audience: lucas

[mygod]

Comments

[faithkept]

[THE LORE THAT I HAD TO MAKE UP ON THE SPOT FOR SOME REASON I ALREADY FORGOT]

They somehow managed to find their way in through the window one night. It was the most adorable thing! She woke up covered in kittens, with the mother sleeping over her head like a little bread roll.

[egodist]

[ ME SHAKING BC I REALLY THOUGHT SCIEN MIGHT JUST NOT KNOW THIS ONE. OKAY

he laughs at that, unfortunately. he's annoyed, but he can imagine it and he does like nadia!! ]

They must've covered her in a little kitten blanket easily.

[faithkept]

[THIS IS SO FUNNY HELPPPPP ME JUST SNIPING US BOTH.]

They did! She was so darling. It was difficult for her, having to part with them later, but there's no feasible way to keep cats in a hospital and I can't care for animals, myself, as you well know.

[On account of being gone all the time teaching and murdering.]

[egodist]

[ looks thoughtful ]

The you that I know has a bit more time for it. It wouldn't be bad for you to take on a hobby.

[ a note to discuss with lucas' therapist ]

[faithkept]

[SCIEN JUST COMING BACK TO LE SALUT LIKE HEY GET A CAT AND A HOBBY.]

Oh! Ah, right, I suppose that would be the case...? [If his job is apparently BODYGUARDING his MORTAL ENEMY who he is still so brainwashed about but now only feels happiness and cheer for! Yippie!]

What a strange thing to think about, still! I wonder if that version of myself would prefer caring for a cat or a dog.

[egodist]

You don't need to talk about him like he's a different entity from you. I found him in not too different of a state than you're in now—minus the random curses to improve your mood.

[ but being brainwashed to all hell and searching for anything that could save his future with nadia is familiar ]

Which do you prefer now? Between cats and dogs.

[ scien assumes it's cats but who knows ]

[faithkept]

Oh, dear.

[HE SAYS MILDLY, BECAUSE HE'S LIKE WHY AM I BOURREAU IN EVERY REALITY ANYWAY ACTUALLY, BUT UNFORTUNATELY HE DOESN'T HAVE THE EMOTIONAL CAPACITY TO PROCESS THIS RIGHT NOW.

Anyway Scien is right!]

I think I'd prefer to care for a cat. The ones at the barn were quite nice.

[egodist]

[ brow furrows ]

Does the idea of being similar concern you?

[ but, ]

That doesn't surprise me. You treated them very warmly.

[faithkept]

No, not at all.

[HE DOESN'T FEEL CONCERN. The even worse devastation that will hit when he also thinks about how this means there are three versions of their reality out there and Nadia isn't born healthy in a single one.

More importantly, cats!]

They were very sweet! Even the ones that are a little more finicky are cute in their own ways, too. They're bold and independent so you don't have to worry about giving them too much or too little attention, either, since they'll let you know when they want it and when they don't.

[egodist]

[ you moron that's not how timeline divergence works

meanwhile scien is just like ah yes. okay. i see why our partnership in my timeline works out ]

You really do have a fussy personality...

[faithkept]

[HE DIDN'T EVEN FIGURE OUT HE AND MATHIS WERE FROM DIFFERENT TIMELINES UNTIL LAST WEEK.

Also listen here.]

I do? [No this does not sound correct to him. He's cheerfully confused and also cheerfully choosing to discard this as false.] No one has ever said so before.

[Nadia's said he fusses but that doesn't count... It's not the same......]

[egodist]

[ dryly: ]

You fuss over Nadia, you fuss over the children, you fuss over your former students, you fuss over your employer...

[ help me,, ]

I've never met someone so determined to look after others.

[faithkept]

[HELLO!!!!! He'd be so annoyed by this normally but as it is he just laughs like Scien has told a funnee joke.]

There's a difference between tending to someone and being fussy! Though I do fuss over Nadia.

[HE ALSO FUSSES OVER EVERYONE ELSE.]

[1/2]

[egodist]

[ a side eye like... normally you'd scold me for this... so bizarre.... ]

[egodist]

She does get the most of it, but I don't believe everyone else is spared. You fussed over the Claude brat here, too.

[faithkept]

[Joyous Lucas is scary...]

It wasn't fussing! It was just the right amount of care for that boy.

[Mathis needs to be fussed over look at him.]

[egodist]

He does find himself in trouble somehow. [ sighs ] If our island is cursed with anything, it seems to be poor luck.

[faithkept]

We do all seem to have quite a lot of it! Even here, it seems, among plenty of others who also have terrible luck.

[EVERYONE IS FUCKING DYING IN DESPAIR ALL OF THE TIME.]

[egodist]

Being summoned by a terrible cult does seem like you've been dealt a terrible hand overall, yes.

Though this is twice now for you.

[ just

to be honest ]

[faithkept]

Twice that I've been summoned by a cult? I don't recall the first time.

[He wasn't SUMMONED BY A CULT he was SAVED BY AN ANGEL no he's come to realize now that some deeply fucked up things were happening but also he's still religious so he's just like oh! It's my fault for choosing an evil path! But like, cheerful and happy about it in this moment. IT'S A NIGHTMARE OUT HERE.]

[egodist]

[ god!!!! they're back to this and lucas is so cheerful but scien simmply refuses to let himself be moved. immediately: ]

The Society of Exorcists warped into a scam and a nightmare. It was not your fault.

[ simply ]

But Ortie escaping death row did make things harder on you. There is a benefit to it, as it did keep Nadia alive this long and she had the chance to be saved. Do not blame yourself for taking the first hand offered to you, to protect what you love most in the world.

[ especially after scien experienced the memory itself ]

However, it no longer serves you. That cult, and everything associated with it, will only get in your way.

[faithkept]

[He's just sitting here baffled because HE STILL DOESN'T KNOW ORTIE WAS ALSO THE FIRST MINISTER.]

I'm not certain that I follow? [But it's okay! He doesn't blame himself right now for anything. Life is good. God is also good or something, damn.]

You're telling me to leave the Society...?

[CHEERFULLY CONFUSED ONCE MORE. SCIEN'S CALLING HIM A CULTIST (REAL).]

[egodist]

[ a beat ]

I didn't realize we were working in the absolute basics.

[faithkept]

[JUST GIVING HIM A LOOK LIKE ??? but also still smiling.]

[egodist]

[ he pauses. this is going to be a pain, but he doesn't know if he'll get a more convenient chance where lucas is sitting and listening ]

The Society of Exorcists was first created by a certain woman. However, a freak researcher from the Institute who was arrested for experimenting on children for their genetic makeup escaped death row and killed her—that freak is Ortie. He took over as minister. And, with the stolen Reliver technology that I know you've seen, he remade himself as the minister every time he became close to death. The one who found you, the one who asks you to collect memory banks, the one who called himself... Capu...cino? [ ???? what's his new name???? ] The current Minister.

All the same person. Notice it in his speech patterns, the way he's covered head to toe to hide his Reliver mark, and how his successor always uses you.

[ concretes, if lucas finds himself unable to believe scien specifically at his word. please activate your critical thinking, you dumbass ]

You need to leave the Society. You need to stop taking his medicine. Every time you had your own thought, trying to protect your students instead of obeying orders, he would dull your thinking with it. [ a beat ] With a high enough dosage, he convinced you to attack someone who wasn't a Reliver. You became his puppet. [ ankou also was an immortal monster so like. yes. no. but yves still counts ] You were forced to harm one of your students at Ortie's direction, though you were able to leave him alive.

I am telling you this because you cannot protect Nadia from Ortie if you keep letting him take advantage of you. Both of you can still find happiness, but you cannot keep relying on this broken faith.