Salo wakes from restless dreams in a small cell. There's a collar around his neck, preventing him from accessing his shards, and he ruminates on memories that present as a deep spiritual unease in Tributary; he's missing the memory that would unlock them. A knock interrupts him, and he has a strong feeling that he knows who's on the other side of the door, so he washes up and changes before he opens it.
The man on the other side is old, with a tremendous spiritual presence that Salo can feel even with his shards muted, and wearing a magnificent red robe missing one sleeve. Salo thinks of him as "the Arc" and addresses him as "Your Worship". They exchange pleasantries, but Salo has been thinking about [memories he hasn't received back] and is more and more convinced that there's something off about the old man. He asks whether the Arc has figured out how to remove the collar yet, but the old man sees his growing fear and drops the pretense, asking what gave away that he was Salo's enemy.
Salo leaps from his bed and tries to run, but the Arc casts a spell that slams him against the wall and holds him there. He pleads that all he wants is to go back home, that he's not the old man's enemy, but the Arc doesn't relent; he explains that what Salo had previously seen as indifference, which had protected him from a spirit called Sorrow, was in fact resolve. The sins of the world around him -- injustice, tribalism, xenophobia, slavery, human sacrifice -- blind him with rage, and while he can't change the nature of the universe, he can refuse to accept those things and carve as large a slice of goodness into the world as he could. Salo, apparently, made a similar vow, which the Arc commends, but the old man claims that Salo hadn't understood that the first step was pursuit of power.
Salo realizes that the Arc wants to be Hegemon, but the Arc denies it; that's what Salo would become, if he allowed it, and he would have inflicted even more injustice on the world. Salo protests that the old Hegemons were misguided, and when the Arc is skeptical, claims that even if he knows better, he refused the role; he tells the old man to take the crown that marks a Hegemon from his desk drawer, and that knowing what he knows, he wants nothing to do with that power. The Arc realizes that Salo must have seen more than he did in the inner sanctum, and Salo tells him that the truth is more complicated than what he knows, but the old man replies that there's always a greater layer of mystery, and notes that even with Salo's greater insight, there are still things he clearly doesn't know.
The Arc tells Salo that he holds him in the highest regard; what he achieved with his Axiom was brilliant, and if possible he'd let him go, but as long as Salo lives, the crown will answer only to him. He reveals that Salo's entire mission was a setup, including the collar, something called the Bloody Requiem which fills Salo with horror and an impression of violence, and even Salo's selection for the mission that sent him here; he and Salo's Queen have long been in correspondence, and as soon as she learned of his Axiom, they conspired to put him on the path to this moment.
Betrayed by his home and his supposed ally, Salo begs to be allowed to leave, to go far enough away that he could never interfere with the Arc's plans, but the Arc does not relent, and stabs a dagger made of arcane lightning through Salo's heart.
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timeasmymeasure
Dying for the first time
Date: 2024-03-04 04:43 am (UTC)The man on the other side is old, with a tremendous spiritual presence that Salo can feel even with his shards muted, and wearing a magnificent red robe missing one sleeve. Salo thinks of him as "the Arc" and addresses him as "Your Worship". They exchange pleasantries, but Salo has been thinking about [memories he hasn't received back] and is more and more convinced that there's something off about the old man. He asks whether the Arc has figured out how to remove the collar yet, but the old man sees his growing fear and drops the pretense, asking what gave away that he was Salo's enemy.
Salo leaps from his bed and tries to run, but the Arc casts a spell that slams him against the wall and holds him there. He pleads that all he wants is to go back home, that he's not the old man's enemy, but the Arc doesn't relent; he explains that what Salo had previously seen as indifference, which had protected him from a spirit called Sorrow, was in fact resolve. The sins of the world around him -- injustice, tribalism, xenophobia, slavery, human sacrifice -- blind him with rage, and while he can't change the nature of the universe, he can refuse to accept those things and carve as large a slice of goodness into the world as he could. Salo, apparently, made a similar vow, which the Arc commends, but the old man claims that Salo hadn't understood that the first step was pursuit of power.
Salo realizes that the Arc wants to be Hegemon, but the Arc denies it; that's what Salo would become, if he allowed it, and he would have inflicted even more injustice on the world. Salo protests that the old Hegemons were misguided, and when the Arc is skeptical, claims that even if he knows better, he refused the role; he tells the old man to take the crown that marks a Hegemon from his desk drawer, and that knowing what he knows, he wants nothing to do with that power. The Arc realizes that Salo must have seen more than he did in the inner sanctum, and Salo tells him that the truth is more complicated than what he knows, but the old man replies that there's always a greater layer of mystery, and notes that even with Salo's greater insight, there are still things he clearly doesn't know.
The Arc tells Salo that he holds him in the highest regard; what he achieved with his Axiom was brilliant, and if possible he'd let him go, but as long as Salo lives, the crown will answer only to him. He reveals that Salo's entire mission was a setup, including the collar, something called the Bloody Requiem which fills Salo with horror and an impression of violence, and even Salo's selection for the mission that sent him here; he and Salo's Queen have long been in correspondence, and as soon as she learned of his Axiom, they conspired to put him on the path to this moment.
Betrayed by his home and his supposed ally, Salo begs to be allowed to leave, to go far enough away that he could never interfere with the Arc's plans, but the Arc does not relent, and stabs a dagger made of arcane lightning through Salo's heart.