And it's the stars, the stars that lie to you.

[neverheardofhim]

[This week, Varric opted to take a page from Vanille’s book. Gathering everyone together after the roller-coaster that the first trial had been proved to be somewhat cathartic for himself. He hoped that it would prove to do the same for the others.]

[He wasn’t alone, of course, having found himself blessed with the most ragtag team of chefs and party-planners. He might have had words for and thoughts on Elda and Kimbley, Mikazuki was welcome company, and he wasn’t about to turn away potential allies, even in a fight as simple as cooking dinner.]

[Once everyone’s set to a task, baking a cake, brewing tea, or stirring stew (the only task Varric could think to assign Elda to), Varric excused himself to his room. His first task was writing up cards, each personally titled and signed by Varric.]

Food in the Library. 5 p.m. Don’t spend the night alone.

[Each note was slid under a door and accompanied by a single rap on the wood.]

[With his tasks completed, Varric returned to the kitchen to put out any potential fires and, with luck, set the food out. A table in the library would be adorned with plenty of tea, cake, pancakes courtesy of Viktor, and stew thanks mostly to Varric (sorry, Elda).]

Comments

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda nods, and starts yanking out duct tape as best one can while one-handed and dragging someone ]

See? That's not a bad one. I wouldn't even mind saying that she got to see her family from down in hell, knowing she tried.

[foundfate]

I'd like to think she didn't end up in hell, that's not much of an ending for anyone's story.

[matchbreaker]

Isn't that where you lot figure all the sinners go? Figure that killing someone because their name came up is a sin.

[ Elda's tone is nasty.

But they are in the foyer now. There's the clock ]

[foundfate]

One, this was supposed to be a happy ending for her.

Two, it's a lot more complicated than that.

[matchbreaker]

Oh yeah, how?

[ Elda asks him, keeping hard eye contact for just a moment before biting into the duct tape so that she might put a post it of sorts next to Kyrie ]

[foundfate]

'Hell' is a concept that is different from world to world. the 'hell' I know of and the 'hell' you know of are not going to be exactly the same. So what matters is what the 'hell' of this world is like, since this is where Kyrie died.

[matchbreaker]

She's stuck with this world's?

[ That's...

Really rude. ]

So Alani doesn't even get whatever Bluemother reincarnation or whatever she's expecting either.

[foundfate]

Possibly. It makes the most sense, since they died here. Souls can be sent to their home worlds, though, so maybe the Wordsmith would do that?

[He's. Not going to mention the fact that he thinks everyone is getting eaten, not reincarnated.]

[matchbreaker]

What is he, Saint Peter? What makes you think he can touch up souls.

[ Okay, there! She got the duct tape... ]

[foundfate]

Well, he brought us here, right? So he should be able to put us back.

[matchbreaker]

Yeah, but souls?

[ She starts to write the first sentence Watanuki said - it's notable that somehow she has excellent penmanship even with a sharpie ]

[foundfate]

[Well a few hundred years worth of practice would make the difference, for sure.]

Why is that so hard to comprehend? We all are souls, we just have a body to go along with that soul.

[matchbreaker]

Because humans or vampires or anyone can move bodies. Sure, I don't know if anyone can move us across dimensions, that's got to be something more solid than a soul. Who can even touch a soul?

[ Writing, writing... ]

[foundfate]

I can.

[Normally he can. When powers aren't turned off and all.]

[matchbreaker]

[ The sharpie squeaks. She smudges, frowning, and then turns to face him ]

What?

[foundfate]

I can touch souls.

[He should probably clarify that.]

Dead ones, I mean. Souls outside of bodies. Ghosts, spirits, that kind of thing, they're all solid to me.

It's part of why I don't always speak up right away when I see someone new: if they look like a human then I literally can't tell if they're alive or dead, and talking to 'nothing' makes people stare.

[matchbreaker]

[ What is... What is this kid talking about? Was that even possible? She knows ghosts are real, knows some people who excel at communicating with them but to touch them? Physically? ]

You're... a weird kid. Not just the eye, either.

[ That's a strange life he must lead then ]

[foundfate]

Yeah, I already know that.

[He kind of lives that life every day, he is painfully aware of how unusual it is.]

But my point is, if I can do it, then it's possible that the Wordsmith can do it too.

[matchbreaker]

[ . . .

She shouldn't.

She hangs the hand with the sharpie limply at her side. She doesn't make eye contact ]

Does everything leave a ghost?

[foundfate]

Yes.

...well, spirits don't, but that's because they're kind of already ghosts and the normal rules don't apply to them. But anything that is 'alive' and can be seen by humans, it leaves a ghost.

[matchbreaker]

Oh.

[ Stop. ]

So they don't-

[ Stop. ]

You said it's different across worlds, so you can't speak for my dimension, of course.

[ stop.

Her throat is now too full to get the next words out ]

[foundfate]

[He had a feeling this was why she was asking.]

My world connects to all worlds.

If you're worried about what happens to you when you die, come to my world before you do so.

1/2

[matchbreaker]

[ Elda's face rises. Her face is a mask of pure malice for a moment, but there's something else. A raw pain, a pure hurt that she doesn't even know how to handle. Her eyes lock with his own for a second, as if she wanted to kill him for just not giving the "right" answer to question she didn't ask. ]

[matchbreaker]

[ But just as quick, she turns, smiling.

Come to his world, huh. ]

Vampires have a certain luxury of life, you know. [ She doesn't sound upbeat, but rather like she's talking about something else entirely. Maybe even the opposite ] as long as we keep ourselves well fed and hold on to our will, I don't know if there's any one who would pass.

[foundfate]

[That look there, that honestly terrifies him. And not just because it's Elda being creepy and dangerous, he has seen that kind of a look before.

Right before he was about to be struck down, usually.

So give him a moment, that jolt of fear nearly makes him panic, and he has to take a few seconds to recover. He almost misses what she says next because of it, even. And it takes a couple tries for him to find his voice again, but when he speaks he sounds shaky and unsure of himself. And he's definitely trying to cover up that fear he just felt, but that's not going so well.]

I- Why- Is it something that bothers you? The thought of dying?