IC Inbox

[hollow_king]

[You never know, he might respond to a message. If he feels like it.]

Comments

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[chillestrogue]

Dessert, two s's.

And that lesson was?

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[hollow_king]

I often find I would prefer bread and water, so I suppose they have some place in 'punishment'.

A matter of exchange. If something is taken, something else might be taken in turn.

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[chillestrogue]

Probably healthier for you in the long run.

You took his life, he took your freedom? Powers?

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[hollow_king]

[It's a while before he replies, because there's truth and then there's honesty. Perhaps if Cold was there he would've said 'death', which is true enough, but this form of talking doesn't feel entirely real.]

Choice.

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[chillestrogue]

Listen, I know you don't know me from Adam, so I appreciate the one-on-one here.

We talking about the choice to stay dead?

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[hollow_king]

Particularly annoying after being killed by his hands.

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[chillestrogue]

Mmn. Yeah. I can imagine it would be.

How'd you kill him? He just sort of fell over; couldn't see any external wounds, not that I went poking around too much.

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[hollow_king]

Magic.

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[chillestrogue]

Not one of my areas of expertise, unfortunately.

Was this a one-time deal, or a rotating schedule kind of thing?

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[hollow_king]

I couldn't say.

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[chillestrogue]

Where it stands now. He wakes up, you get out of Zero. You kill him again, or only if he brings you back?

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[hollow_king]

It depends on him.

Or the Admiral, I suppose.

[While he's here, he can't know for sure that Odd's heart hadn't been restored.]

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[chillestrogue]

The Admiral's not a great person to depend on.

How's the magic work?

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[hollow_king]

What's the nature of your interest in him?

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[chillestrogue]

He's a naive kid who's a few centuries behind the curve compared to his inmate. I'd like to make sure he doesn't wind up completely broken by the experience.

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[hollow_king]

Those true enough facts, not an answer to why.

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[chillestrogue]

I like him. And I sympathize with both of you.

I've been to prison, and I've been an inmate here, and I've lost the ability to make choices more than once.

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[hollow_king]

Sympathy is a bad habit.

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[chillestrogue]

Tell me about it.

I'd lie to you about my motivations, but you sound like you'd be able to tell if I did.

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[hollow_king]

I have experience looking past lies. Besides, you would not be able to find one that would serve you any better than the truth.

He's of same age as my eldest son was, which is a man grown, however much it can feel like it is not much more than a child.

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[chillestrogue]

You kill a lot of children?

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[hollow_king]

Yes.

[And he's never been one to think that qualifiers make it any better.]

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[chillestrogue]

How did it feel, killing this one?

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[hollow_king]

Like nothing. I would say it comes from four hundred years of killing those I care about, but I was never one who held much sympathy for my captors.

You should avoid the feeling that you can understand my situation, that which makes you tempted to hold out any sympathy for me.

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[chillestrogue]

Believe me, I'm trying. I killed my own inmate and she wanted me to leave her dead.

But we're getting off-topic here. My problem is preventing this from happening in the future.