(no subject)
He's back in the bright light room. He didn't ask to be here, he barely even thought it. But he Knows that it's the right time.
"Will you come Home, Bartleby Grigori?"
Bartleby straightens his shoulders to make his answer, because of course he must say it out loud, of course they will not just pick it from his mind. This is the most important word he will ever say, has ever said. And in the space before he answers, a hundred, a thousand images flash through his head, and they see every one. People crying. People laughing. People living. And this. He can do this. He can say this word.
"No."
It falls from his lips, falls and falls and falls and falls, and he feels like the whole world has heard it.
"So." The voice is quiet. "So it is said."
"You must die before you can be remade."
"You are going to hurt, Bartleby Grigori." The words, he Knows, refer not only to the process of reshaping his body, but also to the rest of his life. There will be pain, and sorrow, and he's going to wish that one tiny word back in his mouth. He savours this last moment of Knowing. He is Grigori, he Knows what will happen.
No longer.
"Will you come Home, Bartleby Grigori?"
Bartleby straightens his shoulders to make his answer, because of course he must say it out loud, of course they will not just pick it from his mind. This is the most important word he will ever say, has ever said. And in the space before he answers, a hundred, a thousand images flash through his head, and they see every one. People crying. People laughing. People living. And this. He can do this. He can say this word.
"No."
It falls from his lips, falls and falls and falls and falls, and he feels like the whole world has heard it.
"So." The voice is quiet. "So it is said."
"You must die before you can be remade."
"You are going to hurt, Bartleby Grigori." The words, he Knows, refer not only to the process of reshaping his body, but also to the rest of his life. There will be pain, and sorrow, and he's going to wish that one tiny word back in his mouth. He savours this last moment of Knowing. He is Grigori, he Knows what will happen.
No longer.