Claire Tourneur: Until the End of the World

[monde_finis]

In the summer of 1999, very little surprised Claire Tourneur. She simply wouldn't let shock take away valuable time that could be spent partying away the fact that her life was going to end. Everyone's lives, actually. The nuclear satellite hung precariously over the earth, losing a battle with gravity that would end life on the planet when it

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[insane_mil_cmdr]

Crais's habitual scowl deepened as he read through the application.

"Pfft. You think life is so precious? Certainly you are not treating yours as if it is."

[monde_finis]

She pointed to the Hufflepuff question. "Can you not read?" she asked in a derisive tone.

[insane_mil_cmdr]

He snorted again. "If you did not believe life in general precious, you would not be in such a state about this 'end of the world' you reference," he replied.

"Life is fragile at the best of times, you know. Civilians simply prefer to blind themselves to it. Soldiers know from an early age their lives are forfeit, if not how or when or why. From birth, some of them. Yet they still manage to get their jobs done."

[monde_finis]

"Congratulations for them," she said, and turned away from the man. Soldier's lives had a purpose. hers did not. Now that it was over, she was irritated to find that she wasn't whisked away into forgiveness or damnation. The afterlife was turning out to be quite similar to her old life, right down to the boring people.

[insane_mil_cmdr]

"Wasteful," he muttered.

"You are not dead, you know. Not now, if you ever were. I was most assuredly dead. But not anymore, and surrounded by thoroughly live people." He rolled his eyes. "Strange ones, I grant you, but continually alive."

[monde_finis]

She was only half-listening; religious talk did not interest her. His last comment amused her, though. "As opposed to the periodically alive?"

((Edited for clarity.))

[insane_mil_cmdr]

"As opposed to those who have experienced death. Which, in this castle, seems to lack a certain...permanence."

Crais grimaced; time for a hard admission. "Dying and coming back...changes things. I was always taught there is nothing else after. I was...unprepared. No training, no scripts. No rules."

[monde_finis]

Now this was an interesting conversation. "Then you know the tricks of resurrection, like this Dumbledore person? Teach them to me, and I will be able to tell what has changed when I come back. Then we will talk."

[insane_mil_cmdr]

Crais laughed bitterly. "If I knew that I could rule the universe. No, resurrection is nothing I did; it is something that was done to me."

He thought that over. "Or possibly that suggests too much conscious intent. It may be something that just happened to me. But that would be far too random to bear, would it not?" He shook his head. "Either way, there are others here who have experienced this. Dying, and then finding oneself here in this room."

[monde_finis]

Dying, then finding herself here? Claire could check that off the list. "So then who makes you the expert on if I am really dead? Maybe I just want to continue being dead."

[insane_mil_cmdr]

He sighed. Heavily. "Death was fairly definitive in my case. Unless you think being at the heart of an exploding ship is ambiguous. How did you expect to die? Do you remember it happening?"

[monde_finis]

"A nuclear satellite was supposed to hit the earth and wipe us all out. I guess I am one of the lucky ones. Better to be fried where you stand, then wait for it to come, don't you think?"

[insane_mil_cmdr]

Crais suppressed a flinch. He had watched someone die of radiation poisoning once; it was astonishingly quick, but measured in terms of suffering, not nearly quick enough.

"A matter of personal taste, I suppose." He cocked an eyebrow. "At the end I was able to find something larger than myself to believe in - to do something good in this world, even if I had to die for it. You could not find a way to find some meaning in death, rather than simply wait?"

[monde_finis]

She made a pssh sound and waved her hand. "Seven billion other people could go and find meaning in death. I lived my wasteful life. I'm sure those other people are celebrating with the saints rather than talking to the likes of you."

[insane_mil_cmdr]

Another heavy sigh. "Then you are...content...with your lot? No desire for something more?"

[monde_finis]

"Oui," she said firmly. She could be putting him on. Clarie couldn't see why her happiness was anyone else's business, but she had been asked about it a lot. Even in death, though, she wasn't going to let just anybody into her inner feelings. So her confidence may have been an act, or it may have been genuine, but it was all that she was going to let show.