blue on black, tears on a river.

[agrizzlysin]

CHARACTERS: Fairy King Harlequin, OPEN to Left Behind
DATE: The week leading up to Hellboy's post
WARNINGS: Deer corpses and postmortem gore in the second starter
SUMMARY: King looks for the missing and has unfortunate heart-to-hearts above deer corpses.

a. search party all night

[King doesn't know how long it's been since he last checked in on Undyne's roll call. The jewelry probably has a way to tell that too, just like the location function, but he hadn't looked back then, so it wouldn't make any difference to look now. It's night, dark and dreary, and that's all he needs to know it's been "too long." His empty stomach, muscles strained from rounding the islands relentlessly, and the inability to find any of the missing with the jewelry's location function all tell him it's time to call it a day. Doing that doesn't appeal to King either. All of the missing are still missing, and now...]

Now I'm gonna have to walk all the way back, aren't I?

[The listless way King hunches at the thought makes it clear that he's not going to make it back before morning. If at all.]


b. deerly departed

[Carefully, meticulously, King's fingers entrap a leech-like animal between them. Then he starts to pull the creature back and forth, wriggling it off of the remains of a dead Nalawi's chest before tossing it back into the shallows nearby. The corpse itself is in bad enough shape, but the shallows are no better. More blood resides in the water than in the body by now.

Once the parasite dives out of view, King turns around to offer his partner a reassuring little nod.]

That should be... a little better anyway.

[Sort of. Maybe. Not really.]

Comments

[agrizzlysin]

Heroes succeed.

[And he'd spoken in past tense, meaning he doesn't watch that forest anymore. BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT.]

Why can your partner - Sorey? - see you when humans normally can't?

[circulets]

[ The quick change of subject is noticeable. However, Mikleo won't ask for him to speak further on his role in his world, not when he obviously doesn't want to speak about it. ]

Humans normally have a lack of resonance. But, Sorey's a special case. He grew up with the seraphim.[ He stops for a moment, gaze lowering and frowning slightly. ] In the past, every human could see and speak with us, but... for some reason, that's changed. No history book has been able to tell us why.

[agrizzlysin]

[King is already in a noticeably bad mood (what with hastily changing subjects and all), but his frown turns contemplative when he's given something else to focus on.]

Is that something you've studied then? That change?

[circulets]

Gramps -- the village chief back in our hometown - taught us everything he knew about seraphim. It isn't exactly something you can study.

[ It's not something Mikleo minds talking about, at least. He doesn't really have any secrets to hide when it comes to home. ]

[agrizzlysin]

Was he a seraphim as well? Or a human like your partner?

[circulets]

Gramps is a seraph - one of the most powerful I know.

[ He speaks about hm fondly, a smile spreading on his face. ]

Sorey and I-- we grew up in a small village, but Sorey will tell anyone that everyone there was like family.

[agrizzlysin]

Mm...

[He trails thoughtfully. It's not like fairies run around in family groups the way humans do, so he doesn't get why calling someone who isn't family "family" would mean much, but... Hadn't he and Diane been a little like that back when they'd wandered Britannia and played together? Maybe a village family would be sort of like the Seven Deadly Sins.]

I've seen a few human villages. Are seraph villages the same?

[circulets]

There are human villages?

[ That might answer his question. He's seen his fair share of human cities and towns, but nothing small like a village. ]

I've only seen human cities, and I still can't quite understand the need for places that big. [ It's near overwhelming. There's... too much in one place. How do they find everything with all those buildings? ]

[agrizzlysin]

Humans see safety in numbers. The more of them there are, the better protected they can be. [The answer is delivered with long-suffering cynicism. In a pique of self awareness, however, King decides it's only fair to add something more.] They can do more for each other that way too.

In the world I know, the only places like that are the capital cities of different kingdoms.

[circulets]

The better protected... [ He repeats those words with a downcast expression, frowning deeply. ]

Human life is limited - almost fragile. I can't say that I can blame them entirely.

[agrizzlysin]

They have short lives, sure, but because of that, some of them are really determined to live them to their fullest. [He snorts under his breath though he's smiling.] My friend once said she was jealous of them for that.

[circulets]

--Jealous? [ He blinks at that, looking vaguely surprised.

He... can understand that - humans wanting to live their lives to the fullest. It's what he's wanted for Sorey all this time, why he's wanted him to interact and be with other humans. ]

[agrizzlysin]

Yeah. She surprised me too.

[He sighs, scratching at the back of his head before looking away. It's a difficult subject for him, and he's not sure how to continue, but this time, he at least does continue.]

But when I thought about it, it made sense. She was lonely.

[And if there's one thing that humans take for granted more than anything else, it's that they're never truly alone if they don't want to be.]

[circulets]

[ Mikleo goes silent at that. He's thought about it -- the fact that he himself will outlive Sorey and the fact that Sorey will die long before he does. Perhaps that's why he says what he does next. ]

The fact that some will outlive humans is the reason why they should try to live their life to the fullest, too.

[ They should enjoy what time they have with their loved ones. ]

[agrizzlysin]

[That admission surprises King just as much as Diane's had. Even after all the time King has spent in Liones, he's never gotten attached enough to a human being to think that way. Or maybe, he's just always avoided that line of thought.

If he allows himself to get attached to some of the humans here with ALASTAIR... Will they all die before he and Diane and Ban can do anything for them? Will he be able to make that limited amount of time matter enough to last him the rest of his years?

Is that the true nature behind his distrust of humanity? In the end, it all boils down to the fact that he can't trust them to last long enough?

He doesn't want to think about it now either.]

I have my own reasons for wanting to live a full life.

[circulets]

[ Mikleo looks curious for a moment, but he decides not to ask further. If King wanted to talk about it, perhaps he'd do it on his own. ]

Maybe in some ways, we aren't too different from humans.

[agrizzlysin]

[King sighs. He doesn't want to agree, but he knows a losing battle when he sees one.]

Maybe. In some ways.

[His pace slows as they tread within hearing distance of the others.]

[circulets]

Do you dislike humans?

[ Mikleo has fondness of them, but... It's also just instinct for him to want to protect them. That's what seraphim do, ater all. ]

[agrizzlysin]

I know better than to trust them, is all.

[circulets]

[ He knows how he feels. ]

There's some humans out there that are worth trusting.

[agrizzlysin]

[Lady Elizabeth has proven that much, and Olivia has tried her best to do the same ever since King arrived in Oska. The rare exception to the rule, however, is no reason to abolish the rule itself.

King lowers his head and turns his attention to the sticks and leaves crumbling beneath their feet. The soft crackling sound they make is nearly drowned out by the cacophony of the world around them.]

It's too bad they're outnumbered.

[circulets]

I wouldn't say that particularly. Some see more rough around the edges, but are still worth trusting.

[ After all, he did meet an assassin that did turn out to be a rather good friend and person. ]

[agrizzlysin]

[King snorts at that.]

They're the only ones you should trust. Anyone who's polished is polished for a reason.

[circulets]

... There was an assassin I met. She tried to kill my best friend. However, in the end, she also became one of his best friends. Because we decided to trust her.

[agrizzlysin]

[King doesn't reply right away, letting their line of conversation stagnate a bit. He's not here to ruin anyone's faith in humanity, but at the same time, he doesn't have enough faith in humanity himself to be swayed so easily. After a moment, he nods in weary appeasement.]

...I'm glad she was the one who tried to kill him then.