21 fact checking (Moore)

[Anastasia]

"I'm sorry," Sylvie says, "Run what you said by me again," she says as everyone splits up. "I can tell you that the valkyrie there wasn't lying from what I heard of her, but I missed most of this."

[Nephrite]

"Well, to make a long story short, she thinks entropy is corrupting Aurora." Moore says. "I don't doubt it's actually happening either and it seems like today was a victory for 27's boss." He says with a bit of a shrug. "I wanted to talk to you about it... and a few other things that I've had on my mind."

[Anastasia]

"Yeah," Sylvie says, starting to walk inside. "27's not evil for what it's worth and I've never felt evil from him."

[Nephrite]

"No, I don't think so either." Moore says. "Something struck me when they were talking -- that the original Medicant fell because of in-fighting. It...mm." He takes a breath. "I know 27 has a hangup about Tannin for some reason... I'm guessing you vetted him a long time ago, probably whenever that first came up?"

[Anastasia]

"Yeah," Sylvie leads you along, through the entry hall. She pauses a moment at the Medicant Golems, then shakes her head. "Always remember Lief when I go past these," she says to you, "Fuck entropy, but I haven't ever found anything besides 27 being loyal in his own way."

[Nephrite]

"I wonder if 27 would be willing to extrapolate more on that now." Moore says. "I... hm. Well, I was in Celestia and Lord Erathaol didn't give me any missive to stop 27 or any warnings about Ygorl. I think if we had some impending doom He would have warned me about it. I wonder if it's simply a play against the lawful nature of Hell... that really makes the most sense in the grander scheme of things."

[Anastasia]

"I don't know. 27 simply doesn't answer questions about himself. I've tried a few divinations, but they come back a garbled mess." Sylvie leads you to a portal, through and to the cafeteria. She grabs a table and sits, producing a roast chicken and sides.

[Nephrite]

"Hm. I might be able to finally speak a language he can understand, so we'll see if I can make any headway with him." Moore says with a nod. "But anyway, so, I have an odd question... well maybe not odd, exactly, but a curiosity. Let's say you handed me 21, would anything happen? Is it... mm... what's the right word... attuned to you?"

[Anastasia]

"I can," Sylvie says, "It's not a light burden. You have to face every truth about yourself that you hide with self delusions, lies or simply that you ignore. You have to account for every sin you've ever committed and face them head on.

Sylvie pauses to eat, doing so quickly. After several bites and a gulp of water, "Jaela held it before and her first words were that she was a shitty fucking celestial. It hurts. None of are meant to confront ourselves like that, all at once and without anything to protect us. It will change you."

[Nephrite]

Moore rubs his chin. "I..." He taps his chin afterwards.

"I'd like to try it sometime. I... think I can understand it now. Or, even if I can't, I think it'd give me wisdom and insight that I can't get anywhere else. It's strange to think about... but... mmm. I don't know how to put it into words. How did you manage to withstand it?"

[Anastasia]

"You'll regret it," Sylvie warns you, then goes back to her food.

[Nephrite]

"Do you regret even using it?" He asks.

[Anastasia]

"Yeah." Sylvie goes back to her food. She's quiet for a time, "The path that lead me to 21 isn't one I'd take again. I have power, more power than I could have dreamed of, but it's not worth it.  Oghma willing, it will be one day."

Sylvie pushes around her vegetables with her fork, half way through her meal and slowing down. "21 makes it hard to even make a lie by omission, or simply stop talking when you haven't said everything. I can usually do it these days, but even then it's an overwhelming pressure at times. 21 wasn't ever meant for mortal hands or immortal ones, but here I am, still bearing it. To the bitter end now."

[Nephrite]

Moore folds his arms. "Then why don't you return it?"

There's a beat and then he snaps his fingers. "No, I'm sorry -- I didn't even think about it, you probably can't help but answer when someone asks you a question like that, can you? That's really insensitive to ask given those circumstances. That's... a burden, I can imagine."

[Anastasia]

You get a rather deep scowl from Sylvie, she slowly exhales afterwards and puts her fork down. She sits back and says, "Some things I see with 21 are best kept to myself."