"Nice, no?" Odette asked as she turned to look at Ryuk, noting his stupefied expression.
"What did you just do?" he asked, his voice laced with disbelief.
She shrugged casually.
"Got myself a new place?"
"That... You threatened an old man and kicked him out of his own house!" he said, seemingly finally catching up with the state of things.
She nodded three times, not missing a beat, before asking,
"So?"
’What’s wrong with her?’ Ryuk thought, bizarrely staring at Odette, who didn’t seem to recognize that she had done something wrong.
"Are you okay, Ryuk? You look like you just saw a ghost," she added, amused by his paling face.
He eventually inhaled deeply and exhaled with a sharp sigh.
"We need to get out of here."
"Uh? Why?" Odette asked, puzzled.
"One: we don’t own this."
"You just snatched it from a poor old man because you have the power to do so."
"And what’s wrong with that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in mock innocence.
"Everything is wrong with that!" he snapped.
"And secondly, give it an hour, and this whole mansion will be surrounded."
"A man like that wouldn’t just give up his hard-earned mansion to a thief, or shrink back from a threat."
"Even worse, a mission to repossess this place might be posted on the Ammamora Loyalty Quest Board, and you’ll have Archguards flooding in to rip your head off."
"Hence," he added, climbing up the edge of the rooftop, "we need to leave."
But before he could jump down, her hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back up.
He found himself staring into her glowing purple eyes, now furrowed with a hint of thoughtfulness and suspicion.
"You’re not from Ammamora," she said with a certainty that surprised him.
Ryuk hesitated for a second but shrugged it off.
"Ok? So, what’s that got to do with us leaving?"
He said, yanking off his shoulder and preparing to jump again, only for her to grab him once more and drag him back.
"Listen to your first lesson, Ryuk," Odette said, turning his face towards the distant open road.
"Look at them," she said, pointing out the bustling crowd.
"Men. Women. Fallen Angels. Half-Angels. Lorax races. Idiono Beings."
"Different, aren’t they all?" she asked.
Ryuk hummed silently, even a bit surprised.
’How does she even know all of that? We’ve barely been here a few minutes,’ he wondered.
"Yes," he answered.
"You know the single thing that unites all of them?" she asked rhetorically, answering.
"Rules."
"They all follow rules."
"Huh?"
"They walk up to an Amun and pay for the ride. Live in a rented apartment, and go about their lives working under someone, maybe a boss, maybe a guildmaster."
"To them, they’re doing this because they have daughters, sons, family members they need to feed, or protect."
"It could also be that they’re simply trying to earn the approval of someone important to them,"
"These people, Ryuk... they form the basic foundation of a world’s structure."
"What most call the Honest Hierarchy."
"Whatever reasons they may have for living like this, there is one single important truth that cannot be denied," She said, turning to look back at him.
"And that is, they are all weak." She said, as a matter-of-factly.
"They live within the rules because the rules ’guide’ and ’protect’ them. So long as they obey and don’t transgress, they’re mostly safe," she explained.
Though Ryuk still didn’t fully grasp what she meant with such a sudden explanation.
"Has it ever occurred to you at all to ask who made these rules... and whether those people actually follow them?" she continued.
Ryuk shrugged off her hand, frowning as he replied,
"Yes, I have."
"They were made by the Angels who wanted order in Ammamora!"
"When there is order, there is peace, and hence prosperity, which is exactly why they must be followed."
"Maybe," Odette said with a deadpan expression as her eyes trailed back to the crowd.
"These weaklings didn’t make it, did they?" She asked with a grin that unsettled Ryuk.
"What are you even saying?"
"One Inevitable truth is that the rules are made by the strong."
"And only a foolish man will make something that binds himself."
"The Strong live in what is referred to as the True Hierarchy."
"The Honest Hierarchy is made up of pathetic beings who need rules and laws to protect them, because they can’t protect themselves."
"They’re all cripples, leaning on the law, and hence the strong, just to survive." She said, before turning back at him.
"So, there are two sides, Ryuk."
"The Honest Hierarchy... and the True Hierarchy."
"Any being is free to choose which one to live in."
"You," she continued, "seem to have chosen the Honest Hierarchy as your home."
"But I have chosen the True Hierarchy
She said it like a simple fact, but to Ryuk, it sounded completely ridiculous.
"Apart from the fact that you’re risking a lot and sure to get into big trouble," Ryuk said, bringing her back to reality.
"There’s nothing true about taking someone’s home by force."
"Tsk, please. You think a sly old man like that only has one mansion?" Odette asked with an eye roll.
But Ryuk wasn’t deterred.
"Even if he does own ten more—what about the guards? The workers? The chefs, the gardeners?"
"When you took over and kicked everyone out, they all lost their jobs and their income, which aided in their survival."
"You caused nothing but pain with your little power stunt, and you call that living in the ’True Hierarchy’?"
Odette hummed quietly, eyes narrowing slightly before she replied.
"You don’t understand."
"I do understand, Odette," Ryuk said sharply.
"You’re trying to say that with enough power, the world can be taken for yourself."
"You’re saying that if I’m strong enough, I can lay my eyes on a beautiful mansion and just take it—because no one can stop me."
"And that those with such power live in a different hierarchy."
"You’re saying strength is all that matters... and rules don’t apply to the strong, if anything made by them."
"Oh?" Odette raised an eyebrow at his summary. Truly, it was exactly what she’d been trying to say.
"And you know what?" Ryuk said after a moment, his voice quieter now.
"You’re actually right."
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A/N:
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In and Out_SnowySmoos