002 | [Action/Accidental voice]

[screwthegods]

[Those wandering in the village might happen across yet another child in clothes that seem far too big for him, with shaggy hair and dirty skin, and chains around his wrists. He seems less concerned about his restraints, however, despite the cold. Instead he stares upward, squinting into a sky so bright it hurts his eyes to look at

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[yourhatred]

[Perhaps you did die. Itachi knows this is possible. Will he mention this to the child? No.]

You shouldn't stay out here in the cold. Get yourself some warmer clothing.

[screwthegods]

[Homura looks up at the other person, flinching almost reflexively. He's never addressed unless it's in disdain, from the other side of metal bars. This is different, however, so very different, and after a moment, curiosity overwhelms.]

Cold? Is that where I am?

[yourhatred]

[Frowning. The child is used to harsh treatment.]

No. That's what it is outside. You're in Luceti. It's a small town.

[screwthegods]

[Homura considers all of these things silently for a few moments. He knows 'outside,' at least--it's that place the guards go with such eagerness when their shifts are done.]

Then we're outside. [How he got there, Homura has no idea. But even as he shovers, he suddenly has no desire to leave.] I don't mind that it's cold.

[yourhatred]

[Itachi gives the boy a thoughtful look.]

Do you not get outside often?

[screwthegods]

I've never been outside.

[Homura then studies Itachi, as the man seemed to have done to him. He's very different from the kind of people Homura's seen before, and there can be only one reason for it: ignorance.]

I'm a heresy.

[yourhatred]

[He gets a raised eyebrow for that one.] A heresy?

You look more like a runt.

[screwthegods]

[Homura thought he was confused before, but now he's even moreso. No one who had learned what he was hadn't shunned him immediately after, but this person didn't seem to even know what that was.]

A forbidden existence. A monster born of a god and a human. A source of misfortune. That's why my eye is gold.

[Or so he's always been told.]

What's a runt?

[yourhatred]

The smallest of a litter of animals, often tossed out by the rest because he's too small to fend for himself.

You're in Luecti now, and this place is full of strange people. [He was being too familiar with this boy, but it was a bit of a comfort to be able to speak freely knowing his brother was already aware of, well, most things.]

If you're going to stay outside, at least get some warmer clothing first.

[screwthegods]

[Homura isn't entirely sure of what Itachi means: runts, litters, animals? Things he's never heard of until that moment. Yet he decides that being a runt doesn't sound that different from being a heresy, and this makes him feel something he doesn't quite understand for runts. Most would call it sympathy.]

I don't know how I would do that. The gods have always given me clothes. [And he doubts they are here, if what Itachi says is true.] Is Luceti not in Heaven, then?

[yourhatred]

No. It is not. [Despite the wings.]

Clothes here are free, however. One of the buildings nearby has some. You could pick out whatever you wanted.

[screwthegods]

...Then. Did I die?

[Otherwise, Homura is clueless as to how he got here. Of course, that would fall in line with everything else. What Itachi meant as reassurances and instructions simply caused to Homura to look at the man with a blank expression.]

I...don't understand.

[yourhatred]

I wouldn't know. It's not an impossibility.

People are brought to this town from any world, any place in time. Most of us don't understand.

[screwthegods]

I see.

[Alive or dead, Homura has already decided that this place is better than where he was. And if no one really knew, then it was probably okay for him not to know either.

Of course, he still doesn't get the whole concept of going inside and getting clothes. So he'll just stare at Itachi a bit more.]

[yourhatred]

Would you follow me for a few moments?

[screwthegods]

Yes.

[The answer is immediate, instinctive. Homura isn't used to being offered much choice, after all.]