Door was opened. Was that how the Heartless considered it?

[Aerith]

Here we come to the point.
--------

Aerith stepped out of the Corridor and was immediately struck by the sheer amount of darkness in this place. Becoming the newest Princess had enabled her to sense darkness, which was unfortunate right now, since it was overwhelmingly abundant here. Where were they?

She looked around, taking it all in. Only Jericho was here, claiming he wanted to talk. Why? And why here? Despite his assurances that she would be fine with him there, she felt like a mouse surrounded by lions. Starving lions.

If talking was truly all he wanted to do, then she would oblige him. Truthfully, she wanted her questions answered. She wanted to understand, even if she might not like what she discovered. And maybe she could get him to understand some things about her, too.

"Actually, I've wanted to talk to you, too. I just didn't think it would happen somewhere like this."

Her eyes were still drifting over the amassed destruction. When presented with such evidence, what else was she supposed to think about the darkness?

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

[Slash]

Opposite tastes?

[/center]

Jericho noticed her unease. How very odd. Who would be uneasy in a place like this?

...That was a stupid question. Everyone besides himself and Nadia would probably be at least somewhat weirded out by the surroundings, provided they weren't stupid, insane, or Heartless.

"You don't like it here? I'm sorry, I didn't think of that. It's nice to me, but not to others. Certainly not to someone like you." Oh, that sounded a bit harsh. "No offense."

Where to start? He had to consider that for a bit.

"Well, I wanted to talk about..." He couldn't think of the correct words for a second, and held a hand out to the landscape, indicating that he was referring to all of it with a sweeping motion.

"This. Us. Everything. Hold on, I'll try to find a way to say this better." He paused for a second, hand to his chin.

"I'm not going to cart you around without telling you much of anything. If you're going to help me, I have to return the favor. Right now, the best thing I could give to you is information- believe me when I say you wouldn't want any of the other things I could offer."

Talking to Aerith was strange, because Aerith was a type strange to him. He didn't feel compelled to use her as a tool or corrupt her. She was his equal, but he couldn't quite place why he thought that, or what part of him she was equal to. It was like two ambassadors of different countries speaking to each other- except that analogy fell apart since their respective sides were at war. Maybe she wanted peace, but he didn't.

He wanted complete destruction of the other side. Save for Aerith. How odd.

[Aerith]

Let's begin, then.
--------

Aerith brushed off the comments about her not exactly feeling at home here. No need to reinforce the obvious, not when there were far more important things to be said.

She followed the movement of his hand with her eyes, taking in the strange atmosphere. Her apprehension had dulled somewhat, though it remained a constant presence in the back of her mind.

"Such a broad topic of conversation. We might be here for a while."

Finally, she looked at Jericho. "What kind of information? You certainly seem to have become far more knowledgeable about things than you were when I first met you, but how much of that knowledge are you going to share?"

He might have thought this was nothing more than a conversation, an exchange of information, but Aerith suddenly felt she was entering a giant game of mental chess. Who could prove without a doubt that his or her side was better?

It was a silly thought. How could one side be better if both were required to keep the universe stable? Winning arguments was not the point here. At least, that was not what Aerith sought to do. Beating her ideas into other people's heads was not in her nature.

Still. What if she tried, just this once?

"If you're thinking to convince me that the way you do things is perfectly fine, you'll have to be far more convincing than I think you can be."

[Slash]

How much are you willing to listen to?

[/center]

Jericho shook his head and laughed good-humoredly. "Oh, I'm not here to convince you that what I do is okay. It's not if you're looking at it from a human perspective, and even from an abstract view I could do what I do a lot more humanely."

Was there anyone in this universe who would argue that he wasn't a monster? Even Nadia knew- she simply didn't care. If there was someone who would argue for him, he'd like to meet them so he could punch them squarely in the face.

"But hey. I can be incredibly convincing if I want to." His face was dead serious for a second, then a smile broke through.

"Not here, though. I'm not here to convince you about anything, nor to be convinced. I just...well, it's hard to explain. But just because our respective alliances put us completely at odds with each other on the terms of light and darkness, that's no excuse for ignorance. Light wants to cover everything and darkness wants to consume everything, so they have something in common. The respective sides should at least know something about the other before they go ripping each other apart."

He was pacing around and gesturing a bit now, almost as if teaching a class something important. Some habits never died. Still, he didn't consider her a student who needed things pounded into her head. More like another teacher specializing in an entirely different subject.

"How much of the knowledge will I share? As much as you want to know. Or almost as much. I'm obviously not going to tell you how to weaken and destroy the darkness, but I'll certainly tell you everything else."

[Aerith]

I can listen to a great deal.
--------

Aerith knew she was dealing with a monster, of course, a very unpredictable one. But she just watched him calmly as he talked. She could tell he liked to do this, and she couldn't help but smile a little.

Though, she grew serious again quickly and trailed her eyes away from him. "Why do you assume the light wants to rip the darkness apart?"

Perhaps she should rephrase that. "Mm, well. I suppose if you want to think of it that way, you can. To you, the light is your enemy. And while I think the light is predominately benevolent, you won't see it that way, because it conflicts with your... interests."

She didn't think she was doing a very good job of this. Bahamut had told her that she was supposed to move people toward the light. That was her job as a Princess of Heart. But Jericho would probably never budge, so did that mean she had already failed?

If only the dragon king was here. He would know what to say. Then again, he'd be more likely to attack first and talk later.

"But really, I don't want to do that. Others of the light might wish for nothing more than the day when darkness is eradicated completely. For that to happen, though, there would have to be fighting, and I don't want that."

She looked at him again. "I like you, Jericho. In an odd sort of way. I know what you are, but for some reason, I think if something were to happen to you, I would be strangely upset."

Clarification was quickly given. "But that doesn't mean that I like what you do."

[Slash]

Let's talk. I like talking.

[/center]

"Oh, the light wants everything and the darkness wants everything. That's how it works. The reason you think otherwise is because..."

He paused, considering his answer.

"Well, I'm less than human and you're more than it. That's how it works. If I had light inside me, I'd use it the same as I use darkness- for personal gain. If you had darkness, you'd somehow harness it for the greater good."

She said something about liking him, even though she thought that what he did was reprehensible. Well, he could reciprocate the feeling.

"Same. What you do is absolutely baffling and I'd never consider it, but I'm certainly not going to throw you to the wolves. If I wanted to, I wouldn't have given you that."

The alarm came into plain sight as if on cue. Jericho had to figure out where to go next.

Coming to a decision, he started up again.

"Truthfully, I don't understand much of anything about you. No offense. But why do you help people like you do? What have they done to deserve anything?"

[Aerith]

Perhaps we are more similar than I first thought?
--------

"Why do I help people?"

She considered her motivations silently first. "I don't think people have to deserve the help I can give them. I know there are terrible people out there, but I have no way of knowing that they'll stay that way forever. There's always a chance that they'll stop being so terrible if only they're shown a little kindness."

Slowly, a smile spread across her face. "Truthfully, even though I don't help people to get something in return, I do get something. There's this indescribable joy I feel whenever I'm able to save someone."

Thinking about it, she concluded that it was probably the same rush of feeling Jericho got when he destroyed people. They had that in common, then. Doing what they both loved to do the most brought them complete happiness.

"I could ask you the same question, phrased differently. Why do you destroy the way you do? Why do you have such a high disregard for life?"

[Slash]

This is strange.

[/center]

She asked him the same question, but in all honesty his answer was just hers with a few words switched around.

"Because...well, because...This is going to sound horrible to you. Horrible and completely incomprehensible. But I'll try."

He took a deep breath, then spat out his reply all at once.

"I kill them because I want to. Have to. I hate them, all of them. They're all monsters, but none of them can see it. And I want them to know what they are. This is what humanity belongs to, not the light. Maybe some other race will come into existence millions of years after the death of existing ones, one that can be better. But that's not my concern. Everyone deserves this. Those who serve the light are just as bad, and so full of themselves. People let the darkness break them, instead of accepting it like I did."

In his anger, he was gathering a massive amount of darkness around him and growing steadily louder. It was so easy to get carried away here...He took a deep breath, dismissed it all from himself, and sat down.

"I'm sorry. I wouldn't hurt you, and I wouldn't hurt Nadia. You're...I don't know what you are, but you're not a true servant of the light. Nor of the darkness. Which is good. Stay that way.And Nadia..."

Well, Nadia was Nadia.

[Aerith]

No one else is here. It's okay for me to be this vulnerable.
--------

Aerith could see the hate plainly enough without Jericho having to explain it. She had seen hateful people before, but they didn't come close to matching what she was seeing now. And the longer Jericho talked, the more agitated the darkness became. It threatened to choke Aerith's senses, but then it was suddenly gone.

While he sat down, she stayed standing and turned her back to him. It would let him know that she still trusted him, but she also wanted to hide as much of her confusion as possible about what she was.

"I don't think I know what I am, either. I'm supposed to be a Princess of Heart. Pure light and everything. I've been told that my purpose now is to lead humanity to light. But... it seems too big. And I'm so small."

She turned back to face him with a faint smile. "Literally, when I'm next to you."

Her smile faded. "I don't think I'm quite good enough for something like that. While I love living in the light, I'm not zealous about it. Really, I... I simply don't want anyone hurt. Please."

Her eyes were large and pleading. He had mentioned Nadia. Maybe that was the key she needed. "And what about Nadia? Don't you care about her? If there isn't any fighting, then she'll be safer. Right?"

[Slash]

Nadia...

[/center]

"To tell you the truth, if I could I would just stay here. It's where I belong, or is the closest I can get to belonging unless the Door is opened. But I can't, or I'll lose this place, too. And then I die, and everything else is destroyed by the light. I can't let darkness cease, or even weaken. It hurts me when it becomes weaker, and when it grows stronger so do I."

Aerith brought up Nadia. Beautiful Nadia. Did he care about her? Of course. But she was a fledgeling, and he had to help her gain her wings. The only way to do that was to set her against the world and watch her power grow like mad.

"She will be safe. I'll never let anything hurt her. I'll never let her be broken like she was again. But in the state she's in, she needs movement. Chaos. If I was to cease fighting, she would do it of her own will."

He stood up and looked straight at Aerith, locking eyes. "When the door opens, more likely than not I will go through it. What good will this realm do me? And Nadia would follow, I know she would. Whatever comes after that...well, you'll be left. My advice? Just...just do what you think is right. Don't bother thinking about how what you do affects the light or darkness. You have a strange heart, and as long as you follow it everything will be all right."

Jericho took another breath and walked around a bit, scrutinizing Aerith.

"Princess of Heart...no, that's not what you should really be. You would have been something else, should have been something else."

[Aerith]

I hope this is the case.
--------

Aerith remained stationary while Jericho moved and only met his eyes whenever he came back into her line of vision. Had she been someone else, she might have thought he was sizing her up, contemplating the best way to break her. Nothing but speculation came out of his mouth, though.

"And what would that something be? This is what I am now, and I don't think I can change it, unless... unless I die."

The others in the RGRC might have been better servants of light. Even Cloud, who struggled daily against his inner darkness. They all, deep down, probably wanted the darkness to vanish forever. Heartless were mere pests that needed to be exterminated. No matter how much anyone stressed the idea of balance to them, they still secretly feared and hated the darkness. They wanted it gone.

But could anything ever really make it leave forever, if balance was not an issue?

"You'll go through the Door? And stay there with Nadia? So, you won't destroy everything?"

Hope rose within her. If all he wanted to do was open the Door to reach a place he thought of as home, then maybe there was really nothing to worry about.

[Slash]

In a sense.

[/center]

Jericho kept turning the issue over and over in his mind. What should she have been? Not this, but what?

"If darkness was introduced...But no. It's too late for that." He sighed. A shame and a waste.

Then she asked if he would stay in the darkness with Nadia.

"I don't know. I would probably be sent to ensure its return to power. All I know is that I will stay there at some point, and when I do I won't return. How long that'll be, I don't know."

[Aerith]

Why does it always have to be about power?
--------

Aerith tensed for a brief moment when Jericho mentioned introducing darkness to her. Thankfully, he dismissed the idea soon thereafter.

"When you say 'return to power,' what exactly do you mean?"

More than anything, she didn't want to see the mass death she kept envisioning in her head come to pass. She might have had ties to the darkness, but she still recognized it as destructive. Of course, light could potentially be just as destructive, but she had not yet seen anything to make her believe that light's nature was also that of ruin.

[Slash]

You're not going to like this.

[/center]

He shrugged. "The darkness will never be satisfied until all is within its grasp. So it'll either want me to help it get to a point where it would be unstoppable, or have me carry it through to the bitter end."

She wouldn't like that. She hated killing in all of its forms, and probably still had a dislike of the darkness.

"But is that so bad? Darkness is hardly a force of complete misery."

As if to confirm his statement, the darkness rushed through him. It felt wonderful, and for what would probably be the only time Jericho hooked into Aerith's mind, sharing the feeling.

"See? Not so bad."