You are alone.

[mistaken_for_monster]

[1]

[Well. They did it. The Kijin Emperor is dead. Permanently. He will never again threaten mankind. And all it took was for Seta to die. A fair price. One life to save many others from a threat that could possibly keep coming back. An acceptable sacrifice in the eyes of those more militarily minded and are used to the brutal calculus of warfare.]

[Not so much for the thirteen year old who just lost another person who he looked up to. Someone who saved his life. As he slipped free from a tremendously battered and wingless Interitus he screams. Hurt, lost, angry. Interitus tries to reach out to him but simply has her head which had drawn close to the young russian repeatedly shoved and kicked.]

YOUR FAULT! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!! YOU AND THAT STUPID WALL RUG AND THOSE STUPID KNIGHTS!!!! EVERYTHING! EVER SINCE YOU FOUND ME..!

[Interitus backs away. While this didn't harm her physically she pulled back as if burned and huddled against a wall.]

UNCLE'S GONE! REN'S GONE! SETA'S GONE!!  WHAT NEXT?! ARE YOU GOING TO LET MIZUKI DIE?! OR KEN?! OR DIDO OR ASAGI OR ASHE?!  WHAT IF MY FRIENDS AT SCHOOL GET ATTACKED?! ARE YOU GOING TO LET THEM DIE TOO?!

[ Being told by them that they were going to die... he tried to accept it... but both times... both times they came so close to the hope of being saved... only to be torn away...]

I HATE YOU!  YOU STUPID MONSTER!!! I HATE YOU!!!!

[And just like that he runs away from the hangar leaving a miserable creature to bleed in the hangar.]

[Approach Interitus?]

[2]
[Anyone who would even bother looking for him would find him at a tiny area in Sakihama not too dissimilar to Ken's handbuilt gym. If anything it answered a question as to where he may have been keeping his gardening skills sharp. There were several flowers growing. Some blooming, some not. Either way Volya simply sits among them, legs pulled up to his chest. No tears being shed, simply just being too tired to even cry.]

[It was his own little haven. One he was embarrassed to have had his school friends find when they went looking for him. The same friends who had told you exactly where it was when they tried to call Volya, only to have him scream at them to leave him alone and sent the phone sailing into a wall.]

[He doesn't acknowledge your presence. Rather. He refuses to. He simply holds on tighter to himself and presses his head to his knees.]

Leave me alone... Just... just leave me alone...

Comments

2

[abugslife]

Volya. Is all the death and suffering that happened not enough for you, that you are so set on hurting those close to you further?

[At the same time, two Gebians in the hangar water Interitus carefully.]

[mistaken_for_monster]

[Volya doesn't even move.]

Its all her fault in the first place... maybe if she never existed I'd never have gotten those stupid dreams and got chased by the knights.

She couldn't save Ren. She couldn't save Seta. Almost every time its someone else having to save her and me.

I'm sick of every bad thing she keeps bringing to me!

[Those two Gebians will find Interitus just letting out a soft whine as she's watered. Glancing at them and letting out a weak trill of thanks before simply remaining slumped on the ground.]

[abugslife]

Volya. Please. Everything bad that happened is the fault of Interitus? Was the reason for the Kin invasion? For the Kijin one? Maybe for the Zentraedi, as well?

Interitus is trying her best to do the right thing. And, even more than that, she wants to help you. You are the most important person in the world for her. And yet, after that, you tell her that everything that happened was her fault.

1/2

[mistaken_for_monster]

Well that's great. I'm so important to her. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't even have to deal with any of this... I'd still be in Russia with my Uncle with a normal life instead of all of this!

[Volya slowly gets to his feet and turns to look right at Hetepheres. He's pretty shaky but manages to keep upright.]

Maybe I never would have met anyone here but... but I wouldn't be fighting for my life or have to lose anyone else like that! I wouldn't be hunted down by those knights or have hurt David!

And... and!!!

2/2

[mistaken_for_monster]

... and I just...

[He lowers his head and bites his lip. Whatever he was about to say must have been really eating at him.]

... I wouldn't have to... I don't... I don't want to die...

Ren and Seta told me they knew that they would. It looked like they wouldn't both times but they died anyway...

[But what does that have to do with him..?]

If they were meant to... then that means I have to... that...

[His fate is unavoidable as well.]

If I'm so important to her... then why do I have to keep hurting over and over before I have to....

[abugslife]

Volya...

The past, as painful as it is, cannot be changed. And do remember what happened the first time you met Interitus. If not for her, you might as well have died there.

You have suffered enough, especially for someone as young as you. You do not have to fight if you do not want to. And no matter what you decide... You are not destined to die. There is no such thing as fate. Both Ren and Seta died because it was their choice, because the alternative would be something much worse. I do not foresee any such alternative for you.

You will live. I promise you that.

[mistaken_for_monster]

...I'm sorry if I don't... if I can't believe that...

[abugslife]

[Hetepheres turns away.]

Volya. Do not fight. Not unless you are absolutely sure you want to.

2

[a_monetized_mind]

Nice place you've got here.

[Jen's arrived, carrying a paper bag of something.]

You take care of these all on your own?

[mistaken_for_monster]

I said leave me alone!!! I don't want to hear your stupid murdery face!

[That's right. Jen was the one who advocated killing Seta the most to save her on skin wasn't she?]

[a_monetized_mind]

Well, whatever. Here you go.

[She sets the paper bag down near Volya, and bends over to look more closely at some of the flowers.]

[mistaken_for_monster]

[Well Jen, you can see that the flowers are well taken care of, a lot of love had been put into them and small number of the flowers here and there are notoriously difficult to care for as well. Either way Volya lifts his head to glare daggers at the courier.]

[a_monetized_mind]

...These are really beautiful, you know.

[Jen lets the leaf she was examining slip out of her fingers, and turns to look at Volya.]

I don't pretend to have known Seta, but I do want you to have that package. And...you're not alone. There's Izuru, Asagi, Kei and that plant creature to talk to, once you're ready for it.

[mistaken_for_monster]

[Volya picks up the package his hands are trembling for a moment as he just looks at it. Jen would promptly find it hurled at her face with all the strength a scrawny and emotionally devastated thirteen year old can muster.]

You were the one who wanted to just kill Seta like it was nothing! Stop talking like you know how I feel and you have all the answers and just leave!

[Yeahno Jen. Sorry but it wasn't going to be that easy. The kid experienced two close friends dying back to back in really REALLY cruel ways and you were pretty eager to kill one of them and be done with it. Between that and not even knowing you all that much along with his emotional state there wasn't really much room for doubt he'd lash out at you as well.]

[a_monetized_mind]

[Jen bats the flying package out of the way, sending it crashing into a flower bed. She covers the distance between herself and Volya in a second, grabbing him by the collar.]

You think I wanted that?! You think I wanted her to die?!

[She pulls, hard, lifting Volya off the ground so she can stare into his eyes.]

But it was her or everyone, and there's no way in hell I'm going to do some stupid double-suicide thing, got it!

[She throws him back down, dusting her suit off.]

If you want someone to blame, take it up with that Emperor!

[mistaken_for_monster]

Ngh!

[And he goes crashing down on a flowerbed. He just lies there in a pathetic heap.]

You don't know that... there could've been another way... there should've been another way...

[Because if there wasn't... then maybe the knights were right after all.]

[a_monetized_mind]

Yeah, there should have! And if we had time, I'd have loved to find it!

[Jen pouts for a second, then sighs and looks off.]



...Even if you're not gonna talk to anyone else, you should go visit that giant pet of yours. It's whining.

[mistaken_for_monster]

She isn't my pet. You care about her so much you go visit her...

[Not getting up at all.]

2

[reactorhead_russians]

Sasha crouches by Volya, maintaining a healthy amount of distance.

"No." She replies.

[mistaken_for_monster]

[If it was possible for Volya to curl up tighter he probably would. Either way he wasn't going to look towards Sasha and was honestly too miserable to care.]

Please... just leave me alone...

[reactorhead_russians]

"I'll leave you alone in time." Sasha says. "But you should take back your harsh words to Interitus...before you regret it."

[mistaken_for_monster]

...No... just... no.

[Volya grits his teeth and shuts his eyes tightly.]

Why should I even... all she's done was drag me into a life I never wanted!

[reactorhead_russians]

Sasha reaches out and gently pokes Volya on the forehead, just hard enough to be a jolt. "So do you want her to die?" She asks. "To vanish from the world and never be seen again? Do you really want the last words she hears from you to be 'I hate you'?"

[mistaken_for_monster]

[Volya yelps, startled enough to almost jump backwards as he snapped out of his tightly held ball of misery. His expression remains miserable, though not for the reasons one would think.]

... Those might be my last words... but...

[He looks away bitterly.]

She's probably not the one who's going to die...

[reactorhead_russians]

Sasha hisses softly as she begins to understand.

"Volya." She says softly. "Are you trying to distance yourself from others...so that they won't feel as bad if you die?"

[mistaken_for_monster]

...

[He regards his garden with a tired look in his eyes.]

...You can't fight fate can you? You keep trying but the future refuses to change.

[Volya shivers violently as he holds himself.]

...Its better if everyone just forgot about me. People back home did it easily anyway. Didn't even know I existed. I was just that weird kid who didn't look like his dead parents.

1

[keep_your_dignity]

DON'T MIND ALKAEV'S STUPID TANTRUM TOO MUCH, LETTUCE GIRL.

HE'S JUST GOING TO BE HUMAN FOR A WHILE. [The way Kagura puts it as she floats nearby, it's pretty clear "human" is not a compliment, here]

[mistaken_for_monster]

[Interitus lets out an anxious whine. Admittedly some of it is still because Kagura has and always will unsettle Interitus, but a majority is towards Volya. The plant creature glanced in the direction he stormed off in, worried he might hurt himself or get into trouble.]

"Thhtbthhht..."

[She looks back at Kagura and lets out an inquiring noise. What should be done?]

[keep_your_dignity]

NOTHING. RIGHT NOW HE WANTS TO FIND SOMETHING TO BLAME BECAUSE HIS MONKEY BRAIN SAYS SOMEONE HAS TO BE TO BLAME FOR EVERYTHING, AND YOU'RE THE EASY TARGET BECAUSE HE KNOWS YOU WON'T ACTUALLY HIT BACK. YOU GO AFTER HIM RIGHT NOW, YOU'RE ONLY GOING TO SOLIDIFY THAT.

AND IF THAT SOUNDS LIKE STUPID BULLSHIT IT'S BECAUSE IT IS. WELCOME TO HUMANITY, LETTUCE.

SO LET HIM SULK FOR A WHILE AND COME BACK TO HIS SENSES.

[mistaken_for_monster]

[Interitus nods, albeit with a bit of hesitation. If Ren were here this situation could probably have been taken care of quickly but... her death really was part of the issue here. Kagura's surly advice didn't really sit well with the plant creature but it made sense. In its own way that was pretty painful.]

"Thhbthhht?"

[Still... one thing had her curious... just what made Kagura so jaded and terrifying?]

[keep_your_dignity]

TEN YEARS OF SEEING PEOPLE LIKE THEY ARE WITH NO SUGARCOATING, LETTUCE. AND TEN YEARS OF NOT SETTLING.

IT'S ABOUT BEING WHAT I AM. HUMAN FEELINGS ARE ABOUT AS COMPLEX TO ME AS A NINE PIECE PUZZLE. MISTLETOES DON'T THINK ABOUT IT. I DO.

1 AND 2!

[empress_without_a_throne]

[Volya might not be saying anything, but he doesn't need to. The woman in black come to visit him just smiles weakly, kneels down, and hugs him from behind.

[... And at the same time in the hangar, the DuskBird's approaching the wounded Interitus. It's not exactly the most emotive machine out there, but it offers the plant-dragon-thing a hand in comfort.]

[mistaken_for_monster]

[Volya flinches at the sudden contact but otherwise he doesn't move, just letting out a weak and dry sob. He doesn't raise his head at all.]

[As for his partner she simply moves close to curl up close to the Duskbird and cling to the offered hand.]

[empress_without_a_throne]

[Volya didn't need to. He's been through a lot. All of them had.]

It hurts, I know. Things like what happened... they're not the sort of thing you should just be unfazed by.

[The hug tightens a bit more.]

[mistaken_for_monster]

...They told me they were going to die... Ren and Seta...

[empress_without_a_throne]

... I see...

[Almost like...]

... Volya, did Dido or Ken ever tell you about one particular Solaris team? The Balmung team?

[mistaken_for_monster]

They never did... why?

[empress_without_a_throne]

I'll spare you the details, but theirs was not a happy story. They died in the midst of fighting a rather malevolent group of Void beings, even by the standard back then, from overexposure to Void energies. One of them even said that few people are fortunate enough to know when and how they'll die, to say nothing of having the time to prepare for it.

... I've no doubt they didn't want to die, but Ren and Seta... weren't the kind of people to lack that kind of dignity in the face of death.

[mistaken_for_monster]

...

[Volya says nothing for a good long while, but he certainly looked more troubled than ever.]

Yeah...

[Either way he did not seem comforted at all. On the contrary he now seemed a little more desolate.]

1

[63rd_shockwave]

[Sarah only arrives later, and stays a good distance away from the giant plant monster.]

...Jeez, girl, what happened...

[She tries walking closer slowly.]

[mistaken_for_monster]

[Interitus simply whines in pain and remains curled up where she was. Her head lifts slightly at the sight of Sarah before just falling again.]

[63rd_shockwave]

[Sarah walks up the rest of the distance and starts stroking the plant monster on the head.]

There, there...It'll be alright.

...Do you want me to try to cauterize those wounds? It'll hurt, bad, but it should stop blood loss.

[mistaken_for_monster]

[Interitus lets out another whine, the the ragged stump that used to be one of her wings quivers weakly out of reflex. The other would have reacted the same way if it wasn't completely missing.]

...

[After a while she nods. Teeth grit tightly as a nervous whimper escaped from her as her claws dug into the hangar floor.]