[For Alcuin]This is purely for research purposes.

[abaisse_chef]

Enjolras approached the treehouse where he had awoken in monsieur Harkness' body with a fair level of trepidation. He was curious about the other man's alternate 'France', but he still wasn't entirely sure what spending a night learning about Alcuin's culture would entail. There were some lines he was not willing to cross, though he was trying to

Comments

[will_you_see]

Alcuin opened the door and smiled, gesturing for the other man to come in. "Good evening, Michel... or, my apologies, you prefer to be called Enjolras, do you not?"

He ushered him into his room. Alcuin was fully dressed, of course, but dressed well, and his room was neat, bed perfectly made. He wanted to make his guest feel as little discomfort as possible.

[abaisse_chef]

"Enjolras, oui," Enjolras confirmed as he followed Alcuin, glancing at the bed and then away, crossing his arms over his chest. "So how do you propose we begin this?"

[will_you_see]

Alcuin sighed. "This is not some horrible chore, my friend. Sit down. Make yourself comfortable. I will tell you about my home, if you like? Perhaps you will have questions."

[abaisse_chef]

It was not some horrible chore, but Enjolras was not here for pleasure, either. He looked around the room and then moved to the bed, sitting on the edge with a sigh. "All right. Tell me about Terre d'Ange. Tell me what my France is like in your world."

[will_you_see]

Alcuin climbed onto the bed and sat in the middle so that Enjolras would have to turn towards him.

"Are you a religious man?" he asked. "Because I think a great deal of it has to do with religion. I have read parts of the Christian Bible, and though the names are different, it seems that the point of discontinuity is that the man you call Jesus had a son."

[abaisse_chef]

"Non," Enjolras said flatly as he turned with some reluctance to face him, but his eyes widened at Alcuin's words despite his declamation. "Explain."

[will_you_see]

Alcuin nodded, figuring that he simply needed to start from the beginning. "Elua was conceived from the blood of the son of the One God, where a spear from a soldier of Tiberium pierced his side, and the tears of the Magdalene, in the womb of Mother Earth. While the One God mourned, Elua traveled, rejected and reviled by many, since he was not the True Son."

[abaisse_chef]

A bunch of religious nonsense, that was all Enjolras could think of as Alcuin spoke. He didn't bother to hide his skepticism though he continued to listen intently. What about this Elua of Alcuin's had led to such a different world than his own? Skeptical or not, Enjolras was still curious to understand this much at least.

[will_you_see]

Alcuin sensed the man's skepticism, but all he could do was continued the story. "With a group of angels sworn to protect him, Elua traveled for many years, until they finally came to a nameless country. They saw that the land that was fertile and beautiful and the people there welcomed them with open arms." He paused, and then recited the next bit from memory: "For many years they dwelled there and abided by blessed Elua's precept, 'Love as thou wilt.' And Elua and his Companions lay with women and with men, and many children were begotten, save only unto Cassiel, who kept the One God's commandments. But the other Companions did not, and those secrets which they had brought from Heaven, they did teach to their children, and they grew wise in many arts."

[abaisse_chef]

Religious nonsense used to justify a shameless pursuit of pleasure, even. Enjolras couldn't surpress a sigh of irritation at Alcuin's 'history lesson' thus far. The world he came from seemed to be antithetical to everything Enjolras held dear, save the shared language. The thought of such a place being an analog of his France was distasteful, to say the least.

"It does not sound like a place I would have enjoyed," he remarked quietly, a gross understatement.

[will_you_see]

"I might have guessed that," Alcuin said simply, trying not to be annoyed by the man's lack of open-mindedness. In any case, he decided to simply finish the story. "The One God was worried that Elua's offspring would overrun the earth. And so he offered Elua and his companions a sanctuary, the true Terre d'Ange that lay beyond mortal perception, and they went there and waited for all of their progeny to someday join them there after death. And so the Terre d'Ange on earth became a great country, where the inhabitants seemed to be blessed with exceptional beauty, and to this day they live by the one precept, love as thou wilt."

[abaisse_chef]

Enjolras closed his eyes, absorbing the story despite the absurdity of parts of it. "And are your people happy? Living in such a way? Tell me about the Terre d'Ange you knew, not the myth of its beginning."