[ Dainsleif may not have much more to ask, but that certainly doesn't hold true for himself. All his life he's had more questions than answers, a child left forever wondering why he'd been left behind, what his true purpose is, what his homeland is even planning - and somehow, whether a miracle or a curse, an opportunity to find out has finally been presented to him. ]
Is it? You're an easily satisfied man, then.
[ He bites back the retort on the tip of his tongue - 'you aren't even a little curious about how I'm alive?'. Keep it easy for now, he tells himself, there's still time to slowly pry out information in the future. He's played this game enough to know a light touch can often be far more effective than a heavy one, and that the greatest mistake he could make would be to demand too much that he loses more than he gains.
Even so...it's hard to control his own burning curiosity, considering what Dainsleif says next. His eyebrows drift up as he puts a hand to his chin, looking perplexed for once. ]
...I do. But answer me this first before I tell you - do you suspect your memory loss to be an effect from this town, or from the curse?
[ If Dainsleif has been more affected by the corruption than he appears...well, that would change quite a few things about where his sanity is at. ]
Hah, I wouldn't say that. But, I suppose it may seem like the case for the moment.
[ Dainsleif likes to imagine it is a matter that he's more inclined and better served at obtaining his information one small step at a time, even though when he takes action, it isn't with the idea to claim little. Wandering five hundred years to gather intel, however scarce or elusive, has made it more or less how he approaches certain situations. Including this one. Whatever answers he seeks, including Kaeya's own, he will have at the right time...though perhaps there is a part of him that believes he is giving him a bit of reprieve by his own approach.
Though, he would not exactly consider his efforts to be light-handed. Otherwise, perhaps he too may have been able to intermingle with society.
...Or not. The taint of the Abyssal curse still firmly sticks to him to make that a problem, nevermind the immortality issue. ]
I suspect this is from the town. Though many years have passed since the Cataclysm, I recall many things. But I digress...I do recall discussing the homeland on a very recent meeting with the Traveler in the Chasm, though there are holes in my memory when I believe I have explicitly spoken the name. Perhaps one might attribute to the curse, but it is also incidentally the last place I recall being before I found myself suddenly here. So, I do not believe it to be a coincidence.
[ So are the deductions he has made regarding the issue of this memory. Even if, admittedly, his own initial meeting with Lumine and regarding another certain memory is less...clear cut for him. But, that is something Dainsleif isn't exactly keen to bring up at this time. ]
[ Well, he can certainly understand not wanting to bombard someone immediately for information - it's how he himself usually operates after all, and the fact that for once he's erred on the side of rashness really goes to show how shaken he's been by this whole revelation. Dainsleif's patience is a much-needed reminder to slow down and calm the pounding of blood in his veins; they have nothing but time in this town, time enough to reacquaint himself with a man he'd long thought dead with the rest and see whether his words can really be trusted.
As for the memory loss...the theory that it's likely the town's doing certainly does make more sense than the curse targeting one specific name. Though of course that raises some worrying questions of its own, but he has no reason to doubt Dainsleif's explanation on this when there's nothing else in his demeanor that suggests otherwise. ]
I see...I've noticed a few others missing memories as well, so it may be the town has affected us all in this manner. [ But that's a topic better suited for a larger group, and he has little interest in divulging the own gaps in his memories, so he'll quickly move on. ] The Chasm, hm? Ha, how funny...to think we could have run into each other there were it not for fate's little tricks.
[ That 'little trick' being something he deliberately set up so he could avoid going...but that's neither here or there. ]
....Khaenri'ah. That's what our homeland was once called. [ Even if he doesn't trust Dainsleif fully yet, he can give him this at the very least. A pittance of a payment for the struggles he must have faced in such a long, long lifetime. ]
[ Dainsleif wonders a little at that. Not because he doubts it, but because he is actually glad that they had not run into one another in the Chasm of all places. While he doesn't have any worries about Kaeya's combat ability due to hearing enough rumors while in Mondstadt, and knowing he possesses more than just swordplay, given the kind of machinations present in that area, it could've been troublesome for a first meeting. Better that it be somewhere that isn't hampered by things like, you know, irritating Abyss Heralds, Abyss Lectors, and their wretched henchmen.
Better it be on somewhere that is more neutral ground...like this. Even if this place still isn't exactly ideal in his mind for a reunion. But, maybe there is something to what Kaeya has said—fate oft has its plans. Though he would dare not subscribe to the thought he is constrained ultimately by such things. ]
"Khaenri'ah".
[ He repeats the name of the homeland. The fact remains that it is lost, and it will never be revived in the way that it once was. But, to lose the memory of the name of the place he had been born within and watched torn to pieces...it had not been insubstantial. Not when he is already afflicted with a curse and lost so much already.
Though, speaking of which, he lets out a small cough that managed to slip through. ]
I believe that should be enough for now. Unfortunately, I can't say that my journey with the Traveler through the Chasm hasn't been without peril. So, I must leave for now. If you have any further questions, we may talk later.
[ He turns away and begins to make his departure. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Is it? You're an easily satisfied man, then.
[ He bites back the retort on the tip of his tongue - 'you aren't even a little curious about how I'm alive?'. Keep it easy for now, he tells himself, there's still time to slowly pry out information in the future. He's played this game enough to know a light touch can often be far more effective than a heavy one, and that the greatest mistake he could make would be to demand too much that he loses more than he gains.
Even so...it's hard to control his own burning curiosity, considering what Dainsleif says next. His eyebrows drift up as he puts a hand to his chin, looking perplexed for once. ]
...I do. But answer me this first before I tell you - do you suspect your memory loss to be an effect from this town, or from the curse?
[ If Dainsleif has been more affected by the corruption than he appears...well, that would change quite a few things about where his sanity is at. ]
no subject
[ Dainsleif likes to imagine it is a matter that he's more inclined and better served at obtaining his information one small step at a time, even though when he takes action, it isn't with the idea to claim little. Wandering five hundred years to gather intel, however scarce or elusive, has made it more or less how he approaches certain situations. Including this one. Whatever answers he seeks, including Kaeya's own, he will have at the right time...though perhaps there is a part of him that believes he is giving him a bit of reprieve by his own approach.
Though, he would not exactly consider his efforts to be light-handed. Otherwise, perhaps he too may have been able to intermingle with society.
...Or not. The taint of the Abyssal curse still firmly sticks to him to make that a problem, nevermind the immortality issue. ]
I suspect this is from the town. Though many years have passed since the Cataclysm, I recall many things. But I digress...I do recall discussing the homeland on a very recent meeting with the Traveler in the Chasm, though there are holes in my memory when I believe I have explicitly spoken the name. Perhaps one might attribute to the curse, but it is also incidentally the last place I recall being before I found myself suddenly here. So, I do not believe it to be a coincidence.
[ So are the deductions he has made regarding the issue of this memory. Even if, admittedly, his own initial meeting with Lumine and regarding another certain memory is less...clear cut for him. But, that is something Dainsleif isn't exactly keen to bring up at this time. ]
no subject
As for the memory loss...the theory that it's likely the town's doing certainly does make more sense than the curse targeting one specific name. Though of course that raises some worrying questions of its own, but he has no reason to doubt Dainsleif's explanation on this when there's nothing else in his demeanor that suggests otherwise. ]
I see...I've noticed a few others missing memories as well, so it may be the town has affected us all in this manner. [ But that's a topic better suited for a larger group, and he has little interest in divulging the own gaps in his memories, so he'll quickly move on. ] The Chasm, hm? Ha, how funny...to think we could have run into each other there were it not for fate's little tricks.
[ That 'little trick' being something he deliberately set up so he could avoid going...but that's neither here or there. ]
....Khaenri'ah. That's what our homeland was once called. [ Even if he doesn't trust Dainsleif fully yet, he can give him this at the very least. A pittance of a payment for the struggles he must have faced in such a long, long lifetime. ]
no subject
[ Dainsleif wonders a little at that. Not because he doubts it, but because he is actually glad that they had not run into one another in the Chasm of all places. While he doesn't have any worries about Kaeya's combat ability due to hearing enough rumors while in Mondstadt, and knowing he possesses more than just swordplay, given the kind of machinations present in that area, it could've been troublesome for a first meeting. Better that it be somewhere that isn't hampered by things like, you know, irritating Abyss Heralds, Abyss Lectors, and their wretched henchmen.
Better it be on somewhere that is more neutral ground...like this. Even if this place still isn't exactly ideal in his mind for a reunion. But, maybe there is something to what Kaeya has said—fate oft has its plans. Though he would dare not subscribe to the thought he is constrained ultimately by such things. ]
"Khaenri'ah".
[ He repeats the name of the homeland. The fact remains that it is lost, and it will never be revived in the way that it once was. But, to lose the memory of the name of the place he had been born within and watched torn to pieces...it had not been insubstantial. Not when he is already afflicted with a curse and lost so much already.
Though, speaking of which, he lets out a small cough that managed to slip through. ]
I believe that should be enough for now. Unfortunately, I can't say that my journey with the Traveler through the Chasm hasn't been without peril. So, I must leave for now. If you have any further questions, we may talk later.
[ He turns away and begins to make his departure. ]