dear_mun | This isn't my fault

[Well, there's a bit of a shock. Ryoko can't help but feel a little unsettled by the way this lady is speaking of her counterpart and his past. Still, she tries to remain calm. The woman hasn't actually done anything, after all. It's just a feeling of dread, and it's likely that feeling is unfounded.]

Um, you're talking about the boy me, aren't you? I mean, he's familiar to me, and we've talked a little bit, but I don't know too much. He said he's from sometime in my future, so I'm not supposed to know about certain things. He's nice, though. I kind of think of him like of a brother, I guess!

['Lived with humans', though... what did she mean by that? It almost sounds like she's implying that Ryoji is different from regular humans somehow...]

[Nyx curls her pale fingers inwards, beckoning the girl closer]

Then he is you, and you are he. Which would make you another one of my children, my daughter... as strange as it sounds.

[it's certainly a little odd for the goddess of night to picture. a female Thanatos... of course, some soldiers over the centuries did view Death as a beautiful woman, come to escort them into glory in the afterlife...]

[Sorry, "Mom", but she's going to hang back for a little while she tries to figure this out.]

Um, I'm really sorry, miss, but I don't think you're my mother. I have one who's working overseas. It's true that I haven't seen her in a while, but I don't think I'd forget what she looked like!

[Even if after she says that, she does bite her lip slightly, trying to wrack her brain. This couldn't be her mother; Mom had... brown eyes? She remembers blonde hair... or was it brunette?]

[Nyx smiles, almost slyly, like a cold sliver of the crescent moon breaking through the clouds in the nighttime sky. she senses the weakness in her child's facade, somehow, and immediately goes in for the kill]

Truly? Can you describe your 'mother' to me? Or your 'father'? What are their physical attributes? Personality? What manner of employment sent them overseas? To which country did they settle? And certainly they have written their dear daughter, yes? Or called. What was the last conversation you had with them, and when?

O-Of course I can! My mother...

[She falters, and a hand goes to the bottom of her scarf, clinging to it in fear. Why... why can't she remember? They've been gone for so long, but she should remember what they look like, and their personalities, of course! They called her all the time, didn't they? ...But they had told her to phone them, and for some strange reason she'd forgotten the phone number. And the address... What kind of horrible daughter was she, that she couldn't remember such simple things? She deserved to have her parents cut off from her, didn't she? She was so forgetful, she couldn't even remember that she was-

Ryoko suddenly lashes out, but it's obviously more from fear than from anger.]

Why are you asking so many questions? I'm not supposed to tell you all that! J-Just quit bothering me, or I'll call the police!

[seeing her child lash out in fear and confusion only makes it all the more clear to Nyx that 'Ryoko' doesn't really have a leg to stand on, here. those memories are fake, and the goddess of night is correct. now, she just needs to convince her wayward daughter of that fact...]

I'm asking because your memories are false. In truth, those 'parents' do not exist. That is why your memory is faltering. You never have spoken to them, you couldn't have. You are my child, the daughter of Nyx. You are Thanatos, and the Appraiser of Death. Do those terms strike a cord in your clouded mind?

Wh-What... I... I'm not...

[Ryoko grabs at her sleeves, hugging herself as she starts to shake. It's true, those are familiar terms, and she is feeling dim memories finally coming to the surface... a bridge, an eerie full moon, a young girl kneeling by a mangled wreck of a car...

Ryoko stumbles backwards, tripping over her own feet and crying out as she falls onto her side. She pushes herself up and looks at Nyx with frightened eyes.]

P-Please, go away... Please. My friends... I don't want to leave them yet.

[Here's your knight in shining armor, Ryoko, battle-ready, but mostly here for you. She runs in, barely even slowing her momentum as she drops to her knees to support Ryoko.]

And you won't be. Ryoko, it's okay, I'm here. [She turns to give Nyx a hard face.]

You're overwhelming her! Leave her be! She belongs with us.

[again? this is starting to be a habit... none of you children seem to be the least bit capable of even listening to the truth. they say ignorance is bliss, but it's also only temporary. better to rip the dressing off your wounds and move forward, Nyx thinks]

No. No, she does not, human. That is my child, and one that was stolen away from me, imprisoned, mutilated, imprisoned again, and had her very memories stolen from her... by your kind. I understand you were young and ignorant of your own role in Thanatos' suffering, but do not lay the chains for this at my feet.

I am her mother.

[Ryoko's still much too young to know these things. She hasn't lived for more than a week or two. She still had so much she wanted to accomplish, while she was still alive. While she was still normal. She leans on Minako heavily, burying her face against her shoulder as she tries not to cry.]

M-Minako-chan, I'm so scared... What is she saying? I don't... My memories are real, aren't they? Y-You never ever hurt me before. You're so nice to me... so, so nice... I don't deserve...

[Her breath hitches and she lets out a quiet sob, curling up as if trying to make herself so small she's invisible. If only she could just disappear from this whole situation, go back to school and pretend nothing had happened...]

[Minako glances down at the girl cowering in her arms and back up to Nyx.]

Maybe those things are true, but look, you're not seeing. Maybe there's some connection to Thanatos, here, but this girl is human, in some important way. [The most important way.] She's my friend and she's important to me and she doesn't want to go with you. The only one making her suffer right here, right now, is you.

[And she isn't going to stand for that. But she also needs to tend to Ryoko. She shushes and pets her hair.]

Let's leave, come on.

She has been contaminated. And brainwashed. That is the only reason she is suffering... and there is no need for her to feel so. Her true nature is nothing to get upset about, and it is strange she's reacting so vehemently to the mere truth.

[she watches impassively as Minako comforts Ryoko, making no move herself]

Even if you leave, she'll return to my side soon enough.

I-I'm not brainwashed... I'm not suffering with them. I just want to stay with them... Wh-Why are you scaring me like this? Please! I just want to stay! Minako won't make me leave...

[She nods her head against Minako's shoulder, still shivering.]

I want to go home...

Humanity is not a "contamination" and I'll have you know she wasn't suffering at all until you had to tell her things she didn't need to know yet!

[She looks down at Ryoko, eyes immediately going gentle.]

C'mon, lets go. [She starts pulling them both to their feet, and shoots Nyx another hard face.]

Don't try to follow us. You'll force her to leave us eventually like aways, just... just let her enjoy being human first.

... Please.

...Verry well. She will return to her rightful place is due time.

[true to her word, Nyx will make no move to follow the girls. instead she'll stand there, looking calm as ever... though if one looks carefully enough, there's a trace of disgust in her eyes. her child had never acted so... childish before. how disturbing]

[Shakily, Ryoko gets to her feet, following after Minako with only one last look back at Nyx. Unfortunately, she does notice the look of disgust in the woman's eyes, and turns away with a gasp as soon as she sees it.

... She lasts until Nyx is too far back to be seen before she starts crying.]

[Minako will not make that mistake. She sees no reason to look back now. Ryoko is what mattered. Getting her somewhere safer and taking care of her. She leads as well as she can, hanging onto the poor shaking thing and pulls her closer when she hears the gasp.

Far enough away, Ryoko started breaking down, and Minako just lets her, guiding her to something to sit on, and wrapping her arms around her. Take your time. She's here.]

I'm here, I'm still here.

[She squeezes her friend as tight as she can, trying to convince herself that Minako is still here, and that Ryoko is still here. She exists. She's tangible.

It takes a very long time for her to even be able to speak through her sobs, but she does so as soon as she can.]

Th-Thank you...

[She's holding back, whispering to Ryoko in her mind as well as out loud. She's here, she's human. She's going to be okay.]

Of course. You're going to be ok. I'm not going anywhere.

[She lets up a slight bit from her deathcling to rub Ryoko's back.]

Edited 2013-11-24 01:51 (UTC)

P-Promise? I don’t want you to go… d-don’t want you to hate me…

[But she might have to leave her if what Nyx said is true… she shouldn’t be around humans. She’d only cause Minako more pain…]

I won't go. I don't want to go, and I could never hate you.

[She moves Ryoko so she can look in her eyes.]

Hey, you know how much I care about you.

I-I know… I know, but…

[Tears are still streaming from her eyes, and she’s speaking through gasping sobs.]

Wh-what… what if I’m a bad person? Y-you should hate me th-then...

[She shakes her head and pulls Ryoko closer insistently, pressing their foreheads together]

You're not, you're not.

[She peppers Ryoko's face in kisses]

You haven't done anything to be a bad person. I will always love you.

But… but she said…

Will you still love me, even if I end up against you?

[The kisses along her face are helping reassure her, at least.]

I don't care what she said. I care about you.

I'll love you forever, Ryoko. I will.

[And she doesn't believe Ryoko would ever turn against her of her own free will.]

This isn't my fault

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