[ 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
... 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'?
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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?