edward kenway (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jackdawvision) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
kaisou2023-11-20 01:53 am
jackdawvision) wrote in kaisou2023-11-20 01:53 am
Entry tags:
video | un: captainkenway
WHO: Edward Kenway and you!
WHERE: Kaisou rooftops.
WHEN: post-dragon showdown/post-Copenhagen.
WHAT: Edward gets his gacha goodwill goodies. Edward…is freaking out a little bit.
WARNINGS: some level of body horror in the linked picture.
[It’s a nice winter evening in Kaisou. The sky is a light blue, the snow is gently falling, the yokai aren’t plaguing the city anymore, there’s a half-skeleton thing on the rooftop just chilling out—
—hang on back up what the fuck.
The camera is a little shaky, but it focuses in on the half-man half-skeleton thing. It looks very much like the image of a stereotypical pirate, only there’s little to no flesh left on the skull and on one arm. One eye socket is covered with a red bandana, and dark hair with wisps of grey smoke cascades down the thing’s back. It taps sharp, ice-blue claws on the ledge of the rooftop, unconcerned it’s being filmed.
Then Edward, behind the camera, says:] This may be my fault. I summoned it—him. Conrad, I believe his name is, but I haven’t the faintest idea what he might be.
[A beat.]
Other than the ghost of a dead pirate come to haunt me, but I’ve never even met a Conrad in my life.
How do I un-summon him?
WHERE: Kaisou rooftops.
WHEN: post-dragon showdown/post-Copenhagen.
WHAT: Edward gets his gacha goodwill goodies. Edward…is freaking out a little bit.
WARNINGS: some level of body horror in the linked picture.
[It’s a nice winter evening in Kaisou. The sky is a light blue, the snow is gently falling, the yokai aren’t plaguing the city anymore, there’s a half-skeleton thing on the rooftop just chilling out—
—hang on back up what the fuck.
The camera is a little shaky, but it focuses in on the half-man half-skeleton thing. It looks very much like the image of a stereotypical pirate, only there’s little to no flesh left on the skull and on one arm. One eye socket is covered with a red bandana, and dark hair with wisps of grey smoke cascades down the thing’s back. It taps sharp, ice-blue claws on the ledge of the rooftop, unconcerned it’s being filmed.
Then Edward, behind the camera, says:] This may be my fault. I summoned it—him. Conrad, I believe his name is, but I haven’t the faintest idea what he might be.
[A beat.]
Other than the ghost of a dead pirate come to haunt me, but I’ve never even met a Conrad in my life.
How do I un-summon him?
no subject
[...yeah it's probably the prinnies, in Edward's opinion. Then again he might be a bit biased in their favor.]
I don't know what he is. A ghost is the likeliest explanation, but it's still missing something. I know someone who can summon the dead, and they don't look a thing like this fellow.
no subject
[He actually wishes this conversation was in person because holy hell did this get him pumped up. It's so hard to communicate how he's feeling through text alone.]
Perhaps you should have someone take a look at them? There must be some expert on undead in this city.
no subject
[Like Edward himself. Like his friends on Nassau, cut loose by their king for the simple reason that their services as privateers were no longer of use.]
I have a friend on the way to confirm. Same person I mentioned who could summon the dead.
no subject
It seems there is some confusion. When I use the word "re-educate", I am speaking of prinny matters exclusively. They are not re-learning about how to be kind, just members of society in the human world. They are re-learning the things that are expected of them as prinnies. Such things need to be imprinted into their very souls, so they never forget their pride as prinnies and what is expected of them.
However, it would seem that there's a bit more to it than that, yes? I take it you find fault in the methodology of punishment?
And very well. I can only hope that this friend of yours is able to resolve your issue in a timely manner. Do keep me informed, will you?
[Because even if they're having a disagreement, it's not like Val dislikes Edward or anything.]
no subject
Great, thank you so bloody much for clearing that up. You're not teaching them how to try and make themselves fit into a society that's already written them off, you're teaching them how to let their "betters" kick them around and shift the worst jobs onto them. Because they're prinnies and therefore they don't get the right to even be human anymore. That's obviously so much fucking better.
Mate, I would not wish a fate like that on my worst enemy. And that treacherous bastard threw me off a cliff and got me thrown in jail.
[Still, this "sardinelover" hasn't hurt Edward or anything. He's clearly a little on the obtuse side, but he's passionate about his work and he seems to actually give a shit about the prinnies, even if Edward thinks the entire system is highly flawed.]
Aye, I'll do my best. She's got more than enough experience, I'll trust her word on whether Conrad is even dead or something else entirely.
edward you did this to yourself (and by extension me)
There was once a man who existed roughly 400 years ago, his name discarded and lost to the ravages of time. He was a soldier who fought in a great war that destroyed much of the landscape. In one particular battle, he was gravely wounded. By all accounts he should have died. Yet he was saved by a pure soul, a young nun who risked her life day in and day out to save everyone she could, whether they were on the side of her country or not. And indeed, she even managed to save that very man's life. But no good deed goes unpunished. For her actions she was called a spy. A traitor to her nation.
Yet she never took it to heart. She kept on treating people and saving lives even if it would some day cost the woman her life. And indeed... one day it did. The solider she saved was devastated. He could not bear the weight of the news. He couldn't believe that an existence so pure-hearting and caring could be snuffed out in an instant. So he festered in his rage and malice and decided to do something about it. That's when he decided to become the judge of humans and demons. Demons should have been spreading fear and preventing a war like this from happening. Likewise humans should have had more love and respect for their fellow man, not engaging in such a detestable act as war.
Now if you've been paying attention, you might notice I said this man existed 400 years ago. Normally it would take a lot to cause any kind of lasting damage with only a human lifetime to work within the confines of. Unfortunately, no one told this man. Even as the years went by and his body began to fade, his malice and rage continued to grow. And when his body eventually did give way? His soul kept on going. He manipulated both the human world and the demon world for hundreds of years to plot his revenge. His judgement. A judgment he knew deep in his heart that pure-hearted woman would never have wanted.
But he didn't care.
Eventually I fought against this man and his malice alongside my compatriots. One of which? Was the very woman who saved him, reborn as an angel. For hundreds of years she tried to reach him, to tell him to stop what he was doing. But he couldn't hear her. He had abandoned his faith the moment the news of her death reached his ears. Yet even then, she did not give up. She kept trying until eventually he could hear her. And once he did? That man was so disgusted by his own actions that he was content to simply disappear, along with the means of destroying the world that he had sewn. And the majority of us were fine with simply letting that happen.
But not her. That kind, pure-hearted woman could not abide by such cowardly-behavior! She knew it would be the worst thing she could possibly do for him, but actions have consequences! And when she brought this forward to him? He accepted it. But God himself had other plans. Even He did not feel this man was worth saving. He wanted us to let him fade into utter nothingness. But I would not allow that to happen. So I did what was expected of a demon... And taught Him what pain felt like! I gave God a slap across His almighty face and returned to meet my compatriots! And there I made a promise to that man to make sure every last one of his sins was paid off.
You may feel that system is unfair. And indeed, I can't say I blame you. Maybe it is. But you know something? There are those in life who commit heinous acts and walk away scot-free! And innocent souls are punished for simply trying to help! So I tell you, if Karma cannot be bothered to do its bloody job, then Valvatorez will! A prinny's work may be hard, but every sin can be forgiven! No one is worthy of an eternal damnation or utter nonexistence!
no subject
Why the hell are you like this, he thinks. But hey, he asked for this, he owes it to the guy to give the story a fair shake even though it's a little long and he didn't ask for the tangent. And...it does strike true, in some ways. Edward doesn't know anyone who's as pure-hearted as this bloke claims, but. He thinks of Caroline, riding up to save a young man and her own poor maid from some thugs. He thinks of Mary, and how she'd believed, truly and utterly, in the Assassins' Creed, how hard she fought as an Assassin and as a pirate. Maybe it's not pure-heartedness that this woman possessed—maybe it's just stubborn faith, in her own hands, in her friends, even in people no one ought to have faith in. Like Edward himself.
Honestly Edward gets it, the impulse to lash out at someone, anyone, everyone in grief. For him, it had manifested in months of getting completely drunk. For this soldier fellow, it apparently meant a hatred so strong that it kept him going for hundreds of years. Which says quite a lot, he thinks. And frankly he gets all of this, gets why Valvatorez would believe in such a system: because it is true, no one should get eternal damnation or utter nonexistence for their sins, no matter how large and heinous.
Still. The Prinnies leave a bad taste in his mouth.]
If you're looking for love and respect in us humans, you're going to be looking for quite a long time. We do our best, but we're not great at it.
Aye, I think that system's unfair. I can't not. Makes me think of debtors' prisons back home: they'd imprison poor folk till they'd repaid their debts somehow, and they were horrid places to look on. I remember passing by the prison as a lad, hearing the desperate moans from the cells, wondering how long until my own parents landed in there themselves. They never did, but some years we came close. Too close. They'd work you to the bone there, you see, and then work you further until you'd collapsed, and I knew people who'd died in there never to get out again.
So you speak of debts and prinnies, and how of course they can work off the debts their wrongs have incurred, they just need to do all the shite jobs no one else will, first. But I keep thinking: how much debt does one have to incur before they end up a prinny, working for the whole of their afterlives? They don't even have the option of death. Is there a point where their sins are too much and they must become a prinny, or are all crimes equal? Because a small-town criminal just stealing bread to live on shouldn't, after death, find himself trapped in some hellish existence next to the worst of us for just trying to survive. I find that unfair. I find all of it unfair, but then again I'm a pirate, and I've had the unique pleasure of having been trapped in a gibbet while still alive, so perhaps I'm somewhat biased.
[Somewhat is...a nice way of putting it.]
Although I will say, good on you for slapping god across his high-and-almighty face.
no subject
And your kind words are appreciated! I quite enjoyed knocking some sense into his Self-righteous face. Though I also can't help but feel as though that wasn't actually God. You'd think that God would have less of a glass jaw...
no subject
So? You punched a god, that ought to count for something. And to be honest with you, I've killed powerful people as quickly as you would snuff out a candle—power, by itself, doesn't mean they don't go down easy.
no subject
I suppose you do have a point. Perhaps I'm overthinking it. I doubt He ever thought someone would try to challenge him physically.
no subject
When you're all-powerful you tend to think that will defend you somehow from even a physical assault, and so stop expecting someone to simply cut you down where you stand. I'm not so surprised as I maybe should be, that this is the same in the heavens as it is here on this earth.
no subject