Riful's Heart.

[dramatispersonae]

[everything goes away.]

[sight, sound, taste, touch, smell - you lose yourself to the nothing that waits through the doorway. do you have a body? a mind? what is such a thing? for a dizzying moment, you might not even be sure you have a "you" to identify these concepts with.]

[then, wrenching and violent, the confusion of the senses pummels itself back inside you like seasoning pounded into raw meat, and you're left, painfully sensate, on an open plain.]

Comments

[madasahero]

[Pushing it slightly open, just enough to look inside]

[amivoringyou]

[Chariot and Yuri can be seen in a naked embrace, artfully (but not tastefully) positioned, split down the middle and their guts entangled in each other.]

[madasahero]

[SIGHS.

Pulling the door back, respectfully, until it's ajar again, and taking the stairs to his room.]

[amivoringyou]

[behind Sion's desk in his room sits someone of uncertain identity, wearing two worlds: hir long hair tied back like Sion's, but with pale skin and hair and slitted silver eyes like a claymore; the exaggerated flamboyance to hir posture of Sion, but the practical armoring of someone else entirely. xe is hard at work recording something in a notebook when you enter, seemingly oblivious to the signs of murder that reach even into this room; xe looks up, and leans back in hir chair.]

... huh. It's you.

[madasahero]

[Approaching]

...And you are?

[amivoringyou]

Sion - [rubs at hir head] ... no, that's not right. But I'm - you're - close enough.

[touches hir head with a palm] This makes my head hurt. I wish I could've killed her when I had the chance.

[madasahero]

[Sion, huh? That makes three of us?]

Well, it's pointless to cry over spilled milk, isn't it. Can you explain what is going on here?

[vague gesture towards the bloodstains]

[amivoringyou]

[resting hir cheek on one palm]

Isn't it obvious? She's trapped and doesn't want to admit it.

[madasahero]

[Nods]

I was aware of the trapped part, but not so much that she didn't wish to admit it. May I take a look at what you are writing?

[Approaches a little more, more intrigued than anything.]

[amivoringyou]

[... sighs]

[shows the notebook to him. it's blank]

It's very hard to keep my thoughts organized when I can't read anything I write.

[madasahero]

I can both read and write, though. Would you like me to give it a try? I can take notes of everything you say. Or if that's not possible, memorize it.

[extends his hand out, palm up]

[amivoringyou]

[... considers, briefly, perhaps unexpectedly, suspicious ...]

[then hands the notebook over.]

You'll need something. To fill up the pen with.

[madasahero]

[I'm looking for INK, of course. There should be some on the desk.]

[amivoringyou]

[sure there is, but ..... it looks a bit ... off ...]

[madasahero]

[Fffff, Riful. Is it blood?

Picks it up and examines it.]

[amivoringyou]

[heavily oxidized blood looks almost black. what do you think.]

[madasahero]

[My headmonster is called the Black Hero for that very reason. :(

I will open the bottle and smell it.]

[amivoringyou]

[it's blood, obviously.]

[madasahero]

[Fine, fine. Prepares the pen with blood, turns it around and sits down on his bed with the notebook]

Well?

[amivoringyou]

Where do you want to start?

You know words aren't the way to her heart.

[madasahero]

But information is. And you told me this would help you organize your thoughts better.

Start with what could be useful for her.

[amivoringyou]

She needs to learn how to be a person. She's never learned, and it's never been taught to her.

... it's never been relevant.

[madasahero]

Ah, thank you for telling me this.

[Not writing anything just yet]

Is there anything I can do in this building that could help her with that?

[amivoringyou]

... no. Not ... here.

[xe gets up from hir chair, moving out from behind the desk.]

... something you said ... "How far are you willing to go to seek the truth?" That was it, wasn't it?

[madasahero]

Did I say that? Hmm, that sounds familiar.

I came directly to this place because we share this room. It seemed to be the best place to start, even if it was a long walk.

...I'd go very far, yes.