just some normal guys 👍

[nobodys-soldier]

Me and my oc idiots, what could possibly go wrong >:3

Introductions:

nobody’s soldier

Suppose I'm on here now. Name's Elias. No, not that Magnus son of a bitch. Elias Barnaby. And I've been told this is where the interesting shit happens, so here I am. Ask away, I'm usually bored enough to answer. Except Web avatars. Your lot can fuck off.

Web avatars can interact as much as they like. You're just not allowed to touch me. I belong to somebody else.

Fucking hell...

nobody’s lover

Hi!!!!!! I’m not new here, buuutttt I had to delete my old account, heh. Had some ties that needed cutting, y’know? Anyways, I’m Charlie Byrne! Short for Charlotte, not that it matters. I work as a researcher at big old Usher these days! Kinda don’t like gross things, so…yeah! Please keep gross things away from me! Please!

She/her, respect that or you’ll regret it. Or I’ll just be sad, heh.

nobody’s monster

Rowan Tourtelot. Here to help, I suppose. Or not. I’m just here, really. Pronouns he/xe. Yes, I’m connected to the man above. No, we aren’t close. I’ve been a vessel of the Dark since I was a kid. Please don’t pester me. I don’t like answering questions.

nobody’s daughter

Vesper!!! Vesper Radshaw! I’m finally above ground again, and I’m about to make it all you fuckers’ problem! Want to see a fucked-up-if-true book? Wanna be swallowed by the glorious embrace of the earth? Then I’m your gal! Hope you like bogs, I will be annoying about them. Yes, that is a threat. She/her lol

nobody’s hanged man

Hey there, I’m Max Parker. She/her, if you don’t mind. I work a local cafe shop, buy me a coffee, heh heh. Sometimes do commissions. Mostly, I just mind my own business. Feel free to reach out if you want free body parts. I’m more than willing to supply.

nobody’s pilgrim

Welcome to the road, traveller! Are you visiting for a while? Well, I hope so, ha ha! Do you know how long you’ve been out here? Well, I’m sure it’ll come to you eventually. My name? Good gosh, I’m sure I left it around somewhere…oh well. I go be he/him, by the way. Make sure to come again!

nobody’s moribund

I’m Elton. Friends call me El. I don’t have a lot of friends, but I like to be called that anyway. My pronouns are he/him/his, and sometimes they/them/theirs, but only when I’m in the mood for it. I’m an avatar of the Vast, and what Salesa called End-marked. Turned eighteen a few weeks ago! Happy birthday me, even if nobody showed up to say it.

[twirld]

“Oh, remember how short my time is”

Watchmaker: Isaac Penard The Met

[nobodys-soldier]

Elias gets home from whatever he does, and at first he notices nothing out of the ordinary. After a bit, though, he hears what sounds to be… sobbing? Coming from his closet.

Assuming he goes to investigate, he spots a shuddering mass of what looks to be every spare soft thing in his apartment. The sobs are clearly coming from it.

@dont-tell-lucy

“Oh, Jesus.”

He’s going to need to get a towel. They’re making a mess everywhere.

[dont-tell-lucy]

After Elias speaks, the shuddering of the mound increases, and the sobbing becomes more muffled. Whoever is in the mound shifts away from him slightly. Whoever is under there seems very scared.

[nobodys-soldier]

He sighs, placing a hand on his hip and walking over to give it a light kick, see if that makes it look up. How do these things keep getting into his apartment…?

“Hello?”

[nobodys-soldier]

Elias gets home from whatever he does, and at first he notices nothing out of the ordinary. After a bit, though, he hears what sounds to be… sobbing? Coming from his closet.

Assuming he goes to investigate, he spots a shuddering mass of what looks to be every spare soft thing in his apartment. The sobs are clearly coming from it.

@dont-tell-lucy

“Oh, Jesus.”

He’s going to need to get a towel. They’re making a mess everywhere.

[allthesemechanismsbutnocoping]

Mother, may I have some milf milk?

(@vapor-web)

MAY YOU WHAT?!

[vapor-web]

Milf milk. The spotted ones? The ones that go ‘moo’?

[allthesemechanismsbutnocoping]

That's not- that's a cow, honey.

[vapor-web]

But. But one of my other mothers said it was a word for cow.

Mother. Mother what does ‘milf’ mean.

[allthesemechanismsbutnocoping]

It means absolutely nothing, and you should point me in the direction of this other mother so I can have a talk.

[nobodys-soldier]

IT ASKED ME WHAT A MILF WAS WHAT DID YOU WANT ME TO DO

[allthesemechanismsbutnocoping]

YOU! I'M COMING TO KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!

[nobodys-soldier]

NOT IF THE BOG GETS ME FIRST

[allthesemechanismsbutnocoping]

Mother, may I have some milf milk?

(@vapor-web)

MAY YOU WHAT?!

[vapor-web]

Milf milk. The spotted ones? The ones that go ‘moo’?

[allthesemechanismsbutnocoping]

That's not- that's a cow, honey.

[vapor-web]

But. But one of my other mothers said it was a word for cow.

Mother. Mother what does ‘milf’ mean.

[allthesemechanismsbutnocoping]

It means absolutely nothing, and you should point me in the direction of this other mother so I can have a talk.

[nobodys-soldier]

IT ASKED ME WHAT A MILF WAS WHAT DID YOU WANT ME TO DO

[child-of-the-vast]

Why are all you eye avatars such freaks (not you El, I love you El)

[nobodys-soldier]

Oh it was the Buried that made me a freak!!! freak in the sheets freaky eyes freaky thighs am I right ladies <3333

[vapor-web]

Mother, why are you?

[nobodys-soldier]

Ask the Eye, kid. Ask the Eye.

[vapor-web]

You speak filthy evils to me with such an offer.

…Also, I have heard of something called a ‘milf’ while having access to the family computer. What does it mean?

[nobodys-soldier]

UHMMMMMM

It is. Well. Shit how do you explain this to a monster kid I never asked to be a parent A kind of cow.

[vapor-web]

…Can I have some milf milk?

[nobodys-soldier]

*choking on bog water noises*

Uhhmmm. Ahaha um. Well now you gotta double dowm you dumbass Yes?

[vapor-web]

Yum!

[nobodys-soldier]

Did. Did you.

Did you find and drink MILF milk?

[vapor-web]

Yes? I have one right here.

[nobodys-soldier]

You. You have a. *deep breaths in and out*

cow?

[vapor-web]

Yes! I stole it just now! I am naming her Cornstarch.

[nobodys-soldier]

Kickass name for a cow, honestly. How’s the milk?

[child-of-the-vast]

Why are all you eye avatars such freaks (not you El, I love you El)

[nobodys-soldier]

Oh it was the Buried that made me a freak!!! freak in the sheets freaky eyes freaky thighs am I right ladies <3333

[vapor-web]

Mother, why are you?

[nobodys-soldier]

Ask the Eye, kid. Ask the Eye.

[vapor-web]

You speak filthy evils to me with such an offer.

…Also, I have heard of something called a ‘milf’ while having access to the family computer. What does it mean?

[nobodys-soldier]

UHMMMMMM

It is. Well. Shit how do you explain this to a monster kid I never asked to be a parent A kind of cow.

[vapor-web]

…Can I have some milf milk?

[nobodys-soldier]

*choking on bog water noises*

Uhhmmm. Ahaha um. Well now you gotta double dowm you dumbass Yes?

[vapor-web]

Yum!

[nobodys-soldier]

Did. Did you.

Did you find and drink MILF milk?

[vapor-web]

Yes? I have one right here.

[nobodys-soldier]

You. You have a. *deep breaths in and out*

cow?

[child-of-the-vast]

Why are all you eye avatars such freaks (not you El, I love you El)

[nobodys-soldier]

Oh it was the Buried that made me a freak!!! freak in the sheets freaky eyes freaky thighs am I right ladies <3333

[vapor-web]

Mother, why are you?

[nobodys-soldier]

Ask the Eye, kid. Ask the Eye.

[vapor-web]

You speak filthy evils to me with such an offer.

…Also, I have heard of something called a ‘milf’ while having access to the family computer. What does it mean?

[nobodys-soldier]

UHMMMMMM

It is. Well. Shit how do you explain this to a monster kid I never asked to be a parent A kind of cow.

[vapor-web]

…Can I have some milf milk?

[nobodys-soldier]

*choking on bog water noises*

Uhhmmm. Ahaha um. Well now you gotta double dowm you dumbass Yes?

[vapor-web]

Yum!

[nobodys-soldier]

Did. Did you.

Did you find and drink MILF milk?

[child-of-the-vast]

Why are all you eye avatars such freaks (not you El, I love you El)

[nobodys-soldier]

Oh it was the Buried that made me a freak!!! freak in the sheets freaky eyes freaky thighs am I right ladies <3333

[vapor-web]

Mother, why are you?

[nobodys-soldier]

Ask the Eye, kid. Ask the Eye.

[vapor-web]

You speak filthy evils to me with such an offer.

…Also, I have heard of something called a ‘milf’ while having access to the family computer. What does it mean?

[nobodys-soldier]

UHMMMMMM

It is. Well. Shit how do you explain this to a monster kid I never asked to be a parent A kind of cow.

[vapor-web]

…Can I have some milf milk?

[nobodys-soldier]

*choking on bog water noises*

Uhhmmm. Ahaha um. Well now you gotta double dowm you dumbass Yes?

[child-of-the-vast]

Why are all you eye avatars such freaks (not you El, I love you El)

[nobodys-soldier]

Oh it was the Buried that made me a freak!!! freak in the sheets freaky eyes freaky thighs am I right ladies <3333

[vapor-web]

Mother, why are you?

[nobodys-soldier]

Ask the Eye, kid. Ask the Eye.

[vapor-web]

You speak filthy evils to me with such an offer.

…Also, I have heard of something called a ‘milf’ while having access to the family computer. What does it mean?

[nobodys-soldier]

UHMMMMMM

It is. Well. Shit how do you explain this to a monster kid I never asked to be a parent A kind of cow.

[child-of-the-vast]

Why are all you eye avatars such freaks (not you El, I love you El)

[nobodys-soldier]

Oh it was the Buried that made me a freak!!! freak in the sheets freaky eyes freaky thighs am I right ladies <3333

[vapor-web]

Mother, why are you?

[nobodys-soldier]

Ask the Eye, kid. Ask the Eye.

[child-of-the-vast]

Why are all you eye avatars such freaks (not you El, I love you El)

[nobodys-soldier]

Oh it was the Buried that made me a freak!!! freak in the sheets freaky eyes freaky thighs am I right ladies <3333

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Calm down, Lucía. Get yourself together, Lucía. Stop being so needy, Lucía. Stop being a liability, Lucía. You are always so much, Lucía. You are always the cracked glass, Lucía. You are going to kill me, Lucía".

Well, fuck you too Alex

[nobodys-soldier]

Well, that relationship sounds toxic.

May I recommend arson, or is that too soon?

[im-not-good-with-names]

don't set my girl on fire! im angry at him but I dont want a corpse

if I wanted one that would be done

[nobodys-soldier]

Yeah, that- that would be bad. Corpses- no. Sorry. Yeah, ignore me, I don’t know why I said that.

I do.

[im-not-good-with-names]

its just that. Alex, the spider he is, went away. Again. After a fight. No note, no nothing

[nobodys-soldier]

Maybe he just needed his space?

[im-not-good-with-names]

Completly understandable line of tough. Except I have steped on Seven spiders alredy. No, she's probably off somewhere getting high while letting his spiders to stalk me

[nobodys-soldier]

Oh. He’s one of those web…things.

[im-not-good-with-names]

yeahhhhhhh

I'm just. So fucking angry at her rn

[nobodys-soldier]

Well, when I’m angry, I usually go to the bar. Cool off, you know? One time, it didn’t work, and I got so mad I-

Nevermind, heh! I’d reccommend less- uh- alcoholic experiences, but I mostly just…count my lighters, clean my carpet, and you’re probably not particularly interested in either of those things. I mean, Marc said it wasn’t normal to have all of those, and the carpet- well, it’s probably clean, but-

Nevermind.

[im-not-good-with-names]

No, actually that sounds like a plan. The bar part, not the rest… wanna… wanna come?

[nobodys-soldier]

Me? Oh, uh, sure. Which one?

[im-not-good-with-names]

You know the one by the London library? It's a bit hidden, great for a few pints

[nobodys-soldier]

Oh, yeah, I’ve been there. See u in a few minutes, then :P

. . .

After a short while, a girl strolls into the bar, eyes scanning for her new friend. Her hair is a very distinctive electric blue, heart-shaped sunglasses pushed up on her nose, a she/her pronoun pin on her jacket and enough burn scars on her to make her look like an overcooked marshmallow. Not all of them look completely healed. Suffice it to say, Charlie gets a few stares.

She’s lucky this place is so close to her work. Chronic lateness is not a great quality to show on a first meeting, and she’s glad to see she didn’t take too long arriving.

…Okay, maybe she’s a few minutes late.

[im-not-good-with-names]

Lucía is already at the table, her hands busy with a drink. Face torn into long scars, hair one terrible cloud of blue and eyes like two moons, she's hard to miss, even as she unches over in her jacket. It has a sea storm painted on the back.

She almost looks normal, like this. But there's something antinatural in the way the shadows seem to not want to stick to her.

[nobodys-soldier]

Ah. Yep, that’s Charlie’s girl. Because it always has to be the creepy ones.

She picks a drink up at the bar, something sweet, and finds her way over to the table. The girl’s younger than her. A lot younger, actually. Oh, crap, is Charlie being the creep here?

“Are you- er, old enough to drink?”

[im-not-good-with-names]

She stares up at Charlie and takes a long swing of her drink.

"Let's not ask questions that we don't want answered, yes?" She smiles a strained grin and her terrible canines come into view. "I'd guess you are my company for tonight?"

[nobodys-soldier]

She almost asks what bartender served her, because someone clearly needs to lose their job. But then she looks at the way hate and fear seem etched into this girl’s face like the scars that adorn it, and decides that Lucía could probably be awful convincing when she wanted to be.

“That’d be me.”

[im-not-good-with-names]

The smile only grows more, in it's sideways path, like a overgrowing vine.

"Pleasure, please, sit down." She extends her hand and adds. "Name's Lucía, yours?"

Her hands are messed up, too. Strangely rought and scarred for someone her age.

[nobodys-soldier]

“Charlie Byrne. Short for Charlotte.”

She feels awkward shaking it as she pulls the chair back and slides into her seat. Charlie’s not over-fond of handshakes herself, but this girl’s grip is firm, her eyes bold and sharp like flint. Between the beer, the scars, and the confident frame of her shoulds, she can’t help but wonder if Lucía’s more of a grown-up than she’s ever been.

[im-not-good-with-names]

Lucía takes a swing from her drink, nodding lazily.

"Are you…?" She cocks her head, softly, in a jerky motion like that of a slightly drunk person. "Are you a servant of the fears?"

She isn't about to get drunk with someone who might be of the Dark, thanks a lot.

[nobodys-soldier]

"Why does everyone ask that?" Charlie grumbles. Can't one person she meet be normal? Pretty please? Like that one guy she went on a date with once...oh, wait, no, yep, cursed printer. She forgot about the cursed printer he joined himself with.

"I'm just a human person. Though I guess I do work for the Eye at Usher- well, Magnus now, I get transferred 'temporarily' and now Elias Bouchard won't respond to my emails."

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Ah, nice." Lucía smiles, visibly relaxing into her seat. She has days-old smudges of eyeliner under her eyes, Charlie realizes.

"So, sorrows, sorrows, sorrows… let's talk them."

[nobodys-soldier]

“Should I pull out a tape recorder?” Charlie jokes. She doesn’t have one on her. Hopefully. Hopefully, she does not have one in her bag because she certainly didn’t bring it. If one showed up, that would be really bad. Why can’t any items be non-sentient?

[im-not-good-with-names]

"I'm not afraid of Alex." Lucía says, just a second too fast, just a bit too sharply. "This no statement. This is just two… of our type sharing stories over a pint."

She's a good liar. She knows she is. And still, her cold hands are as still as the cadaver she should be.

[nobodys-soldier]

“Is your girlfriend…”

That is not a question worth asking. Lucía is here to mope and have a good time, not admit to being in an abusive relationship. She shouldn’t. She should not.

Like hell she shouldn’t.

“Nevermind. What are you drinking?”

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Blond beer." Lucía snort. How did that song go? Y bebe rubia la cerveza, para acordarse de su pelo… she's such a mess it's almost funny. She should at least feel glad Alex is away for a bit, but she only misses his guilty eyes.

She used to hunt him down, when she went away. Now the novelty of following was gone.

"You?"

[nobodys-soldier]

“Jack Daniel’s watermelon punch.”

It probably tastes like dogshit, but Charlie never got used to how bitter the normal stuff tasted. Never quite liked the afterburn.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Oh, a sweet tooth, you have." She has to bite her tongue and not make this unconfortable by flirting. It had always been so easy, flirting with others.

If she flirted, please never looked further than that. But this is an Eye avatar, and they aren't easy to fool.

"You had a question… you said my relationship sounded toxic, didn't you?"

[nobodys-soldier]

“Did I?”

She definitely did. But that doesn’t mean she’s prepared to have a conversation about them.

“I- er- I think, um…yeah I, I did say that. Right. Cos you made it sound like it is, you know?”

[im-not-good-with-names]

"You aren't the first one to say that…" Lucía picks at her nail polish, chipping it away mindlesly. "I don't… I don't think it's that bad? We just fought. This time it was him with the broken ribs."

She tries to make it a joke, and it doesn't come out just right.

"Alex loves me, y'know? He calls me her Saint, she genuinly belives I'm something worthy of keeping."

[nobodys-soldier]

He calls me her Saint.

Something smells like smoke. Her eyes are hard and sharp as flint.

“Y’all break each other’s ribs?”

[im-not-good-with-names]

"We get phisical, both of us. It's hot it always has worked with us, even back when we lived in the streets, it's just easier." She srughs and, good god, se really belives it. Fighting always had been the best line of action for both of them.

She takes another swing of her beer and thinks of clear blue eyes filled with tears.

"I'm of the Endless War." Like that's an excuse.

[nobodys-soldier]

“That’s the violence one, right?”

They’ve known each other for a long time. They’re just kids. They think it’s a good idea to keep going like this, and one girl calls the other a saint. Charlie takes a sip of her drink and tries to clear her head, tries not to think about the similarities.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Ye. Unpredictable and unstoppable violence, the frenzy of battle, the fear of soldiers packed in by their commanders, tight between the horses and the infantry, no room to run away, all must stand and fight." And altough she doesn't smile, her voice is almost boastful. "Brother against brother 'n all that…"

Or mother against daughter, in Lucía's case. But Atenea is hers to forget. Hers to curse.

[nobodys-soldier]

“I had a friend who was sort of like that.”

His was more the chase than the capture. But oh, how he was drenched in blood. How much of it was his children’s?

“He’s not around anymore, though. Been a while since then.”

[im-not-good-with-names]

"We tend to last too little or too long, that's the nature of war." Lucía nods, calmly. "Dog eats dog and whatnot."

Her finger circles the neck of the bottle, creating a terrible ring.

((@nobodys-soldier

[nobodys-soldier]

“Well, that sucks. Why’d you pick it?”

She’s stuck in the Eye’s domain because she had to flee there, under the Desolation’s scrutiny because she used it as an out, and even before either of those, had dealings with the Corruption because it simply seemed right. Charlie might not be on the best path imaginable, but it’s the path she consciously chose, every horrific step of the way.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"I didn't. It sang to me long before I heard it. Like the Vast, it isn't something that I choose, it shallowed me whole, game me a life when I was about to die."

She takes out her collar and Charlie can see a clear scar that goes around her whole neck, a perfect circle of fucked skin.

[nobodys-soldier]

Her eyes widen just a little bit, a shudder rolling down her spine. She’s not so far removed from her humanity as to be accustomed to these things- or at least, not yet. Not anymore.

“I’m sorry, aren’t you, like, fifteen? You talk an awful lot like a prophet for a fifteen year old. It’s- well, it’s kind of unsettling. Shit, that was rude to say, wasn’t it?”

[im-not-good-with-names]

The beer bottle breaks under Lucía's fingers and she realizes, with the soft deatachment of someone who has seen way worse, that she was squeezing it too hard.

"Don't fuckin' call me prophet again." She says, still looking at her bleeding palm. "I paid me weight in blood to not be one."

[nobodys-soldier]

She almosts jumps. She acts too much the coward for her birthright.

“Okay, you’re doing it again.”

Charlie, stop, you sre going to get shivved.

“I-I won’t. I knew a prophet once, and I’m none too fond of them neither.”

Met a prophet? She was a prophet.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"If you have a phone," Lucía sighs, licking her hand clean, "look up Myrtlewood Manor… or maybe fuck around at the archives, they have my statement."

There's no shame to be had. She had to survive and the all wanted her dead, still, the tought of telling someone of the eye about it… it made her stomach turn.

[nobodys-soldier]

“I don’t want to know.”

She doesn’t know why she stumbles over herself to get it out, why it feels so important to say. Everyone she works with seems desperate to know more, in one way or other. Charlie isn’t like that. She fears the curiosity she sees in her archivist’s eyes. She thinks that he should too.

“I just- I don’t want to know.”

Ignorance is safer.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Awn, what a surprise, girls usually are stumbling over themselves to get to know me." She winks, halfheartedly, already knowing it to be a mistake.

[nobodys-soldier]

“I’m sure they do.” Charlie snorts. Pretty, interesting, and intense, the girl’s striking as lightning, and three times as dangerous. She’s sure Lucía could’ve made her turn any shade of red when she was seventeen, but it’s been many years since then, and age set aside, Charlie is someone else’s property, signed and sealed.

Wait. Wait, she winked. That was flirting, Charlie, you fucking idiot, and you sound like a creeper.

“I-I mean- you’re very pretty and all, but I’m not- I mean- you’re quite young- no, that’s not right, that’s even creepier, I’m not- yeah. You’ve got lots of prospects. Just wait til you hit college. W-Wait, no, that sounds like I’m making a comment about you being legal, fuck, I- avoid people older than you, obviously, there are some bad people out there and you are very beautiful and… Nope. Still bad. I- I’m going to shut up now.”

[im-not-good-with-names]

This brings a smile to Lucía's face, and her shoulders relax.

"Shame…" she says, only half joking. "I would say that I'm mature for my age, but that would probably send you on a rant… I'm just used to…"

And she makes a gesture, like trying to signal to everything.

[nobodys-soldier]

She is many shades of pink right now.

“I don’t- think that’s- um- good for you. Is your girlfrind an adult?”

That would add three layers of complication to the situation. Or just make it easier. Then the answer would be a lot more obvious.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"No, Alex is a creep but not that type of creep. I'm a few months older than her, actually." She smiles at Charlie's blush.

Good to know she still has it.

[nobodys-soldier]

“Well- that’s good. I still don’t think you should- I don’t know, stay with him, but- I mean, wouldn’t flirting with other people make things worse? Flirt with- who you want to, I guess- probably not grown adults- but unless she’s okay with it…I don’t know.”

Charlie is probably the least helpful person to go to for romantic, sexual, or dating advice alive.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Oh, he'll never be okay with it… but if she leaves, without any notice, well…" Lucía srughs, lazily.

The truth was that Lucía liked to make people squirm, and it catched Alex's atention in the way… Well, two for one.

[nobodys-soldier]

“So you’re flirting with me to…what, upset a boy who can’t hesr ypu doing it?”

She asks, bewildered. She will never understand girls. Sydney was the same way, drove her nuts. Charlie is, herself, a simple woman- simple attraction is almost always enough. The subtle manipulations others turn to will always confuse her.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Oh, she does. Spiders, y'know? Spiders are sneaky things, you are never truly alone."

Lucía is now probably drunk, because she's starting to talk way too much and her heart feels strangely heavy.

[nobodys-soldier]

“Everything? You never get privacy? That can’t be…”

What? Healthy? How many things does Lucía have to say about it, how many times does she have to ignore Charlie pointing it out, for her to get the point that this is nothing like a normal relationship? Of course it isn’t healthy. It could likely only be fixed by ending it completely. Burning it down to its roots.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"What do I care for privacy? I'm gonna do whatever, whoever, I want anyways." Lucía srughs finally coming out of that contemplative trance.

"It's the Web's nature, to try and tie down everything. It's the Vast's nature to let it happen."

[nobodys-soldier]

“You really don’t care what your girlfriend thinks?”

She always cared what Sydney thought, day or night. Luckily, she rarely strayed far from her vision for them, but the one time she had…

Maybe Charlie needs to stop only thinking of Sydney when talking about romance. Maybe she’s just a tad bit pathetic.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"I care what she thinks about a lot of stuff, I care for what she thinks what should have for dinner, or if the dress looks cute on me or if he wants to have movie night. But no, I don't care what she thinks about me goin' out and having a good one."

She srughs, like it's that simple. Like there's not much to do about it.

[nobodys-soldier]

“But she cares.”

It’s less of a question that a statement. Charlie suspects that if he didn’t care, the odds would be a lot lower that he’d walk out without a word.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"She cares for everything, and way too much." Lucía says, simply. "Sometimes it suffocates me, how much he cares…"

She shoul get another beer. She's too sober for this.

[nobodys-soldier]

“You as bitchy about it with him as you are here?”

Oh shit. She sipped a little too much beer. Fucking lightweight.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Oh, yes. But he tends to be worse. Of a bitch, I mean… ego, ego, ego, Icarus." She hums, her voice strange and full of feeling, of love.

The shadows won't stick to her skin, he light hits her a bit too hard. Or maybe Charlie is just drunk.

[nobodys-soldier]

Why does she keep hanging out with avatars? Why does nothing ever make sense anymore? It’s not like she’s trying. It just seems to follow her wherever she goes.

“I’m going to get myself killed like this, aren’t I?”

She mutters melancholically. Just drunk indeed. She’s walking a cliff’s edge that’s going to send her plummeting, eventually.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"I mean… Yes. Most Eye freaks do, too… proding, too knowledgeable, fear doesn't like being known, in my experience."

She just needs her to understand, to listen. She needs someone to understand that Myrtlewood Manor was the end, not the start, that Alex was lovely and terrible since she remembers knowing him, that loving any avatar was a deal with the devil, but loving someone of the Web was surrending free will.

[nobodys-soldier]

“I’m not an Eye freak.”

Something deep in her hurts, but she doesn’t know what. Not a burning, searing thing that has her jumping from her seat and rushing to put it out. Something that pulses, an ache, a pain that won’t go away, will never go away.

Charlie wonders if it would hurt less if she set it free. It’s not her thought. But she’s been pretending that for a while, hasn’t she?

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Oh, then what are you?" She says, craning her neck to look closer to Charlie. Her eyes are two cold, monstrous things that makes vertigo rise and rise and rise.

[nobodys-soldier]

“I’m- I’m nothing.”

Liar. Liar. Her own eyes are wide and nervous, denying, denying, denying, but something smolders beneath them.

“I’m not anything yet, heh.”

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Calm down, Lucía. Get yourself together, Lucía. Stop being so needy, Lucía. Stop being a liability, Lucía. You are always so much, Lucía. You are always the cracked glass, Lucía. You are going to kill me, Lucía".

Well, fuck you too Alex

[nobodys-soldier]

Well, that relationship sounds toxic.

May I recommend arson, or is that too soon?

[im-not-good-with-names]

don't set my girl on fire! im angry at him but I dont want a corpse

if I wanted one that would be done

[nobodys-soldier]

Yeah, that- that would be bad. Corpses- no. Sorry. Yeah, ignore me, I don’t know why I said that.

I do.

[im-not-good-with-names]

its just that. Alex, the spider he is, went away. Again. After a fight. No note, no nothing

[nobodys-soldier]

Maybe he just needed his space?

[im-not-good-with-names]

Completly understandable line of tough. Except I have steped on Seven spiders alredy. No, she's probably off somewhere getting high while letting his spiders to stalk me

[nobodys-soldier]

Oh. He’s one of those web…things.

[im-not-good-with-names]

yeahhhhhhh

I'm just. So fucking angry at her rn

[nobodys-soldier]

Well, when I’m angry, I usually go to the bar. Cool off, you know? One time, it didn’t work, and I got so mad I-

Nevermind, heh! I’d reccommend less- uh- alcoholic experiences, but I mostly just…count my lighters, clean my carpet, and you’re probably not particularly interested in either of those things. I mean, Marc said it wasn’t normal to have all of those, and the carpet- well, it’s probably clean, but-

Nevermind.

[im-not-good-with-names]

No, actually that sounds like a plan. The bar part, not the rest… wanna… wanna come?

[nobodys-soldier]

Me? Oh, uh, sure. Which one?

[im-not-good-with-names]

You know the one by the London library? It's a bit hidden, great for a few pints

[nobodys-soldier]

Oh, yeah, I’ve been there. See u in a few minutes, then :P

. . .

After a short while, a girl strolls into the bar, eyes scanning for her new friend. Her hair is a very distinctive electric blue, heart-shaped sunglasses pushed up on her nose, a she/her pronoun pin on her jacket and enough burn scars on her to make her look like an overcooked marshmallow. Not all of them look completely healed. Suffice it to say, Charlie gets a few stares.

She’s lucky this place is so close to her work. Chronic lateness is not a great quality to show on a first meeting, and she’s glad to see she didn’t take too long arriving.

…Okay, maybe she’s a few minutes late.

[im-not-good-with-names]

Lucía is already at the table, her hands busy with a drink. Face torn into long scars, hair one terrible cloud of blue and eyes like two moons, she's hard to miss, even as she unches over in her jacket. It has a sea storm painted on the back.

She almost looks normal, like this. But there's something antinatural in the way the shadows seem to not want to stick to her.

[nobodys-soldier]

Ah. Yep, that’s Charlie’s girl. Because it always has to be the creepy ones.

She picks a drink up at the bar, something sweet, and finds her way over to the table. The girl’s younger than her. A lot younger, actually. Oh, crap, is Charlie being the creep here?

“Are you- er, old enough to drink?”

[im-not-good-with-names]

She stares up at Charlie and takes a long swing of her drink.

"Let's not ask questions that we don't want answered, yes?" She smiles a strained grin and her terrible canines come into view. "I'd guess you are my company for tonight?"

[nobodys-soldier]

She almost asks what bartender served her, because someone clearly needs to lose their job. But then she looks at the way hate and fear seem etched into this girl’s face like the scars that adorn it, and decides that Lucía could probably be awful convincing when she wanted to be.

“That’d be me.”

[im-not-good-with-names]

The smile only grows more, in it's sideways path, like a overgrowing vine.

"Pleasure, please, sit down." She extends her hand and adds. "Name's Lucía, yours?"

Her hands are messed up, too. Strangely rought and scarred for someone her age.

[nobodys-soldier]

“Charlie Byrne. Short for Charlotte.”

She feels awkward shaking it as she pulls the chair back and slides into her seat. Charlie’s not over-fond of handshakes herself, but this girl’s grip is firm, her eyes bold and sharp like flint. Between the beer, the scars, and the confident frame of her shoulds, she can’t help but wonder if Lucía’s more of a grown-up than she’s ever been.

[im-not-good-with-names]

Lucía takes a swing from her drink, nodding lazily.

"Are you…?" She cocks her head, softly, in a jerky motion like that of a slightly drunk person. "Are you a servant of the fears?"

She isn't about to get drunk with someone who might be of the Dark, thanks a lot.

[nobodys-soldier]

"Why does everyone ask that?" Charlie grumbles. Can't one person she meet be normal? Pretty please? Like that one guy she went on a date with once...oh, wait, no, yep, cursed printer. She forgot about the cursed printer he joined himself with.

"I'm just a human person. Though I guess I do work for the Eye at Usher- well, Magnus now, I get transferred 'temporarily' and now Elias Bouchard won't respond to my emails."

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Ah, nice." Lucía smiles, visibly relaxing into her seat. She has days-old smudges of eyeliner under her eyes, Charlie realizes.

"So, sorrows, sorrows, sorrows… let's talk them."

[nobodys-soldier]

“Should I pull out a tape recorder?” Charlie jokes. She doesn’t have one on her. Hopefully. Hopefully, she does not have one in her bag because she certainly didn’t bring it. If one showed up, that would be really bad. Why can’t any items be non-sentient?

[im-not-good-with-names]

"I'm not afraid of Alex." Lucía says, just a second too fast, just a bit too sharply. "This no statement. This is just two… of our type sharing stories over a pint."

She's a good liar. She knows she is. And still, her cold hands are as still as the cadaver she should be.

[nobodys-soldier]

“Is your girlfriend…”

That is not a question worth asking. Lucía is here to mope and have a good time, not admit to being in an abusive relationship. She shouldn’t. She should not.

Like hell she shouldn’t.

“Nevermind. What are you drinking?”

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Blond beer." Lucía snort. How did that song go? Y bebe rubia la cerveza, para acordarse de su pelo… she's such a mess it's almost funny. She should at least feel glad Alex is away for a bit, but she only misses his guilty eyes.

She used to hunt him down, when she went away. Now the novelty of following was gone.

"You?"

[nobodys-soldier]

“Jack Daniel’s watermelon punch.”

It probably tastes like dogshit, but Charlie never got used to how bitter the normal stuff tasted. Never quite liked the afterburn.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Oh, a sweet tooth, you have." She has to bite her tongue and not make this unconfortable by flirting. It had always been so easy, flirting with others.

If she flirted, please never looked further than that. But this is an Eye avatar, and they aren't easy to fool.

"You had a question… you said my relationship sounded toxic, didn't you?"

[nobodys-soldier]

“Did I?”

She definitely did. But that doesn’t mean she’s prepared to have a conversation about them.

“I- er- I think, um…yeah I, I did say that. Right. Cos you made it sound like it is, you know?”

[im-not-good-with-names]

"You aren't the first one to say that…" Lucía picks at her nail polish, chipping it away mindlesly. "I don't… I don't think it's that bad? We just fought. This time it was him with the broken ribs."

She tries to make it a joke, and it doesn't come out just right.

"Alex loves me, y'know? He calls me her Saint, she genuinly belives I'm something worthy of keeping."

[nobodys-soldier]

He calls me her Saint.

Something smells like smoke. Her eyes are hard and sharp as flint.

“Y’all break each other’s ribs?”

[im-not-good-with-names]

"We get phisical, both of us. It's hot it always has worked with us, even back when we lived in the streets, it's just easier." She srughs and, good god, se really belives it. Fighting always had been the best line of action for both of them.

She takes another swing of her beer and thinks of clear blue eyes filled with tears.

"I'm of the Endless War." Like that's an excuse.

[nobodys-soldier]

“That’s the violence one, right?”

They’ve known each other for a long time. They’re just kids. They think it’s a good idea to keep going like this, and one girl calls the other a saint. Charlie takes a sip of her drink and tries to clear her head, tries not to think about the similarities.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Ye. Unpredictable and unstoppable violence, the frenzy of battle, the fear of soldiers packed in by their commanders, tight between the horses and the infantry, no room to run away, all must stand and fight." And altough she doesn't smile, her voice is almost boastful. "Brother against brother 'n all that…"

Or mother against daughter, in Lucía's case. But Atenea is hers to forget. Hers to curse.

[nobodys-soldier]

“I had a friend who was sort of like that.”

His was more the chase than the capture. But oh, how he was drenched in blood. How much of it was his children’s?

“He’s not around anymore, though. Been a while since then.”

[im-not-good-with-names]

"We tend to last too little or too long, that's the nature of war." Lucía nods, calmly. "Dog eats dog and whatnot."

Her finger circles the neck of the bottle, creating a terrible ring.

((@nobodys-soldier

[nobodys-soldier]

“Well, that sucks. Why’d you pick it?”

She’s stuck in the Eye’s domain because she had to flee there, under the Desolation’s scrutiny because she used it as an out, and even before either of those, had dealings with the Corruption because it simply seemed right. Charlie might not be on the best path imaginable, but it’s the path she consciously chose, every horrific step of the way.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"I didn't. It sang to me long before I heard it. Like the Vast, it isn't something that I choose, it shallowed me whole, game me a life when I was about to die."

She takes out her collar and Charlie can see a clear scar that goes around her whole neck, a perfect circle of fucked skin.

[nobodys-soldier]

Her eyes widen just a little bit, a shudder rolling down her spine. She’s not so far removed from her humanity as to be accustomed to these things- or at least, not yet. Not anymore.

“I’m sorry, aren’t you, like, fifteen? You talk an awful lot like a prophet for a fifteen year old. It’s- well, it’s kind of unsettling. Shit, that was rude to say, wasn’t it?”

[im-not-good-with-names]

The beer bottle breaks under Lucía's fingers and she realizes, with the soft deatachment of someone who has seen way worse, that she was squeezing it too hard.

"Don't fuckin' call me prophet again." She says, still looking at her bleeding palm. "I paid me weight in blood to not be one."

[nobodys-soldier]

She almosts jumps. She acts too much the coward for her birthright.

“Okay, you’re doing it again.”

Charlie, stop, you sre going to get shivved.

“I-I won’t. I knew a prophet once, and I’m none too fond of them neither.”

Met a prophet? She was a prophet.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"If you have a phone," Lucía sighs, licking her hand clean, "look up Myrtlewood Manor… or maybe fuck around at the archives, they have my statement."

There's no shame to be had. She had to survive and the all wanted her dead, still, the tought of telling someone of the eye about it… it made her stomach turn.

[nobodys-soldier]

“I don’t want to know.”

She doesn’t know why she stumbles over herself to get it out, why it feels so important to say. Everyone she works with seems desperate to know more, in one way or other. Charlie isn’t like that. She fears the curiosity she sees in her archivist’s eyes. She thinks that he should too.

“I just- I don’t want to know.”

Ignorance is safer.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Awn, what a surprise, girls usually are stumbling over themselves to get to know me." She winks, halfheartedly, already knowing it to be a mistake.

[nobodys-soldier]

“I’m sure they do.” Charlie snorts. Pretty, interesting, and intense, the girl’s striking as lightning, and three times as dangerous. She’s sure Lucía could’ve made her turn any shade of red when she was seventeen, but it’s been many years since then, and age set aside, Charlie is someone else’s property, signed and sealed.

Wait. Wait, she winked. That was flirting, Charlie, you fucking idiot, and you sound like a creeper.

“I-I mean- you’re very pretty and all, but I’m not- I mean- you’re quite young- no, that’s not right, that’s even creepier, I’m not- yeah. You’ve got lots of prospects. Just wait til you hit college. W-Wait, no, that sounds like I’m making a comment about you being legal, fuck, I- avoid people older than you, obviously, there are some bad people out there and you are very beautiful and… Nope. Still bad. I- I’m going to shut up now.”

[im-not-good-with-names]

This brings a smile to Lucía's face, and her shoulders relax.

"Shame…" she says, only half joking. "I would say that I'm mature for my age, but that would probably send you on a rant… I'm just used to…"

And she makes a gesture, like trying to signal to everything.

[nobodys-soldier]

She is many shades of pink right now.

“I don’t- think that’s- um- good for you. Is your girlfrind an adult?”

That would add three layers of complication to the situation. Or just make it easier. Then the answer would be a lot more obvious.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"No, Alex is a creep but not that type of creep. I'm a few months older than her, actually." She smiles at Charlie's blush.

Good to know she still has it.

[nobodys-soldier]

“Well- that’s good. I still don’t think you should- I don’t know, stay with him, but- I mean, wouldn’t flirting with other people make things worse? Flirt with- who you want to, I guess- probably not grown adults- but unless she’s okay with it…I don’t know.”

Charlie is probably the least helpful person to go to for romantic, sexual, or dating advice alive.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Oh, he'll never be okay with it… but if she leaves, without any notice, well…" Lucía srughs, lazily.

The truth was that Lucía liked to make people squirm, and it catched Alex's atention in the way… Well, two for one.

[nobodys-soldier]

“So you’re flirting with me to…what, upset a boy who can’t hesr ypu doing it?”

She asks, bewildered. She will never understand girls. Sydney was the same way, drove her nuts. Charlie is, herself, a simple woman- simple attraction is almost always enough. The subtle manipulations others turn to will always confuse her.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Oh, she does. Spiders, y'know? Spiders are sneaky things, you are never truly alone."

Lucía is now probably drunk, because she's starting to talk way too much and her heart feels strangely heavy.

[nobodys-soldier]

“Everything? You never get privacy? That can’t be…”

What? Healthy? How many things does Lucía have to say about it, how many times does she have to ignore Charlie pointing it out, for her to get the point that this is nothing like a normal relationship? Of course it isn’t healthy. It could likely only be fixed by ending it completely. Burning it down to its roots.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"What do I care for privacy? I'm gonna do whatever, whoever, I want anyways." Lucía srughs finally coming out of that contemplative trance.

"It's the Web's nature, to try and tie down everything. It's the Vast's nature to let it happen."

[nobodys-soldier]

“You really don’t care what your girlfriend thinks?”

She always cared what Sydney thought, day or night. Luckily, she rarely strayed far from her vision for them, but the one time she had…

Maybe Charlie needs to stop only thinking of Sydney when talking about romance. Maybe she’s just a tad bit pathetic.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"I care what she thinks about a lot of stuff, I care for what she thinks what should have for dinner, or if the dress looks cute on me or if he wants to have movie night. But no, I don't care what she thinks about me goin' out and having a good one."

She srughs, like it's that simple. Like there's not much to do about it.

[nobodys-soldier]

“But she cares.”

It’s less of a question that a statement. Charlie suspects that if he didn’t care, the odds would be a lot lower that he’d walk out without a word.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"She cares for everything, and way too much." Lucía says, simply. "Sometimes it suffocates me, how much he cares…"

She shoul get another beer. She's too sober for this.

[nobodys-soldier]

“You as bitchy about it with him as you are here?”

Oh shit. She sipped a little too much beer. Fucking lightweight.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"Oh, yes. But he tends to be worse. Of a bitch, I mean… ego, ego, ego, Icarus." She hums, her voice strange and full of feeling, of love.

The shadows won't stick to her skin, he light hits her a bit too hard. Or maybe Charlie is just drunk.

[nobodys-soldier]

Why does she keep hanging out with avatars? Why does nothing ever make sense anymore? It’s not like she’s trying. It just seems to follow her wherever she goes.

“I’m going to get myself killed like this, aren’t I?”

She mutters melancholically. Just drunk indeed. She’s walking a cliff’s edge that’s going to send her plummeting, eventually.

[im-not-good-with-names]

"I mean… Yes. Most Eye freaks do, too… proding, too knowledgeable, fear doesn't like being known, in my experience."

She just needs her to understand, to listen. She needs someone to understand that Myrtlewood Manor was the end, not the start, that Alex was lovely and terrible since she remembers knowing him, that loving any avatar was a deal with the devil, but loving someone of the Web was surrending free will.

[nobodys-soldier]

“I’m not an Eye freak.”

Something deep in her hurts, but she doesn’t know what. Not a burning, searing thing that has her jumping from her seat and rushing to put it out. Something that pulses, an ache, a pain that won’t go away, will never go away.

Charlie wonders if it would hurt less if she set it free. It’s not her thought. But she’s been pretending that for a while, hasn’t she?

[conspiracy-of-fear]

Elias is dead again. He made it further than he usually does, to his credit. He almost thought he'd break fifty. Valentine had said thit would make it happened this time. Foolish thing, naive, and yet not without power. He'd hoped. He'd hoped.

He should have known she couldn't help him.

@nobodys-soldier

For a while there was nothing but silence and darkness. Then, there was sound of... birds? And a faint breeze? That... shouldn't be there, right? Then there was sunlight. Elias found himself in what looked like a garden, flowers and trees freshly bloomed like in the spring, birds could be heard fainting chirping, singing their songs. It was a place full of life. In the center of this 'garden', there was a Gazebo, with climbing flowers and plants growing over it, making it look overgrown but beautiful. There seemed to be someone sitting a table in it.

[nobodys-soldier]

His eyes soften a little. Elias knows how this goes. He traverses some invisible path through the Eden, walking a slow pace that allows him to see the skeletal flowers. The faster he passes through, the sooner he has to leave. This is the one place left that doesn't tire him.

"Eurydice."

He doesn't sound young or old in this eternal interim. Not the soldier boy, not the jaded immortal. Just Massinissa. Just himself.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

There, in the Gazebo, drinking tea at the table, was Eurydice. She was taller than Elias, she always was. Even when she was presenting in a normal human height the first time they met centuries ago.

She turned to him, placing her tea cup on the table, a slight smile gracing her face.

"You got yourself into quite the pickle, Massinissa."

[nobodys-soldier]

The ancient name is a half-remembered dream. It will be gone again by the time he wakes up. The wooden steps are silent as he climbs them. A shade weighs nothing, and that is, undeniably, what he is- even in the land of the living.

“I didn’t do that.”

Someone else did, lifetimes ago. It’s never been about him. Never been about what he does. Elias leans his forearms on the railing of the Gazebo and stares out into the empty horizon, thinking.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"I know. That doesn't change anything about the situation that led to this death."

She took a sip of her tea, then gestured to the empty seat across from her.

"Come sit. I know you like to take your time here"

[nobodys-soldier]

It twinges in him to be told to do something, just like it has for so long. The boy he was wouldn’t have minded. The boy he was would’ve sat with a ‘yes, ma’am’ and a polite nod. The boy he was is dead, and there’s only an aching wound of a person in his stead.

“Was there something I could’ve done to avoid it? Does it matter?”

Elias pulls the chair back and takes a seat. He’s learned that compliance is easier by now.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"Perhaps, but in this timeline, it's unsure. Maybe if that person never became a puppet. Maybe if Amelie never became burdoned with power out of their control. Maybe if the two of you never met. But choices were made, and now we're here, and you're back here again."

Eurydice sighed, looking out into the garden.

"I can say it was an irresponsible decision for it to be given that amount of power. Especially since they've proven they can't handle it with their emotional state"

[nobodys-soldier]

“Oh, this burden crap is bullshit.”

He made no choices to get here. He has not made a choice in living memory. The strings that cannot touch him here and only here do not care what Elias would choose. There is only one way his life could have unfolded.

Elias turns his head, facing out again into nothing. It’s always been a little hard for him to look at Eurydice. She reminds him too much of her.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"Anyone can be burdened, Massinissa. It's how they adapt to the change is what matters. Some do adapt, for better or worst. Some don't, for better or worst. That's just how life is."

She turned to him again, not caring that he wasn't facing her.

"But what also matters is time. Not everyone has the time to adapt to change, to burden. Some get close, but their time runs out and they come to the garden."

[nobodys-soldier]

“Where do I fall on that spectrum?”

Elias muses. He’s had plenty of time to change him, and change him it has. And yet in some ways it’s hardened him, made him rigid. There is only one way he sees the world, is able to see the world, though it wasn’t his first one. Will that change by his final visit to this place?

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"Do you actually want to hear my thoughts, or will you get mad at me like the last time?"

Her tone was almost joking, but she wasn't exactly wrong. In recent times when he visited, he was different. Quiet. Tired. He used to tell her about the life he had lived before coming to the Garden again. Now he doesn't.

All because of that so-called 'Puppeteer'.

[nobodys-soldier]

“Hell, I don’t know.”

He’s always been prone to anger, but when he was young, it was a righteous sort. Fueled by the indignation of morality spurned, by a good heart. Now, he’s just angry at everything, the choking smoke of a fire burning on nothing. It’s not pure anymore. Elias isn’t pure anymore.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

Eurydice sighed again

"Your situation regarding change is fluctuating. You don't stay on one point for too long before changing to the next. You've been through a lot through all of your lives."

She looked out toward the garden

"It's not the most healthy thing."

[nobodys-soldier]

Healthy? The healthy thing? What in this lack-a-god’s meaningless void of a universe is the healthy response to all of this? To dying a thousand times? To forgetting his own name? To being touched despite his protests and have his desires turned against him?

Elias takes a deep breath and taps a finger against the metal table. There’s nothing to be done, especially not here. If Eurydice could’ve done anything to help him, that chance had gone with the arrival of the new puppeteer. Shouting at her will do him no good.

“And what do you suggest I do about that?” He’s mastered that scathing rye tone over the millenia. A voice that says, ‘I’m too tired to be anything but amused by your wrongness’.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"There's nothing I can say that would help you, not in your eyes."

She sipped her tea.

"Just know, no matter who or what claims to be your 'puppeteer', or your 'patron'. You're home is always here, in the Garden. There's nothing they can change about it, no matter how pissy they may get about it"

Eurydice smirked to herself, as if remembering a funny memory.

[nobodys-soldier]

"What?" Last he checked, neither Ilania nor Jackson knew about the Garden. It's the one thing he gets to keep to himself, the one thing that lasts. So how would they...

"You met Ilania."

It hurts to say her name.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"Yes. I believe it was around Autumn or Winter when she came through, but either way she never saw the Garden. I would never allow someone like her to see it. Quite the pitiful creature she was. A dissapoinment."

Perhaps it was time to change subjects. Eurydice looked out toward the Garden again then back to Elias.

"Do you want to see Marisol? It's been so long since she last saw you and you rarely pass through here in Spring or Summer."

[nobodys-soldier]

He barely remembers the woman. And honestly, he’s met so many people, one more or less doesn’t seem to matter at all. But that sounds like it would lengthen the visit, so Elias doesn’t see why not.

“Sure. She still got the mohawk?”

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"Very funny."

Eurydice stood up and went to the open entrance of the gazebo, and looked out into the Garden toward the silohuette of a woman, planting flowers and the such. She called out to her

"Mari! Massinissa is here!"

The figure of the woman stopped her planting, and turned toward Eurydice. She then got up and quickly made her way to the gazebo.

[nobodys-soldier]

He follows Eurydice to the opposite railing, idly leaning his weight on it. He’s told that’s an American tendency, but he’s never been there, so he couldn’t say. Maybe he’s just been along so long, he needs all the help he can get to keep standing.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

The woman, Marisol, was more around a humanoid height than Eurydice was currently, wearing a floral sundress. She spotted Elias in the gazebo and immediately went inside.

"Oh, Eurydice you should have told me he was home sooner!"

She stopped just a few feet from him. It was obvious she wanted to hug him but didn't want to overstep.

"Goodness, Massinissa, it's been so long"

[nobodys-soldier]

“Seems so.”

Long enough that he’s forgotten. But then again, so is the name she called him by. Everything is fleeting in his life, the end of it the only constant. Stiff and awkward as it may be, Elias hugs Marisol. It’s only polite. Besides, this place is the closest he has to a home- why should any of it be excluded from that?

[conspiracy-of-fear]

Marisol returned the hug happily, holding him a little tight before letting go.

"How has your life been? Anything exciting, anything fun?"

She had a bright smile on her face as she spoke, making it obvious that the two of them really hadn't seen in each other in a long time.

[nobodys-soldier]

If it was anyone else, he would laugh. But it’s Eurydice’s wife, and the deathly woman is one of the few people he cares for anymore, who can awaken the gentleness Massinissa once knew. He smiles, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to it, shaking his head.

“Nothing in particular, I’m afraid.”

[conspiracy-of-fear]

Marisol had a slightly saddened look but not too sad.

"Aw, well that's a shame, perhaps it'll be better in the next"

She seemed to think for a moment, before speaking again

"How did you die this time, my boy?"

"He encountered an unstable Spider"

Marisol looked between Eurydice and Elias with a bit of shock on her face.

"He what- You what?!"

[nobodys-soldier]

“Nothing unusual.”

How many normal deaths has Elias really died? He supposes a battlefield demise is common enough. The last one was lung cancer, and that’s none too odd.

This was not a normal death, though.

“Had a seizure. Don’t worry.”

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"You can't just tell me you died of a seizure and say to not worry!"

She turned to Eurydice

"You said it was a Spider, right? Who was it? I want to know"

"Dearest, it doesn't matter"

"I'm not gonna do anything, I just want to know"

[nobodys-soldier]

“No one you’d know of.”

Unlikely. The whole damn world probably knows Amelie.

“It happens from time to time. Nothing to be done about it.”

Nothing but sinking deeper and deeper into the muck.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

Elias is dead again. He made it further than he usually does, to his credit. He almost thought he'd break fifty. Valentine had said thit would make it happened this time. Foolish thing, naive, and yet not without power. He'd hoped. He'd hoped.

He should have known she couldn't help him.

@nobodys-soldier

For a while there was nothing but silence and darkness. Then, there was sound of... birds? And a faint breeze? That... shouldn't be there, right? Then there was sunlight. Elias found himself in what looked like a garden, flowers and trees freshly bloomed like in the spring, birds could be heard fainting chirping, singing their songs. It was a place full of life. In the center of this 'garden', there was a Gazebo, with climbing flowers and plants growing over it, making it look overgrown but beautiful. There seemed to be someone sitting a table in it.

[nobodys-soldier]

His eyes soften a little. Elias knows how this goes. He traverses some invisible path through the Eden, walking a slow pace that allows him to see the skeletal flowers. The faster he passes through, the sooner he has to leave. This is the one place left that doesn't tire him.

"Eurydice."

He doesn't sound young or old in this eternal interim. Not the soldier boy, not the jaded immortal. Just Massinissa. Just himself.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

There, in the Gazebo, drinking tea at the table, was Eurydice. She was taller than Elias, she always was. Even when she was presenting in a normal human height the first time they met centuries ago.

She turned to him, placing her tea cup on the table, a slight smile gracing her face.

"You got yourself into quite the pickle, Massinissa."

[nobodys-soldier]

The ancient name is a half-remembered dream. It will be gone again by the time he wakes up. The wooden steps are silent as he climbs them. A shade weighs nothing, and that is, undeniably, what he is- even in the land of the living.

“I didn’t do that.”

Someone else did, lifetimes ago. It’s never been about him. Never been about what he does. Elias leans his forearms on the railing of the Gazebo and stares out into the empty horizon, thinking.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"I know. That doesn't change anything about the situation that led to this death."

She took a sip of her tea, then gestured to the empty seat across from her.

"Come sit. I know you like to take your time here"

[nobodys-soldier]

It twinges in him to be told to do something, just like it has for so long. The boy he was wouldn’t have minded. The boy he was would’ve sat with a ‘yes, ma’am’ and a polite nod. The boy he was is dead, and there’s only an aching wound of a person in his stead.

“Was there something I could’ve done to avoid it? Does it matter?”

Elias pulls the chair back and takes a seat. He’s learned that compliance is easier by now.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"Perhaps, but in this timeline, it's unsure. Maybe if that person never became a puppet. Maybe if Amelie never became burdoned with power out of their control. Maybe if the two of you never met. But choices were made, and now we're here, and you're back here again."

Eurydice sighed, looking out into the garden.

"I can say it was an irresponsible decision for it to be given that amount of power. Especially since they've proven they can't handle it with their emotional state"

[nobodys-soldier]

“Oh, this burden crap is bullshit.”

He made no choices to get here. He has not made a choice in living memory. The strings that cannot touch him here and only here do not care what Elias would choose. There is only one way his life could have unfolded.

Elias turns his head, facing out again into nothing. It’s always been a little hard for him to look at Eurydice. She reminds him too much of her.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"Anyone can be burdened, Massinissa. It's how they adapt to the change is what matters. Some do adapt, for better or worst. Some don't, for better or worst. That's just how life is."

She turned to him again, not caring that he wasn't facing her.

"But what also matters is time. Not everyone has the time to adapt to change, to burden. Some get close, but their time runs out and they come to the garden."

[nobodys-soldier]

“Where do I fall on that spectrum?”

Elias muses. He’s had plenty of time to change him, and change him it has. And yet in some ways it’s hardened him, made him rigid. There is only one way he sees the world, is able to see the world, though it wasn’t his first one. Will that change by his final visit to this place?

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"Do you actually want to hear my thoughts, or will you get mad at me like the last time?"

Her tone was almost joking, but she wasn't exactly wrong. In recent times when he visited, he was different. Quiet. Tired. He used to tell her about the life he had lived before coming to the Garden again. Now he doesn't.

All because of that so-called 'Puppeteer'.

[nobodys-soldier]

“Hell, I don’t know.”

He’s always been prone to anger, but when he was young, it was a righteous sort. Fueled by the indignation of morality spurned, by a good heart. Now, he’s just angry at everything, the choking smoke of a fire burning on nothing. It’s not pure anymore. Elias isn’t pure anymore.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

Eurydice sighed again

"Your situation regarding change is fluctuating. You don't stay on one point for too long before changing to the next. You've been through a lot through all of your lives."

She looked out toward the garden

"It's not the most healthy thing."

[nobodys-soldier]

Healthy? The healthy thing? What in this lack-a-god’s meaningless void of a universe is the healthy response to all of this? To dying a thousand times? To forgetting his own name? To being touched despite his protests and have his desires turned against him?

Elias takes a deep breath and taps a finger against the metal table. There’s nothing to be done, especially not here. If Eurydice could’ve done anything to help him, that chance had gone with the arrival of the new puppeteer. Shouting at her will do him no good.

“And what do you suggest I do about that?” He’s mastered that scathing rye tone over the millenia. A voice that says, ‘I’m too tired to be anything but amused by your wrongness’.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"There's nothing I can say that would help you, not in your eyes."

She sipped her tea.

"Just know, no matter who or what claims to be your 'puppeteer', or your 'patron'. You're home is always here, in the Garden. There's nothing they can change about it, no matter how pissy they may get about it"

Eurydice smirked to herself, as if remembering a funny memory.

[nobodys-soldier]

"What?" Last he checked, neither Ilania nor Jackson knew about the Garden. It's the one thing he gets to keep to himself, the one thing that lasts. So how would they...

"You met Ilania."

It hurts to say her name.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"Yes. I believe it was around Autumn or Winter when she came through, but either way she never saw the Garden. I would never allow someone like her to see it. Quite the pitiful creature she was. A dissapoinment."

Perhaps it was time to change subjects. Eurydice looked out toward the Garden again then back to Elias.

"Do you want to see Marisol? It's been so long since she last saw you and you rarely pass through here in Spring or Summer."

[nobodys-soldier]

He barely remembers the woman. And honestly, he’s met so many people, one more or less doesn’t seem to matter at all. But that sounds like it would lengthen the visit, so Elias doesn’t see why not.

“Sure. She still got the mohawk?”

[conspiracy-of-fear]

"Very funny."

Eurydice stood up and went to the open entrance of the gazebo, and looked out into the Garden toward the silohuette of a woman, planting flowers and the such. She called out to her

"Mari! Massinissa is here!"

The figure of the woman stopped her planting, and turned toward Eurydice. She then got up and quickly made her way to the gazebo.

[nobodys-soldier]

He follows Eurydice to the opposite railing, idly leaning his weight on it. He’s told that’s an American tendency, but he’s never been there, so he couldn’t say. Maybe he’s just been along so long, he needs all the help he can get to keep standing.

[conspiracy-of-fear]

The woman, Marisol, was more around a humanoid height than Eurydice was currently, wearing a floral sundress. She spotted Elias in the gazebo and immediately went inside.

"Oh, Eurydice you should have told me he was home sooner!"

She stopped just a few feet from him. It was obvious she wanted to hug him but didn't want to overstep.

"Goodness, Massinissa, it's been so long"

[nobodys-soldier]

“Seems so.”

Long enough that he’s forgotten. But then again, so is the name she called him by. Everything is fleeting in his life, the end of it the only constant. Stiff and awkward as it may be, Elias hugs Marisol. It’s only polite. Besides, this place is the closest he has to a home- why should any of it be excluded from that?

[conspiracy-of-fear]

Marisol returned the hug happily, holding him a little tight before letting go.

"How has your life been? Anything exciting, anything fun?"

She had a bright smile on her face as she spoke, making it obvious that the two of them really hadn't seen in each other in a long time.

[nobodys-soldier]

If it was anyone else, he would laugh. But it’s Eurydice’s wife, and the deathly woman is one of the few people he cares for anymore, who can awaken the gentleness Massinissa once knew. He smiles, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to it, shaking his head.

“Nothing in particular, I’m afraid.”

[conspiracy-of-fear]

Marisol had a slightly saddened look but not too sad.

"Aw, well that's a shame, perhaps it'll be better in the next"

She seemed to think for a moment, before speaking again

"How did you die this time, my boy?"

"He encountered an unstable Spider"

Marisol looked between Eurydice and Elias with a bit of shock on her face.

"He what- You what?!"

[nobodys-soldier]

“Nothing unusual.”

How many normal deaths has Elias really died? He supposes a battlefield demise is common enough. The last one was lung cancer, and that’s none too odd.

This was not a normal death, though.

“Had a seizure. Don’t worry.”