11/05 — ΣHeartless Snaring Cathedral...?

[userunfriendly]

Who: █████ & visitors
What: scheming
Where: Δ Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground (Hulle Granz Cathedral)
When: Sunday, 11/05
Warnings: to be added


[ Despite the ominous aura, the haunted tower has seen no shortage of visitors recently. But for those who gate in today the air itself is different. The skies are black, and the mist that had blanketed only the top of the tower now pours out across the plains, shrouding the ruined city from sight.

Anyone who goes looking for the master of the tower will find that the room he occupied before now holds only a single door, standing unsupported in the middle of the room. It beckons, tugging with a terrible compulsion — you know whatever sight awaits you is one you'll later wish you could forget, and yet... you look. But the door opens only onto the bridge leading to Hulle Granz Cathedral, where the first quiet strains of choral music through the open doors guides you on. ]

((Note: Characters are welcome to receive the location from any other player and gate directly to Δ Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground. Allowing those who found his tower inaccessible to come join, too, is cruelty.))

Comments

[fluorite]

[ He's calling out to Gorre from where he's sitting and propping Yael up however he needs to be, since he can't exactly move right now. Hopefully the walls of the cathedral will carry his voice well enough. ]

So you finally admit that he's still here. [ He almost laughs, but it would hurt too much. ] You hesitated, once. I could see it. I could feel it.

He's in there and you can't convince me otherwise.

[userunfriendly]

Is that what you hope for? For him to return and face the blood on his hands? You're a surprisingly petty man...

[ But Gorre had that data, too. Exhaustion is leaking into his emotionless voice, softening it. ]

Or do you need that to be true to justify the price you paid for it?

[ A pointed look towards Yael. Gorre doesn't regret. He doesn't. The guilt is only an external condition, imposed by status effects. Processing necessity. ]

[fluorite]

[ For once, it's not pettiness. Shocking, isn't it, that Fai is going against the data Gorre has so meticulously collected. ]

The thing about that is... he's forgiven already. At least by me.

[ He can't speak for his boyfriend.

As for worth? Hm, that can't exactly be quantified, now can it? Though Fai would say that even an attempt at getting Michel back was worth the price paid—but again, only Yael can make that determination. ]

[userunfriendly]

[ This is why this was always impossible... humans are so inconsistent. An element of randomness he can't fathom. ]

Do you think that's what he wants, either?

[ Does he believe Michel would forgive himself? Gorre's hand flexes restlessly, as though remembering the shock against his palm of the sword cleaving through a person. That data... that memory would stay, carved deep into Michel, as long as he existed. ]

[fluorite]

I don't know, but shouldn't he be given the choice to decide that? If he really wants to, he can discard my forgiveness.

[ And he'll accept it. Ultimately, what Michel does with that forgiveness is his choice. ]

[userunfriendly]

[ That's... not such a bad answer. Gorre lets out a soft laugh again. That final confuse hammer to the head really did jar something loose in his programming, did it? ]

Perfect. He hates the burden of decisions. He will stand there forever, unable to move, unable to flee. He is... such a coward.

[ Press that onto him. That wouldn't be such a terrible reward for his original host. ]

[fluorite]

[ Fai shakes his head. ]

A coward wouldn’t write those letters. A coward wouldn’t try to make me face my own truth.

[userunfriendly]

It is simple to do those things for other people. There were not his cruelties. He could never face those.

[ Have we learned nothing from doors? Gorre tilts his head, just a little. ]

[fluorite]

Yes, he could. Why else would his own door be here too?

[ His faith is strong in Michel. Hopefully Gorre can see that. ]

He would never tell me to face something that he couldn’t face himself. Michel is kind, and those letters are representative of his kindness.

[userunfriendly]

I—

[ Twice now, that Fai tricked him into a misstep. Annoying. Yes... he was much too talented at being annoying. ]

I should have... deleted more of the cruel memories as well.

[ Discarding data was unthinkable. But if he'd removed those, pulled the spine from that identity like deboning a fish...

More miscalculations. Annoying. ]

[fluorite]

[ He eyes Gorre. That bit of awkwardness... it's reminiscent of Michel, that's for sure. He can't help but smile, if only a little. ]

Yet you didn't. Why is that? Was part of you hoping to face them?

[userunfriendly]

They were data. That's all. I couldn't have... thrown away something so precious.

[ He needed them. That understanding. That very core of who he... who he was. ]

[fluorite]

Of course not. Painful as they are, those cruel memories make up who we are, don't they? I think you were alluding to that in your letter, if you didn't outright say it.

[ These things are important, and he thinks that was an understanding he and Michel came to at one point, albeit silently.

And after being shown one of his worst memories in that door, he's remembered at least a part of who he was. ]

Much in the way that I am Yuui, you are Michel.

[userunfriendly]

If you can remember that... then it wasn't entirely wasted.

[ Although, at what cost? A shudder wracks its way through Gorre's body, making the cloak ripple as if from an invisible wind.

Being Michel again in this moment... would be cruel. Perhaps that's at least part of why that grip has eased — that, and his sense of self reasserting itself too late from the door that was opened. ]

I'm sorry. I don't know if it was a mistake to hold onto those things. But I could not have imagined it any other way.

[fluorite]

For what it's worth... I don't think it's a mistake. Not at all.

[ Their memories are part of them in every sense. They're what makes them who they are.

With a small smile, Yuui gives him a little shrug. ]

If you couldn't have imagined it any other way, then there was no other way for it to be.