─「アルレッキーノ」─ the moment the DOOR closed behind her, the female harbinger let out a scream she had been keeping all this while. a piercing sound that echoed upon the four walls now that she was alone, akin to a roar of a wounded beast having its heart ripped out of its chest. that analogy wouldn’t be too far from the truth. once, twice, as though her throat would be torn apart by that BLINDING EMOTIONS built up from within.
grief, agony, fury, vengeance, regret, desperation —
it was a blessing in disguise that all the rooms were soundproofed. however, it wasn’t like THE KNAVE would’ve cared if her heartbreak was heard by others. it hurts, it hurts, it hurts. she could feel her own POWER going haywire, the way her cross-shaped irises flashed crimson over and over, how her fingers were trembling uncontrollably as they dug into her clothing, clawing violently over her left chest.
she could taste the BLOOD on her tongue, throat raw from the endless scream where bitter, iron taste filled her mouth and painted her vision RED. the harlequin didn’t know how long the time had passed, how long she had allowed her very self to be consumed by raw instincts to grieve and mourn. could her mindless shriek be called mourning ? did it even matter ? not one bit.
when her senses had returned, the KNAVE found herself slowing straightening up from her hunched over position, and quivering digits unveiled in their deadly grip a single pendant of silver. the DESIGN had an obvious semblance to items belonging to the second harbinger as the cyan gem gave a faint pulsing radiation. like a sound of a HEARTBEAT.
“ haha. hahaha … HAHAHAHAHAHAHA — !! ” laughter then burst from her lips, one after another, as though her mind had been replaced by something else and only INSANITY was left in its wake. louder, louder !!
with him being gone, the ONLY REASON this item was still beating was that the real doctor was still alive.
was that monster even considered real ? at this point, all segments could be considered a real one given their origin. and now, with him being the only one left alive, surely that definition would fall to him. real, genuine, the original. why would any of that matter if he was the only one left ?
watching the PULSING PENDANT, and memory of when this was entrusted into her hand came streaming in. and that laughter slowly receded, as fingers grasped onto the item.
i’ll bring you back. no matter what it takes.
The smell of chemicals fervaded through the air, surrounding the closed off room. It wasn't easy to create an artifical body and it took centuries of tests and failed experiments to finalize the product for usage. Because of his failure, he knew very well that Pantalone will reduce his fundings, his success in obtaining both gnoses besides. After all, the lost of his segments meant the destruction of the investments and if he hoped to conjure even a single one, he had to prove he had the means and the methods to procure it at a fast rate. It was vital that he remembered the formula and the steps, and so, instead of worrying about a bygone relationship, he decided to focus on what should matter. After all, there's no way to renew such... bond any longer.
No matter the heartlessness of his earlier response, he knew well that it ached to learn that 'his' loss was grieved. Being mourned was the last thing that should happen to him. La Signora's death was made a spectacle, and yet a promise of vengeance was uttered in her name. And for 'him', whose future fate should be instead forgotten and cursed, there was one woman who should not have shed her tears. It stirred feelings so foreign, feelings that he was better off discarding. He never knew what it was like to be humane, to even come close to others as to feel empathy. Still, he'd be lying if he said it did not make him even slightly agonize, enough to put down the mask for a brief moment as if it'd let him see the truth clearer.
The truth didn't matter anyhow. At the end of it all, there's only himself to blame. Wouldn't it be better for the both of them to just focus on what they must do? He'd not deny the bliss it brought, a sense of purpose that made him arrive to the conclusion that maybe he could be considered human, that in spite of all that he had done he had every right to want simple things such as admiration and love... It all started just like that... an experiment. A curious question of... if someone like him could even experience it. Amidst this experiment, he had never thought that it’d result into a surprise. Nevertheless, the time for such illusions have passed. He'd let the foolish notions of romance sit still for all the good it will do him. It'll fade away eventually, won't it? After all, she'd come to find someone else to devote such affections toward, as is the lot of humans. Time stops for nobody. It never did for him.
He had decided to call the night for now and resume his work on the morrow instead. Dottore sealed his laboratory and ensured that security was in check. The hallways had never felt emptier. Gone were the times he walked these steps with her. Gone were the times of stolen moments, lips reuniting in secrecy. He could only hope to forget them on the morrow, too.