pcs with psyche

[diabolizes]

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[diabolizes]

[ He contemplates that over another sip of orange juice. ]

Hm… I suppose so. I’d befriend a lot of the spirits, particularly the ones I had fight for me in battle. I think they were ultimately drawn to my power and ability to command them, but they weren’t always bad company.

[ He pauses. ]

Many other cultivators work to immediately find the way to set their spirits free, but they don’t mind if I keep them around a bit longer.

[chrysaline]

[ He said something like that the day they met, right? That there wasn't much anyone could do for them... but befriending them isn't nothing. She gives a little nod. ]

That's more how it is in Vasilios. We pray that god takes up the departed souls and gives them comfort. I never really thought about there being other ways, but... I think if I die with things unfinished, I want to stay. At least until everything is done.

[diabolizes]

[ Praying, huh? That’s interesting to him, and he’s honestly kind of curious about that.

He smiles a little. ]

That doesn’t surprise me. You strike me as the sort of person who doesn’t like to leave things lingering. I bet you’d even haunt your home to finish a load of laundry.

[chrysaline]

Over something that petty? Wei Wuxian!

[ Just for that, she's going to find a little cocktail umbrella to flick at him.

But she's still smiling. It's a little nice to be thought of as someone like that, hm. ]

[diabolizes]

[ That little attack just makes him laugh as he leans back on his stool. ]

Hahahahaha! Don't worry, Psyche! I'll grab someone to send you to the afterlife once you put all your laundry away.

[chrysaline]

You wouldn't do it yourself? That's terrible...

[ She tries to puff her cheeks at him in indignation before she has to laugh a little too. ]

[diabolizes]

[ He can't help but grin. ]

I did say I'd find someone, right? You shouldn't want the guy that raises the dead to do it.

[chrysaline]

Well, I guess if you can't...

[ She shakes her head and smiles back. ]

Why did you choose that, if most people learn to send spirits?

[diabolizes]

[ Ah… isn’t that the question of the century? Wei Wuxian looks thoughtful for a long moment before finally deciding to say it. ]

It’s a long story, but I was dumped into the Burial Mounds with no means of escaping. I had to teach myself how to control corpses and spirits to get out alive.

[ … ]

At that point, I could no longer send spirits like my peers.

[chrysaline]

[ Oh... she'd been expecting something more like picking between schools of swordsmanship. She draws in a startled breath. ]

But... why would someone do that?

[ Obviously, because they didn't want him coming back alive, but... her brow is furrowing more by the moment. ]

[diabolizes]

[ He feels a bit bad for shocking her with his answer, but there's no reason to hide the truth from her anyway. ]

The guy that dumped me down there was part of a rising Sect attempting to take control over the rest of us, but he had a personal vendetta against me all because I humiliated him. So, he did what he thought would bring about the most pain to me.

[chrysaline]

So it was something like that...

[ Politics, unfortunately, she understands. She lets out a short sigh. ]

But you learned how to control the dead and came back, instead. [ And she hopes it was the worst day that other guy ever had, honestly! At least a little of the fierceness of that is in her tone. ] What a petty reason to try to ruin a life. Or end one.

[diabolizes]

[ It was the worst week of his life. But there's no way that Wei Wuxian will willingly tell her just how horrible he made that man's last days. Some things truly are left back in the past. ]

To be fair... I did severely humiliate him. I spat his own words back in his face in front of a group of our peers. His mistress didn't like me either, which I'm sure only made things worse for me.

[chrysaline]

I don't see how that's your fault! If he was so embarrassed by his own words, then he shouldn't have said them.

[ Wei Wuxian is absolutely making this guy sound Worse. Psyche's temper is a little hotter than usual after this morning, but she's definitely a little mad. ]

And he should be happy his mistress didn't like you.

[diabolizes]

[ Wow, it's a little odd to have someone actually mad on his behalf here. ]

She wasn't my type anyway.

[ Way too prissy or his tastes. ]

Either way, it's all water under the bridge now. He's long since gone.

[chrysaline]

[ Psyche lets out a little huff, but her indignation seems to deflate. Long practice. ]

I suppose so... Vasilios has a lot of nobles that sound just like that. I get so frustrated, sometimes.

[ Anyway! ]

So the people you mentioned at the Burial Mound, before... those are your Sect?

[diabolizes]

[ Ah, a personal connection. She must have had to deal with them frequently. At least, Wei Wuxian wonders if she has. ]

The ones there now? No, they are not. I believe most of them aren't even cultivators.

[ He hums thoughtfully. ]

They consider me their leader, but that's not my intention.

[chrysaline]

[ So a Sect is a group of people with powers? She mentally revises her impression of some of those wars he talked about... ]

They just decided on their own? I guess they admire you.

[diabolizes]

For some reason.

[ He laughs humorlessly. ]

I scared them for a while, but I think they’ve mostly gotten over that fear.

[chrysaline]

[ Hm, that laugh... ]

Because of your power? Maybe it's because they've gotten to know you better. You don't seem very scary to me.

[diabolizes]

I’d like to think so.

[ He tilts his head, a myriad of thoughts racing through his mind. ]

They saw me at my most vengeful. I saved them, but I killed all of the guards at the outpost I saved them from. I think, in the end, I can’t blame them for being afraid.

[ Wei Wuxian watches her expression carefully, wondering if knowing that will change her opinion about him. ]

[chrysaline]

[ Psyche tips her head a little, her expression turning inward, but not frightened. ]

I can understand it a little. Death is frightening. Knowing that someone is so much stronger than you that you really couldn't do anything if they chose to hurt you... it's probably normal to be afraid for a little while. But still, you saved them. I'm glad that's what mattered more to them.

[diabolizes]

I am as well, but…

[ Hm. She has a point about being unable to do anything against someone so much stronger. Wei Wuxian follows the doctrine of his old Sect of “attempting the impossible”, so he knows he wouldn’t feel fear. But not everyone is like that… not everyone is as hardheaded.

He rests his chin in his hand. ]

I would have accepted their derision. I did what I felt was right. If they hated me for it, that would have been fine. As long as they continued living.

[chrysaline]

[ Oh... that's a familiar sentiment, too. Psyche gives him a softer smile. ]

"Let people hate you. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you did nothing wrong." Someone I respect told me that once. Well... sometimes, I still can't help being a little afraid of being hated. You really are strong.

[diabolizes]

It's strength from necessity.

[ He'd be lying if he said that being hated didn't get to him, after all. It hurts, but what can he do about it? Wei Wuxian's personality practically guarantees that at least some will hate him... it just sucks when it's people that he doesn't hate in return. ]

That someone is right, though. It's important to remember that. [ He pauses. ] I could have been gentler in the way I rescued them, I suppose, but what's done is done.