Stage 4

[kleptophile]

[Lyn would hate himself for this later, if he hadn't already gotten a head start by hating himself right now. He knows he doesn't want to say this, that this is a terrible idea, but he's...he's got to. It's driving him crazy not to.]Alright, so a handful of people already know this, and I haven't kept it too secret around here 'cause what the fuck

Comments

[counterstrikes]

Lewellyn! W-what are you talking about?

[Yup, your big sister heard all of that. She's standing in the stairway...just listening in. Eavesdropping. Not that it really matters, because she could have heard it from the phone in her room. She slowly approaches him.]

You're really a demon...? [There's a concerned pause...but Chie is not unaffected.] Sometimes, it feels pretty good having power of someone else, being better. But if you're a weak demon, you'd probably be a weak human, too. Just like me.

[kleptophile]

N - [Lyn starts to say "No, I just thought I'd go off on this weird tangent for kicks", but finds he can't even deny the truth temporarily for the purposes of sarcasm.] ...the name's Lyn, okay? Lewellyn's a name that hasn't exactly aged well since I picked it.

...pfft, yeah, right. I wouldn't know shit about how it feels to have power over somebody else. I mean, I might be more powerful than humans, but it's not like I could ever use it in my own world - would've given me away. And by the time I got here, I'd forgotten how to even use most of my powers. [He holds out a hand, palm up, and by dint of much effort and long seconds of concentration, he manages to show off his latest regain - the ability to control fire. This manifests itself in a tiny fireball, barely bigger than a candle flame.] ...see, look at this shit. Street Fighter's got bigger fireballs than this, without even scaling 'em to size

[counterstrikes]

Lewellyn, that's what all the drones call you. I've never really thought of calling you anything else--w-wait, stop talking!

[Hnn. This is just awful. She stares at the fire in his hand. This conversation is going to head south pretty much instantly, she can tell that much.] I don't want to talk about Hell anymore! I've been there, I was dragged to the underworld...that's why I'm not strong enough. Even though I can walk inside of TVs and summon a Persona...think a personal guardian, only really powerful...I'm never going to be strong. I'm going to let everyone down. I wanted you to know all of that, okay?! I'm not strong!

[kleptophile]

Well, think of it now! That name sucks. I picked it way back when it sounded...a lot less stupid than it does now.

You've been to Hell? [Lyn's eyes go wide. Of course, so has he, but he is at least a demon. A human in Hell is like a bloody steak in a dog kennel.] Shit. Uh, I dunno about any of the rest of that, but if you got outta Hell without dying or at least getting horribly maimed, you've done more than any human I've ever heard of.

[counterstrikes]

I don't even remember what it was like! One moment, there were these hands dragging my friend there...and I pushed him out of the way. I went in his place...and he rescued me. It was all dark and...I remember pain...but that's it. It was nothing.

I can't stand demons, or gods, or anything like that! You're...you're not any different.

[kleptophile]

...yeah, there ain't much more than that worth remembering about Hell. [Lyn actually feels a bit unsettled just hearing about it. It might be where he's from, but he doesn't have a single good memory of the place or anyone in it.

At Chie's last sentence, however, he scowls, folding his arms over his chest.] Yeah, well, no one asked you to stand me. You wanna lump me in with the fuckers I've spent my whole life running from, you go ahead and be stupid. I got way more important shit to do than worry about whether or not you like me.