[open] she sells sea shells

Well, there it is. If Arialla's guest wasn't willing to politely ignore her reaction, then Arialla felt justified in making an issue of it. With a bitter smile, she said, "I'm not very favorably inclined to the Voice, since she snatched me here out of my perfectly happy life, taking me from my family and home."

Arialla's eyes narrowed. "I don't believe I learned yours either. I'm Arialla."

Osozo cocked their head, confusion spreading over their face at the bitter words, the smile that wasn't really that. "Why are you choosing to see your situation as a punishment? She brought you here because she saw a greatness in you." It seemed like an honour to them, and a great one at that. "You were chosen, out of anyone else in a million different worlds." "Arialla." The name is repeated, rolled around Osozo's mouth. "It's lovely. I am Osozo." osozo Electrifying mine chambers wholly scorching out thine sovereignty

"I didn't want to be 'chosen for greatness,'" Arialla said, anger in her voice -- not so much at Osozo themself as at the Voice. "I had a home. I had a life. And now I'm what? A vagrant in a strange land? Why should I thank the Voice any more than I would an ordinary kidnapper?"

She paused, trying to calm herself and find an argument that Osozo might understand. "Do you have a family? Outside of the Voice?"

Another pause; the compliment threw Arialla off-balance. There was still bitterness in her voice even as she said, "Thank you. Osozo ... it suits you."

She meant it, and not as an insult. Something in the sibilant sounds seemed to describe their namesake's strangeness, their unique appearance and manner. It was a good name for them.

"That is one of the signs of the great though, isn't it? They never want to be chosen." Osozo argued back, still seeming utterly unbothered by her anger. "You don't have to thank her, but she doesn't deserve your vitriol either." There was a hum as the Demi-god considered her next question. "My family is the ascended's, the Voice." It was said almost apologetically, like they already knew her argument had been ruined by the statement. Her approval of their name drew a wide, bright grin from Osozo. "Thank you." A pink began to invade their eyes, something conspiratorial in them now. "I chose it myself." osozo Electrifying mine chambers wholly scorching out thine sovereignty

"And, what, those objections don't matter?" Arialla shook her head. The idea that heroes had little control over their own destinies wasn't foreign to her -- it had just never applied to her before. She definitely wasn't a hero. Her voice turned bitter and sarcastic. "I'm so glad you've given me leave not to thank her."

All right, that was just petty, which was not where she'd wanted to go with this ... She tried to calm herself, sighing. "Somehow I imagined you'd say that. But still -- imagine one day you were ripped away from all of them, Ascended, Voice, everything you'd ever known. Wouldn't you be a bit upset?"

Her voice just sounded tired and sad as she added, "Me too, actually."

"I never said they didn't matter." Honestly, they may as well not matter though, with the deed already done, the priestess already in Caido. Nothing would change that. "I don't think you should abhor her either though." The hypothetical proposed to them has Osozo pause in thought, though they are possibly the worst person to pose it to. They haven't been in the world long enough to forge any lasting connections, anything beyond the closeness of obligation. "I suppose... I might feel lost, but I would recover. And they would never know the difference!" Perhaps that is the more soothing part, than anything else. The news that they are not the only one to have chosen their name sparks a sense of quiet kinship in Osozo, their hands coming together in a short, quiet clap of excitement. osozo Electrifying mine chambers wholly scorching out thine sovereignty

Arialla
"So I've been told." Arialla sighed, her anger dying down to ashy sorrow. "Telling me I shouldn't won't stop me, though. I can't just choose not to be angry."

Arialla blinked, taken aback. "The Voice wouldn't even notice if you vanished? That's so ..."

Sad, she had been about to say. If the Voice was the closest thing Osozo had to family, and she wouldn't care about their disappearance ... Well, she was a god -- Arialla didn't expect her own god to notice her disappearance -- but still. No wonder Osozo couldn't relate to Arialla's grief, if their own relationships were so distant. And they didn't even seem to know what they were missing. Arialla found herself frowning deeply in a sort of sympathy and pity. All she could say was, "I think someday you'll find someone who you don't want to be parted from. I hope you'll understand someday."

Though Arialla did have to smile at Osozo's little clap of delight. For all their strangeness, there was an innocence about them -- unworldly was the best word, she decided. She couldn't quite dislike them, even for their theological differences.

please don't take my sunshine away

coding base by Skylark

"Well... perhaps when it's had the time to fade, you can speak with her." The suggestion was gentle, Osozo smoothing down the front of their dress while they spoke. "Mother is open to questions, she wants to answer questions. To support the people she's brought here." Osozo cocked their head, not sure what it was they'd said to have gotten the reaction they did from Arialla. "Well, of course she wouldn't. There would still be... a version of me here. Just as there's still a version of you where you came from." What was there to miss when there was still someone there, filling that space? Still, it wasn't quite the same thing, it didn't address the feelings of the displaced. Couldn't address them, when Osozo themself didn't understand yet. So they stayed silent in response, arms moving to fold behind their back, mulling over the words. osozo Electrifying mine chambers wholly scorching out thine sovereignty

Arialla
The idea of speaking to the Voice had never really occurred to Arialla, with her hurt and anger so fresh. She paused to consider it a moment and found that she rather liked it. A chance to demand answers from the goddess who had dragged her from her life, to confront her with her actions ... It probably wasn't a good idea to yell at a goddess, nor could she really expect any remorse from one. But it would make her feel better, as long as she didn't get immediately smote. "Maybe I will speak with her someday."

Osozo's next statement made Arialla's heart quicken in confusion and something like panic. "What do you mean? There's still a version of me at home?"

No one had ever expressed that idea to her before.

please don't take my sunshine away

coding base by Skylark

Osozo watched, quietly delighted that their suggestion seemed to be being considered, though they didn't know the intention behind it, the plans to demand answers, to be bold and yelling. Though, perhaps even that would be worth something, if the Voice had a chance to offer her explanation. "I think that would be a good idea." "That's exactly what I mean!" Another small clap, the Demi-god pleased that the idea seemed to have been absorbed so quickly. "So, if I were to be taken somewhere else, no one would miss me. Just as there is no one missing you where you came from." This was a comforting idea to them, no thought given to where that left Arialla. osozo Electrifying mine chambers wholly scorching out thine sovereignty

Arialla
Arialla couldn't help letting out a little ironic chuckle. Angrily confronting a goddess was distinctly not a good idea, but sometimes you just had to do stupid things. And, well, if the Voice struck Arialla with lightning, at least she wouldn't feel homesick anymore.

"So my family doesn't miss me ... they don't even know I'm gone." Arialla looked down. She ought to feel relieved about that, she supposed, but it felt more like -- like she'd been replaced. And if she did get home, what then? She couldn't go back to her former life; there would be another Arialla already occupying that position. I really can't go back. She raised a hand to her face, trying to hold back tears. Maybe Osozo was wrong. Though if anyone knew about the mechanics of being snatched to Caido, it seemed like they would be the one.

please don't take my sunshine away

coding base by Skylark

"They have no idea at all." Osozo continued to confirm, the smile on their face only growing. They had a better hang of this than they'd thought, dealing with other people coming as naturally as anything else they'd tried so far. Then Arialla's hand came up, and Osozo actually took the time to look at her face, to pick apart the expression there. Something like horror, heartbreak. Something they didn't, couldn't understand. They stand, stock still, for a moment, a breath, flicking through everything they had been told upon being sent out into the world, every scrap bit of information the Voice had bestowed upon them. None of it was applicable to this. Instead, they reached out, hand stiff, to pat Arialla's cheek gently, some modicum of faux soothing. "It... doesn't have to be an upsetting thing. You can be... whatever you want here." osozo Electrifying mine chambers wholly scorching out thine sovereignty

Arialla
Arialla flinched away from Osozo's hand -- an instinctive reaction that she almost regretted when she realized it. She was hardly in a place to refuse any offer of comfort right now, however awkward. It took her a moment to swallow her incipient tears, a moment of blinking and looking down, covering her mouth. Finally she managed: "I already was what I wanted to be. Now I have nothing."

Not even hope. If Osozo was right -- Arialla could only pray that they were mistaken. She'd ask Safrin. She'd have to hang the remaining scraps of her hope on Safrin's guidance.

please don't take my sunshine away

coding base by Skylark

Their awkward putting continues through the flinch, Osozo far too focused on the tears, the pain on Ariallas face to be able to piece together what the motion meant. After a moment of the woman pulling herself together (Osozo might be trying but they know a doomed venture when they see it) she responds, and they do their best to seem focused on every word. ”Nothing is a terrible way to think about it.” Osozo says, their voice softer, a static buzz. ”You May have to do the work again, but this world is a blank canvas to make your mark upon.” It was a great attempt at being grand, dramatic, but the tone in their hair had faded to a dim mockery of its once garish brightness, betraying how much they were shaken by her emotions. osozo Electrifying mine chambers wholly scorching out thine sovereignty