[The next time Edelgard opens a door, she'll find herself stepping into a large, lavish office instead, with one wall entirely windowed and looking out into the sky. She'll have to get closer to see if there's anything else visible-- they look like they're pretty high up, right now.
Chuuya's seated in one of three plush chairs arranged before the window, half-turned to face the door, one leg crossed over the other.]
I want to be told what you're up to. I don't want to barter information, or beg for scraps. I told you I would put my faith in you, provided you demonstrated you were worthy of it, and I am still waiting.
I'm restricted in what I can do with this 'host' gig, all right? The deals are part of the rules I'm stuck with-- you guys have things you're required to do, and so do I. It'll come out as fucking static if I just try to tell you guys things without working within those guidelines.
[He doesn't entirely sound annoyed-- there's some frustration in there, yes-- but largely he sounds on edge and a little tired. It's been A Day.]
What I'm up to right now is trying to figure out where the hell that thing went, and what we're going to be dealing with in the coming week. What I'm up to in general is figuring out the information we're getting, because our ghost friends have the shittiest sense of when we actually need to know things--
[A pause, there, as he exhales a long sigh.]
We've already said we're working on it. I get that. But I literally cannot just do whatever the fuck I want, here.
[That's what's gotten her so riled up -- not that she actually believes Chuuya is making that up for his own indecent purposes. But it's putting in stark relief the other aspects of this arrangement she's offended by.]
I'm going to be frank with you. I'm not inclined to trust any of this. I'm certain the guidelines of what you can and cannot do are not of your own devising, and you're working within them. But I'm no longer content to wait while you catch up on this current week's events.
They do. On both sides. You need it to make sure you survive and to get currency, we need that exchange to be able to do anything outside the usual guidelines for you.
[That last comment is what sticks out the most, though, and there's a brief hum before he answers.]
If you want to try taking matters into your own hands-- there's shit the place won't let you do, sure. But things like the locked areas... we can open new floors to you guys, but we can't go unlock or check those out ourselves. There are things here that are out of our hands entirely, so if you want my opinion? Don't just wait on us.
The rules say we're just here to guide you. We're doing what we can within that role, but I get the feeling this is working as intended.
[The acknowledgement that maybe they aren't doing enough at least pacifies her a little.]
Yes, I'd say so. Four of us are dead now, and no demons. [A. Little.] Fine, I'll continue swinging my axe into doors until something breaks again.
Now, tell me if these are the types of questions you can't answer me directly. If necessary, I'll send a list along with someone in a more accommodating mood. [Just gonna staple a list of questions and a condom to Hige.]
When did Monika become possessed - immediately after what Polly did, or sometime later? Did that thing that escaped from Monika go inside a different person? Are there others around, and have all of those others chosen a host yet?
[Well. She was all about business the last time, so this time? Chuuya doesn't keep Edelgard waiting. Not long after sending her pic, he'll just appear in whichever room she happens to be at the time.]
What can I do for you?
[Somewhere in here there's an item she'd find familiar-- if she hasn't moved rooms recently, it must have just appeared somehow? Strange.]
[Yes, she certainly came here all business this time, too. Hands on her hips, noting that he didn't bother summoning her anywhere this time. She prefers that, at least.
I wanted to ask you about the exorcisms. I need answers before -
[And then she stops, mid sentence, because on the floor there's a glint of light off of a dagger. She frowns, not sure why it's there, and then there's recognition in her eyes as she reaches for it.]
[His brow furrows as he tracks her gaze, glancing down to the same spot and catching that glint-- and while he steps back, it's too late for him to dodge the barrier going up, cursing under his breath as he comes up against it instead of ducking out of the way.
and given that it's probably easiest for thread flow we are just going to say that bouncing off the barrier is what makes this trigger first, as their vision shifts from the room to somewhere else:]
[He's standing in an old, abandoned warehouse, hands tucked into his pockets; there's the sense of someone's presence behind him, but he's staring at a taller man standing before him. Randou, his memory supplies. Chuuya sounds much the same as normal when he speaks, but there's a slightly higher pitch to it, like he's younger.
"Damnit," Chuuya mutters, "why does everyone want to meet that thing? Both of you... you know, it doesn't have the power to revive the dead. It doesn't even have a mind or a personality. What are you gonna do-- pray because it's a god? It's no different from a typhoon or an earthquake. You might as well worship fuel."
"I don't care about that," Randou says, suppressing a shiver. "Its power of destruction is all I want. That thing from the other side, the creature beyond comprehension that burned me alive-- where is Arahabaki now?"
There's a long pause where neither of them speaks, but after several long moments of hesitation-- finally, Chuuya sighs, resigned.
"Fine. If you want to know that badly, I'll tell you. Arahabaki is--" A pause, a breath. "It's me."
Behind him, there's the sound of a step being taken as the third person speaks up-- someone who sounds young, much like Chuuya does right now. "What did you say?" And before him, Randou simply nods slowly and says, "I thought that might be the case."
"My memories didn't exist until halfway through my life, eight years ago," Chuuya continues. "But I didn't lose them from shock like you. My life didn't start until then. Before that... it was just darkness. Floating in darkness, sealed in some facility. Arahabaki's not a god-- and I don't know why I exist, either. All I know is that somebody's hand broke the seal and pulled me outside-- that was yours, right, Randou?"
Another brief pause before he keeps going, more insistent. "Answer me. Where did you find me? Why did you pull me out? And-- how did you make it show its real form? I've been pursuing this to find that out. Now tell me everything."
Randou seems to tremble at first, perhaps from the cold, looking down to hide his expression-- but after a moment, it becomes clear that he isn't shivering, but laughing.]
[Back inside the barrier, Chuuya quickly turns away so that Edelgard can't make eye contact or see his face.]
[Him not making eye contact makes it worse? Something flashes behind her eyes. She knows how this works by now; there's still a memory of hers to be swept up into, but everything about what she just saw reminds her of the many monsters in her world, masquerading as human beings.]
What are you? This entire time, you haven't even been a human being?
[Hm. Well. His reaction surprises her out of her anger. What they did to him? It couldn't be - the memory of another person, who had a "Goddess" planted inside her as an infant. Could it be so similar?]
What did they - ?
[But before she can answer that, the barrier again brings them someplace else. The room you’re in is windowless and pitch black, though by this point your eyes have adjusted enough to the dark. This room is unmistakably a dungeon - a dungeon beneath the palace in Enbarr, a place that is supposed to be your home. The air is stale in here, and though you think you’ve forgotten what fresh air on your skin feels like, you haven’t gotten used to the smell of mildew and blood that permeates these rooms, or the cold, or the sounds of rats crawling nearby, or the clink of chains whenever you try to move.
Nor have you gotten used to the silence from the cells nearby. When you were first brought here, you weren't alone. There were ten others - eight of your elder siblings, and two younger than you. Now, most of them are dead. You lay here, quiet, your hand wrapped around your dagger, as each of their corpses were carried out. You can still hear the ragged breathing, not far away, of one of your brothers. He doesn't sound as though he has much time left, judging from the others. You would hear the occasional senseless babbling from your younger sister in her own cell, but it's been days since she last spoke your name. You aren't sure if she's been killed, or simply succumbed to madness.
There are people around you, but you've learned not to think about them, because your hatred for your kidnappers is too white hot and distracts you from your focus, which is - surviving this. There are instruments, and surgical tools, and vials of foul smelling liquids, and strange religious objects. Something between a medical procedure and a ritual is occuring, but all you can feel is the pain, as you're cut open and your veins, your blood are on fire.
It's hard to tell the passage of time, and you've been through this many, many times before, but this time something is different. This time, you don't feel ill and frail and sore, your hair isn't falling out or turning white from the strain. The fire in your blood remains, and you feel something you've never felt before, in your entire life as a helpless political pawn. You feel strong.
You can hear it in their voices, as well, their excitement, as they draw your blood and reveal the new crest they have successfully infused into your blood. In your previous life, before all of this, you like any good princess had studied the minor and major crests, and you recognize this one, though it has not been seen for centuries. The Crest of Flames, last belonging to an ancient king who, depending on the tale, was a monstrous tyrant or a mighty hero. A far more powerful and portentous crest than the minor Crest of Seiros you were born with, to the disappointment of your father and his court. The bearer of such a crest has the power to shape the future of the continent. And in that moment you know that you will shape that future, a future the monsters who abducted you will rue, a future where your siblings would never have been killed, a future where children will not be sacrificed merely to fulfill the whims of fanatics who believe the empire's heir must be endowed with a powerful crest.
For the first time in the months of your imprisonment, you see the way ahead, and aren't merely clinging to scraps of hope in the dark.]
Edelgard von Hresvelg. [The voice speaking to you is pleased, but it sounds like buzzing in your ears.] You are our greatest achievement. You will shape the future of Fódlan.
[Smile. Don't let them feel your hate, because it is not the time yet.]
I will.
[But it will be a future you will regret. For all of her siblings, and all of the other innocents sacrificed before them, she swears it.
And with that, the barrier and the dagger both fade away.]
[...that's a lot. But he gets the feeling, has felt that desire to make people regret-- for a moment, he's somewhat grateful he doesn't remember anything they must have done to him to integrate him with his ability, because he has no doubt that it wasn't kind.
It's a little hard to watch, but then he's used to hard things and to the fact that the world is just like this; he doesn't flinch from it, just exhales a slow and heavy breath once the memory and the barrier have both broken, and all he has to say at first is:]
[It still isn't time yet. And they are loathsome, but they have enemies in common.]
It would have been pointless. Those people are not the cause of what happened. Strike them down and others will take their place. I mean to destroy all of it. The nobility that sought to seize power this way, the crests that are the source of their fanaticism, the church that teaches them to believe these things. When I have conquered all of Fodlan, these things will be confined to history, and a thousand innocents just like my siblings will be spared suffering. And then, once that is accomplished, I can pursue my petty vengeance against these monsters.
And that is why I must not remain here, Chuuya. I must return home. The path I set out on that day is still waiting for me.
[-he can't help but crack a faint grin at that, actually, giving his head a slight shake.]
You know-- that all sounds sort of like someone I know, back home. I think the Boss would've approved of your methods.
[It sounds similar to his methodology. Prolonging things like revenge for the sake of what needs to happen, conquering for the sake of fixing a bad situation... those are things Chuuya understands, even if he's often more driven by the urge to take revenge himself. But that's why he's not the one at the top.]
...we'll do what we can to get people out of here. Promise you that. I've got work to get back to myself-- not as big as yours, sure, but I don't really intend to let myself get stuck here forever either.
[She sighs. He's seen this very personal part of her now - a part she's only ever shared with those closest to her - but that doesn't mean she can trust him any more than she did before. And yet, she sort of wants to. It's lonely, to carry all of this alone.]
I told you before. I'm not accustomed to relying on others to do my work for me. And what Polly has asked me to do is unacceptable if I don't know whether I'm misusing it in a way that will help the demons evade destruction.
If Polly doesn't know, then I definitely don't-- I know what she's running with you guys, but I can answer less than she can about it.
[he pauses there, though, considering a moment.]
...but it might be good that you're not used to that. I have a feeling that we need someone like you around here to help figure out what's going on-- someone we can count on to do what they have to, when it comes to it.
Ominous. [It doesn't sound like Chuuya is suggesting an ending here where everyone holds hands and wishes away the demon. There are things that some of the others might not have the nerve to do. She nods, however.]
I can. I will.
[After a moment.] You never told me, you know, what they did to you. You've seen my secrets now. Tell me yours.
I'm not the kind of optimist Carly apparently is, all right.
[They've already lost people-- he's not sure what that means for them, in the end.
... and he's quiet, for a few moments, when she prompts him-- but she's not wrong. He's seen hers, and it feels a little like she has a better chance of getting it than most here.]
My ability's not mine. I'm an experiment in creating artificial gifted-- I just didn't have the full picture, in what you saw. The first time it was fully unleashed, the rumor was that some kind of god's wrath did it; I knew it was my doing, but not anything about myself.
[It was all he had to go on, and what kind of kid destroys part of a city and assumes they're still human with those kinds of whispers going around?]
So in other worlds, the same type of schemes to occur. That is good to know. If I am to create a world free of such cruel experiments, I must anticipate that.
[She does get it, and her attitude towards him softens a little. You do learn to create hard barriers around yourself, when that is your only means of survival.]
I knew a woman, when I was a student. As an infant, some magic was done to her, and a being -- a being some view as a goddess -- was put inside her. I don't know whether that being was good or evil, but I do know the infant was intended to become nothing more than a vessel for her. A tool of the church. A weapon to be used against heretics like myself.
Nonetheless, she made her own choices, and was the bravest person I've ever known.
So I find it easy to believe you have made your own choices as well. Easier now, perhaps. I had thought all four of you might have become the tools of something else. [But it sounds like she no longer thinks so?
Hope this change of heart doesn't bite me, Siz, in the ass.]
[Because he has little doubt about what they intended him to be. You don't create someone with his kind of power unless you want a weapon to unleash, and he knows well enough how hard it is to move past that.]
Then she must have been someone strong, if she could go against it. I never had to deal with the people who ran those experiments myself.
[Technically. He did probably kill them without actively intending on it.
He sets that thought aside, managing a faint grin at her words.]
But I got there eventually, yeah-- I think I've done pretty well for myself. The boss is the only one I'll let myself be a tool for, and I gave myself out of my own volition that time.
[After a moment where it seems like he might have finished, he adds:]
If we were from the same place, though... I think you might be the kind of person I could have followed, too.
[She smiles at that comment, a little wry, since here she isn't exactly a leader.]
If it is so, then let follow me here, to the best you are able within the confines of your role. I ask no one for unearned fealty; only that you lend me your strength when the time comes.
[Welcome back to the office. Chuuya's probably somewhat hungover, though at least he's very good at being functional regardless-- there are some bags under his eyes and he's still not wearing his usual choker, but he seems awake and alert enough for a meeting.]
[She isn't really interested in criticizing him, just - there's a lot happening.]
Have you been giving people clues to our identities? Higekiri told me you'd given him hints, and I assumed that was simply a ruse, but I thought I ought to confirm.
I didn't actually give out any clues on you specifically, you know-- but I can't help how anyone interprets the hints they get. Things just worked out that way.
[A pause, there, as he looks her over, resting his chin in his palm.]
...Sometimes all we can do to help someone out is point them to the people who can do what they need.
...Yes. He told me he'd ask you to find him a way to protect Hizamaru. So you gave him clues that would lead him towards the people who could.
[Her lip is a thin line, because - yes, it turns out, she could have done what he needed.]
I need a way to find Shiraishi's replacement. As soon as possible. What can be done about that? I assume it would not be possible to find them before this week's meeting.
[There was no way anyone could have known, but-- well. He can't pretend he's happy about the way things turned out, his own expression somewhat mirroring hers.
...but he hums thoughtfully at that question.]
You know, I did happen to pull Polly over to this side a little while ago to discuss that, but she ran off somewhere when I stepped out. Maybe she's handling things.
Or maybe she's just running off on important conversations, you really never fucking know.
I'm sure Polly will do what she can. But I have to insist - if you're giving away clues to my identity, which could endanger my life, then you'll help me find the identity of Shiraishi's replacement.
I can honestly tell you I have no idea who's going to replace him right now-- I'd try Polly later, if that's what you're after. I understand why you're coming to me, but I'm not the one best equipped to help you on this one.
[after a second:]
And like I said: nobody's actually gotten any hints on you. He misunderstood what I gave him, and nobody else has gotten the same thing out of me.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
doublesmall) wrote2019-10-20 07:23 pm
w1, sunday
Chuuya's seated in one of three plush chairs arranged before the window, half-turned to face the door, one leg crossed over the other.]
Come in, have a seat. Let's talk.
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[She's not really. Pleased with this situation. Being summoned to see him? Gross. But she'll walk in and take a seat even so.]
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[He prefers the real thing, thank you. Chuuya retrieves a wine bottle from the closest sidetable, holding up an empty glass.]
Can I get you a drink while you're here, or would you rather get straight to business?
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[Just. Getting that out of the way first thing.]
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[One elbow rests on the arm of the chair, chin propped in his palm.]
What'd you need from me?
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[He doesn't entirely sound annoyed-- there's some frustration in there, yes-- but largely he sounds on edge and a little tired. It's been A Day.]
What I'm up to right now is trying to figure out where the hell that thing went, and what we're going to be dealing with in the coming week. What I'm up to in general is figuring out the information we're getting, because our ghost friends have the shittiest sense of when we actually need to know things--
[A pause, there, as he exhales a long sigh.]
We've already said we're working on it. I get that. But I literally cannot just do whatever the fuck I want, here.
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[That's what's gotten her so riled up -- not that she actually believes Chuuya is making that up for his own indecent purposes. But it's putting in stark relief the other aspects of this arrangement she's offended by.]
I'm going to be frank with you. I'm not inclined to trust any of this. I'm certain the guidelines of what you can and cannot do are not of your own devising, and you're working within them. But I'm no longer content to wait while you catch up on this current week's events.
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[That last comment is what sticks out the most, though, and there's a brief hum before he answers.]
If you want to try taking matters into your own hands-- there's shit the place won't let you do, sure. But things like the locked areas... we can open new floors to you guys, but we can't go unlock or check those out ourselves. There are things here that are out of our hands entirely, so if you want my opinion? Don't just wait on us.
The rules say we're just here to guide you. We're doing what we can within that role, but I get the feeling this is working as intended.
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Yes, I'd say so. Four of us are dead now, and no demons. [A. Little.] Fine, I'll continue swinging my axe into doors until something breaks again.
Now, tell me if these are the types of questions you can't answer me directly. If necessary, I'll send a list along with someone in a more accommodating mood. [Just gonna staple a list of questions and a condom to Hige.]
When did Monika become possessed - immediately after what Polly did, or sometime later? Did that thing that escaped from Monika go inside a different person? Are there others around, and have all of those others chosen a host yet?
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[He might be somewhat frustrated about that-- but honestly, he didn't anticipate it being like that either.]
As for the questions: can't answer that in full, can't answer those at all directly.
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[God. So rude.]
Could you answer any of those if asked by someone who had been intimate with you?
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You can't let them break the circle. That's what happened.
[But they hadn't exactly seen how strong the demons could be, yet.]
I couldn't answer all of them, but I could give somebody at least one of those answers in exchange.
w3, monday
What can I do for you?
[Somewhere in here there's an item she'd find familiar-- if she hasn't moved rooms recently, it must have just appeared somehow? Strange.]
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I wanted to ask you about the exorcisms. I need answers before -
[And then she stops, mid sentence, because on the floor there's a glint of light off of a dagger. She frowns, not sure why it's there, and then there's recognition in her eyes as she reaches for it.]
How is that here? Did you -
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[His brow furrows as he tracks her gaze, glancing down to the same spot and catching that glint-- and while he steps back, it's too late for him to dodge the barrier going up, cursing under his breath as he comes up against it instead of ducking out of the way.
and given that it's probably easiest for thread flow we are just going to say that bouncing off the barrier is what makes this trigger first, as their vision shifts from the room to somewhere else:]
[He's standing in an old, abandoned warehouse, hands tucked into his pockets; there's the sense of someone's presence behind him, but he's staring at a taller man standing before him. Randou, his memory supplies. Chuuya sounds much the same as normal when he speaks, but there's a slightly higher pitch to it, like he's younger.
"Damnit," Chuuya mutters, "why does everyone want to meet that thing? Both of you... you know, it doesn't have the power to revive the dead. It doesn't even have a mind or a personality. What are you gonna do-- pray because it's a god? It's no different from a typhoon or an earthquake. You might as well worship fuel."
"I don't care about that," Randou says, suppressing a shiver. "Its power of destruction is all I want. That thing from the other side, the creature beyond comprehension that burned me alive-- where is Arahabaki now?"
There's a long pause where neither of them speaks, but after several long moments of hesitation-- finally, Chuuya sighs, resigned.
"Fine. If you want to know that badly, I'll tell you. Arahabaki is--" A pause, a breath. "It's me."
Behind him, there's the sound of a step being taken as the third person speaks up-- someone who sounds young, much like Chuuya does right now. "What did you say?" And before him, Randou simply nods slowly and says, "I thought that might be the case."
"My memories didn't exist until halfway through my life, eight years ago," Chuuya continues. "But I didn't lose them from shock like you. My life didn't start until then. Before that... it was just darkness. Floating in darkness, sealed in some facility. Arahabaki's not a god-- and I don't know why I exist, either. All I know is that somebody's hand broke the seal and pulled me outside-- that was yours, right, Randou?"
Another brief pause before he keeps going, more insistent. "Answer me. Where did you find me? Why did you pull me out? And-- how did you make it show its real form? I've been pursuing this to find that out. Now tell me everything."
Randou seems to tremble at first, perhaps from the cold, looking down to hide his expression-- but after a moment, it becomes clear that he isn't shivering, but laughing.]
[Back inside the barrier, Chuuya quickly turns away so that Edelgard can't make eye contact or see his face.]
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What are you? This entire time, you haven't even been a human being?
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[He snaps that out almost reflexively, though he still doesn't quite look at her; his hands clench at his sides.]
I just- didn't know everything at the time. I'm human. What they did to me wasn't.
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What did they - ?
[But before she can answer that, the barrier again brings them someplace else. The room you’re in is windowless and pitch black, though by this point your eyes have adjusted enough to the dark. This room is unmistakably a dungeon - a dungeon beneath the palace in Enbarr, a place that is supposed to be your home. The air is stale in here, and though you think you’ve forgotten what fresh air on your skin feels like, you haven’t gotten used to the smell of mildew and blood that permeates these rooms, or the cold, or the sounds of rats crawling nearby, or the clink of chains whenever you try to move.
Nor have you gotten used to the silence from the cells nearby. When you were first brought here, you weren't alone. There were ten others - eight of your elder siblings, and two younger than you. Now, most of them are dead. You lay here, quiet, your hand wrapped around your dagger, as each of their corpses were carried out. You can still hear the ragged breathing, not far away, of one of your brothers. He doesn't sound as though he has much time left, judging from the others. You would hear the occasional senseless babbling from your younger sister in her own cell, but it's been days since she last spoke your name. You aren't sure if she's been killed, or simply succumbed to madness.
There are people around you, but you've learned not to think about them, because your hatred for your kidnappers is too white hot and distracts you from your focus, which is - surviving this. There are instruments, and surgical tools, and vials of foul smelling liquids, and strange religious objects. Something between a medical procedure and a ritual is occuring, but all you can feel is the pain, as you're cut open and your veins, your blood are on fire.
It's hard to tell the passage of time, and you've been through this many, many times before, but this time something is different. This time, you don't feel ill and frail and sore, your hair isn't falling out or turning white from the strain. The fire in your blood remains, and you feel something you've never felt before, in your entire life as a helpless political pawn. You feel strong.
You can hear it in their voices, as well, their excitement, as they draw your blood and reveal the new crest they have successfully infused into your blood. In your previous life, before all of this, you like any good princess had studied the minor and major crests, and you recognize this one, though it has not been seen for centuries. The Crest of Flames, last belonging to an ancient king who, depending on the tale, was a monstrous tyrant or a mighty hero. A far more powerful and portentous crest than the minor Crest of Seiros you were born with, to the disappointment of your father and his court. The bearer of such a crest has the power to shape the future of the continent. And in that moment you know that you will shape that future, a future the monsters who abducted you will rue, a future where your siblings would never have been killed, a future where children will not be sacrificed merely to fulfill the whims of fanatics who believe the empire's heir must be endowed with a powerful crest.
For the first time in the months of your imprisonment, you see the way ahead, and aren't merely clinging to scraps of hope in the dark.]
Edelgard von Hresvelg. [The voice speaking to you is pleased, but it sounds like buzzing in your ears.] You are our greatest achievement. You will shape the future of Fódlan.
[Smile. Don't let them feel your hate, because it is not the time yet.]
I will.
[But it will be a future you will regret. For all of her siblings, and all of the other innocents sacrificed before them, she swears it.
And with that, the barrier and the dagger both fade away.]
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It's a little hard to watch, but then he's used to hard things and to the fact that the world is just like this; he doesn't flinch from it, just exhales a slow and heavy breath once the memory and the barrier have both broken, and all he has to say at first is:]
Did you kill them?
[Sounds a lot like he sure hopes she did.]
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[It still isn't time yet. And they are loathsome, but they have enemies in common.]
It would have been pointless. Those people are not the cause of what happened. Strike them down and others will take their place. I mean to destroy all of it. The nobility that sought to seize power this way, the crests that are the source of their fanaticism, the church that teaches them to believe these things. When I have conquered all of Fodlan, these things will be confined to history, and a thousand innocents just like my siblings will be spared suffering. And then, once that is accomplished, I can pursue my petty vengeance against these monsters.
And that is why I must not remain here, Chuuya. I must return home. The path I set out on that day is still waiting for me.
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You know-- that all sounds sort of like someone I know, back home. I think the Boss would've approved of your methods.
[It sounds similar to his methodology. Prolonging things like revenge for the sake of what needs to happen, conquering for the sake of fixing a bad situation... those are things Chuuya understands, even if he's often more driven by the urge to take revenge himself. But that's why he's not the one at the top.]
...we'll do what we can to get people out of here. Promise you that. I've got work to get back to myself-- not as big as yours, sure, but I don't really intend to let myself get stuck here forever either.
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I told you before. I'm not accustomed to relying on others to do my work for me. And what Polly has asked me to do is unacceptable if I don't know whether I'm misusing it in a way that will help the demons evade destruction.
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[he pauses there, though, considering a moment.]
...but it might be good that you're not used to that. I have a feeling that we need someone like you around here to help figure out what's going on-- someone we can count on to do what they have to, when it comes to it.
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I can. I will.
[After a moment.] You never told me, you know, what they did to you. You've seen my secrets now. Tell me yours.
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[They've already lost people-- he's not sure what that means for them, in the end.
... and he's quiet, for a few moments, when she prompts him-- but she's not wrong. He's seen hers, and it feels a little like she has a better chance of getting it than most here.]
My ability's not mine. I'm an experiment in creating artificial gifted-- I just didn't have the full picture, in what you saw. The first time it was fully unleashed, the rumor was that some kind of god's wrath did it; I knew it was my doing, but not anything about myself.
[It was all he had to go on, and what kind of kid destroys part of a city and assumes they're still human with those kinds of whispers going around?]
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[She does get it, and her attitude towards him softens a little. You do learn to create hard barriers around yourself, when that is your only means of survival.]
I knew a woman, when I was a student. As an infant, some magic was done to her, and a being -- a being some view as a goddess -- was put inside her. I don't know whether that being was good or evil, but I do know the infant was intended to become nothing more than a vessel for her. A tool of the church. A weapon to be used against heretics like myself.
Nonetheless, she made her own choices, and was the bravest person I've ever known.
So I find it easy to believe you have made your own choices as well. Easier now, perhaps. I had thought all four of you might have become the tools of something else. [But it sounds like she no longer thinks so?
Hope this change of heart doesn't bite me, Siz, in the ass.]
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[Because he has little doubt about what they intended him to be. You don't create someone with his kind of power unless you want a weapon to unleash, and he knows well enough how hard it is to move past that.]
Then she must have been someone strong, if she could go against it. I never had to deal with the people who ran those experiments myself.
[Technically. He did probably kill them without actively intending on it.
He sets that thought aside, managing a faint grin at her words.]
But I got there eventually, yeah-- I think I've done pretty well for myself. The boss is the only one I'll let myself be a tool for, and I gave myself out of my own volition that time.
[After a moment where it seems like he might have finished, he adds:]
If we were from the same place, though... I think you might be the kind of person I could have followed, too.
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If it is so, then let follow me here, to the best you are able within the confines of your role. I ask no one for unearned fealty; only that you lend me your strength when the time comes.
w4, sunday
Edelgard. What can I do for you this time?
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[Pausing, frowning, hands on her hips.]
Have you been drinking? Don't you have responsibilities?
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[And with a slight shake of his head-]
I had plenty of other reasons to be up too late last night, before you lecture me on it.
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[She isn't really interested in criticizing him, just - there's a lot happening.]
Have you been giving people clues to our identities? Higekiri told me you'd given him hints, and I assumed that was simply a ruse, but I thought I ought to confirm.
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[A pause, there, as he looks her over, resting his chin in his palm.]
...Sometimes all we can do to help someone out is point them to the people who can do what they need.
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[Her lip is a thin line, because - yes, it turns out, she could have done what he needed.]
I need a way to find Shiraishi's replacement. As soon as possible. What can be done about that? I assume it would not be possible to find them before this week's meeting.
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...but he hums thoughtfully at that question.]
You know, I did happen to pull Polly over to this side a little while ago to discuss that, but she ran off somewhere when I stepped out. Maybe she's handling things.
Or maybe she's just running off on important conversations, you really never fucking know.
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[after a second:]
And like I said: nobody's actually gotten any hints on you. He misunderstood what I gave him, and nobody else has gotten the same thing out of me.