[ And for some reason, she actually looks sort of annoyed. It's a reasonable enough question to ask of a stranger but she actually looks a little bit offended. ]
I'm sorry, but I don't think it's very funny. There's a time and a place for that sort of thing.
[His hand finds its way to his hair in a way that is - too much like Ardyn's for Izunia, entirely.]
I assure you, I'm not joking.
[Does she... know him? She certainly seems to think that he should know her - and the set of her shoulders reminds him strikingly of someone he can identify, now. That's the way Aurora looked when she was angry, though the words are different (for a princess, his daughter never took to politeness well) and this girl is of course far too short to be the one who would grow to be a towering queen.]
[ Clarita stares him down, searching his face for any hint that this might be some ridiculous prank. But there's no twitch of a smirk at the corner of his mouth, no look of mischief to his eyes. He really is asking her name as if she were a stranger and something about that makes her chest feel tight and unpleasant.
Fine, then. She'll play along with whatever sort of nonsense this is. ]
Clarita Lucis Caelum. [ She looks less irritable now and more unsettled. ] But surely, you should know that.
[ - fail him entirely, crumpling inward and he falls to his knees in the sand. One half-panicked hand grabs for his scarf, clutching at the ends, his one familiar comfort as any attempt at a steady breathing pattern goes out the window.
He can place her face, now, to some degree. Not perfectly, but the resemblance is there. Add another twenty years, and it would be clearer... But even if he can't recall his mother's name, he knows it was not Clarita.
And he knows the name of every Lucis Caelum for two thousand years, very king and queen and child and branch-starting younger sibling who was born in the light of the Crystal, who was given the name Lucis Caelum instead of another. Even if there are too many to call to mind, he knows there was no Clarita.
'Clarita Lucis Caelum' is the name of a person who does not exist, a princess who was never born. And yet here she stands - ]
Who are you?
[A subtly different question, and the meaning of the difference clear enough. He doesn't know her. Doesn't understand who she is, or how this could be possible.
He knows the Lucis Caelums, every one. And yet - ]
[ When he goes to his knees, Clarita jumps and takes a half-step back. She almost seems like she's considering bolting up the beach and away from him (for help or just to escape the conversation) but then she takes a few tentative steps forward. ]
... Izunia?
[ She says it softly and hesitantly and then immediately wishes she could take it back. If she's a stranger to him, enough so that just her name is enough to sweep his feet out from under him, then surely saying his name can only worsen things. Clarita purses her lips and finally stoops down onto the sand in front of him. ]
I don't understand this. You're acting as though we're strangers but that isn't the case, is it? We're...
[ Family she almost says but the word dies on her tongue. ]
[And she knows him - there's no need for her to say anything more, not once his name escapes her lips, because the number of people - outside of this place - who would still know him by that name is such that they can be counted on one hand, and only one
only one of them bears the name of Lucis Caelum.
Only one, with eyes almost that same unnatural yellow, just a tint more of gold than of green - ]
...Please. Tell me. Who are you?
[He has to know. The knowledge might destroy him - again, many shattered pieces that he is - but the not knowing is worse.]
[ She almost doesn't want to answer. It's frightening to see him like this and she's reeling as to why any of it is happening. He'd been taken aback and maybe a little exasperated the first time they'd met but now, here he is, acting as if her very existence shake something deep in his heart. There again, in her chest, is that unpleasant tightness and it renders her unable to speak for a moment.
She's afraid, too. If her name was enough to do this to him, then what might the rest of it do?
But for all the things Clarita has learned to do since opening her eyes, lying has never been one of her strengths. ]
... we're family.
[ She has to take a steadying breath as she talks. ]
[It is, maybe, good that she phrases it the way she does, because it's in such a way that forces him to breathe for a moment -
And if she had actually said Ardyn's name, well, he might just have expired on the spot.
Instead, there's a shaky breath and he -
flings a pen at the space beside her head, because he needs his arms around her, now, and his legs still aren't steady enough to bear his weight.]
...A miracle. You're a miracle.
[And then he's sobbing, into her shoulder, his arms still tight around her as though he's forgotten that letting go is a thing that anyone has been capable of, ever.
[ Rather understandably, Clarita yelps and makes to draw back but she doesn't get very far before he's already there and she's sort of trapped. It's certainly not as if she minds but his words and the fact that he's crying are even more unsettling than his wide-eyed shock at her very existence. ]
A... a miracle.
[ She sounds a little doubtful. She's been called a great many things but she can't recall if miracle is one of them. ]
Well, it's not really fine, but it's not like there's really much of anything she can do about that. She does put an arm around him in the most awkward return hug ever though, rather than just sitting there so perhaps that's something. ]
okay i'm done getting destroyed by airlocked so i'm back
[Eventually, his grip loosens a little, and with a hiccuping last sob, he pulls his head away from her shoulder, wiping his eyes.
It will be some time before he totally gets his thoughts in order. Until then, he doesn't really want to let go entirely, so one hand remains on her shoulder.]
I... I'm sorry. But...
[Perhaps this is like the case of Makoto's world which I'm going to pretend he knows about by now oops, where events are different enough that you can tell the difference between the worlds with only the barest amount of information.]
...In the Eos I come from, Ardyn died without any children.
[It is, after all, technically true, even though it represents so little of the truth. A truth that is almost too much for him to handle right now.
Oh, that sends something spinning through her chest that she can't identify but doesn't need to. She already knows it's something unpleasant. It's a stab of something like panic and fright mixed up with pity at the thought of a world where her father dies... alone? ]
Was-- was he alone?
[ Izunia isn't privy to the unvoiced question in her head but Clarita wears her heart on her sleeve, has never been taught to do anything but. So that fright and that sorrow is clear as day on her face. ]
I... it's frightening to think of a world without myself. But... but a world where he's all alone-- I don't know if I could bear there. You were with him at least, weren't you?
someday we'll be free of this hell (but we'll never be free of umineko)
[ Her expression crumples. Not surprising, considering what she's just been told. And he says it with such certainty, too, like even the possibility of a better ending is something he'd long since given up on.
No wonder he'd called her a miracle. ]
... Then please don't be afraid for him.
[ If the world she was brought into is truly something so precious then what can Clarita do but hold onto its happiness all the tighter? If there's a place out there where things went so terribly dark then she wants to make sure her tiny spot of light is even more radiant in comparison. ]
Whatever happened in the world you came from, I won't allow the same to happen in mine.
If our family is living happily in your Eos, then I already know that the same thing won't happen.
[Because if Ardyn was able to come to a stop long enough to have a child, then he can't have been constantly on the move, healing the Scourge. Hadn't he said once that he wouldn't do that to a child - wouldn't leave them an orphan in all but name, or force them to grow up never knowing a home?
Izunia can't be sure any longer. But that - that feels right. It feels right, like something Ardyn would have said before the Scourge claimed his mind.
(It's possible that by then it was already starting to claim his body.)]
So... thank you. Even if you aren't doing anything more than existing right now... Thank you, for what you represent.
[ She nods and manages, with a bit of effort, to give him a fierce, proud smile. It's sad to think of a world where the people she loves most are miserable. But maybe this is why she's here. Maybe, just maybe, she's been pulled into this world to give a sad, tired man a little spark of hope. ]
I suppose I should say you're welcome, then. But it feels a bit strange to be thanked for doing nothing but being here.
[ ... then she looks around, takes in the beach with a wrinkled nose. ]
[Hey you'll have to give him a minute before he can answer that question, because that smile causes him actual physical pain. He can absolutely believe she's Ardyn's daughter. She's so like her father, her cousin -
He runs his hands though his hair in a gesture that's more Ardyn's than his and sighs.]
This? It's another reality entirely - further removed from either of ours than they are from each other, I should think.
And we were brought here by... someone or other. Yes?
[ She's starting to catch on a little more now and it makes her furrow her brow in worry. Why bring just her and not everyone else, too?
Then again, if what Izunia says about his long and painful story is true (and she has no reason to believe it isn't) then maybe having him come face to face with Ardyn is not the best idea. ]
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no subject
... is that supposed to be a joke?
[ And for some reason, she actually looks sort of annoyed. It's a reasonable enough question to ask of a stranger but she actually looks a little bit offended. ]
I'm sorry, but I don't think it's very funny. There's a time and a place for that sort of thing.
no subject
I assure you, I'm not joking.
[Does she... know him? She certainly seems to think that he should know her - and the set of her shoulders reminds him strikingly of someone he can identify, now. That's the way Aurora looked when she was angry, though the words are different (for a princess, his daughter never took to politeness well) and this girl is of course far too short to be the one who would grow to be a towering queen.]
no subject
Fine, then. She'll play along with whatever sort of nonsense this is. ]
Clarita Lucis Caelum. [ She looks less irritable now and more unsettled. ] But surely, you should know that.
no subject
Whatever thoughts he might have had before -
They are all gone, now. His shaky legs - ]
What?
[ - fail him entirely, crumpling inward and he falls to his knees in the sand. One half-panicked hand grabs for his scarf, clutching at the ends, his one familiar comfort as any attempt at a steady breathing pattern goes out the window.
He can place her face, now, to some degree. Not perfectly, but the resemblance is there. Add another twenty years, and it would be clearer... But even if he can't recall his mother's name, he knows it was not Clarita.
And he knows the name of every Lucis Caelum for two thousand years, very king and queen and child and branch-starting younger sibling who was born in the light of the Crystal, who was given the name Lucis Caelum instead of another. Even if there are too many to call to mind, he knows there was no Clarita.
'Clarita Lucis Caelum' is the name of a person who does not exist, a princess who was never born. And yet here she stands - ]
Who are you?
[A subtly different question, and the meaning of the difference clear enough. He doesn't know her. Doesn't understand who she is, or how this could be possible.
He knows the Lucis Caelums, every one. And yet - ]
no subject
... Izunia?
[ She says it softly and hesitantly and then immediately wishes she could take it back. If she's a stranger to him, enough so that just her name is enough to sweep his feet out from under him, then surely saying his name can only worsen things. Clarita purses her lips and finally stoops down onto the sand in front of him. ]
I don't understand this. You're acting as though we're strangers but that isn't the case, is it? We're...
[ Family she almost says but the word dies on her tongue. ]
We're not strangers to each other.
no subject
only one of them bears the name of Lucis Caelum.
Only one, with eyes almost that same unnatural yellow, just a tint more of gold than of green - ]
...Please. Tell me. Who are you?
[He has to know. The knowledge might destroy him - again, many shattered pieces that he is - but the not knowing is worse.]
Who are you to me?
no subject
She's afraid, too. If her name was enough to do this to him, then what might the rest of it do?
But for all the things Clarita has learned to do since opening her eyes, lying has never been one of her strengths. ]
... we're family.
[ She has to take a steadying breath as she talks. ]
You and my father are brothers.
no subject
And if she had actually said Ardyn's name, well, he might just have expired on the spot.
Instead, there's a shaky breath and he -
flings a pen at the space beside her head, because he needs his arms around her, now, and his legs still aren't steady enough to bear his weight.]
...A miracle. You're a miracle.
[And then he's sobbing, into her shoulder, his arms still tight around her as though he's forgotten that letting go is a thing that anyone has been capable of, ever.
His brother's daughter.
A miracle, and one he does not deserve.]
no subject
A... a miracle.
[ She sounds a little doubtful. She's been called a great many things but she can't recall if miracle is one of them. ]
What do you... um... please stop crying...?
[ She has no idea what she's supposed to do. ]
no subject
He'll uh. He'll be a minute. To make sure this isn't a dream.
...Maybe more than a minute.]
no subject
...
Well, it's not really fine, but it's not like there's really much of anything she can do about that. She does put an arm around him in the most awkward return hug ever though, rather than just sitting there so perhaps that's something. ]
okay i'm done getting destroyed by airlocked so i'm back
It will be some time before he totally gets his thoughts in order. Until then, he doesn't really want to let go entirely, so one hand remains on her shoulder.]
I... I'm sorry. But...
[Perhaps this is like the case of Makoto's world
which I'm going to pretend he knows about by now oops, where events are different enough that you can tell the difference between the worlds with only the barest amount of information.]...In the Eos I come from, Ardyn died without any children.
[It is, after all, technically true, even though it represents so little of the truth. A truth that is almost too much for him to handle right now.
He wishes he could be her Izunia, instead.]
are you truly ever tho
Oh.
Oh, that sends something spinning through her chest that she can't identify but doesn't need to. She already knows it's something unpleasant. It's a stab of something like panic and fright mixed up with pity at the thought of a world where her father dies... alone? ]
Was-- was he alone?
[ Izunia isn't privy to the unvoiced question in her head but Clarita wears her heart on her sleeve, has never been taught to do anything but. So that fright and that sorrow is clear as day on her face. ]
I... it's frightening to think of a world without myself. But... but a world where he's all alone-- I don't know if I could bear there. You were with him at least, weren't you?
someday we'll be free of this hell (but we'll never be free of umineko)
But, if it means that there is even one fragment of a world where Ardyn led a normal, happy life...]
I wish that I had been.
[Once more, the utter truth, but removed from all the context that makes it a horrific weight.]
I... It's a dreadfully long, painful story. But if you exist, then... There's at least one world where it didn't happen.
[At the odds of... how many millions, to one? How many hopes does this girl represent, unknowing of the significance she carries?
At whatever ridiculous odds, she exists. Truly a miracle.]
no subject
No wonder he'd called her a miracle. ]
... Then please don't be afraid for him.
[ If the world she was brought into is truly something so precious then what can Clarita do but hold onto its happiness all the tighter? If there's a place out there where things went so terribly dark then she wants to make sure her tiny spot of light is even more radiant in comparison. ]
Whatever happened in the world you came from, I won't allow the same to happen in mine.
no subject
[Because if Ardyn was able to come to a stop long enough to have a child, then he can't have been constantly on the move, healing the Scourge. Hadn't he said once that he wouldn't do that to a child - wouldn't leave them an orphan in all but name, or force them to grow up never knowing a home?
Izunia can't be sure any longer. But that - that feels right. It feels right, like something Ardyn would have said before the Scourge claimed his mind.
(It's possible that by then it was already starting to claim his body.)]
So... thank you. Even if you aren't doing anything more than existing right now... Thank you, for what you represent.
[Their happiness, radiant as the dawn.]
no subject
I suppose I should say you're welcome, then. But it feels a bit strange to be thanked for doing nothing but being here.
[ ... then she looks around, takes in the beach with a wrinkled nose. ]
... where is 'here'?
no subject
He runs his hands though his hair in a gesture that's more Ardyn's than his and sighs.]
This? It's another reality entirely - further removed from either of ours than they are from each other, I should think.
no subject
[ She's starting to catch on a little more now and it makes her furrow her brow in worry. Why bring just her and not everyone else, too?
Then again, if what Izunia says about his long and painful story is true (and she has no reason to believe it isn't) then maybe having him come face to face with Ardyn is not the best idea. ]
There's a way to return home, isn't there?