the second ◆ [ video ]

[imperils]

[ the camera is angled, gazing down on a chessboard resting on a surface draped with unblemished white. Its varnished surface looks somewhat dismal - the black-and-white squares faded, marred by abrasions and dull thin scratches exposing the rust-red wood underneath. Though all of the black pieces are lined up at one end, a white pawn stands alone

Comments

[voice]

[deceptive_lulz]

[...destroying many in a personal tragedy. That was something she could identify with all too well. So, it's voice for her, to try to hide her expressions better.]

What sort of replies did she consider to be a lie, eeheehee? Out of uh curiosity?

[pause.]

And do the riots displease you?

[permavideo]

[imperils]

"Don't worry, your brother is safe. He's happy. He isn't dead. He'll come back to you soon." Things like that.

And no, they don't. They're a little boring, actually. What you would expect, after someone in power dies.

[permavoice]

[deceptive_lulz]

Ah...I suppose I could at least understand the notion of being ah unhappy if someone were to try to give another false hope like that.

Eheh? Boring? What would be more interesting to you, then?

[imperils]

[ ... well. She'd expected a vehement rejection to that, instead of acceptance and understanding. How unusual. Maybe this person had had her share of false hopes. Bernkastel adds nothing in response, instead choosing to answer that question. ]

If nothing had happened, I suppose. If everyone had simply went about their day as if no one had been killed.

[12second_orz]

[Interesting. Tonegawa had worked out from her voice that she was probably young, but not that young. But then, it's entirely possible that witches don't age in quite the same way as humans, for all the crone imagery.]

That's one way of doing things. I've often been told that truth is relative; relative to what we know, what we understand. To what we can accept. With no one around to object... who's to stop a lie from being the truth?

[imperils]

[ they stay malicious teenage girls forever, yep. ]

Yes. It's easy to paint over truths that way. Especially if you can convince everyone who believes something else that what you say is what's real.

[12second_orz]

It's as they say- history is indeed written by the victors. Though one has to wonder if your princess was a 'victor' at all, in the end.

[imperils]

That depends on what happens next. If she finds her brother and lives happily ever after, that would be a certain kind of victory, wouldn't it?

Video|OH HEY BERN

[cursestained]

[Naoya is silent for a while as he listens, his eyes closed. Interesting...interesting. You've gotten his attention, Bern, for better or for worse.]

...Heh. [He opens his eyes, smirking.] She'll never notice the weight she carries, no matter if it's eight or eight hundred.

Video|HI. WHAT'S UP? JUST TROLLING HERE MYSELF.

[imperils]

Oh, she notices. However, those people were just obstacles in her search for truth. Why should she care, if their existence was to be brought to a sudden end?

Video|A woman after my own heart.

[cursestained]

It's not quite the same. She doesn't feel the weight, because those people were no longer 'human'. Simply things in the way.

No one feels guilty for destroying the roadblock--to her, it's the same thing. Humans justify themselves in all sorts of ways...it's a little amazing how much they can rationalize.

[It provides him with a sort of strange amusement, when he's not furious at the unfairness of at all. He killed one, not knowing what the price would be, and he can never escape that. But those who kill thousands and deny to themselves the reality of what they've done...

...He wonders sometimes if that was something He added, but he honestly doesn't care.]

Video|B)

[imperils]

Yes. And, when they can't find a logical reason to explain themselves, most of them'll just turn to the supernatural. "The devil made me do it", and so on and so forth.

text

[zealouspeter]

Does anyone know how she got out of the tower?

permavideo

[imperils]

No. It's still a mystery.

permatext

[zealouspeter]

That's disappointing! How about how she got the golden coins? Or managed to never be recognized?

[imperils]

"Magic" is always a common explanation for those things, isn't it...?

[voice]

[dancing_pierrot]

She ought to have sought the reason behind the lies instead of acting like a hasty fool.

[permavideo]

[imperils]

She did. She questioned them for days. And then, when they couldn't give a better answer, they became useless to her.

[permvoice]

[dancing_pierrot]

Hmph, so she wasn't completely insensible, but what she still did was not worth the consequences of her actions.

[imperils]

Does anyone think about worth, when they're caught in the grip of a horrific possibility...?