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ACCOUNTABILITY.
[The sound of footsteps is slow, but deliberate and without hesitation. And as they echo through the room he walks into view lacking fear, lacking hesitance, lacking...much of anything at all.]
[He's tall--perhaps taller than his profile had implied--wide-shouldered and built like an unbreakable fortress wall, wearing the solid black of a priest; the light catches a gold cross around his neck to confirm the fact. And as he steps forward, his long coat (the deep purple of poisons and nightshade itself) trails behind him before coming to a stop as he does.]
[A smile cut across his gaunt and pale face, but it was far from a pleasant one. It was the enigmatic smile of someone witnessing a joke only they found humorous, and yet it did not reach the dark and emotionless eyes that scanned the room briefly as though the priest was carefully calculating what course of action to take.]
At last we meet face to face, my Apprentices.
[The voice that leaves him is recognizable as the same one that was heard only moments before, but clearer in person. Now it seems to ring like the largest, deepest bells of Notre Dame itself, no louder than an ordinary speaking tone--the result sounds more like distant thunder heralding an oncoming hurricane.]
[The real difference lies not in how he speaks, but what he says. The short, impersonal sentences of the weeks prior are at last discarded, and the man before them speaks as a true preacher--a true wordsmith--would address his congregation.]
Rejoice and be proud of your accomplishments. Each and every last one of your number, dead or alive, has truly exceeded all expectations I had for this group. And now you have clawed and scratched your way here, on the backs of your fallen friends' struggles and failures. You have proven that their own accomplishments would not be in vain simply by standing here before me--I do not doubt that your success is the wish most of them held in their hearts, at the very end of their lives.
[He places a hand over his own heart, taking on a tone that nearly sounds genuinely proud...until a patronizing current begins to run through each syllable like a deadly undertow.]
Do you perhaps feel satisfied? You would be right to, for making it so far. Your sorrow, desperation, joy, determination...all of it has been a magnificent thing to behold as you fought to reach this point in time. Each second of it has served its purpose, and served it very well. I am one who believes such struggling and effort deserves to be rewarded, and so this alongside my own endless gratitude is what I will grant you in return for all that you have done for me.
My name is Kirei Kotomine.
[He holds his arms out slightly to his sides, a gesture that would almost seem welcoming if 'Kageshirou' did not react and coil--completely harmlessly--around his arms like a black serpent. The smile he wore turned to a razor-edged smirk, the challenge set before the remaining Apprentices clear even without his next words:]
And now that we have properly met, tell me: shall we continue our discussion?
[He's tall--perhaps taller than his profile had implied--wide-shouldered and built like an unbreakable fortress wall, wearing the solid black of a priest; the light catches a gold cross around his neck to confirm the fact. And as he steps forward, his long coat (the deep purple of poisons and nightshade itself) trails behind him before coming to a stop as he does.]
[A smile cut across his gaunt and pale face, but it was far from a pleasant one. It was the enigmatic smile of someone witnessing a joke only they found humorous, and yet it did not reach the dark and emotionless eyes that scanned the room briefly as though the priest was carefully calculating what course of action to take.]
At last we meet face to face, my Apprentices.
[The voice that leaves him is recognizable as the same one that was heard only moments before, but clearer in person. Now it seems to ring like the largest, deepest bells of Notre Dame itself, no louder than an ordinary speaking tone--the result sounds more like distant thunder heralding an oncoming hurricane.]
[The real difference lies not in how he speaks, but what he says. The short, impersonal sentences of the weeks prior are at last discarded, and the man before them speaks as a true preacher--a true wordsmith--would address his congregation.]
Rejoice and be proud of your accomplishments. Each and every last one of your number, dead or alive, has truly exceeded all expectations I had for this group. And now you have clawed and scratched your way here, on the backs of your fallen friends' struggles and failures. You have proven that their own accomplishments would not be in vain simply by standing here before me--I do not doubt that your success is the wish most of them held in their hearts, at the very end of their lives.
[He places a hand over his own heart, taking on a tone that nearly sounds genuinely proud...until a patronizing current begins to run through each syllable like a deadly undertow.]
Do you perhaps feel satisfied? You would be right to, for making it so far. Your sorrow, desperation, joy, determination...all of it has been a magnificent thing to behold as you fought to reach this point in time. Each second of it has served its purpose, and served it very well. I am one who believes such struggling and effort deserves to be rewarded, and so this alongside my own endless gratitude is what I will grant you in return for all that you have done for me.
My name is Kirei Kotomine.
[He holds his arms out slightly to his sides, a gesture that would almost seem welcoming if 'Kageshirou' did not react and coil--completely harmlessly--around his arms like a black serpent. The smile he wore turned to a razor-edged smirk, the challenge set before the remaining Apprentices clear even without his next words:]
And now that we have properly met, tell me: shall we continue our discussion?
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Perhaps Angra Mainyu is a spirit of destruction, but it doesn't appear to do so mindlessly. Unless it was acting on your orders, Kirei.
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[Her expression softens.]
You said you've always felt such negative emotions. May I ask why? Did you become a priest and seek faith to find that feeling yet you couldn't find it there?
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[Kirei hesitated--he didn't falter, but for a brief second words seemed to fail him.]
What other people called happiness...did not bring me any joy. I am one who was born empty, finding nothing of worth in what the people around me considered beautiful or enjoyable. I followed the path of the Holy Church praying for salvation--praying to understand why.
But the only god that has ever answered me was Hanyuu Furude.
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My friends also bring me happiness. I love them. And they love me.
Objects are not beautiful. I could have anything I wanted, yet I felt unfulfilled until I met Yuri, someone who had nothing, according to the nobles I lived around. Yuri was one of my first friends. I had Flynn before that, too. And then I met Rita, Karol, Repede, Judith, and... even Raven who betrayed me. However, I forgave Raven.
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I have met corrupt people like you. They were only met with death at the hands of others. If you continue down this path, that is the fate you will meet as well since there are others that won't forgive you. The law will not protect you as there are good people who will act outside of the law and walk down the path of a criminal to take down people like you.
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[It didn't sound like an accusation; if anything, Kirei sounded resigned to that fact.]
You are able to make those connections. I am not. And even placing that aside, I care nothing for justice. The world is not just or fair, even if there are 'good' people within it. If this should someday end before I awaken Avenger...then that will just prove the injustices of the world as I see it.
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[It's out of Lusamine's mouth before she can stop it.]
You state that as though we would allow you to continue. If we have the means to stop you, Mr. Kotomine, then you had best believe that we will do everything in our means.
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[He answered lightly, as though they were discussing the weather.]
That is 'right' of you.
But you have yet more to determine first, from the information you collected today.
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[i died writing this rip]
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[She knows this more than anyone else.]
What makes you unable to make these connections? I care not for justice either, rather I believe the law should protect all people. Rather the corrupt makes the law so that it fits their needs.
I cannot say much as I do not know you or your hardships, yet I can tell one thing. You have given up. I know that feeling all to well. I once gave up. It was in my memories shown to me here. I felt like giving up here yet others here helped me get back up.
However, now I know that I cannot give up. For my friends who saved me and for those here who died because of your twisted game to find meaning and fulfillment.
We played by your rules and by your laws, now we shall defeat you within those means.
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...Especially love.
I have not given up. 'Giving up' would mean none of this would be happening in the first place.
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[She pauses.]
Did you attempt to find love before and instead get scorned?
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...Gretchen was a pious woman who loved Faust selflessly. And so pure and good were her intentions for him, that she gave him a moment's happiness and ascended to Heaven.
The woman I knew could not give me what was given to Faust. And I...could not love her, and did not feel joy knowing she cared so absolutely.
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