Brucenorris007

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce had been doing well in his meditation, by his own estimation, right up until he found himself in an entirely new setting.

Blinking a few times after noticing that Alvios, Jenso, and Nexus were present, he entertained the idea that he had fallen asleep. Upon trying and failing to conjure himself any booze, however, he was disillusioned. And slightly disappointed, but he kept that to himself.

"I'm all for figuring out how to break free of these dimensional prisons." Bruce said, joining Jenso and Nexus.

"I suppose going over what he told us would be a start," Bruce said, rubbing his chin. He went over what he believed the key points of Nexus' story had been. "The one called Alexis, it seemed, inadvertently saved Nexus from death with her research into Arki. Somehow, that helped him live to see today."

Bruce tapped his nose, thinking further.

"The most direct information I got from him was about the natures of void energy and pure Ki. Namely, that they can give birth to meta energy, which allows the transcendence of natural physical laws. He was very urgent in his stress of how important taking caution in such an endeavor would be." Bruce sighed and sat down. "He failed to end the story properly, but the rest was essentially how he came to work with Yzeira. He more or less confirmed what Vale said about all the members of the Order being somehow connected to him."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce shrugged.

"There's no question about it- they will." Bruce said, flashing a smile at Nexus.

"I'm pretty comfortable here, though, so until they need me, they can take their time."

Bruce waved a hand at Nexus as he began to fade.

"Thank you for the advice and story, even if was unfinished. Now if you don't mind," Bruce said, his voice quieting as he closed his eyes. "I'm trying to meditate."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce nodded once Nexus was finished. He craned his neck back over the seat of the pew, his eyes lidded.

"Well, your 'Dad' is kinda intimidating, I'll say that." Bruce said, kicking his legs up and rolling sideways onto his feet.

"Still, regardless of whatever else he says, that doesn't make him right."

Bruce tapped his fingers against the back of the pew, humming idly for a moment before scanning his eyes along the floor, apparently looking for something.

"It's a sad story, Nexus. But I'll give you my honest opinion."

Bruce walked to a seemingly random part of the floor and dropped where he stood into a lotus position, laying the photographs in front of him.

"Whether it's part of whatever you can't say or not, I still haven't heard anything that sounds like an ending."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce felt a sting of sympathy for Nexus. Still, the point about rifts in reality and what Bruce had been literally shown didn't escape his notice.

"I'm guessing the story doesn't end there." It was a statement more than a question.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce listened through the explanation with rapt attention. When Nexus was finished, he turned to stare up the line of pews toward the podium. One hand slid into his robe, pulling out the photographs Shaidra had left behind.

When was the last time Bruce had allowed himself to simply be?

"I wouldn't say that. Jenso can be a force unto himself." Bruce said. "And a lot of stories have morals."

'Don't destroy the wall. Traverse it, until it's purpose has been rendered obsolete.' Bruce thought.

"Perhaps a first step would be no longer referring to the other side as Sakki. Just... Me." He murmured aloud.

Bruce lay his head back, rolling it one way, then the other.

"Any stories about what's going on outside of here?" Bruce asked, gesturing behind him toward where he'd entered. "I have a feeling that if you could give me hints about getting out of here, you'd have started with that."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce mused on that.
"I wouldn't call it nurturing," Bruce said, gesturing without much aim with one hand. "I think it's more just a consequence of all the repressed emotions I've recently," Bruce held up one hand in a fist, then threw it up and opened his palm to the ceiling. "Released."

He let his arms settle back on the pew. He refused to flinch under Nexus' scrutiny.

"I won't deny that, perhaps like Prisma, I'm interested in strength. But my reasons couldn't be more different." Bruce said evenly. He gaze ghosted through Nexus toward something that wasn't in the pocket dimension.

"My power is no longer my own- it belongs to my comrades, those gracious enough to call me their friend," Bruce said. "I don't seek simple sheer power. Not really. Right now, I only want to be able to offer up the strength I have in its purest form. No matter how much raw Ki I can muster, if using that Ki comes around to hurt them and their cause, there's no point in pursuing it. I'm not looking to enable the darker impulses of my newly liberated emotions for myself."

Bruce brought his eyes back from nowhere onto Nexus, making the intense sincerity clear in his expression.

"I aim to cleanse my soul of stains so that my companions can make my strength their own."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce nodded, having figured that being trapped by one member only to be freed by another would be too simple.

"Any recommendations on how I might enact my own escape?" Bruce asked.

"Or if not, how I could incorporate the... less amiable part of my psyche into my Ki and soul without letting the impulses run rampant?"

One question had nothing to do with the other as far as Bruce knew, and the former addressed a more immediate problem. Still, this was one of the apparently immortal Order members talking to him. Information was invaluable.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce sighed. Did all the Order have the ability to just switch off his abilities? Sakki had a few rude comments lined up for Nexus, but Bruce pushed them down. He had a vague recollection of Jenso indicating Nexus was somehow different from the rest of the Order.

Out of courtesy, Bruce joined Nexus on the pew, propping his feet up on the back of the pew in front of him. Maybe Nexus could answer Bruce's question about whether Sakki was a taint or a purification of his Ki.

"She did pretty well creating an atmosphere in here," Bruce said offhand. "Suits the quiet ones, I suppose."

Bruce shook his head, turning to face Nexus.

"So, what have you come here for?"

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce swiveled on his feet toward the source of the voice. Despite never seeing the owner before, Sakki's continued grumbling about not getting a fight told him he wasn't here to deal with him.

That didn't mean Bruce immediately trusted him enough to drop out of his Sage state.

"Process of elimination says you must be," Bruce said, running through the names of the Order members in his mind, recalling the only one he hadn't seen yet. "Nexus."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Sakki's mouth dropped a little.

"Her scent lingers."

Bruce kept one foot propped against the back of the pew in front of him. Reasoning that if Shaidra had wanted to strike him from behind, she would have pressed forward rather than jump back before disappearing, he folded his arms over his raised leg, staring at nothing. He didn't exactly have a lot of room to wander in, and basically everything was visible to him already.

'Tease,' Sakki hissed resentfully, restless and disquieted with no payoff. 'All of them, just a tease.'

Bruce ignored the darker impulses of his mind, leaping over the pews in front of him to land at the foot of the steps to the podium. With nothing else to do, he ascended, wishing Wild Card were present to theorize about escaping from lesser dimensions.