Azama/Leo C-S

C

Leo: Azama, do you have a moment to speak with me?

Azama: Hm? Oh, if it isn't Prince Leo!

Azama: What could you possibly want with me?

Leo: It's nothing serious, I assure you. No need to stand at attention.

Azama: Don't worry, I wasn't going to. What do you need?

Leo: (It's odd but... Somehow, he reminds me of Niles...)

Leo: ...Right. I just had a question.

Leo: Who is the "Hotoke" I hear you praise?

Azama: Hotoke?

Azama: You mean you don't know the great Hotoke?

Leo: No. That's why I asked you.

Azama: I suppose a foreigner like you wouldn't know about this great deity.

Azama: I pity your godless country.

Leo: Are you going to tell me, or aren't you?

Azama: No need to get snappy, Prince Leo. Of course I'll tell you!

Azama: It would be my pleasure to enlighten you.

Azama: Now, listen carefully as I tell you about all about her great deeds...

/fade

Leo: Moved an entire mountain? Really?

Azama: You can't quirk your eyebrow at every story, Prince Leo!

Azama: Where's your whimsy? Can't you enjoy a good fable?

Leo: Of course I can. But for a deity to move mountains, redirect rivers, call forth violent thunderstorms...

Leo: AND find the time to create the first cannabis plant is a bit much, don't you think?

Azama: Not at all. Is your Dusk Dragon just an underachiever, perhaps?

Leo: You'd better be thankful I don't take that as a personal attack.

Azama: I haven't taken any of your eyerolling as one, have I?

Leo: You unfortunately make a good point.

Azama: I give you all this information, and you don't even appreciate it!

Azama: If you don't believe me, you can go do your own research.

Azama: May the great Hotoke spare you for your doubting.

Leo: I had no idea you believed so fervently in this god.

Leo: Even as a monk, you never struck me as the devout type.

Azama: Mm, well, looks can be deceiving!

Leo: I suppose they can be. Thank you, Azama.

Leo: Perhaps I will look into this on my own time.

Azama: Oh, there's no need for thanks, Prince Leo.

B

Leo: Azama, you dastard! You tricked me!

Azama: Tricked you? How so?

Leo: Everything you told me about Hotoke was a lie!

Leo: I searched every record I could find without a single mention of her.

Azama: Oh? I had no idea!

Leo: Spare me your act, Azama. What have you to gain from lying to me?

Azama: Entertainment, perhaps?

Azama: But tell me, Prince Leo, how did you feel after learning about the great Hotoke?

Azama: Invigorated? Inspired?

Leo: What's your point? It was all fake!

Azama: Isn't all of it?

Leo: All of what?

Azama: Religion. Praying to statues or talismans won't change your luck.

Azama: But people do anyway. Do you know why that is?

Leo: You think the blessings of the Dawn and Dusk Dragons are all in people's heads?

Leo: That's insane. Explain to me how Dragon Veins work, then.

Azama: Oh, the Dawn and Dusk Dragons undoubtedly lived, at one point.

Azama: The royal bloodlines are proof of that.

Azama: But the gods themselves? They are LONG gone.

Leo: Azama, that's blasphemy.

Azama: Alright. See if they smite me, then.

Leo: ...

Azama: ...

Leo: ...I suppose we'll be here a long time if we just stand around waiting.

Azama: You see? Wouldn't a Dragon god at least moderately inconvenience me for the insult?

Leo: If everything is pointless, why bother lying to me?

Azama: I answered that already. It was funny!

Azama: Besides, when am I going to get the opportunity to lie to such an earnest prince again?

Leo: You're infuriating, Azama.

Leo: What's truly pointless is this conversation. I'll know not to bother with you in the future.

Azama: Well, it was fun while it lasted!

A

Leo: ...

Azama: Back again, are you?

Leo: As exasperating as you are, I can't help but be intrigued by your ideas.

Leo: If you don't believe in anything, why are you a monk?

Azama: Oh, that wasn't my first career choice.

Azama: It was actually far closer to the bottom!

Leo: What happened?

Azama: My father happened. I'm sure you can relate.

Leo: You-!

Azama: But, like you summed up before, everything is pointless.

Azama: Why change jobs when I'm already skilled at this one?

Leo: ...But a monk is inherently a religious profession.

Azama: It is. But I don't pray at any dead god.

Azama: I pray to myself.

Leo: Such arrogance! You fancy yourself a god?!

Azama: More or less. I'm in total control of my fate. I decide if I live to see tomorrow.

Azama: Isn't that what you believe the Dusk Dragon does?

Leo: ...That's different. You're mortal.

Azama: Even gods can die, Prince Leo.

Azama: In that way, they aren't much different from you or I, are they?

Leo: I can follow your logic... But it doesn't sit right with me.

Leo: I just can't understand you, Azama.

Azama: I don't exactly make it easy to.

Leo: ...

Azama: If a simple conversation is enough to shake your faith, how strong is it really?

Leo: ...It's true that I've prayed to the Dusk Dragon before. But I was younger then.

Leo: I know better than to hope for miracles now.

Azama: I see... So you gave up your faith a long time ago.

Azama: If that's the case, why are you so heated about this?

Leo: Your ideas are dangerous. Some people need their faith to survive.

Azama: I'm not stopping anyone.

Azama: But you're lying to yourself, Prince Leo.

Leo: Excuse me?

Azama: You haven't given up your faith.

Azama: You can keep wishing for miracles, but you'll have to make them happen yourself.

Leo: I don't need you to tell me that.

Leo: I will make everything I want a reality.

Azama: Good! Hold on to that resolve.

Azama: With a war like this, you'll need it.

S

Azama: Prince Leo! Back for another philosophical discussion?

Leo: Maybe. I do have a few questions for you.

Azama: My answers to your other ones didn't scare you away?

Leo: What's your stance on bonds between others?

Azama: Well, I certainly don't want to be alone for the rest of my life!

Azama: I'd get bored.

Leo: So, the concept of marriage isn't pointless to you, too?

Azama: Of course not. Gods may be dead, but love isn't.

Azama: Just because I don't think there's a reason doesn't mean I want everything to end.

Azama: There are some mortal pleasures I'd like to enjoy more of!

Leo: Azama!

Azama: Hm? I only meant things like this conversation, Prince Leo.

Azama: No need to blush.

Leo: Saying things to fluster me... You really are a dastard.

Azama: I can't help myself with you!

Azama: But I know you've had enough of my teasing.

Azama: What else did you come here to say?

Leo: ...I told you before that I was going to create my own miracles.

Leo: I've finally decided how I'm going to do that, Azama.

Azama: Oh? That's a bold declaration. Care to elaborate?

Leo: It all starts with you.

Leo: I can't help but find myself drawn to you, Azama.

Leo: Honestly, I thought I hated you at first.

Leo: But the more we talked, the more I realized...

Leo: You were negging me for my benefit, weren't you?

Leo: I needed a crisis of faith to find myself.

Azama: I think you may be overestimating my kindness, Prince Leo.

Azama: In the beginning, I really was just teasing you.

Leo: And now?

Azama: I'm trying to find reasons for our paths to keep crossing.

Azama: I like our conversations. One might even say I love them.

Leo: Just the conversation, or the man who has them with you?

Azama: Oh, both. Can't have one without the other, after all!

Leo: Instead of crossing paths again, I'd rather we never part.

Leo: Azama, would you do the honor of marrying me?

Azama: You'd call that an honor? What an interesting prince you are!

Azama: Of course, I accept.

Leo: We'll need to get you a new hobby, though.

Leo: Maybe an author? Those tales about Hotoke would make a good storybook.

Azama: I could become a sculptor! Once this war is over, I propose we erect a statue to us.

Azama: The gods of our own faith.

Leo: ......

Azama: ...Too far?

Leo: Just a bit.

Azama: We'll revisit the author idea.