star_kingdom | [Voice]

Entry tags:

[Voice]

[The video doesn't turn on. Instead, there are only muffled sounds- as if the communicator is hidden in a pocket, or something similar. The only noise that can be heard is that of sniffing, and an occasional choked sob. Someone is trying not to cry, and not doing a very good job of it.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Aqua winces, his words like a physical stab through the heart. If only she could, then her Master...]

No... No, I can't. [Her voice is very soft. She knows the kind of pain this boy must be going through all too well.] I'm sorry. I wish that I could.

[There's a moment before he speaks, and even so, he sounds disappointed.]

See? I told you.

[She clasps her communicator in her lap and sighs. How many years must it have been in the realm of light since Master Eraqus was struck down? Ten? Maybe even more than that. And yet the hurt is still there, just as raw and fresh as any wound, as if it had been yesterday. She really does understand, but making him understand... That's much harder.]

No one can do that. [Except maybe the Lord of the Underworld himself, but she wouldn't let anyone near that slimeball, much less a child.] I know it hurts, to lose someone you care about. It hurts more than anything else in the world. But your memories of them are what keep them alive, inside you. They're never... [She pauses and swallows hard, trying to collect herself.] They're never gone completely.

But-

[He can't see the person behind this voice, it's true. But Aqua is being so much more sympathetic than the Voice was, and Theodor is too upset to hold in all of the confusion and sadness.]

But the Voice said that they were... It said that they were gone. It said they were destroyed. And that it was m-my fault. They died because of me.

[The 'Voice'? Aqua barely needs to consider that to come to one conclusion -- she's seen something like this before. Suddenly, her voice is very hard.]

Darkness. That Voice is darkness. No one would say such cruel things unless they wanted to use it against you. By no means should you listen to it, do you understand? I don't know what happened, but I'm sure you're not the one at fault.

I couldn't save them, though! I couldn't help... and they died.

Sometimes you can't always help the ones you love, no matter how much you want to. It's difficult to accept, but it doesn't mean you're to blame.

[She pauses. She just wants to give the poor boy a hug and protect him, with that same big sisterly instinct she has around her friends. But she doesn't even know his name, much less where he is.]

My name is Aqua. Do you think... you could tell me where you are? If you're on your own, it's not safe.

[He feels like he should protest more- what if the voice is right? There are so many different "buts" and "what ifs" that he could say. Yet he doesn't want to. He wants to believe that maybe she's right.]

...I don't know.

Okay, maybe you can start by describing your surroundings? Are you in a town?

Yeah. It's... [And short description of Traverse Town goes here.]

That's Traverse Town, from what you've described. [She pauses, considering. She just brought little Ienzo back to his home in Radiant Garden from there, and it's a long ways to have the boy wait while she backtracks.] Have you spoken to anyone else you know yet who can help you? I can come, but it will take a while.

...Someone said they'd look after me.

Who was that? Do you trust them? Have they treated you kindly?

[Fret fret fret. She can't have him just running off with anyone if they're not going to treat him well.]

Cecil Harvey... He wanted to take care of me.

[Bitty doesn't know why, but he trusts Cecil. It probably has something to do with the resemblance to Cecilia.]

[She commits that name to memory for later; she'll need to check he's being well taken care of.]

All right, then I'm sure you're in safe hands. But if you need anything, just call me, okay? I'll be here to help you.

Okay, Aqua. I will.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only