[Which is to say that she sort of drops them all shortly after coming through the door, and leaves them leaning against the coat rack for the moment. There's a pause to give a relieved sigh, then she's off to set those bags on the kitchen table.
The apartment shows serious evidence of things being packed up. All the furniture is still in place, but decorations have come down, and it's just a bit less... homey.]
Ah! [She hadn't had the chance to tell anyone else yet, had she? Having reached the stove and picked up her kettle, she turns herself around with a smile on her face.]
Yes! Estinien invited me to come live with him and Cehd'ra. He's... they're.... we're very close friends!
[And oh, is that a bit of a blush on her cheeks? She's quick to turn back around and fill the kettle up.]
Yes, them. [A click to turn the stove on, then the kettle is on to boil. She's then getting out mugs and setting them on the counter, to get ready for brewing some tea.]
It's... it's exciting! It's a change, too, but it's nice to have a good change happen, here.
Mmhn... [She shrugs a little, tilts her head uncertainly.] Visitors from outside the city sometimes bring trouble. People crystallize and vanish from the city, too, now and then. And I've seen people arrive that I know are likely to cause trouble, but there's little I can do...
[He's demonstrating a restlessness that she's coming to recognize as something meaningful, and it sets her to properly frowning. Especially given what he's said of the reason for the restlessness, this time.]
Oh. [A pause, to think and to recall things they'd talked about before.] He's... he's one of those 'Undead' you talked about?
[That's certainly concerning. She looks concerned.]
[[His hands bounce a moment more before he reaches into his jacket pocket, pulling out his deck to hold up the sealed Jack of Diamonds. He stared at it a long moment before flipping it over for her to see.]]
The Peacock Undead. Isaka.
[[There's the tension of additional, unspoken titles. The one who killed Sayoko. The one who created Leangle and set Mutsuki up for so much suffering. The one who....]]
[Dakki watches both curiously and carefully, immediately realizing that the card must be something meaningful. There's a peacock on it, matching the name of what's contained within. And immediately, she wonders something aloud.]
But if he's here, then...
[She cannot finish the idea, turn it into a question, for the familiar pain of the Echo has lit right behind her eyes. Up comes her hand and she flinches...
It is a confrontation between Tachibana and another man, in dark clothing and wearing shaded spectacles. Tachibana is furious and righteous, and this other man.... he'd killed someone. Someone important, for all the fury that is there. He draws a gun and fires, shattering a nearby tank full of watery green liquid...
The echo shifts. It's a fight between a man in highly advanced armor and a blue and black monster. And the armored man is winning. Tachibana is winning. Furious, and that fury drives him on.
The monster loses. His form flickers. A card is tossed atop him, drawing him into it...]
...ah!
[She comes back from that Echo with a jolt, and quickly shakes her head to clear it.]
...so he's... in that card, but he's... here?
[No real need to explain what she saw, surely? Hopefully? She is averting her eyes sheepishly, embarrassed to have intruded...]
[[Tachibana's lips press tightly together a moment.]]
...another echo? [[the question is soft, almost tired, even as he puts the card away]]
Far as we can tell, the Undead when properly sealed, are in statis, with no real awareness of the world. Back in Liminal, Hajime had a copy of this card as well. [[there's some additional discomfort now, but he's pushing through it.]]
So however he was pulled into this world... he wasn't unsealed.
[Dakki nods quickly, mouth pulling into a line, eyes averted. Another Echo.] I'm sorry...
[But what's done is done. And Tachibana has thoughtful things to say on the matter. Up comes a hand, tapping absently as her cheek as she considers things.]
He... might have been pulled from a different point in time. Es... Estinien, when he first came here, he'd been taken right after a terrible battle that had been nearly a year ago, for me. This Isaka, maybe it's the same?
And I suspect Estinien had thought he'd died. If it's a matter of being somehow pulled here between the moment he'd been defeated and the moment you sealed him...
[She tilts her head the other way, shrugging again.]
We know so little about how we come to be here. All we can do is... speculate.
It would be the same to Isaka, no matter when his consciousness was pulled in. And with how Undead can be turned back into their base energy and stored in just a card...
[[he trailed off, shaking his head.]]
Utterly ridiculous, all of this. [[The words are half sighed, half muttered.]]
[Dakki nods along with him, then quietly turns about to fetch tea bags for each of their mugs. What else is there to say? There's so much theory and uncertainty about it all, it is ridiculous.]
...whatever the reason he's here, he's here. The same for... for the one that has me worried. The 'why' isn't as important as the 'what do we do'.
He looked so... broken, after I defeated him. After I told him that the Sealing Stone... [[he trailed off a moment.]]
The thing that created him, his god, could not longer reach him. That there was no way he could do what the Sealing Stone created him to do, in this world.
[[his finger tapped restlessly on the table.]]
There was another Undead that I saw, reacting to the knowledge that the Battle Fight couldn't be won. She was utterly different than Isaka. Of all the Undead...
[[again, he trails off, just shaking his head. There was too much that just... wouldn't make sense.]]
The despair and look of loss in her face... it was the same.
[That he doesn't know what to do, she understands without explanation. But an explanation comes anyway and... then she understands. It's the sort of understanding that settles upon you like a weight, that rests in the pit of your stomach. Though she has turned about to face Tachibana as he explains, she has to lean her weight back against the kitchen counter and just... take it in.]
Such a long list of sins to account for, and when it's all done it's... it's not always what you'd think, is it?
[It's her turn to fidget a little, a hand coming up to her chest, thumb worrying against her clenched fingers. What do they do, now, in this place of pity and bittersweet victory?]
The... one that's here, that I worry about... Emet-Selch's his name. An immortal being, an 'Ascian'. He'd spent ages, ages and ages, since the dawn of time, bringing Calamities into being... and then we learn, it was all to rebuild the world he'd lost. To bring back the people he'd lost.
[Is that enough of an explanation? She takes a breath, then lets it out slowly.]
I killed him. We killed him. And as he stood there, a hole clear through him, his form dissolving into aether, he said... "Remember us." The people of his world, and what they were.
[Is the kettle done? She needs a distraction. She needs a reason to turn away.]
And now he's here. And he knows he lost. And I have tried so, so hard to hate him, and... I can't. So I'm trying to be kind.
The Undead were made to battle for control of the world. The one who won would have their species dominate. The Undead that were released by accident in my time were fighting to have a world in their image.
To that end, Isaka kidnapped Kenzaki, and Karasuma. Mind controlled countless people. Had a new Belt created that wound up almost destroying Mutsuki completely. Killed Sayoko...!
[[His hands tighten into tight fists before slowly, his shoulders and hands go slack again.]]
I've spent 15 years hating him. 15 years having nightmares because of him. 15 years....
Fighting, because they had no choice but to fight? Mm... it was the same for Emet-Selch, in a way.
[Elaborating might be too complicated, though... The kettle's almost ready. Not quite boiling yet. And so she waits, turned partly away from Tachibana.]
You're a good man. So you still pity him. Even after all that.
[Maybe someone needs to give voice to the idea. Maybe he just needs to be reminded of his own goodness.]
[A weakness? Dakki's brow knits, and she wants to protest... but is he entirely wrong? There are people that only know how to use, only know how to hurt.]
Then don't give him that opening.
[Aah, and there goes the kettle. She wastes no time, pouring water into mugs so that the tea can steep. Which gives her something easier to fix her eyes on as she continues.]
You don't have to hate him, but... but you don't have to help him. He made his bed. Let him lie in it.
[She then brings the mugs over, sets one down in front of him, then has herself a seat with her own. That last question.... she looks very uncertain, but her expression softens.]
...would she want you to do that? Would she want you to carry that hate with you?
[[Such a simple thing to say, don't give someone an opening to take advantage of. But was that sort of thing even possible? If you were always on guard against being tricked...
He'd lived that way, once. It had been exhausting, and in the end, he had lashed out at the people he should have trusted, and lost nearly everything...
He was quiet, looking down at his reflection in his mug]]
...I don't know.
[[The admittance is soft and quiet. Everything was far too complicated to feel as if he knew anything, any more]]
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[[Well, she already had the door open, so maybe not.
He follows inside, ready to help set down those boxes at the very least]]
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[Which is to say that she sort of drops them all shortly after coming through the door, and leaves them leaning against the coat rack for the moment. There's a pause to give a relieved sigh, then she's off to set those bags on the kitchen table.
The apartment shows serious evidence of things being packed up. All the furniture is still in place, but decorations have come down, and it's just a bit less... homey.]
Would you like tea? I can put the kettle on!
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[[He's just. Taking in the half packed apartment, feeling uneasy]]
Moving?
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Yes! Estinien invited me to come live with him and Cehd'ra. He's... they're.... we're very close friends!
[And oh, is that a bit of a blush on her cheeks? She's quick to turn back around and fill the kettle up.]
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That's great.
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It's... it's exciting! It's a change, too, but it's nice to have a good change happen, here.
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[[His hands are folded on the table now, a touch of restlessness showing as they bounce idly.]]
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Someone like that...
[[The bouncing grew once more, lips pressing together for a moment more before he continued.]]
I don't know if he will cause trouble. Because now he knows that nothing he does here matters back in our world.
Without the Sealing Stone driving him to win... he doesn't have a reason to exist.
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Oh. [A pause, to think and to recall things they'd talked about before.] He's... he's one of those 'Undead' you talked about?
[That's certainly concerning. She looks concerned.]
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[[His hands bounce a moment more before he reaches into his jacket pocket, pulling out his deck to hold up the sealed Jack of Diamonds. He stared at it a long moment before flipping it over for her to see.]]
The Peacock Undead. Isaka.
[[There's the tension of additional, unspoken titles. The one who killed Sayoko. The one who created Leangle and set Mutsuki up for so much suffering. The one who....]]
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But if he's here, then...
[She cannot finish the idea, turn it into a question, for the familiar pain of the Echo has lit right behind her eyes. Up comes her hand and she flinches...
It is a confrontation between Tachibana and another man, in dark clothing and wearing shaded spectacles. Tachibana is furious and righteous, and this other man.... he'd killed someone. Someone important, for all the fury that is there. He draws a gun and fires, shattering a nearby tank full of watery green liquid...
The echo shifts. It's a fight between a man in highly advanced armor and a blue and black monster. And the armored man is winning. Tachibana is winning. Furious, and that fury drives him on.
The monster loses. His form flickers. A card is tossed atop him, drawing him into it...]
...ah!
[She comes back from that Echo with a jolt, and quickly shakes her head to clear it.]
...so he's... in that card, but he's... here?
[No real need to explain what she saw, surely? Hopefully? She is averting her eyes sheepishly, embarrassed to have intruded...]
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...another echo? [[the question is soft, almost tired, even as he puts the card away]]
Far as we can tell, the Undead when properly sealed, are in statis, with no real awareness of the world. Back in Liminal, Hajime had a copy of this card as well. [[there's some additional discomfort now, but he's pushing through it.]]
So however he was pulled into this world... he wasn't unsealed.
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[But what's done is done. And Tachibana has thoughtful things to say on the matter. Up comes a hand, tapping absently as her cheek as she considers things.]
He... might have been pulled from a different point in time. Es... Estinien, when he first came here, he'd been taken right after a terrible battle that had been nearly a year ago, for me. This Isaka, maybe it's the same?
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He knew I had sealed him. They way he reacted...
[[another moment of tense, lips tightly together silence.]]
He was sure he had been unsealed, until I showed him his card.
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And I suspect Estinien had thought he'd died. If it's a matter of being somehow pulled here between the moment he'd been defeated and the moment you sealed him...
[She tilts her head the other way, shrugging again.]
We know so little about how we come to be here. All we can do is... speculate.
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[[he trailed off, shaking his head.]]
Utterly ridiculous, all of this. [[The words are half sighed, half muttered.]]
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...whatever the reason he's here, he's here. The same for... for the one that has me worried. The 'why' isn't as important as the 'what do we do'.
[She looks back at him, expression soft.]
What... do you want to do?
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I don't know.
[[the admittance is soft, and almost tired.]]
He looked so... broken, after I defeated him. After I told him that the Sealing Stone... [[he trailed off a moment.]]
The thing that created him, his god, could not longer reach him. That there was no way he could do what the Sealing Stone created him to do, in this world.
[[his finger tapped restlessly on the table.]]
There was another Undead that I saw, reacting to the knowledge that the Battle Fight couldn't be won. She was utterly different than Isaka. Of all the Undead...
[[again, he trails off, just shaking his head. There was too much that just... wouldn't make sense.]]
The despair and look of loss in her face... it was the same.
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Such a long list of sins to account for, and when it's all done it's... it's not always what you'd think, is it?
[It's her turn to fidget a little, a hand coming up to her chest, thumb worrying against her clenched fingers. What do they do, now, in this place of pity and bittersweet victory?]
The... one that's here, that I worry about... Emet-Selch's his name. An immortal being, an 'Ascian'. He'd spent ages, ages and ages, since the dawn of time, bringing Calamities into being... and then we learn, it was all to rebuild the world he'd lost. To bring back the people he'd lost.
[Is that enough of an explanation? She takes a breath, then lets it out slowly.]
I killed him. We killed him. And as he stood there, a hole clear through him, his form dissolving into aether, he said... "Remember us." The people of his world, and what they were.
[Is the kettle done? She needs a distraction. She needs a reason to turn away.]
And now he's here. And he knows he lost. And I have tried so, so hard to hate him, and... I can't. So I'm trying to be kind.
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The Undead were made to battle for control of the world. The one who won would have their species dominate. The Undead that were released by accident in my time were fighting to have a world in their image.
To that end, Isaka kidnapped Kenzaki, and Karasuma. Mind controlled countless people. Had a new Belt created that wound up almost destroying Mutsuki completely. Killed Sayoko...!
[[His hands tighten into tight fists before slowly, his shoulders and hands go slack again.]]
I've spent 15 years hating him. 15 years having nightmares because of him. 15 years....
[[he trails off again.]]
The bastard doesn't deserve pity, but I still...!
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[Elaborating might be too complicated, though... The kettle's almost ready. Not quite boiling yet. And so she waits, turned partly away from Tachibana.]
You're a good man. So you still pity him. Even after all that.
[Maybe someone needs to give voice to the idea. Maybe he just needs to be reminded of his own goodness.]
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... it feels like it's just another weakness that'll be exploited.
[[The admittance is small, tired and heavy with shame.]]
He took advantage of my weaknesses the first time, what if this gives him an opening to do it again?
[[another small pause before he added in a more quiet voice:]]
... am I betraying Sayoko, by not being able to keep hating him...?
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Then don't give him that opening.
[Aah, and there goes the kettle. She wastes no time, pouring water into mugs so that the tea can steep. Which gives her something easier to fix her eyes on as she continues.]
You don't have to hate him, but... but you don't have to help him. He made his bed. Let him lie in it.
[She then brings the mugs over, sets one down in front of him, then has herself a seat with her own. That last question.... she looks very uncertain, but her expression softens.]
...would she want you to do that? Would she want you to carry that hate with you?
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He'd lived that way, once. It had been exhausting, and in the end, he had lashed out at the people he should have trusted, and lost nearly everything...
He was quiet, looking down at his reflection in his mug]]
...I don't know.
[[The admittance is soft and quiet. Everything was far too complicated to feel as if he knew anything, any more]]
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