act49side

Hmph, smashing things in your rage? Are you the child here?

I'll fetch some good wood and make a new one for you.

Or would you prefer to keep this one? I can ask Nian or Yi to fix it, when they're here...

No need.

Oh... I recall the days when I had freshly awoken, watching you two fight amongst yourselves, time after time.

I remember the Candleholder asking me anxiously...

'How bad will it get when all your younger siblings are born? Please, give me an estimation so that I can report to the court and get a disaster response plan set up!'

Ahem.

An idea, <i>Dage:</i> Let me speak to Wang, alone.

I will serve as your messenger this time, in order that you need not break anything else.

...Very well.

So, about the weiqi board...

Just leave it, brother. I'll repair it myself. No need to trouble yourself.

Alright.

You are still angry.

I'm not.

You only address him as 'brother' when you are angry.

What were you arguing about? Tell me.

It is just as I thought.

His way is the proper way, but it is slow. If It were to suddenly awaken one day, it would all be too late.

As for you... *sigh*

If you want to argue with him, should you not at least come up with a plan of your own?

He gave up his sword to prove our innocence, the sword that means so very much to him. Do you feel no gratitude?

Are you perhaps... seriously furious that he smashed your board?

No...

I'm just frustrated by his lack of urgency.

We all seek a way. Dusk has even fewer ideas. Does she anger you too?

...No.

Its awakening is accelerating. We are all anxious, and it is understandable that we might provoke the occasional quarrel with inadvertent words.

But it will take centuries for It to awaken. Maintaining a cordial relationship with Yan is the more pressing matter.

Or are you saying that I, too, lack urgency?

No... that's not what I mean.

You said we're all looking for a way.

What are <i>you</i> looking for?

Your ears have merit.

It and I, we are all nothing but a dream.

This is just the seed of an idea, and I know not how far I can go.

But I hope to leave behind a dream.

A dream that It cannot disturb, even if It has fully awakened.

<p=1>Year 759</>

The right leg... almost fully polished.

I can't believe the first thing I'm doing after reforming my vessel is to die for someone else's sake...

It's time to go—

Oh, it's you.

No, you're It, but you're not It. You're... ah...

Interesting. Very interesting indeed.

How does it feel to see your old enemy split apart like this, and your old followers turned into an unruly rabble?

What enemy?

I simply had a dream that caused some delay. I managed to evade the Great Hunt before I awoke. It's not such a bad thing to die here after awakening.

But you should not kill me here quietly. You should let me die before the Yanese army. Otherwise, maniacs will keep coming, trying to die in my name.

It would be the last thing I want.

Desperate people will resort to desperate measures. You are not necessarily the reason.

I won't kill you. Quite the opposite. I can't let you die.

You want to help me instead of killing me? Interesting.

How do you intend to deal with the self-proclaimed 'Shanhaizhong'? Though it is no more than a fragment, they have indeed inherited the old carpenter's arts. They are not entirely unassociated with me.

They'll live, if you leave.

What do you mean?

The Yanese army wants you, not them. It's trivial for you to leave.

I'll help you, if you encounter any obstacles.

As for the Shanhaizhong, they'll last two more days, give or take. Ultimately, they will all die, taking a third of the Yanese army with them.

If you die for them here, they will become even more fervent and fight to the bitter end.

If you leave, they will flee, and Yan's mission will be done, so they can recall their armies.

This is the only way for you to stop the war.

You are It... no, not quite. You are ten times It in scheming and intrigue.

I would be indebted to you. What do you wish from me in return?

A piece in reserve that could perhaps come in useful. No great loss, if it never comes into play.

Now <i>that</i> makes me feel a little slighted.

I'll repay this debt. I promise.

How do you intend to help me, when you don't know what I'm trying to do?

You would treat a Feranmut as a piece in reserve. What you're plotting must not involve mortal man. This is about yourself. Split apart, you said? How many pieces are there?

...Twelve.

Then I take it the only thing you care about is whether it is the twelve that is left, or the one.

One word of advice. One tree does not make a forest. You are defying the laws of nature. You need all the help you can get.

Ask your siblings if they've thought of any alternatives. Beings like you are not meant to be measured by normal logic and reason.

If you can find the solution, you will rid the world of a great threat...

We will never be truly gone, as long as my dream has not been fully worn away, as long as the twelve of us persist in my dream.

Falsehood is reality, the Great Way unfettered. Such is for all things.

It sounds to me you intend to carry the heaviest yoke of them all.

You want to drag the entire family into the instant before Sui awakes, then extend the instant into eternity in your waking dream...

How long do you think you will last?

What if I drank all the wine across all the lands?

I hope there is a less desperate way.

We were never equals to It. Desperate times call for desperate measures, do they not?

I know. But...

...I did not save Ju on a whim.

Why do you bring this up again? Of course you have your reasons for doing things, but too often you cast your eyes too far and forget the things that are near...

Wait, what do you mean?

I was asked to do so.

By whom?

Hou.

The old man's alive?

He has avoided the eye of Yan, as he does not have followers like the Shanhaizhong. He told me about Ju after I took him beyond Yanese reach.

Have you told our eldest brother?

Not yet.

You can be pretty astute, when you need to be.

I asked Hou about ideas for a way out, after I helped Him leave Yan. His words have given me thought.

'Perhaps I am not in Its dream. Perhaps It is in my dream.'

Interesting, that old man. I would love to drink with Him, if I got the chance.

The unusual activity of Sui may indicate that something is disturbing It in its dream and accelerating Its awakening.

It's merely addressing the symptoms, but if I can enter Its dream and see what the culprit is...