voice. | seelie locked

[bealright]

I shouldn’t be talking about this. Not with the void, and the mountain collapsing, and all the angry people outside, and all the fighting. [ She sighs softly. No matter how many festivals and feasts there are, the violence and chaos never seems to stop. ]

The last time my Papa went on a trip, he was gone for a whole week. It felt like forever and ever. [ She bites her lip to keep herself from crying. ] Now I’ve been here for a year, and…. and--

I keep on thinking about how Papa would always make breakfast in the morning. And I think about my brother calling me Monster, and me stomping on his foot! And how Kero-chan used to eat all the cake in the house! Or all the times I could always call Tomoyo, and she’d always be there with me.

[ To think that the last time Sakura saw them was so long ago... it hurts, more than anything has hurt her before. ]

We were brought here to protect our court, and I know I should help! I want to help! [ She is, in her own way. Even if she wasn't there to help with the collapse. ] But... I don’t understand. Why are we fighting? Unseelie. Seelie. People without shards. We could help each other get home!

Why do we keep on fighting, when we could help each other?

[She hesitates, worrying that her words may be making people upset. That's the last thing Sakura wants.

There's a long pause before she speaks again. ]

What happens at home while we're here?

Comments

[babbylon]

Like fate.

[Which he wasn't one to believe in, ordinarily, beyond his fate as king, but the Drabwurld has a way of shifting priorities around. Severely.]

In a sense, you are already home, and have always been, due to the presence of the shard. As for why we fight, well...

[He flashes a dry smile. One wiser than it may appear at first glance.]

It's just human nature. That's why there's no point saying things like "we can help each other" and "we should stop", because people will always act this way. People will always find a reason to squabble. Even gods aren't above base behavior.

[bealright]

Tomoyo, Kero, my father, Syaoran... if none of them are here, how could this be home? Plus this isn't Tomoeda, and definitely not Japan!

[ Sakura's feeling rather thick-headed at the moment. How is she supposed to find a way home if she can't even comprehend what's really going on? ]

I don't get it. [ She looks downward, hoping to hide her look of disappointment.] Fighting, arguing, being mad at people, it doesn't make you feel better.

[babbylon]

Protect your shard.

[Spoken definitively, almost damningly, in the sort of tone that invites no argument. Gilgamesh has plenty of experience dealing with naive little girls who try and fail to protect everyone. He sees no difference in this child and so offers her no pity, no sympathy. Nothing but cold-hearted truth.]

If you value their lives, then heed my warning. Heed the words of one who has walked this earth since the dawn of humanity. War and bloodshed are inevitable consequences; it is how you handle them, and proceed forward from there, that shapes the world.

[bealright]

[ That biting tone snaps Sakura ram-rod straight, like the reaction of a child being admonished in a classroom. What Gilgamesh says is harsh and pitiless, but it's the truth, and the truth is worth its weight in bruised feelings. ]

I will, I promise.

[ And she means it.

A beat passes, as Sakura hesitates, a question on the tip of her tongue. Sakura's asking so many questions, so many similar questions, but she just has to know. ]

At home, my family and friends are in danger. Magic took them away, erased them. I was trying to get them back, when I suddenly woke up in another world. [ It's been a year since then. ] While I'm here... what's happening to them?

[babbylon]

Frozen, presumably, within that same shard.

[Presumably, because not even Gilgamesh can claim to have all the answers. Though it's said with the same absolute assurance that could fool anyone into believing otherwise. Ultimately, it didn't matter what happened to his world, his lost garden.

He's long since discarded it. And despite his advice to her, someday soon, he might discard it himself, for all its aggravating memory and doomed future he's forced to bear in his chest.]

The monarchs would encourage you to fight for them, in spite of the looming end. But that's something you should decide for yourself. Human beings were created with a powerful tool: the tool of free will.

[Another smile he shows her, slighter than before, but no less genuine.]

So use yours. And act according to your own beliefs. Doing otherwise would displease me.

[bealright]

Frozen, for a year? H- hoee! That takes a lot of magic!

[ The idea Gilgamesh proposes is hardly absurd. Sakura's seen her world brought to a temporal pause, experienced a single day looped threefold, and even froze time herself. But from experience, Sakura knows just how much magic command time, even for a few seconds. ] The monarchs here really are powerful. [ She hesitates, and then in a softer voice, as if she thought someone was eavesdropping.] It's a tiny bit scary!

[ Just a smile is all it takes to brighten Sakura's spirits. She places a hand over her heart, and returns the smile. ]

I won't fight for anyone, but I will keep people safe. That's what I choose.

[babbylon]

A good choice.

[Good girl, he very nearly says. He'd wonder how such a small thing intended to fight at all, even to keep people safe, but he's been surprised by size before. He doesn't doubt she'll find a way. She sounded resolute.

It's likely what made her Seelie. Hopefully betrayal won't sting too much once it comes.]

Do you know much magic? It's very important where I'm from. Like here, it can even alter the fate of a world.

[bealright]

I don't know if I know a lot, but I have magic! The Sakura Cards!

[ And there's his answer-- she intends to keep people safe with magic. For thankfully, magic knows no size. ]

Alter the fate? How? [ Sakura's eager to hear his answer. It hurts to be away from home, but at least there's always so much to learn. ]