melodymania | Max Davis Voicemail

Thanks for calling. If you're reaching out to sell your soul, I'll already know and I'll be there soon. If you're calling to just talk, leave a message and I'll call you back when I can. Which will probably be soon. Talk to you then~

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Exactly. You can barter and haggle with me, essentially.

[Simple enough explanation of the finer points. Now Frieda goes into her request. Well over a million people. Some in a single country, some around the world. A very interesting and large request. He thinks for a moment, contemplating quietly as he sips his tea. They would need their own Arcadia, or something similar. They could help re-populate the world but he would need to ask questions about them. After all, he would rather not have them start a massive conflict in his world either.

In truth, there is enough conflict probably in the making anyway.

He does have that place open and empty since he cleansed it. That could fit those numbers quite easily. He could even redecorate for them. Could be nice to have a use for it again.]

Hmmm. It is a big request and would use a lot of resources for me. A few people who won't be missed is easy. I mean, in the grand scheme, not missed as in personally. Worlds have rules. All worlds do. Some people are major players, others minor, some don't even play the game, and then you have the puppeteers who play the game using the players.

I don't know the make up of your world, exactly. I would need some help getting that information. From you and possibly others from your world who might be here. But it isn't an impossible ask. I could do it. For the right price, of course.

Over a million people, saved from war, moved to a new plane of existence where they can exist in relative peace. If they start fights with one another, I can't stop them from doing that. I refuse to infringe upon Free Will.

Am I getting the gist of your request?

[And so, she realises that she does need to tell him about the ugly parts. It's only fair, really... if he's going to import one or several million people with the ability to turn into mindless monsters into one of his worlds, he deserves to know about that caveat, much as the citizens of the Walls are ignorant of their own nature.

She takes another sip of tea, then draws a deep breath.]

You have it right, yes. As for our world, it's entirely populated by humans - however, my race is distinct from the others in our ability to transform into giant monsters. We caused a lot of suffering under our rule, but a century ago, an emperor came to power who decided to put a stop to it all. He took most of his people to a remote island with him - that's my nation today. However, plenty were left behind to serve those we had previously subjugated.

[She restlessly turns her cup in her hand.]

I know from countrymen who came here from a timeline ahead of mine that our island will be attacked for its natural resources, among other things.

[The "other things" being her titan, above all else.]

Due to the isolation, along with many other measures implemented by the crown, the people there are completely unaware of there even being other humans left in the world... and those living abroad are resented for their nature and history. If they would be missed at all, then only as war machines.

[Getting to meet Reiner and Falco gave her sufficient insight into what happened in the outside world over the last 100 years.]

Hmm. Sounds like a complicated history. Very complicated. The Emperor's motives seemed rather kind on the surface but perhaps lacked vision. Then again, no one can really predict the future. Especially when we talk in terms of longer spans of time. Such as a full century. A lot can change in one hundred years.

[Max finishes his tea and hums. He sets the cup down. He leans back and laces his fingers together in thought.]

I also mean missed in the sense of the world and its rules. Different worlds have different people. Some are important. Entire histories of the world can be changed if they are removed from the world. In some extreme circumstances, some worlds will cease to exist if you remember a certain player from the world. There can be extreme consequences.

Consequences you and your people would not be aware of once I remove you all. You seem like a person who would want to know because you care about people. Am I wrong?

[Again, Frieda nods. Her ancestor - demoted to "mere" king status in his new land, and undercover at that - did mean well in abolishing his empire, but numerous side effects resulted, such as the role reversal on the continent that in turn made the continental Eldians resent the ones on the island. At what follows, her expression turns unsure.]

I agree that it would change the history of my world if my people were removed from it, but I can't help but see it as a change for the better - a way to avoid suffering, for both sides. However, I am far from omniscient, so if you have that kind of insight, I'll defer to you.

[Those who know about the Founding Titan and its considerable powers deem its holder akin to a deity, but Frieda never felt that way. If anything, she's felt like a helpless pawn ever since she inherited it. But that's why she's here - to hopefully find a way out of having to choose between two atrocities.]

[Max adjust his sunglasses again and nods.]

Alright. Well for now, I don't know. Your world isn't one of mine so the history of your world is a mystery to me. But if you would indulge me in a little memory sharing, I could try to map out your world's rules. The more people from your world that do it, the more information i will have to help determine the possible consequences.

If not, we both won't know and likely won't be the wiser for it anyway. And those consequences could all be positive, like you said.

How as for price, your soul is always on the table. Or we can discuss alternative payments for this deal. I have an empty world I could move them all too. Full disclosre, it is Hell. But I've emptied it out of all the demons. I was planning some further renovations anyway so it isn't all bad. It has running water and isn't just a disgusting hellscape. Your people could build the world they want from the rich soil of Hell.

We can even change the name since it doesn't belong to the demons anymore. Arcadia is a good name for it. Yeah. Arcadia, formly known as Hell.

[The revelation of the Eldians' potential new world's nature makes apprehension show on Frieda's face. Is she really going to send her people to Hell..? It's ironically fitting - in a way, she could even argue that she's adhering to her ancestor's vow of atonement by doing so, if only metaphorically.

She could offer a decently valuable memory share between the two of them for a start, harbouring memories of all her predecessors spanning 2,000 years - but something else gives her pause first.]

Where did you put the demons? Is Hell not where they belong?

[Max grins at the question and his green eye grows brighter, almost like a green light for a second.]

I ate them all. They did belong in Hell but they weren't good creatures. They were being of pure sin and evil. Control, corruption, and vileness. I was their King for a time. I brought them back into existence and I removed them from existence once again.

They weren't needed anymore.

You ate them?!

[Clearly, she didn't expect that! Moreover, he recreated them in the first place (which makes her wonder who their initial creator was... but that has to take a backseat for now)?

Granted, Evangeline did say that he rules over (and potentially created) several worlds, so him likewise ruling over the beings populating them adds up. She just didn't anticipate him destroying with the same ease as he (re)creates, and it gives her second thoughts about her endeavour... but then, being eaten would be a just fate for her people who terrorised their world in the same manner, wouldn't it? (Of course, that's her vow-induced fatalism speaking once again. She is here trying to save them - all the more since the Eldians of the Walls had no part in their ancestral empire's tyranny -, and Max did mention the option of guaranteed safety for them.)]

I'm sorry if this is rude, but did they not serve a purpose? Before, you spoke of the rules that govern all worlds... or is this a case of it needing a complete do-over?

[She really can't think of a better formulation!]

Yep.

[He answers so casually to her alarmed question. He smiles though, genuine and happy, at her next question.]

Very good question. And it isn't rude at all. You spotted a seeming contradiction and want to know what is going on there. I like that.

In truth, there are two flavors of Demons in my world. Well, were. Originally the Abyssal Demons, the ones I ruled over in Hell, are creatures of temptation, evil, sin, and truly vile creatures. They possess, kill, maim, eat, and commit all sorts of other heinous acts.

Then you have Demons who are fallen Angles, old servants of a being called the God Machine. This gets confusing so feel free to ask me any clarifying questions.

My world has been reset a number of times by the God Machine. It reboots the world, like editing a story. Changes things. It deleted the old Demons and in their place came its servants that rebelled. An unplanned consequence of its meddling. Well, I found the old pages, let's say. The pages of story that had these old Demons in them.

So when the world was again edited and reset, I brought them back with me as their King. I tried to curb their monstrousness and tried to see if they could be maybe no redeemed but tamed. I was wrong. But I needed their dimension as part of my Arcadia so it worked out. When they proved no longer necessary, I ate them all.

It's what I do to the beings who use their powers in ways I don't approve of. I find them unworthy of said powers. So I eat them and gain the powers for myself. And I use them as they should be used.

You follow?

Edited Date: 2024-11-06 11:47 pm (UTC)

[His continuous calm friendliness and willingness to explain do put her at ease, surreal as the situation feels. She listens attentively as he explains, and when he distinguishes the different types of demons, she nods animatedly - Lucifer and Charlie must fall into the second category (if the same rules apply in their home universe, that is)!

As for the rest...]

I think I understand, for the most part. I just worry that you may find my people unworthy too, much as their powers are a curse to them. In the past, we were not all that unlike in behaviour to those Abyssal Demons, shameful as it is to admit. But... at the core, we're still humans. We have capacity for both good and evil.

[However, even if Max is willing to give them a chance:]

What is your relationship with the God Machine?

[Who of them was there first? Are they in a power struggle, or do they coexist as part of the same balance?]

All humans can do amazing good and amazing evil. They are still human and humans I give the benefit of Free Will. Like I said, I don't interfere with Free Will. Your people would be able to make their new world whatever they wanted it to be. A paradise, an eternal hell, or something in between.

[He chuckles.]

Those are some spoilers but I suppose I can tell you. The God Machine and I were enemies at one point. And now it's world is mine.

And it, well, what's left of it, is a monument to the past and a throne for someone I don't like very much.

[She feels like there's much more to the story, and while she'll let him keep most of the "spoilers" to himself, she does try to pry for at least some more information. After all, her people's fate is concerned, and if their new world has already changed hands once, who's to say it couldn't happen again?]

Why do you allow someone you don't like to have a throne in your world?

Because him sitting on it helps me, in the long term. Most of the Demons that remain look up to him, since he was the first of their kind. Destroying him would have turned them all against me.

So I gave him a throne he can't ever get off of.

[She struggles to hide how aghast she is at that revelation. First he ate "his" demons because he had no further use for them, then he confined the first demon to an eternity on his throne, apparently without any means to call for help... just what a devious person is he?!

Granted, she's learned that fae have a different set of morals than humans do, yet she can't help but feel increasingly ill at ease. Who's to say that there won't be caveats to the great favour he may do for her people - besides the ones he openly stated, that is?]

I see. That certainly was the wiser path to take, then.

[She can say that in earnest, even though it was cruel and unusual - and how much sympathy should she afford those various demons in the first place? Even in her world, demons are reviled (and her people are, for good reason, called 'devils' - practically synonymous ~~since this isn't D&D~~.)]

...

Would you like to see my memories, for a start? I'm not sure how you'll be able to go about it, but I happen to harbour around two millennia's worth - only of my own bloodline, however.

[While said memories do cover many titan wars and related atrocities, they're largely seen from the self-righteous inflictors' point of view - at least up until Emperor/King Karl Fritz, who introduced the drastic turning point she described earlier.]

[The fun and confusing part of his world now is the double demons. In truth, he bound his world's version of Lucifer to the throne. Who was not an abyssal demon at all. Still, it gets confusing and that kind of mix up is expected. Not that Max knows of the internal mix up. Something to be corrected later.]

That was my thought when I did it. [He nods and leans forward.]

We can if you want. Before we start, since it can be an intense experience, what is your favorite comfort food and drink?

[Since he specified that the remaining - hence, non-abyssal - demons are the ones who respect the first of their kind, she actually did get in straight in her head! She's just aghast regardless because he seems to enjoy playing high-stakes games with every faction named so far - but again, she's unsure inhowfar either demon type really deserves her sympathy.

At his question, she's once more thrown off.]

My favourite..?

[She's about to say that she doesn't require any comforts, feeling too nervous to eat and drink any more, but thinks twice - if he offers it, it's probably because he knows what he's doing.]

Well, I like plum cake and soda.

[Any kind of soda. They don't have it where she's from, but she's come to love it in Ellipsa!]

[Ah. She was perfectly in sync then. Most people here have gotten confused with less information. Still, Max grins and snaps his fingers. Plum cake and an arrangement of sodas appears on the table.]

Here we go. For after. Since to do this, you'll be re-experiencing the memories as we go through them. I might have a question or two as we go. So we'll be able to walk around the memory and chat. It might be a bit much. If it gets too much, just let me know. Okay?

Okay.

[Whether he does anything specific to initiate the memory share (she won't object), or they just take form around them at her confirmation, it starts off with a flurry of violence. The many memories Frieda holds are hard to access at will and with precision - for her, at least; perhaps Max has means to do so -, so they end up with scenes through the ages of mankind.

There's no shortage of atrocities: Villages are pillaged, cities and castles besieged, soldiers clash in bloody battles, civilian captives are mistreated in any way imaginable - and mixed into it all are the titans, enormous mishapen humanoid figures that, unleashed onto battlefields and civilian infrastructure alike, devour their terrified victims alive.

Interspersed in brief flashes, however, are moments of kindness: A family of slaves, dismal as their surroundings are, comforting each other, children laughing as they play in a sunny field, a man reassuring a woman of visibly lower standing that the clay mug she broke by accident wasn't that important, a mother cradling her baby.

Whether Max can tell or not, Frieda's viewpoint is always that of the highest-ranking person present - she likely stands right behind or even "inside" them each time as the scenes change rapidly, if they're not replaced by her altogether -, and she's struggling to hold on to her identity. After all, as she relives the inherited memories, she can feel the emotions of each of her predecessors, and most of them were anything but philantrophically inclined.]

[Max pulls out his guitar to start from nowhere. Then he starts to strum a soft simple melody. The memories play out around them as he plays. The music fades into the background of all of the noises and emotions they see. The violence, the screaming, the pain, the suffering, the small reprieves of happiness, of hope, followed by more violence.

He keeps playing, hoping the soft music in the background of it all can help Frieda ground herself as they move through perspectives and ancestors, all of them consolidating power and resources.]

The power often feel inclined to take from the weak. This is a truth across the multiverse. Predators living among humans, sometimes hidden, sometimes overt, and always hunting. This doesn't absolve the crimes, but it explains them. Forgiveness is another matter entirely. One that perhaps will never be reached.

Your people, the large ones, why do they eat people? Do you know why? Do you have that memory?

[Max truly mystifies Frieda, what with his evident love of music finding space to express itself even in scenes like these. It's his question, more than anything else, that allows her to keep a handle of herself, but she shakes her head in response.]

It's our curse. Once an Eldian is turned into a titan, they become a mindless devourer of humans. It's the titans' only instinct. They leave animals alone and only go after human beings. It's been like that ever since the beginning.

[The memories of the first ever titan, the near-mystical Ymir, and her immediate successors have eluded her thus far... but she remembers something that Eren told her, ever so willing to share important information with her despite their opposition of each other.]

My... my successor told me that the first person to ever attain the power of the titans still exists on a metaphysical level and hold the keys to all of this, but she's out of reach for us.

[The music continues to play as the scenes around them slow down to more of a crawl. Max looks around in the memory for a moment before they start to rewind around them, all playing in reverse.]

Interesting. So the initial titan exists as part of the power itself, perhaps? Or connects in some way through each who holds the power you and your successor inherited. Hmmm. Part of their soul, perhaps. Or just consciousness. Interesting.

For the sake of your grey matter and psyche, we won't go knocking through memories to find her. If she is out of reach, perhaps that is for the best. Still, interesting. Animals they leave alone. What about fellow Titans?

[She nods, feeling that his theory is as good as it gets. The connection between the generations of titan shifters and indeed all Eldians is hard to understand even for her and Eren who've seen the Coordinate, that impossible tree of light.]

Fellow titans are left alone as well... unless the Founding Titan were to command otherwise. That initial titan is different from the others. It has the power to control not only the "pure" titans, but even the people in their regular state - to alter their memories and even their physiology, or to compel them into action against their will.

[She feels self-conscious, having to explain something so convoluted and increasingly absurd, but she's all the more grateful for Max' patience and the apparent ease with which he absorbs the information.]

Someone suggested that I try using that power to undo the curse altogether, but even if I were to succeed, the world wouldn't forgive my people. We may not deserve forgiveness, but...

[Her hands clench into fists at her sides.]

If there's a way to save everyone - the rest of the world from the titans, and my people from the world's hate -, I want to pursue it.

If that is the case then, perhaps the space I have to offer will work for you and your people in the long term. After I fix it up to make it more appealing, I can move you and the Titans to it. In exchange, should I require assistance with an enemy, I would like to be able to request the assistance of you and your Titans.

How do those terms sound as a starting place?

Your terms sound fair, but...

[She hesitates, but then continues honestly. Max hasn't been offended at anything so far, so surely, he won't balk at this either.]

You've seen what suffering the titans caused. While I understand how they might be useful to you, I'd prefer to try and do away with this curse - or, should that prove impossible, at least allow my people to live without being transformed into such terrible monsters.

...

In that case, I suppose I could surrender those already turned into titans, but...

[Once again, she struggles. Isn't that a cruel suggestion? Those who were turned into titans, unaging and undying over the course of generations, are still her subjects. To make them the payment for the other Eldians' freedom is certainly an injustice.

But wasn't it an injustice to leave part of their people behind on the continent to serve their former victims? Wasn't it an injustice to rob those her ancestor took with him of their memories of the world? Perhaps, there'll never be a perfect solution. She won't be able to save everyone, no matter what - generations are already lost to the circle of life and death, never having learned of the truth. And if she wants such a big favour granted, there needs to be a price to pay.]

[Max keeps strumming the guitar as Frieda speaks. That is a big ask and he can tell she knows it. She understands how big it is, though, that is a lot of effort to do either of those things.]

You want to save as many of them as possible. A kind act. Though an ambitious one. To remove their curse entirely would mean to change them all into humans. Remove that which turned them into Titans in the first place. Which would mean delving into you, your ancestors, and forcing our way to the origin. To find where it all began and cut the strings.

Then, once that's done, I could use my abilities to manipulate you and your people. Turn you all human. No more Titan transformations. Revert all stuck as Titans beck into human form. Then relocate all of your people to a new world.

Is that the entire sum of your request?