steelmyself | who stole your heart and the key?

Entry tags:

a forest dark,
ic

who stole your heart and the key?

In the dark, you taste something sweet and tart on your tongue, almost like apple but not quite: pomegranate juice, out of nowhere. A hint of something metallic accompanies it.

You fall down.

« Join channel #swordhell on Slack if you can. This heart will involve violent imagery and possible uncomfortable sexual imagery; it also contains the possibility of corruption for your characters. »

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Hmmm? It's a poorly-written book, but very well..." He walks down the aisle, glancing over the shelves, and finally pulls out a book labeled EMIYA and hands it to you.

It's also all in gibberish, inside.

[Pointless. More garbage. But maybe she can get some mileage out of it later...]

May I borrow this? I'll be certain to return it.

"No!"

He's very emphatic about that.

Because it belongs to you?

A book regarding an illegitimate hero is similarly illegitimate. It has no place in your library.

"Everything here is mine. It doesn't matter whether it's illegitimate or not. You cannot convince the guardian of the library to give up his possessions, so don't even try, mongrel."

That doesn't seem true. How could you say that for certain if you've yet to be convinced?

"My rule over these books--"

ì͢d́͏̵͘e̛͡à̷̷͡͠l̵̀s̷̶̨͜

"--is absolute."

Would you part with this one under any circumstances? I would be willing to reimburse you for your loss.

"Anything you could offer me would be mine already. Except--"

He hesitates, frowning.

Except?

"Something real." He makes a disgusted noise. "Everything here is fake."

If I told you a story that I knew to be true - would that be to your liking?

He regards her coldly for a long moment, and then he nods. "This is all fake, so I suppose I could allow you to have a piece of it in exchange for a truth."

Of course.

What sort of story would you like to hear?

"Anything that's real, of course."

Of course.

[Well, she said that but she's pretty sure he can't find anything because real heroes don't exist, and she doesn't think they do - but she wants that book.

She closes her eyes.]

Once - there lived a single girl. She existed bereft of purpose, floating prone through her days without aim. No essence within her bound her to her world; she could only continue her roaming, silently praying to reach some destination. She met a boy in her travels. An eccentric from another country, he lived similarly unbound - however, he held his sentence in a regard far different from her own, and he was enabled to fill her with all manner of things; with joy, sorrow, anger, and contentment.

It is a quality of lacking people, Sir, that they might be so filled. What do you believe she felt at achieving such normalcy? Was she saved through that alone?

He snorts a little. "In reality, it doesn't matter whether people are saved or not."

That's right. No such altruistic acts could ever truly exist. Saving another person is done only for the sake of the savior's own ego - it has little to do with heroics. I'm certain that you understand.

He nods. "That's right. In exchange for your truth, you may take one book for now, but of course it will return here in the end. That much is inevitable."

You aren't interested in the second half of the story?

[Well, she says that, but she's already putting the book in her coat.]

He shrugs. "You can tell me if you want, but after all is said and done, there is only one true ending for any mortal."

The two glutted themselves on the blood and the flesh of their enemies, and she led him to the farthest ends of the earth where they proceeded to live as they wished - for a hero is naught but desire and the strength with which it may be consummated.

He blinks, then bursts out laughing. "That's a good ending! Of course, it's meaningless here. You'll never get along with the owner of this place, that is for certain. But you may proceed."

It's a simple matter of reassessing his desires - if being a hero is amongst them.

[As long as he does it because he wants to. She gives a tiny wave goodbye and heads on out.]

A flight of dusty stone stairs lead you down, and down, and down to somewhere new...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

who stole your heart and the key?

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY

Re: THE LIBRARY