unknownseas | What I want to hear on nights I can't sleep is your voice

What I want to hear on nights I can't sleep is your voice

[ ... Well, that was an absolute shitshow, wasn't it? Instead of dwelling on how she feels about everything that just happened, Mira's channeling that energy into something else--and she has a little bit of help doing it. Zerinda and Ema are here in the bar to make drinks, and Mira's brought in a ton of food that's definitely not healthy for anyone, but screw it, who cares about health right now?

Della's here to pass out invitations, too--they let everyone know there's a gathering in the bar, if they'd rather not be alone.

If you choose not to come, well... Mira's got that taken care of, too. She'll place a little container of cookies and hot cocoa outside your door. Maybe it'll help someone feel a little less alone--at least, that's what she's hoping. ]

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But then you probably would be cursed. Besides, I'm sure there's plenty in here that's valuable, if that's important to you.

Money is important to everyone. How much they realize it just depends on how much they have.

[ ...no argument about the curse, though ]

Do you mean that those who don't have it have more to worry about?

I am, but not just that. I've found that the super-wealthy care just as much as people who are barely scraping by, personally — the difference is just how and why.

I suppose. I've never known another life from the one I've got. Well, not for very long.

I think we can all say that one way or another, Fugo.

You know what I mean. Not having to deal with a large enough change in circumstances. At least not a permanent one. Of course, I did end up moving countries about a year ago, but that's not going to last. Neither is this.

You're a lucky one, then. Try not to get complacent, though. Like I said before, trying to drag life back to the status quo after the status quo has already changed never works.

There's not much I won't do to get what I want. I'd say that's the furthest thing from complacency.

Maybe. Still, that can do more harm than good when what you want is to go back to a life you've already left behind.

That would apply equally to anybody in this place.

That's not what I'm talking about. All I'm saying is to make sure you're always moving forward, Fugo.

[ You know, unlike her intentions for GRANBELM!! ]

I'm solving those cases as well as anyone. Don't you also want to fix things for yourself?

Remind me where I said otherwise?

Look, I'm just giving you some advice. You can't even move on from a world you never knew. Don't pretend you know what it means to always keep your eyes forward, when I bet you haven't even considered what I said about GRANBELM — have you?

What would you expect me to do, then? I've seen what things could be, the kind of things the Princeps Mage would be capable of! Why is it that you and everyone else want me to just give up and live normally? Why do you think I'm bound to this helplessly, and why do you think it's such misfortune?

I don't think you're helpless, Fugo. But you said so yourself, didn't you? Generation after generation of winners have failed to open the seal, for reasons no one understands.

When you win and the same thing happens to you, what are you going to do?

[Something tightens in Anna's chest. Maybe unsurprisingly, it feels like she's got a stone in there, too.]

If Magiaconatus truly favours someone else, then I don't have a chance, do I? That's what they say. But there has to be some other reason. Isn't that it? That there's a reason for all of this, and a way to find that out.

You said there were, what? Three enemies left for you to fight? If there's something to figure out, you better do it soon. But it sounds to me like you aren't even close.

That's why I'm giving you this advice now. Sooner or later, you're going to need it.

Three soon enough.

[That... it's hard to say that it grounds her, but she breathes in slowly, grip tight on her glass. She nods.]

It's been about a year. A few more months should do it, if that. Analyze, see if there's something past this. ...It's strange, isn't it? Sometimes it feels like there's nothing but the one thing in front of me. But here, it's barely an echo.

What I don't know, I'll find out. You can count on that.

[ With that breath, there's a tension that seems to drain from the air between them. Rin's expression even eases into a smile, however faint and tired that it is. ]

I'd be lying if I said I didn't know what you mean. Your GRANBELM, my Holy Grail War — they're both conflicts that stand as the culmination of our entire lives. They are our entire lives.

And then this guy just comes along and takes us away from them, like it's nothing. That's what really pisses me off.

And we can't even see his endgame. I can't believe him. But even he's beginning to crack, isn't he?

Do you think so? I'm not sure what to take away from how he sounded after the execution, to be honest...

[ Rin puffs out a breath and leans back in her chair, staring out into the nearest ocean-facing window. ]

But I hope you're right. I hope that it means something is about to change. The worst thing about this place is this — this stagnation. It's been the same thing, day after day, like we're not making any progress at all.

We are and we aren't. There's always more, but it leaves more questions, and then we've got a cycle. There has to be a way to break it open.

Finding more doesn't help when none of it seems to actually bring us closer to an answer. [ sigh!! ] And I'm not feeling too hopeful about finding a big piece of evidence that'll crack the case open, either.

Edited 2020-05-05 00:33 (UTC)

We'll have to see. I don't want you people getting hopeless, now, or we never will amount to anything.

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mouflon - 2020-05-05 03:02 (UTC) - Expand

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emberserker - 2020-05-05 03:51 (UTC) - Expand

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