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Post by supesman on Feb 24, 2022 14:24:53 GMT
"Our darkness always grows stronger, that much we cannot help." Zack said, smiling and turning away slightly. Looking at his own face in a mirror that was hung up on the far wall. Looking deeply into his own eyes as if to confirm the presence of the shadows he already knew were there. "Have you ever heard the fable of the two wolves?' He said, knowing that the human folk tale would probably do the Angel some amount of good. Though he looked over to marigold and allowed her to be the one to actually tell it. It was a favorite of hers.
"A young man finds his elder sitting upon a hill top, listening to the wind. He sits beside the elder and asks him what he is seeing with his eyes closed. The elder says "There are two wolves inside of me. A white wolf made of my honesty, my integrity and my courage and a black wolf made of my insecurities, doubts and anger."" She said, looking off into the middle distance as if playing the part of the young man considering those words. The best way to tell a fable is with some theatricality. "The young man asks the elder after a long moment. "Which wolf is stronger?." Marigold said letting the question linger in the air for a long moment before she actually gave and answer to the question. "The elder said to the young man "Whichever one I feed." She concluded. It was a fable old and well told enough to become a cliche in the human world, perhaps it was what the angel needed to hear though.
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Post by ricochet5-Alucard on Feb 25, 2022 0:41:23 GMT
"Sounds like our light also grows to keep up with the darkness." Poseidon said in response to Zack's first sentence. However, Alucard's attention was on Zack as he watched the human look at his own reflection in the mirror making the Angemon wonder at some level what horrors Zack had seen if he was this self aware. Then Zack asked if Alucard had heard the fable of the two wolves, Alucard could only shake his head no in response. This was obviously a human fable which was something he was not familiar with.
However, Alucard didn't have to ask about it as Marigold took over telling the tale and even Poseidon listened. Although the tale was a bit cliché the message was all to clear as Poseidon said "So as long as Dad continues to fill the light wolf, as it were, he should have no trouble keeping his darkness in check. That and if he struggles with that I can help him out as well. I am basically his light after all."
Alucard remained quiet contemplating the message of the fable and it in some ways reminded him of his relationship with his son. He then seemed to relax a bit but otherwise remained quiet.
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Post by supesman on Feb 25, 2022 16:46:59 GMT
"Each of us is born with a darkness and a light. No being is either perfect, nor inclined to pure, unadulterated evil." She said, expressing the kind of humanistic view that was required to do the sorts of things that her father and her occupied themselves with. "Whether we hold ourselves up to the greatest possible good or sink down to the lowest possible evil is dependent only upon the choices that we make. No one makes that choice for us, it is the great internal struggle of every life." She said, looking first into Poseidon's eyes and then up into the blindfold mask being worn by his angelic father as they both internalized the tale. "Poseidon while it is true that your light should be more than enough to inspire your father toward making that right choice. In the end that is what it is, his choice. When the moment comes and the clock stop, when he is asked by circumstance and his own soul to decide. The only person who can make that decision is him." She said. Saying it not to lay undue pressure or even guilt upon the angel but simply speaking as it was. No one was in control of him. His heart, his mind and his soul would be the only deciding factors when the point of no return finally came upon him.
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Post by ricochet5-Alucard on Feb 26, 2022 0:22:30 GMT
Poseidon looked at Alucard before looking back at Zack and Marigold as he absorbed the Fanbeemon's words. He then said "You're right about all of us having both darkness and light within us. Nor are we perfect which is why life is about trying to better ourselves."
"The path of light can be a difficult one for many as it often requires far more work than just given into ones dark impulses. Sure those digimon are still strong but they sadly are consumed by their selfish desires often becoming monsters." Alucard said finally breaking his silence causing Poseidon to look at his father.
Then he looked back at Zack and Marigold before he said "I know my father's actions are entirely his choice but it doesn't stop me from worrying about him."
Alucard sighed before he calmly said "You have a good heart, Poseidon, and while I appreciate you worrying about me the darkness within me is a struggle I have to overcome on my own for the sake of my own piece of mind." Poseidon sighed and shook his head but didn't butt in at his father's stubbornness as this wasn't the time or place. He would wait until his father recovered.
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Post by supesman on Feb 26, 2022 14:17:14 GMT
"Of course it's hard. Anything that's worth doing is hard." Zack said, speaking up after Marigold had been the one speaking for a while. His tone wasn't dismissive of Alucard's struggle, if anything it was more than empathetic but it was...firm. Zack was a man who knew what right and wrong were and how to express them. "I may not have the power of an angel weighing on me, I may be the weakest one in this room as far as that matters. If anything that means I have to struggle harder to do the right thing. I don't get to shoot lasers at the bad guy, or blow him to hell with explosions or metallic horns and claws. I have to stand up to a monster ten times my size and get the tar beaten out of me because I know that not doing it would mean giving up on the right thing for the sake of the easy thing. And here I am. Still standing." He said, squaring his shoulder. He had an admirable strength of spirit even if he didn't hold half a candle to the power that even a single digimon he had ever met held. It wasn't about power, it was about justice, for all that that entailed.
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Post by ricochet5-Alucard on Feb 26, 2022 23:16:45 GMT
Alucard looked Zack in the eye as he took in the human's tone. Though this human was vulnerable out in the Digital World he fought against nearly impossible odds alongside his daughter, Marigold, who was a digimon. That and they fought creatures easily able to vaporize him without a second though. Was it crazy? Probably but it made Alucard respect him for his courage but it made the Angemon feel as if he were weak for complaining about his inner struggle when Zack put his life in danger just walking through the Digital World.
Finally though, Alucard spoke up as he said "I know and I know that it may seem pathetic for a being like myself who can fly through the sky at high speed or slay dark monsters with holy power to be worried about turning into a dark monster that can destroy villages."
"Dad, such fears are not pathetic. Everyone has moments of weakness both physically and otherwise so don't say you're pathetic anymore, okay?" Poseidon said with his eyes growing wide and tearing up as he spoke with such passion that it caught Alucard off guard. Though the Angemon's facial remained neutral Poseidon had gotten pretty good at reading his father and could tell his father was indeed shocked.
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Post by supesman on Feb 27, 2022 14:08:31 GMT
"I'm not...I'm not saying this to minimize what you're going through. The opposite in fact. We all struggle upward, a little bit at a time. No matter how hard something seems, every single moment of will and determination is a moment of progress. I'm living proof that there's no difficulty that cannot be overcome with will. No weakness that can overcome the only kind of strength that really matters. You know what you have to do, Alucard. You can see it in front of you. You'll see it in front of you every day when you wake up. The fight will be walking down that path for the rest of your life. I struggle with it every day. Everyone does whether they know it or not." He reached over to one side, placing his hand upon Marigold. She was an ever present anchor. Just the same that Alucard and Zack shared an anchor of that king. "So if you're worried about weakness. Not being strong enough. Don't. I'm weaker than you by magnitudes and I've fought the same fight you're fighting, and I always will. If I can do it, then you should blow past me in no time." He said, building Alucard up. he was an angel, a father, a hero and probably much more besides. The path against his own darkness was long, and narrow and lined with thorns.
But it was always right there.
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Post by ricochet5-Alucard on Feb 27, 2022 23:51:12 GMT
Poseidon looked between both Zack and Alucard as if waiting for his father to respond to the superhero as his Angemon parent had grown hauntingly quiet while listening to the superhero's words regarding all going through struggles some hard and some easy. Yet life was about overcoming said struggles as it was a test of how well a person could adapt or even mature meaning there was always more to learn.
A slight lip twitch started with Alucard before turning into the very faintest of smirks as Zack mentioned being weaker than him by magnitudes. While this was true for humans when compared to most digimon there was one thing that humans had that could match digimon and that was raw tenacity. It was one thing Alucard had a feeling that Zack had in great amounts and with Marigold to keep him alive and in one piece the human would likely be the bane of many threats to the Digital World.
"You makes some good points, Zack." Alucard said breaking the awkward silence at last and then continued "I keep forgetting that as bad as I've had it, there are those that have it worse. Not only that but not everyone can defend themselves from their demons both physically and metaphorically speaking."
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Post by supesman on Feb 28, 2022 14:32:42 GMT
"Sometimes the answer to demons is to hit them over the head until they get the message. Sometimes the answer to the demons is to just be too strong for them to sink their teeth in at all." Zack said, obviously referring to two different kinds of strength. He didn't have the capacity to ward strong digimon off with physical violence but looking inside of himself, recognizing his own demons and telling them to get lost was something he not only had the ability for but the imperative to do. "Facing the demons inside is the hardest battle. They don't exactly respond to garlic and holy water." he said, sarcastically. Making a joke at the expense of the long lists of rules for fighting real monsters when the ones inside are much less clearly cut.
"None of us have lost that battle quite yet and it doesn't seem like we're going to anytime soon. Seems that fighting the physical kind of monsters gives you a lot of the right tools to fight the mental and emotional kind." Marigold said. She and her father had learned a lot over their adventures and it had always come down to making the both of them better people in the end, ready to face each new challenge more prepared than they were for the one before.
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Post by ricochet5-Alucard on Mar 1, 2022 0:31:38 GMT
Alucard looked at Zack his surprise slipping when he made the vampire reference when mentioning the inner demons many struggled with. Poseidon, however, began laughing. While his son was busy rolling with laughter Alucard smirked before he said "No those demons aren't as simple as the vampires I spent time reading about when learning to fight them as a child. If only it were that simple one wouldn't strive to improve one selves, would they?"
Poseidon wheezed from his laughing fit before he managed to gasp out. "Shame garlic and holy water don't always work on those physical threats we face either, huh Dad." Alucard silently nodded at his son as not much had to be said on that matter.
Alucard turned his attention to Marigold and said "Most of the times that is very true, Marigold. If only our respective fights keep at least one other from suffering from the pain I will likely endure the rest of my life then I'll consider that a win."
"Shame neither of us are good with help with the emotional type of damage, huh Dad? Sure we are good with the physical part but I guess every little bit helps, right?"
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Post by supesman on Mar 1, 2022 13:54:56 GMT
"Sticking around for a bit after the bad guy's been vanquished is sometimes even more important than beating the bad guy themselves." Zack said, this one edge of the "skill" of combatting monsters where he and Alucard might be evenly matched or the human vigilante might even have an advantage. "Helping to pick things up, telling shell shocked people that it's alright now, being there long enough to show them that the world is still turning around them. It's why I wear colors like these, why I've made a name for myself. So that people will believe me when I tell them that everything going to be alright." He said, having seen over and over again the wonderful good that a little bit of empathy and support after a battle can be for the victim.
"We realize you're not exactly the emotionally huggy-feely type, Alucard." Marigold said, raising one of her eyebrows. She felt like she had gotten to now the angel well enough to call him on that one score. "Poseidon would probably be much more successful at that side of gig. But hey, what else are sidekicks for if not carrying part of the load?" She said, smiling at Poseidon and then back up at Alucard. A hero's heart was just as important as his fists or his sword after all.
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Post by ricochet5-Alucard on Mar 1, 2022 14:22:14 GMT
Alucard understood the importance of sticking around to help out those after a battle was done as he had done before with other digimon. Sure he was not the type to be good at being the shoulder to cry on but he had helped keep an eye on village children while the adults began rebuilding or he had even spent some time helping as well. "I know about helping the victims of these situations all too well. I have spent sometime helping in the aftermath myself even when the villagers have said it was hardly necessary." Alucard said noticing Poseidon had fully recovered from his laughing fit from moments prior.
"It also doesn't hurt that angel digimon tend to be symbols of hope even in the Digital World. Maybe just by having Dad around other digimon feel more at ease. As for him not being the huggy type that is mostly true, Marigold. If there are children nearby he tends to be more cuddly. It's as if children help him relax and let his younger self be free. I've also noticed how much he's changed since the day I hatched." Poseidon said smiling at Marigold as it seemed she understood his role better than he did for the most part.
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Post by supesman on Mar 2, 2022 14:20:54 GMT
"Oh yea. I know exactly what you mean, Alucard. You come in, you save the day for whatever that's worth and half the time the people you just saved seem like they can't wait to get rid of you." Zack said, letting a grin spread from one side of his face to the other. He was mostly being sarcastic, very few victims he had saved were ever hostile about "wanting him gone." "I appreciate the sentiment of "you've done enough" in principle. I can see why they'd say that from their point of view. But god help me if I was the kind of person who came in, wrecked the town center and then peaced out when it was time to put everything back where it goes." He said with a slight chuckle. It was hard to imagine, a hero who came in long enough to fight the bad guy and then made himself scarce when there were livelihoods to salvage.
"People are being grateful and we appreciate that, really we do. But the amount that people will offer us for doing something we would have done without any kind of reward is just a little bit awkward. We're vigilantes, I'm not sure what people think we're gonna do with all of their town's valuables." Marigold said. The two had been offered everything from a free meal (happily accepted) to something as insane as a huge pile of silver plates and bars (politely declined).
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Post by ricochet5-Alucard on Mar 3, 2022 1:51:48 GMT
"Sometimes it does feel that way, Zack." Alucard said with a nod before he continued "Though I can understand why as it could easily be a manner of pride that compels them to fix as many issues on their own as they can. This is something I can definitely respect so I try not to impose on them more than I need to."
"I also don't mind others being grateful and we have accepted small things like free meals or even a free night at an inn since we don't usually take money as a reward unless it's a job we sign up to do, ya know?" Poseidon said before he continued "But I can see how strangers offering various rewards for helping them can come off as awkward too so Dad and I have been gentle and patient in explaining no reward is necessary." As ones that traveled long distances and rarely stayed in one place for long both Alucard and Poseidon knew large rewards were impractical for travel so stuck to small rewards when accepting them more for practicality than anything else.
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Post by supesman on Mar 3, 2022 14:42:14 GMT
"I never accept anything actually valuable for my work. Never have, never will." Zack said, shaking his head. He didn't need the money and hell be to him if he needed money so badly that he had to swipe a town's entire economy out from under them as a "reward" for saving their lives. The mere idea of it made his skin crawl.
"We will and have shown up to paid jobs, done the deed and then not taken the money. Usually we get the money donated to some kind of local cause or people who are struggling in the community. We're living perfectly comfortable, as you can probably figure out." Marigold said gesturing with her front limbs at the free manor house that they had pulled out from under a villain and were now refurbishing by themselves. The two of them already had more space and room for luxury than they had any idea what to do with, the last thing either of them would have been able to figure our would be where to store a pile of gold or having to spend an absurd amount of bits.
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