The aquarium lights shimmered like crystals, casting patterns across Clad's face. Groups of fish drifted like silent spirits behind the glass, alive, yet untouchable. The blonde man stood beside him, hands behind his back, gaze calm, yet he appeared somewhat lifeless.
"...I think that...every life has value, even theirs," he replied
"Value?"
"To who?"
"To you? To them? Or to the god of death?" The man said as he turned his head slightly, blue eyes shining like a gem in the aquarium that was only lit by the water on their side.
"I think you're misunderstanding what I'm getting at. Life has value only while it is experienced. When you die, your world ends. Everything ends. Meaning, memory, consequence… gone."
A quiet tension settled between the two, like two guns drawn in a silent duel. Clad stepped closer to the glass, his reflection overlapping with the drifting fish.
"That's wrong," he said firmly.
"A life doesn't vanish just because the one who lived it is gone. It leaves marks. Scars. Memories in others. It makes Changes in the lives of others near them."
"And I've felt it firsthand."
The blonde man sighed softly.
"A comforting illusion. The dead don't feel those 'marks.' They don't witness your so-called meaning. To them… It's void." The man replied.
"Then it's not about them anymore. It's about everyone else. Every life touches another. That connection, that thing, whatever it is, is what gives it value."
The man's smile faded slightly, curiosity replacing amusement.
"So you believe life's worth is external?"
"I believe that no life is meaningless and that everyone has a greater purpose," Clad said as he looked at the man's eyes unwaveringly, making the man pause for a few seconds before answering.
"Hmm.."
A fish bumped gently against the glass between them as the blonde man thought.
"You don't even know who I am."
...
"You're right, I don't."
"....But it doesn't change the fact that everyone's life is valuable."
The area was silent; the two didn't even notice that Jill was watching as the blue-eyed man sighed, asking for the dryad's name.
"Im Clad."
"I am Alex Burati. I enjoyed our conversation, but I'll be taking my leave now." The man said as he walked through the aquarium's glass, vanishing as he went through.
!?
"Clad...who the hell was that?" Jill asked him.
"...I don't know, but he was pretty weird."