△ just why do you seem to think you don’t deserve rest or happiness? what are you so afraid of?
Triangle Truth (Accepting)
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Dante is silent for a long moment. It almost seems like he wasn't going to acknowledge the question at all.
"Because I don't." A simple answer, really, but he knows it isn't enough to satisfy anyone. At least he acknowledges this with a sigh. He knows how insistent ghosts can be.
"Let me turn the question back to you. Why are people dissatisfied with the idea of Mark moving on and having a happy life? Why do people try and remind him of the past?" The guilty could never fully wash their hands of their crimes. There was a difference between seeking redemption and doing better, and distracting from the truth and trying to bury it.
"You don't know my story, only what I have chosen to show. Those pieces have made all of you come to the same conclusion: that I am a poor soul who is casting too hard a judgement on himself. Do you think the tales of the adventures with Mark are accurate for the timeline I reside in? There was a long time between me escaping the mirror and trapping my friend's soul; and me regaining my senses."
There's a pause so he can take a breath. "I'm not 'afraid' of anything. I seem to be the only one in these messes of stories who acknowledges that he has done wrong, he has blood on his hands, and he should pay the price for that. Happiness is not the reward. It should not be a reward for being a monster. I'm a lawyer, for God's sake. I have a keen sense of 'right' and 'wrong'." That last sentence makes him hesitate as he realises a crucial point he hasn't considered.
"Ah, but I suppose I'm talking to the wall. You're all rather fond of your murderers in this asylum. I've lost count of how many egos gleefully participate in bloodshed. They are your... how was it I heard it said... Your 'blorbos', and so the reality of who they are doesn't matter to you."
Nine.