Mechanus Trip

[Anastasia]

Zariel's gaze is on you as she asks, "Then what of Celestia?"

[Ebiris]

"Chronias, which all seek to one day join with?" she muses aloud. "It's the commonality of purpose and desire - the promise of harmony so long as one keeps striving to reach it. You can break it down thematically that way. Pure law is perfect synchronisation. Everything in its place without having to think about it. Mix in evil and that synchronisation all spirals around a single individual's dominating will. Mix in good, and that synchronisation becomes the harmony of many individuals striving in concert."

[Anastasia]

"Individuals - worthless pawns and yet I can no longer believe that," Zariel says, closing her eyes, looking away. "I remember too much more. I want to be more again."

[Ebiris]

"Under that system you were but a worthless pawn of Asmodeus, as casually tossed aside as any lemure," Alicia nods. "Whatever glories or flattery he heaps on one, they will never be more than a pawn to him." She lifts up her hand, a piece of powdered elf-bread appearing in it as she has a bite and chews on the baked confection. "Mystra recently asked me where I see myself in a century's time. It's a useful thought exercise for considering one's goals and priorities. Where do you see yourself with the passing of a few decades and your freedom, Zariel?"

[Anastasia]

"...I don't know," Zariel replies slowly, eyes down cast. "Right now I'm not sure what I want."

[Ebiris]

"Mmm," Alicia hums, eating a bit more elf bread before she offers Zariel a square. "There's going back to the familiar past, or trying something new. Obviously Torm isn't relevant here, but before that? Did you follow an archangel, or one of the hebdomad?" she asks.

[Anastasia]

The square is taken, a bite and a grimace, "I've never liked overly sweet things," she says, putting it aside. "Too much sugar."

[Ebiris]

"You'd probably prefer the original recipe then," Alicia says apologetically, a twisted knot of more savoury bread appearing in her hand which she offers to Zariel by way of recompense.

[Anastasia]

A bite of it and then another, the two of you silent a short time. "Raziel in principle and theory, but in reality was a free agent. I didn't fit neatly with any of the Hebdomad."

[Ebiris]

"I'm fond of Raziel," Alicia says. "We're kindred spirits in many ways. So going back there is an option - there's nothing wrong with a retreat to familiar ground when you're unsure of yourself. But if you didn't fit in then, it's going to be less so now. So that leaves finding something new." She finishes her own imitation elf bread, dusting her fingers off afterwards.

"There's no rush of course. What's a few months or even years between immortals? Still, leave it long enough and that search for meaning becomes it's own meaning, and you'll end up a navel gazing philosopher more than anything else."

[Anastasia]

"I have an impression Antenora has tendencies towards that," Zariel remarks, as the bustle and hustle of the shop is resuming, people giving you a respectful berth.

[Ebiris]

"Her mind is sometimes a tangled web," Alicia confirms with a nod, herself and Zariel fading from the awareness of others in the bakery, not invisible just not so attention-getting. "She's very goal-oriented. Point her at a problem and she'll solve it expediently, leave her to her own devices and she meanders in her own thoughts. Marie serves well to keep her from getting too lost in it, and they enjoy spirited debates on the merits of law versus chaos."

[Anastasia]

"Antenora would be at home amid old sages endlessly arguing about the same pedantic concerns," Zariel says, giving you a look. "Tell me I'm wrong, you can't."

[Ebiris]

"You've already grasped her character most adroitly," Alicia says, hiding a smile. "Repeating the same well-trod arguments between Law and Chaos with Marie does seem to be one of her main joys in life."

[Anastasia]

"You see fond of it," Zariel remarks neutrally, no particular inflection to her voice at all.