[WEEK 2, THURSDAY EVENING: Laphicet]

[spinatalltale]

[the trial last weekend irritated her. feeling like she was being toyed with, similar to how Melchior had toyed with her with his own illusions, had brought out some older, bitter feelings that she had done her best to repress. the march of time helped quell that irritation, but now?]

[now she was livid]

[it's getting late, and Magilou knows instinctively that she should return to the hut. but she sure as hell isn't about to return to Lucina while she has the specter of her old master hanging over her shoulder-- You truly are, even now, my greatest failure.]

Ugh.

[she's on the outskirts of the jungle, a makeshift torch in hand, as those words roll over her ears and make her grimace in disgust. instinctively, she whirls around, swinging her torch in front of her, sending a small tongue of flame flying through the air before it lands on the ground and ignites a small patch of jungle foliage]

[she watches it burn, eyes empty, but the whispers remain]

You really are the most full of yourself, aren't you, Master?

[why is she talking to herself? help, Laphicet]

Comments

[chaosbloom]

That's actually interesting, though. Daemonblight, malevolence... I don't think any of that exists here. Not in the way we know it. And yet everyone still has their free will.

[Aside from the murder and hallucinations, it's an ideal situation when it comes to malevolence.]

Of course, I don't know what would happen if a daemon or a dragon was actually here... I mean, a dragon besides me.

[spinatalltale]

For a definition of "free will."

[as much agency as one can get in a place like this, anyway]

If someone here did turn into a daemon or a dragon, I think we'd all have a biiiig problem on our hands. You and I don't have our artes, after all.

[chaosbloom]

I don't have my silver flame either... But I guess I was sorta thinking what would happen if someone like Rokurou was here. Even I can't turn him back into a human, so I wonder if that would be true here too.

[spinatalltale]

Yeah. Probably.

[she inclines her head slightly]

Why are you thinking about that at a time like this?

[chaosbloom]

Um... you won't tell anyone, right?

[Admittedly, it's something he's been thinking about a lot, not just now.]

I'm curious about the extent of the incentives. About what exactly's possible for the people who brought us here. If they could create something like this, if they could bring me here, I imagine they could also create a world without daemonblight.

[spinatalltale]

[. . . oh]

[she's interested. definitely interested. and Laphicet definitely knows her well enough by now to know that she wouldn't tell a soul-- that his secrets are probably the only secrets on the island she'd keep]

A world without daemonblight. . . a world where humans are allowed to feel freely, without being punished for their emotions by a body of beings that think they're so much better than everyone else. . .

[YEAH MAGILOU TELL LAPHICET HOW YOU REALLY FEEL ABOUT THE HEAVENLY STEPPES]

Is that kind of world worth it to you?

[worth killing in this place. taking a life. not that either of them are strangers to killing, but. . .]

[chaosbloom]

... I don't know.

[The issue is when and how their world would change. Because a world like that might be ideal, but...]

But if it was a world where daemonblight never existed in the first place... A world where Velvet could be happy. I'd do anything.

[spinatalltale]

[that's the only thing that keeps her from bringing up potential parallels to Artorius, honestly. the fact that Laphicet's desires came from a deeply personal place. a deeply selfish place]

[just like everyone else's. after all, none of them had fought for the sake of the world, had they? they had fought for themselves and their own goals and ideals]

[it's why she likes him so much]

You just need to make sure that whatever you do doesn't get you killed, kiddo. [not that Magilou would ever vote to execute Laphicet-- guilty or not] Velvet wouldn't want that.

[chaosbloom]

[He's a selfish wicked little boy and he knows it!!]


I know, but... I actually don't know how she'd feel about a world where I never existed like this. I don't think she'd let me do something like that, but Velvet gave up everything without asking any of us how we'd feel without her there. So... I also don't care.

[spinatalltale]

[SHE LIKES IT!! HE'S A GOOD SELFISH WICKED LITTLE BOY!!]

[she can't help but laugh, one hand pressed against her head]

She really has rubbed off on you, huh? You're so alike.

[she's smiling]

[chaosbloom]

Huh? You really think so...?

[He feels his cheeks grow hot because that's honestly the nicest thing Magilou's ever said to him.]

Thank you, Magilou...

[spinatalltale]

[it's a pretty big compliment, actually. and he knows why]

. . . if you do decide to go through with it, don't keep me in the dark. If you don't have to, I mean.

I won't necessarily offer to help-- [she doesn't really want to kill anyone while she's here, to be frank] -- but I did offer you my protection.