[ AUDIENCE: LUCRETIA ]

[dormheads]

Comments

[inaccordant]

[he shakes his head.]

It'll only start working next week.

[no using it this week, in other words.]

... It may be that Otome was involved in something meant to be limited, and the act of sharing it invoked a punishment. Alternatively—or secondly, as the reasons may not be mutually exclusive—Otome was telling the truth about trying to protect people from this world, then it might be that the world realized what she's been doing, and punished her for the act of killing in the first place.

[ambiography]

...I've wondered about how true that really was, though of course she must have believed it to be. I talked about it with someone else, and they made a fairly good point: if you were trying to protect people, why wouldn't it be the ones who needed it the most? People who are younger, more vulnerable in general? The patterns don't... really make sense, unless she was trying to protect others from the people she killed, and we have-- no indication of why that would be.

[actually edits bc i realized i forgot a question before i accidentally moved on--]

Oh-- before I forget. Are Claude and I going to be the only ones who could use the item? Is it locked specifically to us?

[inaccordant]

... Well, we still don't know enough to make any real conclusions from her motives. Those aren't necessarily the only possible options.

It isn't. You could, in theory, give it to someone else to use.

[ambiography]

...I'll keep that in mind. Hopefully Claude will agree, if it's necessary.

[look if molly does not come the fuck back this Will be handed off to one of the critroles for a week, she trusts them to get any information they can while also getting to see him.]

[inaccordant]

Well, it's yours now to do with as you please.

[ambiography]

Then I'm going to do what I can to help resolve this.

[inaccordant]

Good, because I wouldn't have accepted your bid otherwise.

[ambiography]

I didn't think you would.

But I hope that you believe me when I say I meant it. That's-- all that I want to do, here.

[inaccordant]

To me, the auction system is annoying, but you offered what I hoped for.

[help for everyone else, because hugo didn't want anything for himself.]

I think most people have that intention, even if it doesn't necessarily mean much on its own.

[ambiography]

I think enough of us have it to make it mean something.

[she has to hope so. god, she hopes so.]

...Hugo, while I'm here, do you mind if I ask you a little more about yourself?

[inaccordant]

[...]

What do you want to know?

[ambiography]

Do you remember the memory that I saw, the other week?

[inaccordant]

[he's silent for a bit.]

... Yes.

[ambiography]

...do you have anything to return to, after this?

[inaccordant]

... Does it matter? I made my choices.

[ambiography]

It matters to me, yes, but-- I also wanted to ask why.

[just what drove him to that-- why it needed to be done.]

[inaccordant]

Because the world had to change, and that was the only way.

[and that was far more important than his life.]

[ambiography]

Change in what way, Hugo?

[there's... well, there's no judgment, because she does understand making that kind of call. she's always had to preserve her own life, because she was the only one who knew the truth. who could fix it. but she's familiar enough with doing drastic things to change the world.]

[inaccordant]

[...]

A long time ago, a god became corrupt, and the other gods chose to seal him away instead of trying to purify him. However, even then, his corruption continued to seep into the land.

A false peace has been maintained by eradicating the symptoms that manifest, but...

[there's a stab of emotions past his wall—grief, before it gives way to resolve.]

Like that, nothing would ever truly get better. The only way was to take a risk and unseal him, so that the corruption could be cleansed once and for all.

[ambiography]

...it really wouldn't have. These things have to be taken care of at the source, or the problem will only be worse in the future.

[that grief gets sympathy in response, though, even after it's given way.]

What pushed you to this?

[inaccordant]

... Only a few people meet the criteria needed to undo the seal. On a practical level, it made more sense for it to be me than the other option.

[it's probably not quite what she's asking about.]

[ambiography]

[it's not, but she doesn't press it immediately.]

What were the criteria?

[inaccordant]

[...]

A warlock who'd accepted the power of corruption.

However, most warlocks in that position lose control of their power and are driven to madness.

[so, uh. the pool of sane corrupted warlocks is rather limited.]

[ambiography]

Then I suppose it's not surprising for it to come down to two options.

[and that probably explains what's happened with him, before.]

-is it causing you any difficulty, here?

[inaccordant]

I can usually keep it under control. Just—this place interfering with my memories made it difficult, at the start.