un: starburst, toward the end of this arc.

[valeas]

( Emilia di Carlo has seen better days, by the look of her. Her battle leathers are torn, soot and cuts still on her face — but she doesn't give in to the exhaustion just yet, nor the bile in her throat. First, she addresses the people of Alem, dignified and resolute. )

Prince Haiva sacrificed himself and leaves his sister, the young Cle-Florens, spared.

I was witness.

( A pause, then, as she allows that to sink in. )

Hell is sealed.

You fought with valor so others might live. I'm glad to have fought beside you, and will remember your fallen just the same.

If you've yet to evacuate, the time is now. Hassir awaits.

Comments

un: oil change | video | private to emilia

[nachocheese]

[It looks like everything that happened took a lot out of her. Nacho can pretty much feel her exhaustion through the screen.

His own expression is blank and nearly unreadable when he turns on the video feed. His voice is soft but resolute; not unfriendly, or cold, just not much of anything.]

Did what you had to do.

[Does Nacho believe that? He doesn't know. He's still figuring out how to navigate morality here. But he can't easily think of a good alternative and Haiva had started to seem like a piece of shit anyway. Better he die than the kid, that's for sure.]

I have something to ask you. If that's cool.

private.

[valeas]

( If that's cool is the sort of thing Wrench might have said were he still here, having explained to her the colloquialisms of a time beyond her. It would make her smile slightly under different circumstances.

They are hardly ever under different circumstances.

She meets his gaze, her own unflinching, and nods. )

Of course.

private.

[nachocheese]

Was it just you? Who did it? Anybody else involved?

[His holds the camera's gaze. As a substitute for holding hers, since they aren't physically together.

So she knows he's not asking so he can judge or lecture her, he adds:]

Like I said. You did what you had to do. I get it. I'm... just wondering. [A tiny shrug.]

private.

[valeas]

( Just wondering.

The tiny shrug feels contradictory with his actual request, and it has Emilia leaning forward, assessing him a bit more closely. She spent a great deal of her time in the Room of Seals, and Hell after it, aware there is plenty she missed in the process. )

And who is it that wants to know?

( She'd have names, as well. )

private.

[nachocheese]

Ignacio Varga. Just "Nacho" is fine.

[He pauses. Look, he told Jimmy he'd do this for him, and he's not going to throw him under the bus now. Saying somebody else was worried didn't pan out well when he wasn't willing to give out names, though.

So he switches tactics.]

I'm asking because — [Pause.] — look, I'm not... not opposed to using violence to solve our problems. If we have to. I wanna know who else is, too.

[He feels weirdly dirty saying that, even though it's not exactly a total lie. But he's at something of a crossroads here — part of him wants to leave violence and bloodshed behind now, with whatever borrowed time he's living on.

The other part respects the likely necessity of what she had to do.]

private.

[valeas]

( Emilia cants her head to the side, a slight thing. She can't quite tell if this line of questioning is a trap or naivety, but she carefully chooses to enter the conversation in good faith until proven otherwise, having discerned he is from their group and not Alem.

Her capacity for brutality is very real, but it is not senseless or without purpose. She'll be feared by those she deems enemy and not those she seeks to protect, much less those who only wish to protect themselves. He is right to worry.

When she speaks again, it is direct but not unkind. )

We find ourselves in a world at constant threat of being consumed by the undead, with unscrupulous figures who will weaponise the war for their own ends. There are those within our group who will engage with its violence as they believe necessary, albeit not exclusively so.

( Irenia is a key example of this, perhaps. It would have been easier to kill her, and she was freed instead. )

If you are asking me to point fingers, I will do no such thing without fair reason. Haiva is my responsibility.

private.

[nachocheese]

Mm. I'm not-- asking for fingers, exactly--

[He tries to think of how to clarify this. He understands her stance. It's good that she doesn't want to throw anybody under the bus. He respects that.

But he can't bring himself to give up quite so easily, either.]

But I want to know who I can trust. You feel?

[Will that satisfy her? Probably not. But it's worth a try. Idly, he wonders if he should try to speak more like the way she does, to make her more comfortable -- all old-timey and shit. But he'd sound so stilted and obviously fake trying to do that.

Better to be honest about at least this aspect of who he is and stick to talking the way he normally would.]

private.

[valeas]

I don't, if I'm honest. I prefer to make my own assessments.

( Emilia would not simply trust the word of another, certainly not when they've only just met. But then, she is a skeptical person by nature, one that does not like to walk in the dark, and she doubts he's revealing the true extent of his motivation as it is.

She can't exactly fault him for that. It's smart to be cautious. )

Our group is not homogeneous by any means, but I've yet to meet someone within it who would sabotage our efforts to reach the beacons that might take us home. You can trust in that.

( They work toward that goal, however else they might differ. )

If it is its history you seek more information on, then I advise you speak to Wei Wuxian. He was among the first to arrive, and well knows the dangers we face and the personalities you'll meet, including the Merchant. I trust his judgment.

private.

[nachocheese]

[ Making her own assessments? That's smart, in a place like this.

It's not the system Nacho is used to, though. Where he's from, you know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy. And everything happens in secret. Someone's reputation has to precede them to an extent. You have to do it that way, because not everything can be done openly enough for everyone to make their own candid assessments about everyone else.

But he gets the sense that's not the case for her.

She mentions Wei Wuxian, though, and he has to bite back the smallest of smiles.

Yeah. That'd go great for him right about now.

But he appreciates her candor. He offers only: ]

Thanks, Emilia. I'll keep everything you said in mind.