“Its fine. I don’t mind if people hate me for what I did, it’d be a worry if you didn’t” The situation had settled into some sort of calm, and Ludger was thankful for that. She released her hold on him, and he did the same, mind drifting from the conversation to the effect Elle seemed to have on his life. “I got a little lost in it as well…after what I’ve done, there’s no reason for me to get angry. I don’t really have that right.”
His hand rose to massage some of the tension from his own neck, eyes glancing skyward to think on how to proceed. “Elle’s…she was born in a fractured dimension. Her case is a little special though…in my dimension, Elle wasn’t even born yet.”
“You can’t bring people from fractured dimensions into the prime one…its one of the things that makes mine the ‘true’ world I guess. If a fractured version of me came into the prime dimension, he’d just…vanish. Same goes for anyone or anything. Two of the same thing can’t exist in the prime dimension…Its why Elle survived…and why…we lost someone as well.” Sucking air through his teeth, his hand lowered and Ludger gazed at it, grief flashing across his face for a moment. though he shook it off, and smiled back at Erza. “The last thing I did in my world was save Elle, and give her a chance at life. She was only eight, but she got thrown into all this chaos. She went through more then I ever could, before she even hit ten. So, when the time came, and she was about to die. I traded places. It was the last thing I did before I woke up in this city.”
He wasn’t even sure if Erza wanted to hear it, or if she’d care. But Elle was the only thing he’d managed to save, in his twisted past. She wanted to see a little light in his shadowy life, so he’d give Erza that at least. Although, the smile on his face was small, tinted with annoyance. “…I really wanted to escape it all here. The scientists took away my chromatus, my weapons. It’s nice, living without my connection to the trial. The biggest thing I had to worry about before talking to you was finding a job.
…But your guild doesn’t drop it, right?”
[ ☩ ] - No, there was still bits and semblances of it that Erza didn’t like, but what was to be expected? It wasn’t something she could drop in its entirety. But she was willing to admit her own wrong in the regard in acting on the moment against Ludger. She knew he was a good person and he wanted to think so as well. Even if circumstances provided against.. it would be a tad hypocritical for her to judge harshly. After all, there were acts she had done or almost that.. certainly wouldn’t have made people happy.
[ ☩ ] - As he began to speak on behalf of this Elle girl and how she had managed survived given the rules of the land of both the prime world and Fractured Dimensions. It was easy to understand the implications of bringing one of the same person into the real world. And it was such a touchy thing to really understand. On one part.. one life was damned considering he brought someone else in.
[ ☩ ] - But it was confusing to think on the matter that could he have truly ended a life if it hadn’t come to been? That in itself would’ve been too confusing to think of. With her hand on her head just to clear her thoughts would she take a deep breath. There’d be little point in getting mad over what had happened, but.. in a way, he still did save someone. He didn’t necessarily.. lose anyone either. So perhaps it.. worked out in the end. At least, someone got to live like this.
“ No, I understand all of it. I mean.. the idea of saving someone like that I suppose. Although I’m curious as to the whole trading places prospect of what you did. “ She let out a small laugh. Maybe she was thinking on the bitter sweet irony that it sounded like her life in a sense. She’d done something similar so long ago to ensure the safety of another. It was harder to get mad at him as she saw bits and pieces of his own actions that paralleled her own to which she couldn’t fully blame him anymore. Whoever this Elle girl was.. she was luckier than she realized she thought.
“ But you know that.. fully escaping something like that might prove to be hard. Sometimes as much as we’d like to think we can run does our past come back to haunt us in ways we’d never expect. For now you can relax about things like that but.. remember what you’ve done and just.. never let it fully disappear from your mind. It’ll motivate you and help you press further in knowing what you need or can do. “
“ I truly don’t mean that insultingly but.. just know that if you ever find yourself in a predicament in this city. Know that you’ll have at least one Fairy at your back, helping you out. As for my guild..
... “
[ ☩ ] - She was silent for a moment. Between the trust for her guild and the comradery she had with them combined with what she learned, unless the two ever crossed paths intentionally, then the two could go on living their own individual lives. She didn’t want to jeopardize either.
“ ... Perhaps it would be best if you didn’t get involved with them. If you believe they wont drop it then it would be best to make sure they never pick it up in the first place. Because I can at least tell you that this.. is all still things I need to fully process and understand. “
