Did I say I wouldn't? We found it in a place we were transported to, which you Avatars cannot perceive. We were lightly devoured, and in the process, happened upon your dagger in the snow.
I don't fault you for ignoring the conversations, and in fact appreciate it, but you might pay some mind to the goings on.
You can't have it both ways. I either listen to everything or I listen to nothing.
[vaguely annoyed.] It doesn't matter all that much. Get the dagger back to me, and --
[hold that thought, because suddenly, harrow is in a memory.
you're sitting on a horse.
next to you is another horse, and on that horse is a little girl. she is six years old, and she has a smile just like her mother's. she pushes her long black hair out of her face, and gives you a wild grin, excited.
are you ready to go on an adventure, daddy?
don't spoil her, you think. but. you can't help it. she is the only important thing you have left, and so you give her a very small smile in return.
don't wander far from me, mercy.
she giggles, and you marvel, because you never knew you could love like this.]
[See, she usually tries to not be too invasive at memories like this. She doesn't like it when it's done to her, so she tends to - wait to acknowledge it, offer the opportunity to ask that it not be acknowledged at all.
But. She can't really hear that word without it echoing in her head.]
[She hears Don't, and she thinks, don't. Don't. There are some things you do not touch. There are some things you cannot ask someone to recall.
She doesn't know whether this memory has any relationship at all to what they went through. And Gluttony said it was likely an illusion altogether. And Wrath said there was likely no way to return. So all in all, if she is wrong about this connection, she is inflicting pain, and if she is right about this connection, she potentially inflicting even more.
But it has been a very long week. Pretending in all but very limited company that she is not still devastated, wanting to be fierce determination but holding out such little hope. The word mercy has to mean something. The fact that, when she held the dagger, she cried has to mean something.]
. . . In the place we were brought to, there was a child.
The child helped us through that awful place. She wore a paper bag over her head, but under, she appeared to be a young girl.
[Monsterfied, but. Who cares about that.]
I mention it only because. . . [She assumed it was in answer to her question, or an instruction of what to do. But right before, Sheila had asked her her name.] At one point, she began to say the word 'mercy.' It may have been a statement, or perhaps it was a name. [She doesn't want to overstate it, or be overfamiliar.] It struck me as information worthy of passing on.
[Hmm. Seems like a bad idea. . . to tell him. . . about the part where we nearly ate her. If it traumatized them, to go through it with a child they'd met that day, then maybe it wouldn't be great to tell her dad.
($20 on Takeru just telling him)]
. . . In that place, we were overcome with an unnatural hunger and cold. She helped us the best she could. It didn't seem as though she was affected herself. She stayed by our side, but we succumbed to starvation, and we died.
. . . I would like to, as well. [She doesn't want to make it about her, but.] I owe her - or whatever illusory piece of her that may have been - my life, and yet I feel that I failed her. [Because she will accept, from him, that it may not have been entirely real. But the child was no automaton, either. Spirits can do strange things; they can linger somewhere, leave an imprint of a person where they go. Maybe that explains it. What she won't listen to is any suggestion that it didn't mean something.]
[Good. I can't believe Pride is valid, now. She understands a little, about being unable to ask for or acknowledge help, so she doesn't miss the appreciation.]
. . . The other three, who were there. I would like to tell them of this conversation, because they are also concerned with her well-being. May I?
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It was simply caught by surprise.
[It wasn't a criticism, damn. Anyway.]
I don't know whether you have already been asked, but. The dagger. Is it yours?
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[they straighten up. hello?]
Which dagger? [they are very interested, suddenly.]
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. . . It is good of you, not to spy on private conversations, unlike some I could name.
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[they say, moving forward. when they see the dagger, they nod.]
That is mine. Where is it? Where did you find it?
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[She's just very matter of fact about it though like it would be slightly rude of him if he stabbed Sasazuka.]
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I have no reason to stab him. [they say, dryly.] Not going to tell me where you found it, then.
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I don't fault you for ignoring the conversations, and in fact appreciate it, but you might pay some mind to the goings on.
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[vaguely annoyed.] It doesn't matter all that much. Get the dagger back to me, and --
[hold that thought, because suddenly, harrow is in a memory.
you're sitting on a horse.
next to you is another horse, and on that horse is a little girl. she is six years old, and she has a smile just like her mother's. she pushes her long black hair out of her face, and gives you a wild grin, excited.
are you ready to go on an adventure, daddy?
don't spoil her, you think. but. you can't help it. she is the only important thing you have left, and so you give her a very small smile in return.
don't wander far from me, mercy.
she giggles, and you marvel, because you never knew you could love like this.]
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But. She can't really hear that word without it echoing in her head.]
. . . Mercy?
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Stop. [they say, immediately, hoarse.] Don't.
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She doesn't know whether this memory has any relationship at all to what they went through. And Gluttony said it was likely an illusion altogether. And Wrath said there was likely no way to return. So all in all, if she is wrong about this connection, she is inflicting pain, and if she is right about this connection, she potentially inflicting even more.
But it has been a very long week. Pretending in all but very limited company that she is not still devastated, wanting to be fierce determination but holding out such little hope. The word mercy has to mean something. The fact that, when she held the dagger, she cried has to mean something.]
. . . In the place we were brought to, there was a child.
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[a step forward. they clench a fist, claws digging into their palm.]
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[Monsterfied, but. Who cares about that.]
I mention it only because. . . [She assumed it was in answer to her question, or an instruction of what to do. But right before, Sheila had asked her her name.] At one point, she began to say the word 'mercy.' It may have been a statement, or perhaps it was a name. [She doesn't want to overstate it, or be overfamiliar.] It struck me as information worthy of passing on.
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it sort of seems like pride has bluescreened.]
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Gather your thoughts.
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[they say, finally.]
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($20 on Takeru just telling him)]
. . . In that place, we were overcome with an unnatural hunger and cold. She helped us the best she could. It didn't seem as though she was affected herself. She stayed by our side, but we succumbed to starvation, and we died.
And in doing so, we left her behind.
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That sounds like her. [they say, quietly, absently.] It wasn't real, but in the event that even a bit of it was, I will find that place.
[yayy field trip.]
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If there is any way I can aid you, then I will.
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[they won't say it, but it's clear they appreciate the offer.]
I will look into it. Tell whoever has the dagger to come to me. I'd like it back.
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[Good. I can't believe Pride is valid, now. She understands a little, about being unable to ask for or acknowledge help, so she doesn't miss the appreciation.]
. . . The other three, who were there. I would like to tell them of this conversation, because they are also concerned with her well-being. May I?
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Yes. [they say, finally.] The four of you who took care of her.
[they have rights, as far as pride is concerned.]
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they pause, and then just give her a small nod, and if she doesn't stop them, they step back into the shadows against the wall and vanish.]