[ Hua Cheng hums his acknowledgment about the knife. ] It was on me.
[ Surprise! But he takes a sip of the tea. ]
I was curfewing in the manor, and she was at - ah, the inn? With you and the others. I didn't know that she was on this side of the bridge until after I'd checked around the northern area for her and we didn't cross paths for a while.
No, she didn't. There was an unspoken understanding that that was not an option. I was to make sure that it was taken care of, and I was to come back uncaught - and both were promises I made, and was intending to keep.
[ A pause, and his voice goes from the clinical explanation, to something softer. ]
...you would be one of the best for the job, so I'm not that surprised she asked you. [but...] More points for our side, and a better chance to bring Sumire and Hajime back.
I said the same thing to Swan. [ Not to brag but he's pretty good at killing people, and doesn't have hangups about it. ] Taako could probably do it, if he wasn't as hurt as he was when it came up. Fiora won't ever do it, no matter what it means, for Swan and the well-being of all of us in the Realm at the end. It doesn't abide by who she is. I won't hold it against her.
[ Homura, maybe. Sora? He doesn't want him to have to. He already does so much, and Hua Cheng wouldn't ask it of him, not when he's the type of hero that doesn't need blood on his hands. ]
Swan did. It was her only condition. It was an easy condition to agree to.
I wouldn't doubt Taako doing it. But I would say we never tell Fiora who did it...even if I think our icon will flash on the PHS tomorrow. We'll have to come up with something to tell them.
[there's a huff of exhaustion.]
It's way too easy to agree. I'd do anything for her, and I think you would, too. [...] She'll get some memories back, too. And she'll feel like she can help us. That's important to her right now.
It will. [ He's had enough people tell him to be on the lookout for it, thinking that they're sly when they don't tell him what it means and he doesn't inquire further. ] We'll deal with Fiora if we have to - which, I suspect we will, unfortunately. But we don't have to tell her anything, and even Swan can't confirm it.
[ You see why he's tired today? He is so tired. ]
Now, yes. She wants us to win, not for the sake of winning - even if she doesn't like losing - but because she wants to help us. [ ... ] And she'd like to be able to join us, all of us, when we gather together. When things are better.
We can tell her it's just that Swan got enough nova. That's technically true. It's...funny, I guess. I know she's our teammate but there's so much I don't know if I can agree on with her. But we have to work together. We'll figure it out when we get there.
She will. I promised her we'd save them, too, so I'm going to. We'll do whatever it takes even if it means lying to others and covering up crimes.
I know I can't agree with her. We don't see eye-to-eye on much, though I respect her convictions to a degree. But there is a dangerous line between optimistic - [ an offhand gesture to where Sora is sitting ] - and idealistic. Idealism without restraint gets you and others hurt, or killed, and that rigid set of morals she has could put people in danger.
At least she didn't vote for herself this week.
[ #growth ]
I'll warn you, the next time I do it. You managed to figure me out, anyways, so better to have you keeping watch.
Yeah...it was sort of how I felt about Hikaru, too. [and he breeches the subject lightly because he knows they were close.] It's important to hold onto your beliefs and try to stick with them, but it's equally important to be open to changing your mind, or at least understanding other points of view. Sometimes it worries me that people still think there's a simple solution between "killing" and "not killing." You can do what's right without liking the choice.
[but at least she didn't vote for herself.]
...I don't know if I could have if I didn't have a little help. And that's sort of what I wanted to tell you about.
[ It's only because it's Sora that he doesn't shut the topic down, to be honest. ] ... Hikaru's beliefs I understood, because she told me them. What path she wanted to take, before her nova was splintering so much that she started to lose that, and herself. They're idealistic, but she could have been given focus, to seeing the bigger picture, and she had people that could temper her.
It does sometimes feel like talking to a wall when they won't listen, though. None of this is black and white. It hasn't been, from the start. We're only just getting the information that shows how deeply it runs, though, and it's a reality check for some.
I can't be too mad, I guess. I think maybe I used to be like that, too, before I started to understand things back home. [he was the most idealistic version of himself when his journey started because all he cared about was finding his friends and going home. in the end, after years of taking on pain and turning it into power, he learned how to see a bigger picture.
sort of.]
I know people are upset about these things. We just have to keep watch and protect them from hurting too badly. It's all we can do right now.
[...] I need to know. Who told you about the chess pieces of this game?
You have shades of it, I think. But you're more level-headed than I would've expected a hero to be. [ At this age, and with the rest of the information in his profile. But he doesn't say it unkindly at all, and it's more of a compliment - Sora is someone he knows he can depend on.
But, the topic is dropped. Something more important is here.
He angles his head to look at him, with something calculating. Assessing. The exhaustion fades from a week of sharing memories, of committing a murder, of seeing someone he cares about splinter and face death for it. ]
I trust you, Sora. That's not something I say to anyone lightly - but if something of that trust is betrayed, it will not end well.
[...that feels like an arrogant thing to say "thank you" but there's a nod. he appreciates it.] I'm trying to be. Things here work a little differently at home. So I can't expect everything to be the same.
[...somehow that look doesn't seem to bother him.]
I have no reason to betray your trust. I just want to know what information is floating around, and why. If I can be any help, I will. But I want to understand.
There are... some similarities, to home. They aren't comforting ones. But that's a better view than a lot of people have at the moment.
[ ... honestly, he'd probably be disappointed if he was bothered by it.. ]
I don't know the source, and there's no one else I've spread it to. [ He will say that outright. ] And I say this because it came with the warning of who to share it with, regarding the information floating around, as well as if it was said to one of the pieces that might be dangerous. You'll have to forgive me, for that promise, considering who the bridge for the information was.
There's already a lot I'm willing to do. [ It comes with the usual. Age, experiences, Snow needs to go tag the memshare so he can hurt you things. ] But if something happens to gege, there is very little that I would not do.
...I wouldn't ask you to do anything to hurt Xie Lian. Ever. And I wouldn't do anything that might harm him. [...] But I think I'll have to talk to him myself, if that's okay.
No, it's fine. [ Whatever bristling there was, Hua Cheng settles back again, taking a sip from the lukewarm tea. ] I said I trust you, and I don't go back on that. And if connecting the two of you on this will help to gather information, without it going in the wrong direction, to the wrong people, then you can at least help confirm some things for him as well.
[he'll reach into his pocket and pull out what looks like a ticket! the stub has been ripped from it, but the ticket says "fast pass" on it.]
Once I ripped the stub off, it gave me a hint to a responsible party. The hint was very obviously you, so I didn't tell anybody else. [a pause.] I had it stuffed in some of the other papers in my pockets and nobody checked those.
That was not what Hua Cheng or I was expecting. But thematically, it makes sense, in a ridiculous sort of way. He understands what the gift shop is, now, after having read through enough books in the shop around them, and Sora truly has gone above and beyond. ]
I suppose we both have been a little underhanded in our checks. [ Fair is fair: ] Alyssa's knife and my own were between my bracers and my vambraces. I've never removed them separately, so no one was aware that they came apart.
[ anyways ] Thank you. [ for keeping quiet ] Is it a one-time use?
Sometimes we have to be. [a shrug. but also he just makes a face.] Man, I was looking everywhere for that!
[but it's fine. he'll deal with that later and it just goes to show them that they can easily mess up if they aren't paying attention. to the question though, he nods.]
It was. I had something else, too, that was a one-time use that I used in addition to the ticket to get us nova for Swan anyway. Unfortunately it meant a vote would go toward a guilty person, so that might've been one of the votes for you.
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[ Surprise! But he takes a sip of the tea. ]
I was curfewing in the manor, and she was at - ah, the inn? With you and the others. I didn't know that she was on this side of the bridge until after I'd checked around the northern area for her and we didn't cross paths for a while.
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[ A pause, and his voice goes from the clinical explanation, to something softer. ]
"I don't want to lose anyone else."
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Is that what Alyssa said, or Swan?
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[ Homura, maybe. Sora? He doesn't want him to have to. He already does so much, and Hua Cheng wouldn't ask it of him, not when he's the type of hero that doesn't need blood on his hands. ]
Swan did. It was her only condition. It was an easy condition to agree to.
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[there's a huff of exhaustion.]
It's way too easy to agree. I'd do anything for her, and I think you would, too. [...] She'll get some memories back, too. And she'll feel like she can help us. That's important to her right now.
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[ You see why he's tired today? He is so tired. ]
Now, yes. She wants us to win, not for the sake of winning - even if she doesn't like losing - but because she wants to help us. [ ... ] And she'd like to be able to join us, all of us, when we gather together. When things are better.
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She will. I promised her we'd save them, too, so I'm going to. We'll do whatever it takes even if it means lying to others and covering up crimes.
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I know I can't agree with her. We don't see eye-to-eye on much, though I respect her convictions to a degree. But there is a dangerous line between optimistic - [ an offhand gesture to where Sora is sitting ] - and idealistic. Idealism without restraint gets you and others hurt, or killed, and that rigid set of morals she has could put people in danger.
At least she didn't vote for herself this week.
[ #growth ]
I'll warn you, the next time I do it. You managed to figure me out, anyways, so better to have you keeping watch.
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[but at least she didn't vote for herself.]
...I don't know if I could have if I didn't have a little help. And that's sort of what I wanted to tell you about.
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It does sometimes feel like talking to a wall when they won't listen, though. None of this is black and white. It hasn't been, from the start. We're only just getting the information that shows how deeply it runs, though, and it's a reality check for some.
[ ... is he surprised? He's not surprised. ]
Color me curious.
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sort of.]
I know people are upset about these things. We just have to keep watch and protect them from hurting too badly. It's all we can do right now.
[...] I need to know. Who told you about the chess pieces of this game?
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But, the topic is dropped. Something more important is here.
He angles his head to look at him, with something calculating. Assessing. The exhaustion fades from a week of sharing memories, of committing a murder, of seeing someone he cares about splinter and face death for it. ]
I trust you, Sora. That's not something I say to anyone lightly - but if something of that trust is betrayed, it will not end well.
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[...somehow that look doesn't seem to bother him.]
I have no reason to betray your trust. I just want to know what information is floating around, and why. If I can be any help, I will. But I want to understand.
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[ ... honestly, he'd probably be disappointed if he was bothered by it.. ]
I don't know the source, and there's no one else I've spread it to. [ He will say that outright. ] And I say this because it came with the warning of who to share it with, regarding the information floating around, as well as if it was said to one of the pieces that might be dangerous. You'll have to forgive me, for that promise, considering who the bridge for the information was.
There's already a lot I'm willing to do. [ It comes with the usual. Age, experiences, Snow needs to go tag the memshare so he can hurt you things. ] But if something happens to gege, there is very little that I would not do.
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...I wouldn't ask you to do anything to hurt Xie Lian. Ever. And I wouldn't do anything that might harm him. [...] But I think I'll have to talk to him myself, if that's okay.
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No, it's fine. [ Whatever bristling there was, Hua Cheng settles back again, taking a sip from the lukewarm tea. ] I said I trust you, and I don't go back on that. And if connecting the two of you on this will help to gather information, without it going in the wrong direction, to the wrong people, then you can at least help confirm some things for him as well.
[ But he wants to know more. So. ]
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...
...]
The Queen is on Swan's team.
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And the Queen's position helped you figure me out.
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yup.]
That's why I didn't tell anybody during the trial.
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[ It is. Very obvious that he would not be happy with that, but would do it anyways. ]
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Once I ripped the stub off, it gave me a hint to a responsible party. The hint was very obviously you, so I didn't tell anybody else. [a pause.] I had it stuffed in some of the other papers in my pockets and nobody checked those.
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That was not what Hua Cheng or I was expecting. But thematically, it makes sense, in a ridiculous sort of way. He understands what the gift shop is, now, after having read through enough books in the shop around them, and Sora truly has gone above and beyond. ]
I suppose we both have been a little underhanded in our checks. [ Fair is fair: ] Alyssa's knife and my own were between my bracers and my vambraces. I've never removed them separately, so no one was aware that they came apart.
[ anyways ] Thank you. [ for keeping quiet ] Is it a one-time use?
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[but it's fine. he'll deal with that later and it just goes to show them that they can easily mess up if they aren't paying attention. to the question though, he nods.]
It was. I had something else, too, that was a one-time use that I used in addition to the ticket to get us nova for Swan anyway. Unfortunately it meant a vote would go toward a guilty person, so that might've been one of the votes for you.