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When you have to go...
Mar. 26th, 2007 12:49 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
nadriel.livejournal.comEdward was in agony. He'd been through a lot of painful things in his life, but to feel the Etheric energy bleeding out of his pores, destroying his body as it went was a whole new level of pain.
But through the agony, he focussed on the others with him- he barely really knew them, but he could see them collapsing from the same energies that were tearing him apart. They couldn't last much longer. His mind went back to a question he'd asked his mentor so long ago now, "How do I know when I'm ready to be an actual Hero, rather than one in training?". Until now, he'd never understood the answer- "A Hero is not what you do, it's who you are."
He'd always thought it would involve the (quiet but prevelant) accolades of his peers and the people he'd helped, as he was acknowledged as a genuine bona fide hero. But it wasn't like that, not really. Somehow, he'd always known it, but that knowledge had been beyond his reach.
It wasn't a matter of how many people you helped. It wasn't a matter of the accolades you recieved. In the end, it came down to laying down your life for another. Not for millions, not for glory, not for fame, for a couple of people ... alone where no one will know or see.
And with that realisation, suddenly, it all became so simple. He was beyond science, beyond magic. This was his moment. He didn't know where the hat came from, but it was so very right as he adjusted it on his head.
The moments stretched out to infinity. He allowed himself some contemplation of what might have been, of what he might have achieved. But that was all past now. There was no time left for regrets.
His slashed with his rapier, piercing the barrier between space and realms with an ease even Zorro might have envied. Perhaps it was a coincidence that the rip took the form of a Z...
As he grabbed the other two, he could see the damage wrought by the energy they'd absorbed. Even if he carried them to safety, it would probably kill them. Once again, he delved into the wellspring of energy he was using. All the laws of science he'd learned, and even the rules of magic he'd heard said it was impossible to do what he did, but that didn't matter anymore- he was the Hero, and the Hero always saves those that need it. Their bodies restored themselves as they travelled through reality towards safety, even as Edward's unravelled.
By the time they reached safety, Edward was barely more than an outline, held together by his belief in the ideal that had defined his life.
But there was one thing left to do. As he faded from existence, he traced an elaborate salute in the air with his rapier and bowed, holding his final pose until there was nothing left save the portal he'd created, the hat that he'd worn, and the rapier, clattering uselessly on the floor....
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Henry David Thoreau
But through the agony, he focussed on the others with him- he barely really knew them, but he could see them collapsing from the same energies that were tearing him apart. They couldn't last much longer. His mind went back to a question he'd asked his mentor so long ago now, "How do I know when I'm ready to be an actual Hero, rather than one in training?". Until now, he'd never understood the answer- "A Hero is not what you do, it's who you are."
He'd always thought it would involve the (quiet but prevelant) accolades of his peers and the people he'd helped, as he was acknowledged as a genuine bona fide hero. But it wasn't like that, not really. Somehow, he'd always known it, but that knowledge had been beyond his reach.
It wasn't a matter of how many people you helped. It wasn't a matter of the accolades you recieved. In the end, it came down to laying down your life for another. Not for millions, not for glory, not for fame, for a couple of people ... alone where no one will know or see.
And with that realisation, suddenly, it all became so simple. He was beyond science, beyond magic. This was his moment. He didn't know where the hat came from, but it was so very right as he adjusted it on his head.
The moments stretched out to infinity. He allowed himself some contemplation of what might have been, of what he might have achieved. But that was all past now. There was no time left for regrets.
His slashed with his rapier, piercing the barrier between space and realms with an ease even Zorro might have envied. Perhaps it was a coincidence that the rip took the form of a Z...
As he grabbed the other two, he could see the damage wrought by the energy they'd absorbed. Even if he carried them to safety, it would probably kill them. Once again, he delved into the wellspring of energy he was using. All the laws of science he'd learned, and even the rules of magic he'd heard said it was impossible to do what he did, but that didn't matter anymore- he was the Hero, and the Hero always saves those that need it. Their bodies restored themselves as they travelled through reality towards safety, even as Edward's unravelled.
By the time they reached safety, Edward was barely more than an outline, held together by his belief in the ideal that had defined his life.
But there was one thing left to do. As he faded from existence, he traced an elaborate salute in the air with his rapier and bowed, holding his final pose until there was nothing left save the portal he'd created, the hat that he'd worn, and the rapier, clattering uselessly on the floor....
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Henry David Thoreau
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