Arcane

[23:43] Rindou Sakamoto says, "Chaos. Yes. Let's start with that."
[23:43] Rindou Sakamoto says, "I've heard it was about love or hatred. That it was about making your emotions work for you."
[23:46] "Chaos is the manifestation o' emotion. Selfishness. Malice. Hatred. If ya focus an' hone these things, ya will become capable o' usin' the arcane on the side o' chaos. But it is not enough ta jus' feel it. An emotion jus' felt does not matta. It is when ya act on it, tha' ya will begins to effect the world."

"Fer a betta example, think o' ya own green 'dress', shall we call it. It did not appear jus' when ya felt envious. It appeared when ya acted on tha' feelin'. When ya wanted from others, an' took from others. The arcane is the same way. The mor' ya feel an' act on the feelin', the mor' willpower is exterted on the world in return."

Rattling chains filled the air as he stepped forwards.

"It is why it is difficult fer ma ta teach. But do try. Collect ya hatred. Clear ya mind o' all but pain an' revenge, an'harness it like a blade."
(Despair)
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[23:56] Rindou allowed Sors to give his explanation of what the more chaotic side of the arcane was about; those bursts of emotions, this pain in one's heart that refused to leave them was something the woman was already familiar with. More than a tad.

"I've been collecting a lot of it already. The world's wronged me. The person who loved me most had to die for the weaknesses she held in her heart - for the strength she did not inherit from her mother. I'm wanted everywhere. Aurora roams the mountains hoping to catch me and kill me. I have few odds of even bringing back Lea."

She grit her teeth.

".. I just wish fate would look at me and give me a good hand for once."

As the sound of rattling chains came forth Rindou focused more. A deep breath was taken and her eyes fell shut. Could she really pull from the arcane like Sors did? Like Malentine did? Like Lea used to?

She wanted to be able to.

Her right hand reached out, tensing up a bit and...

... nothing came.

Disappointing.
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[00:01] "Ya've been collectin' it. Ire. Hatred. The world has wronged ya an' wronged ya often. The world is often tha' way. It's full o' pain. It's full o' sufferin'. The lifestream in particular I find annoyin'. After all, people are willin' to fight an' die fer wha'? Somethang tha' gives 'em restrictions an' nothin' in return?"

"The lifestream? Fate? It's all shit."

The rattling became louder as Rindou shut her eyes. As she reached her hand out, as she tensed, and nothing became of it, his hand would place itself on her back.

"Picture it in ya mind. How ya will effect the world. Picture wha' ya will do ta it. It is not enough ta merely clear ya mind. If I think o' ma arcane? I think wha' I use it fer. There is no wasted motion."

"It is a strike. Pick a target. A tree. A rock. Picture then ya willpower, ya hatred made ta manifest. Picture a form fer it to take. I hav' chains an' manacles o' control. How do ya effect this world? This disgusting fate? Picture tha', an' strike something down."

The forefinger would remain on her back as he talked, touch minimal but pointing her forwards.
(Despair)
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[00:15] That touch. That sickening, disgusting touch. The one she hated most, despite having allied herself with the devil himself. It was a strong love/hate relationship she held towards Sors, though she would never admit to the former, no. How she hated it when he stepped into her boundaries. It shook the world itself - making Rindou's presence known.

To focus on how the world and fate had wronged her was not difficult at all. Malentine himself had told her that if she wanted to move forward, to change the hand she had been dealt, that she would have to seize fate with both hands, to grasp it tightly and break those chains.

She needed to own it up. To make her destiny her own. Even Jiuweihu's teachings came to that conclusion - it was no wonder Rindou respected the goddess even after betraying her. A bittersweet thought, one that made her realize that even though she knew the sun was right, she couldn't follow her due to what the world had inflicted upon her, due to what the world saw of her.

She was a villain. A monster. A criminal. A wanted person. She was the sin of envy, or so they called her. Dressed in green she struck those ahead of her down, unable to accomplish anything before she even wore those robes. Defeat after defeat had awaited her before then.

But with it... with the use of that magic she had bested the spirit of justice. She had overwhelmed Lea and her mother. She had been able to do what she wanted, when she wanted it.

All because for once, she could use what they could.
For once, she was allowed to dip her toes into what they possessed.

How do ya effect this world?

She didn't.
Rindou Sakamoto could not, not on her own.

The rattling of chains.
The threads of causality.
The unseen strings of a puppeteer.

Sors.
Lea.
Malentine.

All of them had affected the world in their own way. Each and every single one of them were able to bend it to their will, to create what did not exist and have the world comply, either by force or by causation. Those were the ways they affected the world; binding it, bending it, controlling it.

How would Rindou's own emotions manifest themselves? All of that hatred existed. All of that pain was there. All of that suffering. She killed the one who loved her most. Took lives over betrayal, heartlessly so. She had fought against people who could do what she couldn't, been hurt enough to know exactly how it felt.

.. So then why was she unable to pull from the depths of her heart?

The rattling of chains could be heard.
The threads of causality were being pulled.
The sound of strings stretching out as they attached themselves to everything before her could be heard.

Something was coming.
... Something was near. She just needed that final push.
Asdisgusting as it was.
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[00:26] It was a touch that he knew she hated. The single lingering point of his fingertip, angling Rindou forwards, something prior which she always smacked down or struck. The Devil's Dusk and Aurum remained open, aware of only one part of their alliance, the part he could use to make her hold further malice.

"Ya are gettin' there. But ya are not yet. Think, Rindou. Tha' clearin' o' ya head? Turn it only to pain. Only to agony. Tha' which ya hav' felt in the past. Tha' which ya wish to enforce on others in the future. Focus on hate."

"If ya hate the hand tha's been dealt ta ya, rip up the cards an' create ya own. If ya hate the role tha's been made for ya, refuse ta accept it, an' substitute the role ya want. Use malice, draw on it. Do not picture chains. Ya are no chain master. Do not picture strings. Ya are not Malentine."

"Hatred is key. Own yours. Shake free o' the fate tha's made fer ya an' bend it an' break it. Remember wha' occurred when ya fought. Remember the power o' ya envy."

"Do not replicate. Steal power an' force it inta ya own."

As he spoke, it became his palm resting upon Lady Sakamoto's back. More of that malice, more of the touch that she hated from him to drive her further into the spiraling madness. More and more to make her hatred consume all.

"Dig in your heals. Make ya emotion manifest. Make your bloodlust manifest. Draw it, like you would any weapon."

"Strike at the lifestream with your will."
(Despair)
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[00:53] All those instructions, those leads, telling her that she was getting there but that she couldn't use those chains - couldn't use those strings. That she wasn't good enough to make it hers, to use the same power they wielded. This was the world itself spitting in her face. This was Sors himself telling her that she wasn't as great as she wanted to be.

Do not replicate.

She wouldn't have to do something like that if she was talented, if the world had given her the tools to succeed rather than a false impression that she could do anything she set her mind to do. Her hand clenched into a fist, then unclenched.

Focus. Concentrate. Empty your mind.

Steal power an' force it inta ya own.

What else was she good at? This was literally the only thing she had ever managed to pull off appropriately - to steal and make it her own. To lie. To be a fraud. To be fake.

This was how she had triumphed over her battles, how she had duped the settlements that were looking for her into believing in her. This was the very person she was - the embodiment of what she could do best.

I think you should let go of Rindou Sakamoto.

It wasn't a mean comment. It wasn't a suggestion. It wasn't an opinion. It was advice. Advice deeper than the words themselves, deeper than what perhaps Malentine himself could understand. Rindou was weak. Rindou was never enough. Rindou was unloved, not accepted, rejected. She was the joke of the world, yet, people loved to hate her. They all wanted her dead. They all wanted her gone.

Striking at the lifestream with her will— no.

With the wills of those who could. That dress of green manifested itself around her. The sounds and happenings from before only grew more intense. Chains bound the thread of causality in place while strings pulled at them. A mix and match of whatothers could do.

Steal power and force it into her own.
Her own power.. to steal from others.

A wave surged forth, carried by the wills of others, created by the suffering of one. The lifestream was struck by Rindou's own way to change the world - by stealing another's success.
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[01:00] Steal and force it into your own. It wasn't that far from his own belief of rip and replace. But while similar, there were differences. And it would be this difference attempted to be imparted.

The frustration was visible. He could see her hands clenching then unclenching into fists at her side. The focus, the emptying of the mind, the focusing her inner hatred. He was not a person who knew her journey, and his beliefs were best expressed by his own words.

"A person can not truly know a person, Rindou. People are completely different. Aims are tha' same but exact drives are hard ta pin. So again, do not try ta copy 'em. Take."

"Steal wha' ya can from them an' make it into something ya can use, something tha' is ya own. I'm sur' ya've seen it. The success ya hav' wit' tha' power. Continue wit' it. Do mor' wit' it. Tha' is the path forwards."

"Steal. Reforge."

As he spoke, the hand moved upwards. The feeling of the envious green, the wanting of what others had could be felt around her, intense, growing. The Ultovexian smirked. His hands moved from her back, placed now onto the woman's shoulders as the chains continued to rattle.

"Go on. Picture. Strike."

The wave had surged forth, carried by wills created by suffering. The lifestream was struck and the Ultovexian smirked.

"Correct."
(Despair)
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[01:06] She drew in a deep breath after that strike. It wasn't everyday that one would tear the world asunder and bend it to their will. It wasn't something simple, either. She needed to focus, to keep her mind clear, to pull from the arcane forces, from the chaotic nature of her very being in order to use it all.

She had to remember the pain she inflicted and the pain she was dealt. She had to take it all in and refuse to accept it. She had to defy it. To defy the world. The go against the grain and seize fate with her own hands.

This was what it meant to master the arcane. To use the world. To bend it to your will. Rindou was... capable.

.. capable to use another's deck to stack the odds.

".. I hate it." She let out, only to speak again. "You don't know about personal space."
(Rindou Sakamoto)
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[01:11] "I know."

Lord Ultovex spoke. His hands would retract from Rindou's shoulders and the Lord would walk a few paces backwards.

"Tha's the intent. To make ya hate. To drive ya up a wall. You need to b filled wit hatred and malice to manifest the arcane. If a small thing furfills tha'? All the betta."

His hands faced the air, the sadisticness still in his tone.

"The world is full o' sufferin'. I inflict mor' and teach how to harness tha'. An in this case, would ya not say it's paid off? Are ya not capable o' doin' mor' then ya were before we began?"

"Continue feelin' tha' hated. Continue ta steal an' make thangs yours. Tha' is all ya require rite now."
(Despair)
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[01:11] Despair icly saw Malentine there and didn't react. Oocly didn't know he was there.
(Despair)
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[01:12] What would Sors expect her to say? It was obvious what her response would be at that point, wasn't it?

"It's not enough."

It would never be. Striking once at the world wasn't going to make her the strongest magi alive. It wasn't going to bring fear into the hearts of those who had wronged her. It wasn't going to put her in the spot where she wanted to be.

It wasn't enough.
(Rindou Sakamoto)