531 Monstrosity & Morality: Dividing Lines of the Self and Other, Section 1

[idolpro]

Comments

Re: EMOTION

[libraryofbabel]

"Ah—"

She scrubs at her face; curiously, it seems that there was blood running down her face rather than tears.

"...my apologies if I disturbed you; I didn't know anyone was here."

Re: EMOTION

[bondsofsuffering]

It's okay, miss...?

[Still... still searching for a name there.]

Re: EMOTION

[libraryofbabel]

"Oh, erm—it's Iris. Are you one of Grace's students?"

She glances down, and idly starts braiding her hair to the side.

Re: EMOTION

[bondsofsuffering]

Yes, and I met a "Sam" who seemed to enjoy feasting off my feelings.

But how are you doing?

Re: EMOTION

[libraryofbabel]

"Sam...?"

She makes a conflicted sort of expression, and then shakes her head gently. "Sorry, I've just had... a lot to consider."

Re: EMOTION

[bondsofsuffering]

Did something happen?

Re: EMOTION

[libraryofbabel]

"Mm..." She shakes her head, gently. "I don't know if you could say anything happened, but... I suppose I don't know how to go forward."

Re: EMOTION

[bondsofsuffering]

Yeah? Are there options you're trying to pick from?

Re: EMOTION

[libraryofbabel]

"I suppose you could say..." She clicks her tongue, lightly. "I thought I always knew... what I wanted to do with my existence. But I've lost... so many things that I counted on."

Re: EMOTION

[bondsofsuffering]

Such as?

Re: EMOTION

[libraryofbabel]

"My sister. My mother, in a way, even though I lost her long ago. My faith..." She frowns even more deeply. "My trust that all will be well, and that the people I admire will know the right way."

Her bottom lip wobbles a little bit. "I wanted to do good things for the world... but so many of the things I loved about it are gone."

Re: EMOTION

[bondsofsuffering]

Your sister... and your mother? Were they- vampires?

Re: EMOTION

[libraryofbabel]

"I..."

A pause.

"I suppose so. I think... it must have happened to my mother after I was taken from her, as a child. I barely remember her."

Re: EMOTION

[bondsofsuffering]

Do you have their names, at least?

Re: EMOTION

[libraryofbabel]

"Well, my sister—Sam..." She looks at you. "You said you met her?"

Re: EMOTION

[bondsofsuffering]

She's in the Primary Sources section.

Re: EMOTION

[libraryofbabel]

"Ah—"

She looks like she's feeling a mix of hope and pain—grief, maybe. "If she's here—" She scrubs at her face a little bit more. "I don't know... if I can face her like this. I told her that I'd keep her safe..."

Another wet sob.

Re: EMOTION

[bondsofsuffering]

Do you feel like you failed her?

Re: EMOTION

[libraryofbabel]

With a bitter, mirthless laugh—

"Of course I do. Or... maybe I was foolish to think I could do anything for her. I don't know, anymore."

Re: EMOTION

[bondsofsuffering]

What happened?

Re: EMOTION

[libraryofbabel]

"If you really have met my sister, you know—she's a monster. But so am I, so—I wanted to try and see if I could teach her not to harm people."

Re: EMOTION

[bondsofsuffering]

And she couldn't help herself?

Re: EMOTION

[libraryofbabel]

"I wonder..." She shakes her head. "Grace... had a lot of hope for vampires, near the end. She thought they could be better than what they were. I wanted to trust her, and—I felt responsible for Sam."

Re: EMOTION

[bondsofsuffering]

What happened with Grace?

Re: EMOTION

[libraryofbabel]

"Well—"

She gives a brief, light and mirthless laugh.

"I still... want to believe in her. But Sam became something distant and strange, and the vampires that Grace had been instructing used her to trap and kill another vampire, and killed her, too. And I couldn't..."