SINFUL.

In only a second, Elluka has the knife flipped out again. She waves it before putting it back.

“Ever since the games started, I’ve kept this in the same room. When Ly died, I started carrying it on my person. When Milky died… Well, it’s in arms reach twenty four seven. I just… Get so scared that someone may try to come at me.” At least it explains her reaction when he appeared.

The amount of stress Elluka’s going through.. It’s a wonder her hair hasn’t turned white yet. “If you visit, I should give you my phone number. So you can text me if you’re here, maybe meet with me. Wait - do you have a phone?”

“AH, I do.”

He took out his phone, which looked vastly different from the phones in Elluka’s Levianta. The phone (which hardly looked like a phone at all!) looked as if it was a transparent piece of square data floating on his palm, and in the blink of an eye, another transparent blue thread of data smoothly glided across the table to meet the data of Elluka’s phone, thus retrieving her number.

“I think this should do,” Seth nodded, keeping the data square in his pocket. “I do wonder what’s taking Levia so long...she would’ve loved to see you again, I’m sure.”

It’s something she hasn’t considered before. Holding on - simply resisting. Something about it appeals to Elluka a great deal. A small bit of work would need to be done, measures taken… But the end would be worth it.

Once she becomes Queen, Elluka can have Irina imprisoned for her crimes. If she can birth the twin children without issue - and she’s sure she won’t be kidnapped or killed by her husband any time soon - she can put Irina in a straitjacket until she cures the girl.

“…That’s a good idea. I think I could do it, too. Never be alone around anyone - especially Irina. Though I can exclude Kiril, since he wouldn’t hurt a fly. Watch people more closely and all that, right? That’s really good advice, Cardinal. Thank you.”

SETH shook his head with a smile -- the plan is not an easy one. Being resilient takes great skill and much thinking, but he had faith in her as much as he had his own faith in the Goddess.

“I’ll probably visit this world as much as I can to help,” he said, “because I might be able to show you examples of how people behave. It’s nice to be able to trust everybody, but clearly in our cases, it’s not the best option we have. The other two weren’t careful enough, I presume -- they got a little carried away, and they felt too safe. You may have to sleep with a knife underneath your pillow as well.”

He of all people should know -- of everyone in the city, despite his vast magical power, he doesn’t know how to unleash it, nor use it. Uncontrolled, dormant magical power is as good as being powerless, and the only thing he can rely on is his physical prowess in fighting.

Elluka looks at Seth when he insists, frowning. She takes another sip of the tea, savoring the taste, before speaking.

“Let me put it in perspective for you. Imagine being up against a ruthless killer with no feelings, disguised as a young girl called the sweetheart of Levianta. Someone who looks in no way threatening. Imagine that person being the relative of someone you care for dearly, but the one you love can’t see her as any less than perfect.

"He absolutely refuses any idea that you and her are not perfect. So, you can’t ask him for help. Now imagine anyone who you could ask doesn’t care. So, you have to go against this crazy person alone. But you know exactly what they’re like - if they find out you’re actively going against you, they’ll give you as slow a death as possible. That’s how it is with Irina. Because of her disease, she’ll destroy anything in her way. Because of [her], she’ll enjoy every moment of it. I could fight back. I could try to cure Irina. But what if I fail? What if she finds out? There… Isn’t any way past it, I think. If I could avoid it, I would. I want to marry Kiril. I want to be part of a family, maybe even have a child with him. But Irina is in the way.”

“THINK of your main strengths,” the priest advised - in every problem, there is surely a solution. “You could try to fight back, but people with the [HER] syndrome are motivated with their malice and will spare no mercy. You could try to cure her, but there is a chance that it will fail - in that part, you are correct. But why don’t you try something like this?”

The truth was, he didn’t know which situation was worse, his or Elluka’s. Both of them were equally horrible in themselves, and he paused for a while in contemplation.

“Hold on. Try to hold on until the final selection is over. Stay alive and avoid any suspicious behaviours from anyone -- you may have to continue being paranoid even after you’re crowned. If Irina is crowned, I daresay that it’s the end of it all, but if you’re on the throne, you have more authority to control the situation before you.”

“If Milky were here now, she’d laugh in your face. She’s the criminal I was talking about - a prostitute who had once been married to the greatest criminal in Levianta. She was, though, surprisingly sweet.” And Elluka still mourns her death.

“Your girls seem rather different from mine, so our connections may only lie with the gods and the Clockworker family. All I can do is wish you the best of luck.”

Elluka sips on her drink, frowning. It’s all so very strange, to have this parallel world that is so different. But it’s interesting too - and while she has few in her own world she can trust, this Cardinal TwiRight has already earned the mage’s trust.

“SURELY you can avoid your death?” he tried again, this time a bit more insisting. “The project that you’re undertaking doesn’t need to end in any more bloodshed. Bloodshed is only saved for war, not for this.”

A small bite of his muffin only served to distract him a bit from his thoughts, but it never really helped divert his attention fully from the topic. He trusted Elluka wholeheartedly -- probably, it was a side effect from being the priest of her more divine counterpart, but should anything happen to Levia, she would be the first person he’d go to.

“With all that you promised to do for Levia, I can only offer my assistance to you in return,” Seth said.

“The day Irie-imouto becomes a priestess is the day the Hellish Yard itself freezes over.” Elluka shakes her head and purses her lips, now curious about the alternative world Irina.

“If she’s like me… She’ll be pretty proud of her abilities. Might even be able to cure [her] as well. But she’s also really slothful, so she’ll end up not doing much at all. Not a threat. Do you have a Ly Li and Milky Eights?”

Elluka can, at least, give her priest friend some advice on what may happen in his future.

“THAT’S precisely correct,” Seth confirmed, drinking some of his coffee. “Ly Li is a well-known warrior of our country, and Milky Eights is a noblewoman who is very much devoted to the Ellukan religion. It’s a massive change compared to what is happening here -- there are so many opposites.”

If anything, he wanted to help Elluka the best he can, but she seemed particularly resigned to her fate that it wouldn’t do much to convince her to fight back.

“They’ll be selected based on their affinity with the Goddess, their purity of heart and their overall magical power. My mother was the previous High Priestess, but she didn’t have to go through something like this, surely...”

When they sit, Elluka immediately splits the muffin in half and gives one half to Seth.

She thinks for several long moments before speaking. “Your counterpart is head, that’s right. But he’s also a pretty insane guy who does illegal experimentation on humans.” The mage took a bite of her muffin half, then a sip of her latte.

“I can’t get his help. I bet he even enjoys all of this. See, I can’t really get anyone’s help at this stage. If I try, my death would only be more painful.”

#ᴠᴇʀsᴇ﹕ ғᴏʀ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴏғ ʏᴏᴜ #chirclatiaelluka #ɪɴ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ

HE accepts half of the muffin in thanks, and upon listening closer about his counterpart, he could only take the information in stride. Illegal experimentation -- he himself is still doing things like that, but never on human bodies. As a cleric, he naturally has to experiment, or nothing will get done. The ethics of science are still very much upheld.

It’s a secret even Levia doesn’t know, but when the time comes, he’ll show her.

“If I recall, there is a woman named Irina who’s also contending for the title, right?” the priest asked. “The Irina in my universe is a priestess in the cathedral.”

STARTER CALL for canon verse!Seth?

#starter call

goodfellas sentence meme

❝My dad is gonna kill me.❞

❝Oh my! You look like a gangster!❞

❝Let's just settle down.❞

❝I can't stop people from visiting me.❞

❝Get out of my life, I can't stand you!❞

❝There's a whore living in your house!❞

❝I would complain, but who would listen?❞

❝Mad? I'm not mad, I'm proud of you.❞

❝You gotta go home.❞

❝Nobody's helping me, I'm all alone.❞

❝He's not Jewish!❞

❝Nobody says you can't do what you want.❞

❝What do you want me to do? Shoot him?❞

❝Fucking. Do it.❞

❝We've gotta help each other.❞

❝You're scaring me.❞

❝What's right is right.❞

❝I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.❞

❝There's no other way.❞

❝It was an accident, you fucking prick.❞

❝Don't go busting my balls, alright?❞

❝I want to make it up to you.❞

❝A married man does not stay out like this!❞

❝I told him to stop, he didn't stop.❞

❝I look at your face and I know that you're lying.❞

❝Sometimes you don't sound like you're kidding.❞

#memes

“A staff? Fancy. We don’t get such things here.” Not often, at least. Elluka peers down at her hands, then steps into the cafe. A few people wave and greet them, immediately mistaking Seth for Kiril.

“If she… Has what I think she has, I’ll see what I can do to get rid of it.” When Elluka steps up to the register to order, she speaks swiftly. “One gray fog chai tea latte, grande, and a blueberry muffin.”

#chirclatiaelluka #ᴠᴇʀsᴇ﹕ ғᴏʀ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴏғ ʏᴏᴜ

HE doubts that they sell water.

“Espresso will do,” Seth settled, since he couldn’t really drink anything else. Once they both got their drinks and food, they proceeded to sit at a nearby table -- fittingly, this was a good way to talk about their problems.

“But of all things, why are you waiting for death instead of avoiding it?” he asked. “Surely there’s a way to all this? Is my counterpart the head of this project?”

“That’s something like us. We had an ex-criminal and fighter, a noblewoman, Irina, and me. I being a priestess. The noblewoman was pushed off a cliff, the fighter forcibly hanged. I can only assume how my death would be… Though, if our worlds mirror each other, Levia is assured victory. By killing the others. But I do not believe our Goddess would do such a thing.”

It’s possible, though. Because the parallels gave another meaning: Levia having [her]. And that was something Elluka had no desire to find true. Even so… “If Levia’s eyes flash red, or if she does something incredibly destructive… Please find me.”

#chirclatiaelluka #ᴠᴇʀsᴇ﹕ ғᴏʀ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴏғ ʏᴏᴜ

IT was rather known that Levia had an explosive temper, but she too had a very self-sacrificing nature. Being the cardinal of the Goddess enabled him to go through dimensions and universes as he liked, and he caught onto Elluka’s logic easily.

Hereditary Evil Raiser Syndrome. Something that he himself had.

“I will,” he promised, reaching a café as he opened the door for her. “I actually planned to take Levia here today, but she said she’d be a bit late. Told her to use the staff I left behind to find me once she’s done with work.”

Elluka follows, toying with the lavender ribbon on her dress as she listens to the priest.

“Here, this is the seventh project. We’ve been doing this for near fifteen years, I think. You gather the strongest women of the country, the one who survives in the end will get the chance to birth the twin gods and become the Queen. But when you have a prideful aristocrat, an ex-criminal, someone with [her], and someone like me… Well, two of the four of us are already dead.”