[ Her brows knit together in concern, but that's all the emoting she's doing. ]

That doesn't mean I want you to die, either. What makes you offer that?

Please don't misunderstand. I'd would also prefer to live.

[His voice is sincere, if resigned.]

Still, for me.....dying isn't the worst fate. Surviving in your place would be much more painful, and I've already been in that kind of situation before.

[A crooked half-smile.]

Besides, I can still bargain for my life.

Painful? Why...?

[ unofficial barghest or not, they weren't the best of friends, so she assumes he's not talking about having to live with her blood on his hands, or something dramatic like that ]

[He takes a seat, figuring he might as well get comfortable while time was still afforded to either of them. A thoughtful hum.]

My death would be my choice, or as much of one that this situation can allow. But to live would come at your expense, Andromeda-san.

That happened with my parents. I don't want it to happen with you, too.

[ She continues to float a few feet off the ground, though in a sitting position herself. It's tantamount to sitting, anyway.

It makes her think of her own father--he was dead, too, wasn't he? That one wasn't her fault, but she still felt all of the raw pain from getting the news of his demise. She doesn't know what Jaguar's situation with his parents is like, but she can feel the broadest empathy anyway. ]

Even though it would be possible for me to come back? [ hard quest or not, she wouldn't be dead forever. relatively speaking. ]

[A nod, no hesitation.]

Yes. To me, a death is a death. Revival doesn't cheapen that.

The burden would be the same.

To be given a choice in one's death is a luxury many cannot afford, I've found. [ in what she can remember of ruling the Netherworld, of visiting Hell ]

But I've existed for at least 700 years, you know. It's not selfish for a human to want to live, especially when I've done so several times over.

[A shrug, thoughtful rather than dismissive.]

It's not, but this is still what I would prefer to do. How many times you've lived....that doesn't change my mind.

[ ... ]

If you're certain, then, I...won't disrespect your choice.

[ She feels like she should be putting up more of a fight, but then, she really doesn't want to die. ]

[A grateful smile.]

Thank you.

....however, I do need to ask a favor, for when this is over.

Edited (i picked an icon goddammit) 2015-09-19 12:35 am (UTC)

Anything within my power. What is it?

I'm going to offer my happiest memory. It's a very, very important one. Surviving this twisted excuse for a game will mean forgetting it completely.

Should that happen, I need you to come find me afterward and tell me....

[He has to pause, struggling a little. In many ways, that memory still feels more like a dream than a real past event, and now there's a high chance he'll lose it.]

...tell me that Sophia Lamb is dead. That I'm free.

[ She doesn't recognize the name, know the significance of such a statement, but she can read the expression on his face well enough. ]

Of course.

[ ... ]

Would you prefer I offer something up as well? I do not mind...

[A surprised glance.]

I....don't have any objections. It would be yours to give.

It's the least I can do, even if it's something small.

[Squints....]

A mermaid?

[ For the first time in this room, she smiles. It's not as broad as her usual one, but it's not a fake smile either. ]

Aha, it was a joke, but I probably shouldn't do that here, right? It sort of slipped out.

[ she crosses it out and start writing her actual answer ]

Have you ever read "The Little Mermaid"?

I think the atmosphere can take being lightened a little. It's fine.

[Headtilt, thinking back. He didn't grow up with much in the way of fairytales. The name isn't familiar.]

No, I can't say I have. What's it about?

It's an old fairytale. The princess of an underwater kingdom spots a prince on a ship, and saves him during a storm at sea. He doesn't know it was her, however, since the humans and mermaids can't co-exist, so she leaves before he wakes up.

She falls in love with him from afair, wishing she could be with him...it's quite sad, like most traditional fairytales are.

[ pause ]

The mermaid princess finds a sea witch willing to help her, to give her legs...for a price.

[Nodding along as he listens, although there's....a twinge over the whole "underwater kingdom" thing. Fuck underwater civilizations!!!]

Mm, I see. What did the sea witch ask for?

Her voice. The mermaid princess had the loveliest voice in the entire kingdom, so it was on equal par with receiving legs.

Her voice? But what would the sea witch want with....

[Wait. WAIT.]

—that's what you offered?

Edited (i ate a word) 2015-09-19 10:41 pm (UTC)

Well, her tongue, technically, but other sources simply use her voice. Less bloody that way.

It was in turn for the sea witch using her own blood and brewing her strongest potion. Not for anything practical, I believe--payment is payment.

[ She doesn't answer. But he can see her offer written down, anyway. ]

[His gaze shifts to those words with a frown. Feeling like he ought to speak up, ought to protest. But......it's too late for such things. The choice has been made, set in ink if not stone.

And, it was a choice she made freely. She could have picked any number of things; at least the loss of one's voice could be worked around.

So with a quiet sigh and a hand through his hair, Jaguar doesn't pursue his question.]

....what happened next?

Hmm, well, it's not a happy ending. Are you sure you want to hear it?

Life is full of unhappy endings.

[A wry half-smile.]

One more can't hurt me.

If you're certain.

[ clearing her throat ]

Well, the mermaid princess earned her legs, although it was a painful transformation. The sea witch gave her an ultimatum--she must get the prince to marry her, and if so, she would be able to live on land with him forever and obtain an immortal soul, something mermaids lacked, apparently. On the morning of his marriage to anyone else, she would dissolve into sea foam and cease to exist.

Things seemed to be going quite well, except when the queen arranged an engagement for her son with a princess from the neighboring kingdom. He said, "do not worry, the only one I could ever love besides you is the priestess who rescued me that day I almost drowned." Except, as it turned out, that priestess was the princess, who had lived at the temple for temporary training.

And so the prince married the priestess-princess, leaving the mermaid princess in the cold. She was resigned to her death, but was suddenly approached by her many older sisters. They'd given the sea witch their beautiful hair in exchange for a magic dagger--if the mermaid princess killed the prince with it, and let his blood splatter on her feet, she would turn into a mermaid again, and be able to live out the rest of her life with her family in the ocean.

She stood by his bed, but she could not bring herself to kill the one she still loved, even if he did not love her anymore. Just as she was about to die, however, she was lifted up into the heavens by many spectral beings. The Daughters of the Air, they said, were beings frozen in a sort of purgatory. Although they did not possess immortal souls, they showed the kindness and grace required to enter the kingdom of Heaven. So, if they kept this up, and helped mankind for 300 years, they would earn their peace.

The mermaid princess set off into the sky to begin her journey.

[ More bittersweet than sad, maybe, but what a fuckin' raw deal that poor girl got. Mermaids not having souls, pssshhh. ]

[JUST THE KIND OF STORY TO HEAR BEFORE POSSIBLE DEATH]

.....I think she did the right thing.

[ she told him it was sad!!! ]

Even eclipsing the possibility of returning to her family?

[clenching his jaw a little, stubbornly]

Of course family is important, but the prince was an innocent person.

Fair enough, but consider this--in some retellings of the story, usually the ones where the mermaid princess's tongue was cut out, the prince wasn't quite so nice.

Walking on her new legs was sheer agony, but he asked her to dance for him despite it. He paraded her around more like a trophy, and when he realized who he was to marry, he left her in the dust without a second thought.

Would that still be the correct choice?

[fuck that guy???]

I don't think he deserves happiness in those cases, but.....it's easy, too easy, to say that someone unpleasant ought to be killed, especially if there's an injured party involved.

Was he cruel down to his core, or just a spoiled young man? It's a distinction that should be considered. Because usually, death means the end of all potential for change or redemption — killing him would be simpler than forgiveness, but I can't say whether or not it would be the correct choice.

The mermaid would have to judge that for herself, and she did.

[ Eric was a goddamn saint in comparison. ]

I don't disagree. Would it not be better for him to learn of what his misdeeds caused? To say that his poor companion saved him from drowning, and then sacrificed nearly everything to be with him--only for him to reject her at the last moment, condemning her to death. Even then, she still loved him and wished for his happiness. Would that not be the best lesson for him, to have to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life? Atonement is always a choice, and the mermaid princess was not completely damned.

[ERIC WAS CUTE AND HE ALSO HAD A DOG

also he drove a ship into a giant sea witch, that checks off at least some criteria for "keeper" material]

That sounds like the more reasonable path to take. Although.....granted, I don't know how I would have reacted if it was me, without the buffer of the story being fiction.

Well, I think you can relax on that front. It's not like I have a time limit.

[ nor did she promise jag her undying love, but you know ]

[he manages something like a smile]

I suppose not.

Now, then. All that's left to do is wait.

[ or should she sing an opera while she still has her vocal chords ]

[Akasha Sucks, in E Minor]

Would you like to do something to pass the time?

Such as?

[suddenly wishing he had brought a pack of cards]

There's always the usual guessing game, I suppose. We each think of an object and try to figure out what it is.