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There are some moments in your life that will hang there, suspended in your mind. There are some moments in your life when the world seems to pause, hold still, tell you to wait and decide. And certainly, not every important moment is like this - for example, Scar’s decision to trade over a life to Grian way back when this all began was quick, stupid, and without thought. But time is a funny, fluid thing.
And there are moments in time when it runs like honey instead of sand.
This is one of them: Scar, standing in front of the gates to the Southlands, Grian telling him not to step off of the stone bricks. He’d stepped off of them earlier today. Frankly, it’s a miracle he’d survived it then. At the time, he’d been holding a lucky crystal, magical and impressive.
About ten minutes ago, he’d been talking to Bdubs and Etho about the fact that Etho looted his corpse after killing him, so. Standard practice in these parts, but Scar can’t help but be a little resentful. After all, Scar had just brought Etho’s friend back to life.
So, here he is. Standing on the stone bricks, knowing full well that if he steps forward, he’ll be back exactly where he started, except in shades of grey and red and anger. It wouldn’t be the first time; Grian will even be here to watch again! And to the same trap he dodged before, and knows he probably can’t dodge again? You can’t buy that kind of narrative symmetry, you know. You can’t script it. You just… stumble in it, while trying to rally your allies to steal what is yours back, and think:
May as well finish falling all the way, right?
Story’s not as good without an antagonist, and, well. There are five contracts in his pocket, but, funny, no friends on the mountain with him. He knows where the line in the sand’s been drawn, doesn’t he?
You do too, right?
Watch the magician’s magic trick: clumsy Scar misses the instructions being shouted at him and steps forward instead of back.
There are moments that just… hang there in time. Long enough to make sure your decision is deliberate. And this one - well. He hadn’t come here planning this.
But who is he to disagree with the narrative?
Besides, it’s not like he has any friends. What does he even have to lose? It’ll be more fun being alone this way than it was before. He’ll have that much. He’ll have that much as he burns. And oh, he burns, and he regrets, but the universe gave him his moment to make his decision, and there’s no turning back now.