[ It's a valid concern, and one that isn't so easy to answer. The sheer breadth of uncertainty bearing down on them is so overpowering that it can be paralytic to contemplate. Yuri has been forced to consider it more than once, though he knows it isn't productive when they lack the power to act upon it.
That influence on their minds was what made him reluctant to harmonize in the first place. If those powers — Zenith and Meridian — could read their true hearts at the onset, what else might they do? What power would they exert over them if they harmonized further? Surely, it had to be more than gaining a few spells, or Cyrus wouldn't deny basic information to those who didn't open themselves further to Meridian.
To be altered, to be changed in some fundamental way they couldn't know or decide for themselves, is daunting. ]
I can't deny it's possible... But I suspect if they could rob us of all recollection and deemed it the best way to use us, they'd do it from the very beginning.
[ Because why not brainwash the lot of them, if it was within their means and served their purposes? What are they to the people of this world, if not a means to an end. ]
But it's like you said— then we'd have no true motivation. Even if they spun up some story for us about who we are and why we're fighting, it wouldn't be the same.
[ The truth was always more potent than even the most beautiful lie. It wouldn't melt away under scrutiny and was far easier to maintain, and it was why the best lies were built upon truth. That would be a tall order to fill when the lot of them come from other worlds entirely, and doubly so for those like Liem who have no one from home here. ]
I may be wrong, but...they want us to win. Even forgetting my mother [ which frankly unnerves him to his core, but he's sure Shez knows that without him saying so because he was there— ] didn't mean I had no one left to fight for. That was a sadistic little test, but if it's pieces of us like that...we can still remind each other. Like you did for me.
[ They've got one another. No matter what the Harbinger Oracle might prioritize, that is an undeniable source of strength. ]
...Though if you go and forget me, I reserve the right to make up whatever I want and see how long you take to get skeptical.
[ He gently nudges Shez's side with his elbow to punctuate his jest. The truth is that they're powerless in many ways, but Yuri does believe it would be impractical to make them forget themselves at this juncture. Even if somehow they did, he wants to believe they'd find themselves again. ]
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That influence on their minds was what made him reluctant to harmonize in the first place. If those powers — Zenith and Meridian — could read their true hearts at the onset, what else might they do? What power would they exert over them if they harmonized further? Surely, it had to be more than gaining a few spells, or Cyrus wouldn't deny basic information to those who didn't open themselves further to Meridian.
To be altered, to be changed in some fundamental way they couldn't know or decide for themselves, is daunting. ]
I can't deny it's possible... But I suspect if they could rob us of all recollection and deemed it the best way to use us, they'd do it from the very beginning.
[ Because why not brainwash the lot of them, if it was within their means and served their purposes? What are they to the people of this world, if not a means to an end. ]
But it's like you said— then we'd have no true motivation. Even if they spun up some story for us about who we are and why we're fighting, it wouldn't be the same.
[ The truth was always more potent than even the most beautiful lie. It wouldn't melt away under scrutiny and was far easier to maintain, and it was why the best lies were built upon truth. That would be a tall order to fill when the lot of them come from other worlds entirely, and doubly so for those like Liem who have no one from home here. ]
I may be wrong, but...they want us to win. Even forgetting my mother [ which frankly unnerves him to his core, but he's sure Shez knows that without him saying so because he was there— ] didn't mean I had no one left to fight for. That was a sadistic little test, but if it's pieces of us like that...we can still remind each other. Like you did for me.
[ They've got one another. No matter what the Harbinger Oracle might prioritize, that is an undeniable source of strength. ]
...Though if you go and forget me, I reserve the right to make up whatever I want and see how long you take to get skeptical.
[ He gently nudges Shez's side with his elbow to punctuate his jest. The truth is that they're powerless in many ways, but Yuri does believe it would be impractical to make them forget themselves at this juncture. Even if somehow they did, he wants to believe they'd find themselves again. ]