[BBS/maaaybe action]

[haha_steelguard]

Got a question for you all out there... at least, the ones I've never asked this of before.

What's magic like on your worlds? Did it exist? Could anyone use it, or was it in the hands of just a few? Did it terrify people, like it does here? Was there a substitute for it?

No deep reason, just curious. My own world has a lot of similarities to this one, that way. Makes me wonder what other ones are like.

-Instructor Snow Villiers

Comments

[haha_steelguard]

Antimatter manipulation principle, AMP. Don't know the details, but the fal'Cie are involved with it, so it might just be impossible without them.

Back on Cocoon, the ability to use magic came with an order, something called a Focus: "destroy the world" in most cases. You didn't do that, you turned into a horrible monsters.

[incinerare]

Interesting.

That sounds like a rather nasty price to pay for being capable of using magic, I wouldn't think there would be many who would want such a double-edged sword.

Was there any choice in the matter of gaining the ability or was it forced upon them?

[haha_steelguard]

In our cases? Forced. Very forced.

[incinerare]

No one should be forced into something they don't want.

Why did they force the issue? For their own selfish purposes? Was there anything that could be done to put a stop to it?

[haha_steelguard]

The Pulse fal'Cie that branded wanted to destroy Cocoon. The Cocoon fal'Cie that manipulated us and it to get us branded by it... wanted the same thing.

Don't know if there's a way to stop it... but we were fighting them, every step of the way.

[incinerare]

It seems nearly every world has something in it which uses people as pawns in its own designs. Uncaring of how their actions affect the world or those it uses.

That's good that you chose to fight it. You might end up discovering a way to put an end to it possibly, if you continue fighting.

[haha_steelguard]

We... might've failed.

I don't know. I ended up here after all.

[incinerare]

It's possible that you might still be able to succeed when they find a way to send us back to our worlds.

I wouldn't give up hope.

[Yes he used 'when' and not 'if'. He refuses to believe or accept they won't eventually find a way back.]

[haha_steelguard]

Heroes never give up, after all. Just got pulled here at the worst possible moment, y'know?

[incinerare]

I can understand that all too well.

I consider myself fortunate that the situation in my own world had moved beyond that moment itself, before I was pulled here. Else I doubt I would be as capable of calmly waiting for our hosts here to come up with the solution to sending us back.

[haha_steelguard]

Ha, I wasn't waiting patiently. Most of the time I was getting tests run on me in Esthar, seeing if the brand could be useful at all. After that... well, I'm doing some good here, teaching.

I'd stay here, if all my family and loved ones were here too. For a while, they almost were.

[incinerare]

Tests?

If I thought that alchemy could be of use to get me home, I would definitely be seeking out just how it could be of such use. I have people and important things I need to get back to.

Unfortunately, not many seem to be willing to listen to me explain just how alchemy actually works... so I don't really know if it even operates by the same laws here as it did back home. And I can't really experiment here with it, without someone casting me the evil eye for seemingly being capable of what they consider 'magic'.

I take it this world is better than your own?

[haha_steelguard]

Turns out l'cie brands work a lot like having a GF permanently Junctioned to you. No helping getting home, though.

This world isn't composed almost entirely of hundreds of thousands of creatures bound to serve humanity while wanting to kill them so badly they'd all willingly commit suicide, so... yeah, a little better.

[incinerare]

Interesting. I wonder how many other things from other worlds have gotten changed in the process of being brought here.

......I can certainly understand why someone wouldn't desire to return to that, especially if they had everyone they cared about here in this one.

[haha_steelguard]

The brand hasn't changed though. It's burned out, but Fang's was like that back home too. I figure it's because there's no fal'Cie here to enforce the Focus.

[incinerare]

That makes sense. If they're the cause of the brands and they're the ones which control their state, then being brought to a place where they don't exist... what do you mean by burnt out, if I may ask?

[haha_steelguard]

Normally they're clear. Now they're whited-out and dull. Hard to describe, but imagine white burn scarring over a tattoo. That's... not really close, but as close as I can think of.