exsilium | duel two (video.)

[The screen flickers on to show Utena sitting on the foot of her bed. Said bed is unusually rumpled, and she looks bleary-eyed and tired. Her hair is disheveled too, but when she turns to the camera, she manages a sleepy grin. It's only a little forced.]

Uh, hi, to everyone who's been here, and all the new people. I think this is around the time new people show up, is that right? For everyone who doesn't know me, I'm Utena Tenjou. I'm fifteen years old...I think. [She rubs the back of her neck, and sheepishly adds:] My birthday's gone by since I got here, but I'm not sure if that counts. It's good to meet you all.

[Her voice sobers some, and she slows down.]

Ah, I wanted to thank everyone who helped me and Himemiya out a few weeks ago. It means a lot. I wasn't really myself then, so...sorry for any trouble. [It almost looks as if she'll stop the message there, but she continues after an overlong pause:]

Say, I was wondering, well, when I was, ah...well anyway. I noticed there's a lot of buildings around here that are run-down. That big greenhouse in the city looks pretty bad, and I thought maybe a bunch of us could get together and help clean it up a little. Y'know, get all the glass fixed, and plant flowers. Where I'm from, there's gardens everywhere, so I miss it a little.

[Her gaze drops. She looks off to the side, and then starts a little, as if suddenly remembering something:] Oh! And to everyone I asked about sports the last time, there's a way we can play without finding a field. I asked around, and that VR machine'll make any kind of field or court we want. That's great, huh? I wanna host a game soon. Maybe we can have something like that once a week. It gets dull around here.

Mm, that's all. [She rests her hand against her mouth, looks and sounds thoughtful. Mumbled:] If anyone's interested in a game or in helping with the greenhouse, you can find me around anywhere, but I stay in room 705.

I had one last question. Does anyone know how to cook? I wanna learn. There's not a lot of instant stuff to eat here, and I'm not so good at cooking from scratch yet...

[After a while:] Hey, Nanami-kun. Are you still here?

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I'll come by and help, then.

[ The view shifts a bit is the camera finally moves back to let her see his face. ]

I don't really know any of those sports. This place is weird.

Thanks! And...huh. Are you from Earth? Is that rude to ask? Sorry, I'm still learning about er, different worlds.

Oh. Uh.

I'm from the Southern Water Tribe, not the Earth Kingdom, if that's what you mean.

No, no. Earth's my...[gosh this is weird] planet. It's not just a kingdom, where I'm from.

Oh. You mean like the whole world? We don't really have a name for it, I guess. But we don't call it Earth. That'd be kinda detrimental to the other four elements.

What do you mean, "the four elements?" [She's pretty sure there are like. Over 100 of those. She tried not to sleep through Chemistry class.]

Well you've got the four nations each based around the element they've learned to bend with!

Well, we had four. The Northern and Southern Water Tribes--I'm from the Southern one--the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads.

Except the Air Nomads kind of got wiped out when the Fire Nation started the Hundred Year War.

Wiped out...? That's terrible! Did anyone do anything about it? They didn't just get away with it, right?

[In Utena's world, there were heroes and villains and very little room for in betweens. Injustice was punished, and all would be right again.

But something else catches her attention, what Sokka said about being able to bend an element. She'd heard that before...] Bend, huh...are you friends with Korra?

A hundred years later, the last Air Nomad left, the Avatar, came back and ended the war by defeating the Fire Nation.

[ He scratches his chin. ]

So. They kind of got away with it. And yeah! Yeah, Korra's actually the Avatar! But like, the Avatar from my future.

But they were stopped in the end, right? That's good.

There's more than one? [In turn, she scratches her head.] An Avatar I mean. Are they, you know...superheroes? That's what I thought Korra was, but I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to say.

Yeah, we stopped them. I'm just sorry it took so long...

[ He grows serious for a moment. He knows there was nothing that could have been done, but still... He has to ponder a life without war. ]

Oh, uh yeah. It's a cycle. After they die, the Avatar is reborn, each spirit adding their experience and wisdom to the next. The Avatar can enter the Spirit World and speak with their past selves.

[Her expression sobers a bit too. She hasn't quite gotten accustomed to the other worlds, how much more dangerous they are. Ohtori was a paradise, in comparison.]

A cycle...like reincarnation. [Something eternal.]

I don't think that's really dying at all. [...] I mean, it's kinda like living forever, right? Someone's always gonna remember you, and have your memories.

I guess it is. Doesn't mean that losing someone you care about would be any easier. The next Avatar isn't the same person. Even if they can access their previous lives.

A-ah...I guess not. [...] Didja know the one before? Mm, sorry. It just sounds that way, from what you said.

I knew Aang, yeah. He's not here, but Korra is. It's...kind of weird.

duel two (video.)

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