[PP-04] The Night's King and Other Goopy Shadow-Thingies

[Freyd 0]

Freyd followed in silence, offering only a small smile at her last comment before pulling up his cowl again.  "It could be useful."  Typical.  She punched him playfully on the shoulder as they left the ruined keep behind.  She was on the edge, and he didn't want to push her any further.  Her revelation had also struck an unexpected cord - one that had finally spurred him to stray from the Town of Beginnings after nearly two years of self-imposed exile.

"Mari," he started, hesitating uncharacteristically.  "This is one of the first trinkets I ever identified after I became a merchant."  He called forth a pair of tarnished steel vambraces, intricately engraved with tiny, barely legible script.  "I wore it for most of my earliest adventures in Aincrad.  Because of it, I don't need to read the wall."  Turning one of them, by recall alone, he pressing a gloved finger to a particular part of the engravings where a certain special name was written:  Evelyn.

Spoiler

Justicar’s Vambraces (T1 Rare Trinket – Keen 1 | ACC 1) 
Acquisition ID: #152240 | Identification ID: #152538, #152539
A pair of hardened steel vambraces each engraved in minute script with the first one hundred names on the Monument of Life.

(Note: The item presented by Freyd is a vanity item that duplicates the appearance only.  The item noted above has been junked).

 

[Mari 1]

"Takeshi..." Mari said his name with a faint softness. She had been doing everything to push him back - she almost forgot that he...was just being himself. Someone who came to her in their time of need. And he was now offering something in return. "You know..." Mari began with the faintest of smiles. "It's not often I ever really get anything." She hated to admit it, but she was grateful. This...was a really sweet gesture. Mari reached out, one hand placed gently on his wrist as she squeezed it. "Thank you." Warmth, that had otherwise not been present burst from those two simple words as she reached out to clasp the item with her other hand. "Your first item, huh? It must be pretty speci-"

Her blood ran cold at the name etched in it. Evelyn Soft features scrunched up. Was this a joke? The name laughed at her, mockingly so. As clear as day. Where some would see a sweet, kind memory. Mari saw nothing but her past thrown directly in her face. She saw her mistake - she saw her sins - and oh how deeply they were still embedded into her. Clawed tendrils carving down her back. 

"Is this a f**kin' joke?" Mari spat. Throwing it down into the ground. The vambraces made nary a sound as the snow gently cushioned their fall. Her face shot up to meet his - angry tears burning hot at the corners of betrayed eyes. "It's not funny." She seethed. "You're worried you're empty?" Mari began as she took a step back, heaving chest gasping for air that did not reek of hurt. "Well, let me tell you something Takeshi." His name dripped like venom. A part of her told her to stop. Not to do this. He didn't deserve her pent up anger and emotions. He was just a bystander. But it was like a corrupted fountain.

"You're not. You're just as black as the creatures you hunt." Mari slowly clapped as she took more and more steps away from him, backward - "Congratulations. You manipulated your way into making me think you were a decent human being. Hope you're bloody proud of yourself"

And with that Mari left Freyd - the trinket still laying discarded in the snow in her wake.

Of course.

Nothing was sweet. Nor kind. Not in this world.

 

[Freyd 0]

Freyd watched Mari storm off into the distance, her rage as bright as her hair.  His face hadn't so much as twitched at her outburst.  Persi's dark form rose from his armor at the neck, her blue eyes sparkling like sapphires against the blinding white snow.  Once she was out of sight, he bent down to gather up the fallen vambraces, taking a moment to clear off the section with the offending name.

"Well," he said coolly to the oozing mass perched comfortably around his neck.  "That took a lot longer than I expected.  Do you think she'll try to stab me next time I see her?"  Persi only blinked in response, yawning as if to indicate her boredom with the who affair.  He reached up and nuzzled her at the nape of the neck, her dark void purring comfortably.

Vanishing into the storm himself, it occurred to him that he had never told Mari his familiar's full name -  'Persistence.'  He hadn't given up on finding her either.

****

Thread Summary:

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