[Ah... It's a lot to take in. There are several things he doesn't understand, things specific to Emma's world, but the core of it is the same. Rean sounds like a good person, sounds kind of like the Highlander.
Arthur drops himself so he's sitting on the floor. If only all his reasons we're selfless...]
I just.... I owe Simon everything. Wh-What if I go back, and there's just a crater? And fire, and-- and people smell awful when they burn. I don't wanna be alone!
[He doesn't remember the last time he was this close to crying.]
I don't....know what I'd do without him. He's all I've ever had, and-
[You're not alone.
He wonders if this is how Frederica felt, every time the guild insisted on supporting her. He doesn't know. She was always do distant, and now she's...
...he won't take the same path. Which means believing in everyone here. If he really isn't alone, if this group is going to sorta-kinda be his new guild, then he'll accept that.]
....if Gungnir fires, if Etria is destroyed, it won't be the first time. It won't be the last, either. It isn't the only Gungnir.
If the absolute worst comes... you'll find a way forward. I believe in you.
[And for now, he has her, at least. For as much help as this novice waterboarder of a witch may be.
...Ah, he's continuing, though. She bites at her lip. It's... really not far from what she knows herself, is it? Fudge the details a little, and it's the Great Collapse. A repeating cycle, all the same.]
...And I believe in your world, too. In your Etria. Even if you can't, I'm going to hold out hope for you.
[He's talking less like he's in distress, now, and more like he's confiding. At this point it feels like....even if they can't stop anything, and all of them get wiped out, he can count on Emma to at least send a message to the Library. Maybe stop the other Gungnir units.]
I don't have any family, you know? Just Simon. ...I, uh, don't remember anything past ten years ago. Simon says those memories are probably gone for good.
[She's thankful for that, at least, and shifts to make herself comfortable while sitting so she can hear him out.]
Some kind of traumatic event?
Mm... I understand that, too, though. I lost my parents early, so Grandmother took me in. She raised me alongside her student, Vita, and Celine, who became my familiar.
Then Vita did something the clan deemed unforgivable, and she left. And then I was sent to Thors with Celine to guide Rean... and now, Celine is gone too.
[She smiles a little, sadly. She's confiding, too.]
So, really... I don't know what to do on my own, either, you know? I'm just... fumbling, repeating what I know from home. Hoping something will stick, and I can be useful somehow.
The very first thing I can remember is fire. The second is Simon saving me.
An unprecedented and unexplained disaster utterly leveled a mining town called Gotham at the foot of Yggdrasil overnight. The two of us were the only survivors. Rumor has it, the pit where that Yggdrasil's Labyrinth was is still burning, and no plants grow for miles and miles around it.
[He doesn't talk about his history a whole lot - it's not that he's hiding it or that it particularly bothers him, he's moved on for the most part. But now it's relevant.]
We made our way to the Midgard Library after that. Grew up and studied there, and became investigators... Simon and me were always together.
It's been pretty hard, without him. Usually I just follow him around and let him make the decisions.
Goodness... [She covers her mouth lightly at his story, because, well. It's horrifying!] I'm sorry to hear that...
But I am glad you got out, and that you've had one another up until now.
Celine's usually been the decision-maker, between the two of us. She's my familiar, but... she's always taken care of me, rather than the other way around. Without her, now...
It's sad. [She moves her hand over into her hair, twirling a lock of it around her finger nervously.] I could tell you anything I've ever read in a book, I could help you study for any test under the sun... but when it comes to things like this, I feel like I know nothing at all.
[So it's like the Railway Guns, or whatever happened to Garrelia, if not worse...
Emma swallows hard. That just makes the whole thing that much more chilling.]
No wonder you feel even more strongly about it... I'm sorry. I really wish I knew what else to say in times like this...
[Unfortunately, witches aren't highly trained in empathy. Emma's a bit of an outlier, and she's trying, but... oof, man. Yikes.]
Well... she is a black cat, although not every familiar is so cliche. [A little smile. She knows, at least?] But she can speak, and she's got some magic of her own – mostly to bolster mine, although she can act on her own in at least some capacity.
She has a deeper knowledge of the legends behind our duty than even I do, though.
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incendiarize) wrote2019-05-07 04:03 pm
no subject
Arthur drops himself so he's sitting on the floor. If only all his reasons we're selfless...]
I just.... I owe Simon everything. Wh-What if I go back, and there's just a crater? And fire, and-- and people smell awful when they burn. I don't wanna be alone!
[He doesn't remember the last time he was this close to crying.]
no subject
...Have faith, Arthur. I know it's a lot to ask. I'm scared senseless, too... but it's all we can do to keep believing.
If we don't, we just give them exactly what they want.
A-and, I know it's not a lot, I know it can't even put a dent in anything else. But right here, right now...
[She holds out a hand to offer it to him.]
You aren't alone.
no subject
[You're not alone.
He wonders if this is how Frederica felt, every time the guild insisted on supporting her. He doesn't know. She was always do distant, and now she's...
...he won't take the same path. Which means believing in everyone here. If he really isn't alone, if this group is going to sorta-kinda be his new guild, then he'll accept that.]
....if Gungnir fires, if Etria is destroyed, it won't be the first time. It won't be the last, either. It isn't the only Gungnir.
no subject
[And for now, he has her, at least. For as much help as this novice waterboarder of a witch may be.
...Ah, he's continuing, though. She bites at her lip. It's... really not far from what she knows herself, is it? Fudge the details a little, and it's the Great Collapse. A repeating cycle, all the same.]
...And I believe in your world, too. In your Etria. Even if you can't, I'm going to hold out hope for you.
no subject
I don't have any family, you know? Just Simon. ...I, uh, don't remember anything past ten years ago. Simon says those memories are probably gone for good.
no subject
Some kind of traumatic event?
Mm... I understand that, too, though. I lost my parents early, so Grandmother took me in. She raised me alongside her student, Vita, and Celine, who became my familiar.
Then Vita did something the clan deemed unforgivable, and she left. And then I was sent to Thors with Celine to guide Rean... and now, Celine is gone too.
[She smiles a little, sadly. She's confiding, too.]
So, really... I don't know what to do on my own, either, you know? I'm just... fumbling, repeating what I know from home. Hoping something will stick, and I can be useful somehow.
It's hard, isn't it? Feeling lost like this.
no subject
The very first thing I can remember is fire. The second is Simon saving me.
An unprecedented and unexplained disaster utterly leveled a mining town called Gotham at the foot of Yggdrasil overnight. The two of us were the only survivors. Rumor has it, the pit where that Yggdrasil's Labyrinth was is still burning, and no plants grow for miles and miles around it.
[He doesn't talk about his history a whole lot - it's not that he's hiding it or that it particularly bothers him, he's moved on for the most part. But now it's relevant.]
We made our way to the Midgard Library after that. Grew up and studied there, and became investigators... Simon and me were always together.
It's been pretty hard, without him. Usually I just follow him around and let him make the decisions.
no subject
But I am glad you got out, and that you've had one another up until now.
Celine's usually been the decision-maker, between the two of us. She's my familiar, but... she's always taken care of me, rather than the other way around. Without her, now...
It's sad. [She moves her hand over into her hair, twirling a lock of it around her finger nervously.] I could tell you anything I've ever read in a book, I could help you study for any test under the sun... but when it comes to things like this, I feel like I know nothing at all.
no subject
[Everything is connected. That's why this is so very personal. Arthur has seen first-hand what Gungnir can do.]
What's a familiar, anyway? It sounds like more than just a black cat, like in stories.
no subject
[So it's like the Railway Guns, or whatever happened to Garrelia, if not worse...
Emma swallows hard. That just makes the whole thing that much more chilling.]
No wonder you feel even more strongly about it... I'm sorry. I really wish I knew what else to say in times like this...
[Unfortunately, witches aren't highly trained in empathy. Emma's a bit of an outlier, and she's trying, but... oof, man. Yikes.]
Well... she is a black cat, although not every familiar is so cliche. [A little smile. She knows, at least?] But she can speak, and she's got some magic of her own – mostly to bolster mine, although she can act on her own in at least some capacity.
She has a deeper knowledge of the legends behind our duty than even I do, though.