017 [Voice]
[It's rather late at night when the journal clicks on. Luke had waited until he had calmed down from the nightmare he had to make the post, and good thing, too. Otherwise it'd catch the tremor he surely had in his voice.
Instead, he merely sounds subdued, and maybe a little hesitant.]Does anyone have any good stories to tell ( Read more... )
Instead, he merely sounds subdued, and maybe a little hesitant.]Does anyone have any good stories to tell ( Read more... )
"With the time of the fair Priestess's execution merely weeks away, the elder brother fell into despair, unable to find a way to reach her. He pleaded for the help of everyone he knew, but even his brother refused- because to the younger brother, his elder's life was worth far more than the life of his beloved, and the thought of his brother sharing her fate was unbearable to him.
Then, a man came to their home one day, cloaked and bent with shame. He revealed himself to be the Traitor, the Cursed One, the very man who had betrayed the Priestess and handed her over to the enemy. The elder brother was enraged, sword drawn, ready to kill him on sight. 'You will die with her,' he told the Traitor. 'You should not have come here.'
The Traitor pleaded with the elder brother to spare his life, but not, as the brother expected, for his own sake. 'I cannot live with my guilt,' he cried. 'This is my fault. Let me make it right.' He explained how he had found a way to reach the Priestess, and that a rescue was possible. With the help of the brothers, her life could be spared."
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The Traitor character seems to resonate in him... 'This is my fault'. He purses his lips, glancing up at Asch's face briefly.]
... So the brothers are going to save her now, right? [He can't help it. Even as a kid, he'd interrupt the story to ask questions or exclaim various things. It was hard to keep still and quiet.]
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You can't just sit and listen, can you? Like a little kid.
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I-I'm not a kid... [Sure he's not.] I'll be quiet. [... And a glance.] So... What does happen?
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"With newfound hope, the elder brother decided to give the Traitor a chance to redeem himself. He asked his brother for help, and though it was with reluctance - he still did not wish to see his family's lives in danger - the younger brother finally agreed. The three of them set off for the island prison at once, and with the help of the Traitor, the impenetrable prison wall was at last breached, and the Priestess was precisely where the Traitor had said she would be. The elder brother and his beloved were reunited, and amidst their happy tears, the younger brother understood that her death would surely have killed his precious family just as surely as a failed escape attempt would. He vowed that he would spend the rest of his life, from that moment onwards, devoted entirely to the protection of the elder brother and his love."
[The picture on the page is more detailed than the rest, though marginally- a blond man kneeling before a beautiful brunette, her hand resting in his hair as he wept, while the younger blond and a dark haired man stood guard.]
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Luke smiles a little, and he leans his head to the side to rest his cheek against his knees.]
So... they lived happily ever after like that, right?
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Not exactly. "The Traitor" committed suicide after they escaped.
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What?! But... But why?! Why did he...
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Supposedly he couldn't live with the shame. How would you feel, if something you did wound up getting the Fon Master killed? It's the same thing.
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[He frowns, and he puts his hands on the cushions to lean over and looks at the book.]
B-Besides, this is a kids' book! Stories don't just... end like that! [Not in all the ones he's read, anyway.]
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Stories end like this all the time. It's called real life.
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But... stories aren't like real life. That's why they're called stories, or fairy tales.
[He sits back again, and he stares up at the ceiling, legs pulled up and arms wrapped loosely around his ankles again.]
... Maybe I should make up my own ending for that story.
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How would you have written it, then?
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Wait here, okay?
[And head back to his room to get something.]
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Once he sits, he writes a little more... then starts to read out loud.]
"With a renewed strength of bond, the two brothers returned to their kingdom with the priestess at their side. All was not well, however, for the Traitor still had lingering guilt in his heart. He felt that he could not be forgiven for what he had done... But he didn't want to die with the burden still heavy on his shoulders. Not yet.
And so, he threw away his title as a Traitor, and he became the Atoner. He decided not to return to the kingdom that would surely welcome him with jeers, or even an order for execution. Instead, he became a wanderer, and he set out on a quest to right his wrongs, to seek out whatever evil may threaten the land and vanquish it."
[He starts to write a little more, and even draw a picture on the side, though his art skills could certainly use some work. It looks like it's supposed to be a man holding his sword up in the air, though.]
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