[catchall] Kate

[sixillusions]

An introvert and a shadow walk into a haunted house

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[sixillusions]

[He shakes his head. He is anti-healing pools of water with weird effects now.]

My seal's taking care of it.

[That isn't what's happening but he doesn't know that]

[sootprints]

[ presses x to doubt...

and comes over to sit near him so she can keep an eye and make sure he doesn't crumble into dust like two feet away from the healing spring. ]

... How does it work?

[sixillusions]

[He hesitates because he doesn't usually like talking about these things--but it's Kate, who isn't human either. Who already feels guilty over him, which he doesn't want. Who he's tried to help look out for in his own ways, even though he's much less effective at it than everyone else has been.]

My body was made to heal fast. [Lavi had mentioned his regenerative core at the trial a few weeks ago, though he has no idea if Kate was in a state to listen at that point.] Normally, I wouldn't die from anything here.

[sootprints]

It was "made to"?

[ after seeing some things, including the core removed from his body, she'd started to gather that he's no ordinary human, but she never really got to ask before. ]

[sixillusions]

[...

Before he can open his mouth, the permanent memshare kicks in: it shows her a brief glimpse of a memory.

And after, darkness, and a girl's voice--distant, like something subconscious.

For the sake of the Holy War, after their experiments on non-Accommodators failed, the Order started making Accommodators in order to keep their numbers up.

They would transplant the brain of a disabled Accommodator into a healthy body... to see whether the synchronization factor would transfer as well.

That was the Second Exorcist Program.

When it ends, he "tch"es and glances away. He can't even bring himself to be shocked and violated anymore, he's just irritated.]

This damn place.

[sootprints]

[ thanks, convenient memshare! ]

"Synchronization"... So your body was combined with the "innocence"? Is that it?

[sixillusions]

[He looks very much like he doesn't want to go into detail about this, and for a minute, he considers telling her to quit asking, but... he'd rather get it out of the way and have her stop wondering about it now. And honestly, he doesn't trust her not to mention it to other people, even out of purely well-intentioned concern; he doesn't want them fussing over him either.]

Not back then. All Accommodators synchronize with their Innocence, once they find it. ...It can't be forced, but there were no Exorcists back then, so they tried anyway. They made us to withstand the tests.

[sootprints]

So you were created... for that?

[ literally just to suffer??? with their creepyass tests? ]

[sixillusions]

Without Exorcists to stop him, the Earl will destroy the world.

[So. It was an act of desperation, though whether that justifies it or not is a matter of opinion.]

[sootprints]

... Still, what you went through seemed... excessively cruel.

[sixillusions]

[Well, he's not going to argue with her there. There's a reason "working for the church while hating the church" is right there on his profile. He just looks at her for a minute, and then looks back towards the water.

Anyway--]

I've been keeping an eye on this. [Raising a hand to indicate the cracking and crumbling.] It heals on its own. But if it doesn't stop or it gets worse, I'll heal it.

[sootprints]

Is it really healing like that...?

[ unsure. ]

[sixillusions]

Yes. [...] If I was going to die from it, I would have already.

[Which is good enough right now. Truthfully, he kind of doesn't even care if he falls apart right now; realizing that everything that happened in the house was fake is salt in a deep wound.

Speaking of, he looks at her.]

...You came back.

[sootprints]

[ she nods. there's a little more smoke as she thinks back on it. ]

... I wanted to live.

But I could feel the monster's presence. Its influence. And... when I was halfway down the stairs, I realized I was about to make the same mistakes as before.

[sixillusions]

[He frowns sharply, a little concern on his face.]

You felt it come back? [THAT SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED HERE? HELLO?]

[sootprints]

Yes. If you hadn't let me go, I believe it would have lashed out, as monsters tend to do.

[sixillusions]

Do you feel it now?

[DO THEY HAVE TO OLD YELLER YOU AGAIN]

[sootprints]

No.

It felt like it vanished when I re-entered the room.

[sixillusions]

[Oh. He doesn't sigh in relief, but he kind of looks like he wants to.]

Good.

[...

He kind of wants to say "I'm sorry," but he doesn't know how, so he falls awkwardly silent.]

[sootprints]

[ that's fine. ]

I suppose it was like a fairy tale...

[ the fucked up kind of fairy tale, but you know! the part where a curse gets broken by a single selfless act kind of fits the bill. but then they BURNED TO DEATH or they only almost did, it's fine. ]

... Did you really believe you wouldn't die? Or Lavi?

[sixillusions]

[Too bad Kanda can't READ (no I'm kidding)

...]

Not from the fire. [From what was happening to him, well. That's a different issue. But he doesn't say that.] ...I wasn't sure about him. But I thought--even if my blood didn't work and he--was too injured, he'd... regenerate, and wake up again in the coffins. Like the rest of us would.

[Since he'd thought Lavi had come over from the other side, somehow--that he'd wound up in an odd place because he'd died in a strange way, or off-schedule, or something. If that had been the case, he was safe either way.

...]

And his clothes are fireproof. [SUCH A STUPID DETAIL BUT HE FEELS THE NEED TO MENTION IT,]

[sootprints]

Oh...

I thought it seemed like a reckless choice at the time...

[ and after hearing his side...... she still kind of thinks that. ]

[sixillusions]

[Yes. Well. Even if it had been, he would've made the same one. Maybe if he'd been a little more composed, he would've realized that Lavi, and especially Emilico, were fakes, and he would've dragged Kate out of there with him. He's beaten himself up over that more than a little since they got out. But there was no scenario where he was going to leave her in there.

But he doesn't say that.]

...Did you have anything? When you woke up. [He passed his metal parts on already]

[sootprints]

A rock. I assume it's one of the rocks we'd heard about in the letters from this side.

[sixillusions]

Mm. [He sighs.] The ones we don't know what to do with.