theairlock | Week 5

Entry tags:

!round 2,
!week 5

Week 5

[As with the weeks before, life in the Fantasy Sweet returns to something resembling normalcy with shocking efficiency. The second floor rest area and ~~Adventure Zone~~ Death Orb Room are spotless again, the demon glitter has been vacuumed, the deflated orbs have been replaced. It's like none of it ever happened, like three more friends aren't dead and stored away in the guest house morgue.

There's a new floor to explore, their "reward" for a job well done.]

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

[ooc: Don't forget to to turn in your activity for week 4, submit your memory regains and put in your threads for the Benefactors!]

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[ Clarith finds him in the dining room with things. She blinks a few times, then retrieves the book among them. A Levin Bible... Ah, yes. This must be hers. She holds it close, then goes over and sits across from him. ]

...I take it your memories didn't treat you well.

[Of course she'd come find him. She always did, with that gentle look on her face that reminded him of Lunafreya.]

[...It was so, so sickening.]

And what should it matter to you of all people, my dear?

Because I care about you, Ardyn. Regardless of what you've done.

[ She doesn't miss a beat. If he is angry, she will be calm. The rock the ocean beats against, and may wear down a little, but one the storm won't destroy. ]

[Angry? Oh, he was well past 'anger' as most would know it. Ardyn was incredibly calm despite the cold look in his eyes, staring at Clarith as though he'd just heard something patently insane.]

Is that right.

Yes.

[ She says it with absolute certainty. There is no hatred left in her. It drained out this morning, along with the bitterness and anger. She can't do that anymore. She just can't. ]

How sweet.

['But please, Lady Lunafreya--you first.']

You really think I've any reason to believe that. Such idealism must be pleasant to have.

[Ardyn stood up and turned to leave, clearly having no patience for this today.]

Riliane Lucifen d'Autriche. The princess and ruler of Lucifenia. She committed genocide against Elphegort. A genocide known as the Green Hunting. Born from her own anger at the man she was to wed breaking off their engagement because he fell in love with a particular Elphe woman, she sought to raze the country to the ground. And she would have, had she not murdered Mikaela. ...Yatski was wiped out. Burned with its people.

[ She is still calm, speaking to his retreating back. ]

...Supposedly, she was killed in the Lucifenian Revolution that followed. ...But I know she didn't. My memory last night... I almost killed her, as she was sobbing on the beach. As she begged me to do it. But I couldn't, Ardyn. I couldn't kill the girl--and she was a girl, fourteen at the time of the Green Hunting--who murdered so many because the she was spurned by the man she loved.

[ She will stand. Just as calm as before. ]

...I don't have any hatred left in me, Ardyn. Or anger. There's nothing you could do to change that I would forgive you. Just like I forgave Riliane, despite the fact she murdered Mikaela. Despite the thousands of lives lost and the destruction she brought to a country that did nothing to her. She tore apart so many lives... And I still forgave her and I am going to take her under my wing.

[ "And you're no different." ]

[Ardyn paused but didn't turn around, back to Clarith and a thin, empty smile on his face. His answer was a low, dark laugh that made it seem as though he'd heard nothing more than a faintly amusing joke.]

I'm so thrilled that you've found yourself to be such a perfect saint devoid of hatred or spite. Not all of us can say the same, and some lack even reason to trust such platitudes.

I'm not saying you have to be like me. Or even that you can. But no matter what you say or what you've done, Ardyn... If all you have is hatred and anger left, then let me be your calmness and serenity. You have kept us together this long. I'm not going to let everyone carry me along anymore. It's my turn to help carry that burden.

[ He may treat it like a joke, but she'll just smile. Sorry, Ardyn. You have a friend who is probably literally a saint. ]

Don't you dare.

[The faint humor to his voice immediately left it, Ardyn snapping that with a scowl Clarith couldn't see.]

The only burden you should carry is your own. Wasting your time and effort on more than that will earn you nothing. Nothing but the kind of weight that will crush you, and those whose burdens you shouldered will curse you for daring to collapse.

...I'll be all right, Ardyn. I've been cursed and scorned my entire life. I don't think... Anything like that can bother me anymore. And if I fall, I'll get back up. Just like I've been doing lately.

[ ...She refuses to break. She's been so angry and bitter and hateful for so long, she's come out on the other side. ]

I'm not... Doing this for a reward. Or for anything like that. But because I care about you. And Junpei and Church and Nari... Everyone here... Has helped me. So it's my turn to help them. That includes you.

Neither was I. [Ardyn's hands curled into fists at his sides, what had once been a compassionate voice turned to a vicious snarl.]

Even you aren't so endlessly compassionate as to live like that. You of all people can understand what kind of cowardly, selfish, sickening creatures humans are. It's going to destroy you in the end, Clarith.

[ She's quiet a moment. And then, since his back is still turned, she's going to just come up and hug him. Sorry, Ardyn, you can't change her mind. ]

...I'm... Tired of being bitter and hateful. I know. But I also know... That there is kindness in everyone. I know that the people like Mikaela get hurt the worst. But... I don't want to let my anger consume me. And I don't think I have any left. ...I've faced a demon who wore Mikaela's face, and I came out on top. So even if it does destroy me in the end... At least... I did something to try and end that cycle of hatred and anger. I refused to continue it. And I'll forgive anyone who does want to continue it. Because everyone makes their choices, because of their life. And the experiences they've had.

[ Funny thing is she lives to a ripe old age and dies of, you know, age, surrounded by friends and the family she built at her own church. ]

It's going to continue no matter what you think. Why even bother fighting it?

[Just as every time before, under her touch was someone as cold as a walking corpse.]

And if you think that's the only daemon you've faced, you're wrong about that as well.

Because at least I tried. Giving up... I can't do that anymore. If we give up, then everyone who's died... Everyone here with us... Junpei, Church, Nari, Queenie, Nishitani, Angel, Rhys, Choromatsu, Yuuri, Arianna, Heart... They'll die. We'll all be killed.

[ ...She takes a deep breath and just... Squeezes him lightly. ]

...Even if you're a demon yourself, like Roland... I don't care. You've held us together. I don't think... You're like the one I faced back home. The one who tried to pretend to be Mikaela and trick me into murdering someone. I think, whether you want to admit it or not, there's someone good in there. Someone a lot of us care about. ...Someone I'm not going to let go of just because he doesn't think he's worth that.

'Doesn't think he's worth that'...? When did I say anything of the sort?

I'm worth more than you seem to think I believe. I did nothing wrong save only for fulfilling my purpose, and this is the end it's led me to.

And I am far, far worse than Roland.

...And I wasn't angry at Roland, either, was I? But Ardyn... What you say, and how you act... Are two different things. You can say you're worth a lot... And I do think you're worth plenty... But you seem to act almost like I did when I first arrived. Everything you're saying is trying to push me away. I won't let you.

[ ...Well, she will physically let go of him for the moment. ]

...Whatever happened... Sounds incredibly sad. You don't have to talk about it now--or ever. But... I do care about you. No matter what.

[Ardyn pressed a hand to his face but didn't move; if he turned around, he didn't honestly know if Clarith would be confronted with the human he'd presented himself as or the Accursed he actually was.]

You should waste that compassion on someone that actually believes you.

Then I'll just keep trying to prove it to you until you believe it.

[ She has gone through the bullshit mire that is Evillious and come out zen. ]

...It really will destroy you in the end.

We'll see.

[ She's going to go retrieve her Bible. ]

...Thank you, Ardyn. For everything.

You shouldn't expect much more from me.

The Ardyn that you knew...he's disappearing, Clarith. And I doubt it will take all that long.

...I think he'll only disappear if we let go of that. You must... Be very tired of fighting to hold onto yourself.

[ She'll smile at his back, again. ]

...It's all right. You have some good people willing to help you fight. So you can rest a little bit. I promise... We won't lose the ground you've fought so hard to keep.

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Week 5

Dining Room

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