PFSB: What is time?

[riddleofthebelow]

Tom is in the bar. It could be on the date the post was made. It could be a week before. He comes here more often lately after all (but not nearly as much as Ingress, apparently!)

He's reading The Daily Prophet and scoffing a little. That's his usual response to this particular publication.

Comments

[lightamidchaos]

"Mn."

He can't help but look austere, but at the same time, he shakes his head.

"Do not worry. I understand, now, how different it is in your world. The way you spoke of it -- it could not be the same."

[riddleofthebelow]

His expression is likewise solemn and serious.

“I have been responsible for terrible thoughts and deeds, Lan Wangji, things for which I take full responsibility and atone for to this day. But with that one aspect, you’re correct; it is not the same. I wanted you to hear this straight from me, even though I suspected the issue was resolved when you stopped to greet me.”

His face softens. “That was my hope, anyway, so I’m pleased to hear your response just now. If you have any similar concerns, I’m not, nor would I ever be, offended to hear them.”

[lightamidchaos]

“I do not have concerns,” he assures him. “But I will tell you, should I ever.”

Ingress was right. Tom is very open about his past. He wonders what Wei Ying thinks about it, and if it is anything similar.

“Your past. Was it necromancy?”

He does not sound judgmental.

[riddleofthebelow]

“In my world, necromancy is a small part of a larger evil. I used the Dark Arts to get whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted it. I used it to hurt and I used it to kill. I didn’t simply harness resentful energy; I created it.”

[lightamidchaos]

Lan Wangji blinks at him.

Maybe he was like Wen Ruohan after all.

“What happened?”

[riddleofthebelow]

“I was born unwanted and I grew up wrong. I attended Wizarding school with a rotten heart and a thirst for revenge, and I learned I was immensely powerful. The more power I gained, the more I wanted. I wished to live forever and rule the world, bending it to my will. I called myself Lord Voldemort, and I arrived here as a result of a dreadful spell that divested Voldemort of the last of his humanity - which turned out to be, well, me. And then I received a second chance to try to make things right.”

[lightamidchaos]

Or maybe Xue Chonghai.

In any case, the man he is now exhibits no signs of the man he is describing, no selfish cruelty or murderous impulse. He will judge by the man he knows.

“I thank you,” he says, gravely. “For trusting me with your tale.”

[riddleofthebelow]

Tom isn’t perfect, by any means, nor does he walk in the pure bright light. But he tries to do right things, and he loves beyond measure, and his heart is no longer rotten.

“And I thank you for listening to it with an open mind.”

[lightamidchaos]

He gives a nod, and casts about for another topic of conversation, being certain that although Tom has been at pains to reassure him of his intentions, the subject cannot be comfortable or pleasant for him.

His glance falls on the paper that Tom had been reading, and he asks, politely,

"Is that for another of your studies?"

Tom had enjoyed talking about them, before, despite his frustration with the translation spell.

[riddleofthebelow]

“Tangentially, it is, I suppose. This is a daily newspaper from the Wizarding world. I’ve kept up a subscription even though I rarely have time to read it, because it’s important for me to keep abreast of events and changes, even if I’m not part of them.”

He scowls. “But mostly I see the same patterns of power, willful ignorance, and greed repeating themselves over and over in slightly different variations.”

[lightamidchaos]

"People are the same," he observes.

The idea seems interesting enough, at least.

[riddleofthebelow]

“That is the truth. No matter where or when, if you’re dealing with humans, we never seem to learn.”

[lightamidchaos]

"Some do."

A moment's silence falls, as he studies the newspaper, with its moving images centered on the front page.

"Not all. But some."

[riddleofthebelow]

“I’ll grant you that,” he allows. “It frustrates me. I helped defeat Voldemort as this aspect of myself, and I thought things would be different moving forward. But the complacency around subtle acts of clear manipulation by splinter groups who would have seen him victorious... And there’s really nothing I can do, aside from alert friends there who already aren’t being listened to.”

[lightamidchaos]

"Better far than doing nothing."

The certainty in his voice is somehow deeper than one might expect from someone of his age.

[riddleofthebelow]

“You speak from experience, I think. What-“

He pauses a moment, trying to decide the best words to choose.

“If it’s not intrusive, if it’s something you can share - what on earth made Wei Wuxian so reviled? Was it just because he went against the orthodoxy of not using necromancy? I don’t want to press him, as he clearly doesn’t want to talk about it. But I’m baffled. I did evil things - I know about evil. I don’t see it in anything Wei Wuxian says or does.”

[lightamidchaos]

"Wei Ying is not evil."

There is no possible way to mistake his absolute rejection of the very idea. Everything about his tone, to the way he holds himself, to the way he meets Tom's eyes -- it is clear that Lan Wangji, Hanguang-jun, believes this all the way to the depths of his soul.

Frost paints his next words as he adds,

"Despite what some say."

The chill fades as he studies Tom.

"If I may ask, first. What did he tell you?"

[riddleofthebelow]

“Very little, and he’s flat out told me he doesn’t wish to discuss it further, even when I shared my own history as I’ve done with you. You must understand that I’m not the only Dark Lord who’s arrived here and rethought his options. I seek those like me out, to help if I can. Wei Wuxian told me, after some wheedling on my part, that he learned these so-called ‘wicked tricks’ so he could protect people he cared about from destruction and death. But in the end he couldn’t and that lead to his death. I don’t know details beyond that. We usually shift to comparing magical methods and theory instead. I’ve pushed as far as I dare.”

[lightamidchaos]

"To help," he repeats. "If you can."

"To help -- do what?"

[riddleofthebelow]

“To atone. To start making things right. To help one’s world - or one’s newly adopted home - instead of hurting it. It’s a damned difficult journey. Which is why... again, I don’t see how my aid could even be applied in his situation, because it sounds to me like he tried to make things right and helped instead of hurt in the first place.”

[lightamidchaos]

It is instantly clear to him why Wei Ying had told Tom that he did not wish to discuss his past further.

"There is nothing for which Wei Ying needs to atone."

The frost is back in his voice, now as sharp as the icy steel of Bichen's blade.

"He walks a different path from traditional cultivation, but he is not evil, despite the unconventional power he wields."

Lan Wangji looks him right in the eye.

"Do not press him on this, Tom-qianbei. You have shown great courtesy by opening your house. I will tell you what you need to know to be certain of your decision. But do not hound him further."

[riddleofthebelow]

His expression closes off and he draws back slightly, sitting up straighter. He meets Lan Wangji’s determined stare with ease, no color rising to his cheeks.

“This is exactly why I asked you for clarification,” he says in a clipped, much more formal tone.

“If I offended you with assumptions that I have attempted my best to clarify, I will ask for forgiveness, and I certainly won’t hound him further. But I will not - I will never - apologize for trying to help someone in the same ways others helped me.”

[lightamidchaos]

"Others have."

Steady and level, but the coldness to his words has receded at Tom's response.

"Pursued him. To his death, and beyond. Even here."

A beat of silence falls between them.

"You have not offended me. I wish to protect him in this, as I failed to do so before. He died for my failure, Tom-qianbei."

[riddleofthebelow]

Tom considers this information a moment before he speaks again, his voice gentle.

"Now I understand this particular situation in much better depth. I also understand the need to protect, especially when one has failed to do so before."

The summer he helped save the universe but then returned, sick and unhinged by that dreadful black sphere in the cavern, to find Door missing, kidnapped... His story had a happy ending. He doesn't like to think about what would have happened had it not.

[lightamidchaos]

He nods, and tries to decide what to say, how much to say, to explain as he has promised.

It is important, for Wei Ying loves the work that Tom has given him access to, loves the challenge of it, and has delighted in telling him of the House of Arch, of London Below and Above. He does not want to see him lose any of it, and fears that he would swallow his own pain and endure with a smile rather than risk upsetting or offending Tom.

“Wei Ying is brilliant,” he starts, simply. “This you know.”

“What you may not know is that he invented the practices of the - the ghost path, that he follows. It had not been done before. Even the most respected teacher of my own sect had never heard of such a way.”

And had thrown books at Wei Ying’s head for even suggesting it.

“During the war - the Sunshot Campaign - he created a spiritual tool of such power that he was able to seize control of an army of fierce corpses from the enemy and destroy them. Thousands died in that battle, but all would have died and all been lost, were it not for Wei Ying. But after that...”

He shakes his head, struggling for the right words.