Soulhome

Last time, everything and everyone had been taken from him. This time, he was afraid that any connections were only potential weaknesses.

As he spun it, he reminded himself of who he was. A bitter old man who had been a fool as a child, spent miserable years seeking that lost youth, and had nearly lost his second chance pursuing that dream. His sun had collapsed, leaving nothing but a black hole that consumed everything...

Except it wasn't his previous life, just his past.

took a deep breath and tried to let go of his visions of himself as an invincible soulcrafter striding through the battlefield, shrugging off blows from all sides. His soul was cynical and brittle now... and extremely sharp.

This soulhome you described was designed for the soul of a young and hopeful man, one who thought of himself as a mighty warrior of divine justice. You, whatever else may be said of you, are not that young man. If you do not accept this, you will never be able to forge a true soulhome.

I have found their hospitality to be somewhat focused on their own comfort, less about the true ideal of generosity and more maintaining a view of the world that they find to be comfortable.

It was as if the failure in his soul had knocked his mind back as well, leaving him a bitter version of the person he'd been when he planned the blueprint long ago.

Rather than trying to draw her out, Theo remained silent. She had grown up in an extremely dangerous environment and was used to doing things she didn't want to do, it was just a matter of giving her time to adjust to the idea.

This is a work of raw beauty..." Nauda stared at it with undisguised awe. "I almost want to buy it just to have in my soulhome, even if it doesn't serve any purpose. Fiyu, isn't this beautiful?" "I am not sure." Fiyu hesitantly shifted her mask up slightly, revealing a glimpse of a silver eye before she winced and retreated back into her hood. "There are many colors, but..." "You don't need to agree with me, everyone finds different things beautiful." Turning away from the glass, Nauda regarded Fiyu thoughtfully. "Since you use senses other than your eyes, I suppose colors wouldn't be striking to you. And I suppose paintings would just be flat, and statues just shapes. But surely you must have a sense for beauty...

There was more to the city than he'd thought at first, especially once he got away from the circular communities mimicking villages. Young people joyriding the gondola lines, elders playing slow games of skill, an entire community brewing various kinds of sweet alcohol. He discovered more recreational drugs than he'd expected, but because this was Tatian, they seemed to have few negative consequences and leave people mostly happy and calm. Yet he couldn't bring himself to even consider participating in any of it, not for long. Even though he'd had forty years to come to terms with the death of his old friends, their ghosts returned to him. Brigana would have convinced him to take a break, Khaluu would have proven surprisingly knowledgeable about hallucinogens, and Eratius would have resisted at first but eventually joined them.