FOURTH REBELLION ❅ ACTION [LAKE OF RAGE] | FOURTH WALL

[glaciates]

[The very first thing Isaac did this morning was accidentally freeze his Surskit. He learned the hard way back home that getting a whole array tattooed on the palm of your hand was a stupid idea. He had gotten used to it though, and had worn gloves at all times. Besides, he used the gauntlet for the most part. It had worked well enough when he was constantly on the run. After taking the Surskit to the Pokémon Center, freaking out a bit, and apologizing to the Pokémon, he was finally able to reflect on just what had happened.]

[Why is he suddenly capable of freezing things again? He couldn't do it before. The tattoo was useless here. He didn't have to wear gloves, and he's just gotten used to not wearing them. The tattoo itself is pretty ragged - the ink hasn't fallen out yet, but that's just a matter of time. If he can use his alchemy again, he really should get the tattoo fixed.]

[So after herping at his hand for far longer than was really necessary, Isaac set out to test his alchemy on something. The Lake of Rage, to be specific. He's always liked water and for some reason he woke up here in Mahogany Town. That didn't bother him half as much as it probably should have.]

[If you happen to be in the area, you may notice that Isaac is doodling something near the edge of the lake. He has his Mamoswine out as well, but she isn't paying much attention to what he's doing. Isaac finally sits back on his heels and examines the drawing.]

Done. Let's see if this works.

[Isaac presses his hands to the array; blue light crackles around the array - it's a much weaker version of the one he attempted to use to freeze Central over. The lake begins to freeze slowly, gaining momentum as it spreads out across the lake. It's a weak cover - the Magikarp in the lake will be fine. Isaac smiles; he's glad he can still pull this off. Not that he has the Philosopher's Stone or any interest in freezing over an entire city, but the capability is back.]

[Needless to say, it feels good to be able to use his alchemy again.]

Comments

[bloodcrests]

Of course. You've come a long way since I've seen you last.

[glaciates]

I'm... not really sure how that's possible. I mean, I don't think I've changed any.

[Not since the incident in the prison, at any rate...]

[bloodcrests]

Since Ishval, then. Your confidence and willingness to stand up for yourself have improved exponentially; your alchemy is far more impressive as well, though that may just be because you actually have water to work with, here.

[...he smirks a bit after that's out there.]

And your hair looks much nicer grown out - you no longer look like a shaved cat.

[glaciates]

Hey, it's not my fault they thought it would be a good idea to send me to the desert.

[But he relaxes a bit after that.]

Thanks. I mean, if I hadn't changed at all in years that... would've been weird, I guess.

[...And that comment about his hair... Why are you so blunt...?]

Yeah, it's... better this way.

[orz orz orz]

[bloodcrests]

Very much so - I admit I hadn't expected you to grow it out quite that long, but it's a rather nice difference, I think.

[But now that the teasing is out of the way, he'll go back to addressing the reasonably important part of all that, all right?]

Don't mention it, Isaac. It's good to see you again.

[glaciates]

Yeah, I had it long before I enlisted. Not quite this long but...

[...orz pretty aptly sums this up.]

It's good to see you again too.

[And in some ways, it is! You're still just as bitty as he remembers! ...That's uh, not the point at all. But he's trying! You're bitty and cute and... not the version of Kimblee he's dating, but there's no sense dwelling on that!!]

[bloodcrests]

[Say any of that and he'll end you.]

Well, you certainly seem to have done well for yourself, failure at Central notwithstanding; I can certainly imagine worse possible afterlives.

[glaciates]

[Why do you think he's keeping quiet about it?]

It's a lot better than hell, that's for sure.

[That doesn't mean he thinks he deserves anything other than hell, but hey, it's a nice alternative for awhile. But eventually he'll leave this place like everyone else.]

[bloodcrests]

[Good boy! Good boy.

That said, however...]

I doubt you're destined for hell, Isaac - or at the very least, you're less destined for it than the rest of us.

[glaciates]

I killed a lot of innocent people, Kimblee. Everyone who was there during Ishval's going to hell too, yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm any less destined for it.

[bloodcrests]

And do you believe intent has nothing to do with it?

[glaciates]

"The ends justify the means" doesn't have any place in terms of who deserves to go to heaven or hell. Even if I had ultimately saved the country from becoming a Philosopher's Stone, I'd still go to hell for killing innocent people. There's no excusing or forgiving that.

[...you know, Isaac probably should have studied that little part on forgiveness a bit more.]

[bloodcrests]

[...Isaac...]

So you're saying redemption is completely impossible, regardless of what's done to atone?

[He has absolutely zero interest in seeking redemption for himself; it's simply asked through curiosity.]

[glaciates]

[Isaac tips his head a bit at that in thought.]

I'm not sure. I don't think it is. What I did wasn't in any sort of attempt to atone for past wrongs, though.

[bloodcrests]

Perhaps not, but you would think such things would balance out after a while.

[glaciates]

Balance out?

[...Oh god Kimblee. Normally Isaac doesn't get upset at something you've said. This just crosses the line way too many times.]

That's not how this works. There isn't some sort of quota you're supposed to meet in order to get into heaven. You can do all the good in the world and it won't "balance out" any evil you've done. That isn't how this works. This isn't Equivalent Exchange, Kimblee.

[bloodcrests]

Well, I have to admit that I don't see why not - Equivalent Exchange has been shown to have metaphysical as well as purely physical properties. The world has to remain in some sort of balance, otherwise alchemic rebounds wouldn't happen. Taking that into account, I don't see why balance wouldn't be a factor when it comes to whether redemption is a possibility or not.

Bear in mind that this has no relevance to me at all, as I personally don't believe myself to be redeemable, nor do I care to seek redemption in the first place. I'm just trying to understand your reasoning and frankly, I'm not following.

[glaciates]

[Well, it's good that you can admit you have no idea what he's talking about! It's equally good that you aren't seeking redemption. No offense, Kimblee, but you'll never get into heaven.]

Not everything follows Equivalent Exchange, Kimblee. This doesn't. If that was the case, then we could have serial killers getting into heaven just by doing a bunch of "good deeds" to balance out all the bad they've did. Yeah, it would be nice to know that you could get into heaven after doing something horrible, that's not how it works. I think it's possible for people who've done really minor things to be redeemed - like stealing and lying and all that - but for those of us who have killed? There's no redeeming that.

[bloodcrests]

[Well, according to Arakawa

Let's face it, he'd be bored as fuck in heaven anyway.]

Bluntly put, most who commit mass murders and crimes against humanity in general don't truly care about redemption in the first place. Any attempt they may be making to get into heaven is a fear of consequences, in which case no, it certainly wouldn't balance out because the intent or willingness to do evil remains. Self-centered attempts at redemption quite simply aren't attempts at redemption to begin with; they're an attempt to save oneself.

A case can be made, however, for the actions of those who were present in Ishval as being done under coercion - there was no malicious intent, simply survival instinct. It hardly seems logical to consider everyone that was present there to be on the same level of a mass murderer who kills for fun.

[NEVER MIND THE PART WHERE I AM A MASS MURDERER WHO KILLS FOR FUN. THAT ISN'T THE POINT HERE.]

[glaciates]

[KIMBLEE YOU'RE HORRIBLE.]

I never said we're on the same level. There are different levels of hell for people like that, after all.

[But he suspects that's not the point you were trying to make.]

Yeah, it wasn't something most of us would have done willingly, and yeah, it was for survival. But we had a choice to join the military. None of us were forced into that. We had plenty of chances to leave before the actual fighting began. None of us did. We had chances during the war to leave. And afterwards? It was too late. We'd already sealed our fates. There's nothing that can be done to change it.

[bloodcrests]

[...oh, Isaac. You've amused him far more than you should have with that, you know.]

I suppose it's good to know that you were paying attention when I was discussing this with Mustang.

[glaciates]

[Isaac's expression softens a bit at that. Did you really think he wasn't?]

Well, it was kind of hard to ignore.

[................]

That was a legendary bitching.

[bloodcrests]

[asjkdfhgfhjfgh how dare you make him laugh stop it]

It left that much of an impression?

[glaciates]

Yeah, it did. There were a lot less complaints after that, from what I remember.

[Unless they did it in private. They probably did it in private. orz]

[bloodcrests]

[Probably. But the point was that they weren't doing it in public!]

Their complaints were repulsive, bluntly put.