idolpro | Shrike's Heart (#3)

Entry tags:

!heart games

Shrike's Heart (#3)

The woman before you is beautiful—fair of features, with lovely golden skin and luxurious long black hair, petite. You have the immediate and distinct impression that she's just let go of your hand, and she steps back, and smiles.

It's not quite a happy smile.

"I'm sorry," she says. "There's just nothing I can do, as things are. But the way is there; it just needs to be lit."

You open your mouth—maybe to say something, or to express confusion—but you have to cough, and taste something metallic, spattering black blood onto the ground in front of you. Then you realize—blood seeps from opening wounds in your arms, your chest, your stomach, your face. It rims your eyes and trails from your nose and you feel like you're dissolving—

—and you fall through the ground like it's the surface of a lake, and go down, down, down.

> Wake Up

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No, you... it's just...

[ she shakes her head, but her eyes start to water. ]

You shouldn't have come here.

[ her voice shakes; her hands tremble, holding the hilt of her sword. ]

This way lies only sorrow, and all I can do is try to end it.

[ SPECIAL RULES FOR THIS SECTION: you can spend willpower 1:1 to guarantee a dodge or an attack, or to otherwise do something fancy or special.

you have one comment before combat begins. ]

[ C o n c e r n. ]

... How about if I'm already depressed anyway?

...that's why. I can't stand seeing people I love suffer.

[ and she springs toward you, that great sword in hand, aiming for a slash across the chest—her hands still a little unsteady, but not enough to stop her.

also i recalculated how much willpower you should have and you have like 4 now, actually ]

[ Startled and yes Gold would like to not die so he'll be dodging that. ]

Hey- killing someone isn't how you end their suffering!

[ you dodge; her strike goes wide—hard enough that it cleaves itself into the ground such that she has to tug to retrieve it. through gritted teeth: ]

If you really mean that, then fight!

[ Wheeze. ]

Why? Sadness isn't something you can fight with a sword.

It's the only way I have.

So show me your resolution to live and kill me.

[ which is her cue, now having unstuck her sword, to swing out in one fluid motion at neck height—one of the few avantes you don't have the height advantage with, unfortunately.

she looks... a little rough, though, when you can get a good look at her—like she's really having to power through this. ]

[ Thank God all of Gold's training has been in dodging, using willpower to dodge the hit again, then moving to try and... flykick her down. ]

I'm not killing anyone!!

[ it's probably good to be a speedy boy in this fight; she's powerful but not very fast, and the kick sends her sprawling, skidding through the water with a splash that makes her wince. Even so, as she clambers back to her feet, she recites: ]

Each time she gasped and found no breath, a human child died; and thus, she lived.
"Survival is acceptance," she said.

Shrike, get it through ya dumb face that this is dumb.

[ she grimaces, but finishes getting to her feet, and drops into a fighting stance yet again. ]

I never said I was very smart. If I was smart, none of this would have happened.

So jus' ask someone then! An' stop tryin' ta hit me!

I will stop trying to hit you when you kill me why won't anyone kill me

[ but also, she looks a little distracted and thrown off by the accent? either spend willpower to do a thing, or roll 1d2 (2=success), i didn't like, playtest this at all, ]

[ What if spending willpower to yell some more. ]

BECAUSE NO ONE WANTS YA DEAD! Everyone gets ta live, even if they're sad, ya asshole!

[ she sort of... slows.

stands there, a little unsteady. ]

What if I sort of want me dead.

... Then let's talk about it. Lashing out only hurts everyone, including yourself.

[ she plants her sword in the ground, and uses it as a support to sit down on the ground, heavily. ]

Everyone keeps saying to me that I deserve to live and to be happy, and—I don’t, though. I’m so happy and I don’t deserve any of it.

How do you even come back from trying to annihilate yourself and the whole world around you?

[ Crouching down, calming himself down too. ]

Don't you do the opposite then? If you feel like you caused pain, then you try to help heal people. You work to make the people around you as happy as you are now.

Ending yourself only brings about an end. ... There's no guarantee that things will get better just because something bad ended. But if there's someone actively working to start that path, then things have a better chance of getting better... right?

I... guess. Everyone keeps saying I should try, and I want to, since if I’m here I might as well, it’s just—

When everyone’s happy, when I see the people around me smiling, I... I’ve killed so many people. Why should it be me here and not someone else? Why do people depend on me and not someone who’s—good?

But it's not that clear-cut. Good people can do bad actions, bad people can do good. And people change all the time.

... Since I've known you, I've known you as a good person who has done good things. I don't think you've been fake to me at any point of it.

Mm. I mean, I'm not really a very good liar, anyway. And I'm... glad, you think, I...

[ she props her face in her hand. ]

There's just—so much to make up for, it seems. Even if I've started over. Even if I don't want to be the person I was.

It's not supposed to be easy though. If it were, it wouldn't really feel right.

...I guess not.

Sorry. This is really a lot to put on you. I thought I was doing better, but...

It's okay. Sometimes we need help pulling through.

Maybe so.

[ she lets the sword go entirely, and props her elbows on her knees. ]

I didn't want to be trouble for anyone, since you've all had plenty, but I... might need more help. As it turns out.

[ the fog is starting to lift, a little bit; it's not daytime above, but an evening sky right at sunset. ]

Shrike's Heart (#3)

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THE END