voidtreckernet | Llama Day 20- Video

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Llama Day 20- Video

For those of you who were busy during Della's get to know you session, I'm Death. Not a god thereof, just... Death.

Apparently it's not always common but life also falls under my domain. And Entrapta tells me there are a surprising number of people with soul location issues.

I might be able to help, if you're willing to talk to me about it. I'll be in the rock garden if you want to talk about it.

[Feel free to action on over to the gardens to discuss the matter in a less public venue]

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[Soldat figures theirs is a little more complicated than most. They've been remade three times since then, too: two deaths in Beacon, one here in the train. They shake their head a bit.]

Yeah. So it's complicated. And I'd rather not have it try and fly off to find whatever's left of my original body, in some other world a long ways from here.

[And that's just the first and easiest concern. There's a bunch more.]

I should be able to deal with that at least. Especially if it's been a while.

[She spends most of her time easing souls away from their original bodies, after all]

If that's what you want.

I. Don't. Know if it is.

[They're very conflicted, okay. And nervous. They're trying to be more open about this, but it's hard, if nobody actually saw when their headmates took over for a whole day and a half. They look at the ground, chewing the inside of their cheek, then finally say,]

I'm not. Alone. In my head. And some of the others in here. Come from the lantern.

[She nods.]

You don't have to decide right now.

Did the others end up in there the same way your life force did?

No, it's. They're part of me. Sort of.

[They open the metal shutters on the lantern, showing her a crack in the glass, where the light leaking out is a sickly green rather than the healthy gold of the rest.]

This is the Asset. It came to me the same time this damage happened.

[A set of two scratches in the glass on another pane, like fangs dragged down.]

This happened when I died one time, and I woke up with the Bottomless Pit. I don't want to lose them, if I lose the lantern.

[(Well, maybe the Pit. ~~Hey!~~ No. They have their place, too. Even if they're annoying. Of course you'd gone and got attached, ain't you... ugh.)]

Hello Asset and Bottomless Pit.

[It just seems polite to greet them]

I guess there's a few things we can try. Putting all three into your body. Disentangling your life force and leaving the other two in the lantern. Both those options would be new territory, but I should be able to see if anything was about go damage the other two.

Or we leave things the way they are.

[(~~Hello!~~ No.) Soldat looks... vaguely amused.]

The Pit says hello. The Asset just said "no". But that's its favorite word, so.

[They sigh, the amusement draining away again.]

I don't know what to do. Really. It feels like the lantern is a weakness, but. Also sometimes a strength. When there were demons, they couldn't hurt me. Unless they grabbed that. But if it's damaged. I'm hurt. Or I die.

If you leave fighting out of it, how does it feel different then?

[It's their life. It should be about more than just fighting. No matter how many missions are involved.]

[Everything's about fighting, in the end, Death. At least when it comes to supersoldiers. Soldat chews on the inside of their cheek a moment, then says,]

Feels like I'd miss it. Like it's part of my, now. I'm. Most of my happy memories are from the time I had it, you know?

[She nods]

That makes perfect sense to me. Memories are powerful.

[She studies the lantern again.]

It doesn't seem to be doing you any harm.

[They shrug a little.]

It's the only reason I'm alive. And it's a weakness. But also a strength. Mostly I just want to get it more protected, to be honest. But Entrapta said I should at least talk to you.

[It's good to know it's not actively harmful, though. They collect it back up and into their lap, almost protectively.]

Better protection would certainly be a good idea. Everything's a balancing act, especially if you're alive.

I have this.

[They flick the little, tongue-less bell charm attached to the lantern.]

Thanatos made it for me. It will protect the lantern from one potentially lethal blow. Which is probably plenty, in most situations. Entrapta was talking about a resin coating, but I'm not sure if that will hide the light.

[Maybe the light isn't necessary, but they worry what that might do to their own thought processes, to have their life, their "light", hidden away.]

That's a good start. And there's no reason a resin couldn't be clear.

[She'll leave the science to Entrapta though.]

There are pretty durable lanterns in some places.

This one's pretty strong. Comes from a war I fought in. It's supposed to stand up to a lot of banging around, in trenches or camp tents.

[Yes, they've finally placed the shape of the thing to something from World War 2, gotten enough memory back to recognize it. Good job, Soldat.

They pause, then add,]

So you don't think I have to get rid of it? Put my. My life force or whatever into my actual body?

I've seen them before.

[The lantern often survived when the people she was there for... did not]

It seems to be stable. It's a trade off, but you've obviously thought about whether you're willing to make it.

[Soldat nods soberly.]

I can't help but think about it. The place I was before, it was kinda like being on a mission all the time. Had to be careful. We all had lanterns, though, and so we kind of. Protected each other's.

[They start slowly closing the lantern's shutters again, blocking out the light.]

So you've seen World War Two?

Do you have friends here that know you need that?

[It can't be something that's always easy to reveal. But friends are good for that.

She nods at his question.]

It happened in my universe too. And, well...

[Why she's seen it is obvious enough.]

[They nod a few times.]

Most of my friends know that my lantern is what keeps me alive. I did kind of die on my second mission, so. It's been made pretty obvious.

[They settle back a little.]

I fought in that war. I remember some of it. Did your world have HYDRA?

So they can help you just like the friends in the last place did.

[And they don't even have their own to worry about at the same time]

Nothing called HYDRA. There were a lot of forces at play in that war though.

Probably for the best. If there was no HYDRA then there was no me.

[And probably no Captain America, either. They think that's probably all for the best. If there were a Steve Rogers and a Bucky Barnes in Death's world, then they probably lived and died in Brooklyn. Or possibly on the front, in the end, but definitely not on an operating table or falling from anything high up.]

I'm not sure why there being no you would be a good thing.

[She likes him, what can she say?]

But I've noticed it seems like only major political figures seem to get duplicated between Earths. The rest of the population seems to vary more.

[Soldat shakes their head a little.]

HYDRA was the Nazi science division in my world. With no HYDRA. There would be no Winter Soldier. Near-immortal assassin supporting the cause of security over freedom, serving HYDRA for seventy years.

[They tap the metal arm lightly.]

Only near-immortal, though. Finally got free. By dying.

That sounds like you think it would be better without what those people did to you.

[Subtle distinction. But so important to an invidual's value.]

It's not the best way out... but it's a way out.

[Well, maybe. But there are a lot of things that they think would be better, for the world and themselves, if they'd never gotten off that medical table back in the war. Soldat has no real desire to die, again, now that history has already happened, but... the desire for none of it to have happened is kinda there.]

No, not the best way. But still denies HYDRA my skillset, and I'll take that. Turned out weirdly okay, for dying. Most people probably don't get to do this dead-but-not thing.

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Llama Day 20- Video

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One brief dive into the DC wiki later...

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