and then just absolutely fucking LAUNCHES himself at sazantos (not sazantos?), swinging his axe in a great, wide strike, and shouts at the top of his lungs sorry ashlyn ]
[ well she was going to come maybe help rondo out somehow. (how.) but instead she stands up and takes like two steps in his direction before being temporarily immobilized
she's proud of rondo but also somehow not.......... ]
[oop. there goes ashlyn. her friends all jump up, startled, and try to reach for her, making sure she's okay. all of them are smiling.
for rondo, though.
in another world, in another universe, sazantos would've dodged him. scoffed, rolling his eyes. do you always shout a warning right before you come at someone, you moron? not very wide open after that. maybe he would've slapped at the back of rondo's head, even, unimpressed as always. just like normal. just like the way it was supposed to be. a world, kept safe by the guardians of the flame, sacred and forever burning with what is right.
what happens instead is rondo slices him completely in half.
it's a messy affair. the axe goes through sazantos without much resistance, but the thing is that violence like this is never sanitized and easy. the slice catches him at the torso, right below his arm, and goes diagonal, down to his hip. his organs spill from his chest cavity, only just barely caught in places by his ribs. blood splatters across rondo's face, across his clothes. and maybe the worst part about it is sazantos's expression.
betrayed. you... you did this. why would you do this?
he chokes, blood gurgling up from his throat. dies slow, scrabbling at the ground. it's undignified. his eyes are wide and - maybe a little terrified.
it startles him, to say the least. sure, he doesn't know how to use an axe, but - that's the thing. it's sazantos. it doesn't matter. every single time he's launched himself at him yelling, he's blocked him, sent him thrown backwards, rolled his eyes. now, of course, things are different. now, this is what's expected.
now, as the flameguard, he has to kill him. it's the way things have to be. sazantos, armed with the accursed flame, and rondo, the sacred. and though he's fought him, it's never once been easy. he's never, never once, been able to just land a hit with no struggle, and not - not like this. the axe grinds in and his breath catches in horror.
blood splatters the front of his clothing.
the betrayal is - it's, that's not how this goes, that's not. he wouldn't - he'd never - the scrabbling, the fear, that's not -- (and how can he know, that someday, sazantos willl say, i don't want to die?)
he yanks the axe free as fast as he can, stunned, and takes a step backwards, horrified. ]
Sa.. [ no - no, no, that's not - this is how it's supposed to be - ] Sir Sazantos.
[ this is how it has to be. this is what he's going to have to do. this was -
he stumbles back, eyes wet with tears, and just - he just stares. ]
[ ashlyn isn't used to seeing this kind of violence. it's not her first time seeing someone get hurt, and bad. but she's far from desensitized to it. it's not usually this... much, maybe.
once she recovers her footing, she moves to go stand next to rondo, reaching out to touch his arm gently. ]
Not real. Come on.
[ she doesn't want to look back at her friends. she's afraid they'll still be smiling. ]
[you had a chance to be happy. your hopes, your dreams. you could have had them.
there's this strange sensation as the both of you deal with this violence - like something was in place. something was trying to make sure you got your happy ending, but not any more. you've broken something. or... someone has, it wasn't your decision. and now you'll never have it again.
sazantos chokes, a rattle of a breath, and then his eyes go dull. he doesn't even get last words. that's not how reality goes. you don't get closure. you just watch someone you love die unceremonious at your hand. the music is gone now, and the pleasure chamber is empty, save for the pool. the water is still and tepid.
ashlyn doesn't look back. her friends are so, so quiet. deathly quiet.
do you leave the mirror? it's open. there's a way out.]
[ it's not real. it's not real, because it just can't be. this isn't how this is supposed to go. rondo can't - he can't let himself get into it. he can't. they're - they have to go somewhere. they have to walk the right path. hope - hope needs them. and rondo needs his hope. he has to hold onto the path that he has to walk, he has to do the right thing. no matter how hard it is. no matter how awful it is. no matter how much it hurts.
rondo kneels down. blood on his knees, blood on his shaking hands, and he reaches... and he closes sazantos' blue, blue eyes. something he won't get to at home, he doesn't think. he's not even sure if there'll be a body left to bury. perfect worlds don't exist. reality is what it is. messy, ugly, beautiful, full of love and hate and greed and desire and selflessness and kindness. reality is what it is. ]
... I'm sorry. [ rondo says, very, very quietly.
and eyes wet, he stands up, and he wipes his arm across his face, and he squares his shoulders, and he waits for ashlyn to catch up so they can head out of this awful mirror together. ]
[ bad. forever. everything is bad. as they make it to the edge, he reaches up and squeezes ashlyn's shoulder, once, bolstering for himself and for her, too. it's not real, and that's what they have to concern themselves with. don't look back.
as they step back out, rondo does remember, as he's composing himself. there's a thing! ]
You're not hurt any further, right? There's - I saw something, at the bottom of the pool. It might be... I'm going to dive down to get it.
[ god knows he wants to wash sazantos' blood off of himself. he puts the axe back on his back, and once he's pretty sure there's nothing else horrible out here that's going to attack them, he goes to start diving down into the water. ]
I'll be here. [ they don't both need to go diving for it, but she won't wander off this time. she'll be waiting in case something goes horrifically wrong. you never know. ]
[ oh good. neat. is it a big hammer or a small hammer.... i am duel wielding. thank the gods - it was worth it.
when he surfaces, rondo comes up for air... hammer first, lifted in the air like he's thor, and then his head pops up afterwards. rondo swims over to the opposite edge of the pool, pops out, and shakes himself off like a dog so he doesn't splash ashlyn, and then makes his way over to her, hammer in hand.
he shows it to her with a smile. tired, now. hurting, his heart aching, but it's there. mission complete. (maybe). ] One down. Let's go find the others.
[it's a pretty big hammer, it's like the size of your greataxe so like... you'd have to twohand it. you've got it now! it vibrates in your hands when you do, like it is uncertain that it wants you to hold it.
back out to the hallway we go to wait just a bit for the others to get out of their exfoliating.]
[ this hammer is going to have to go to lavi, the hammer guy. for now, he will grip it tightly, rubbing his thumb against the side of it and feeling that Uncertain Feeling, mumbling We'll get you to where you're supposed to go. I swear it.
that's what iwatooshi would want him to do, right? for now, rondo will wait in the hallway, close to ashlyn and protectively in front of her, watching the door to the other room like a hawk, or like an anxious dog that's locked out of the bedroom. ]
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and then just absolutely fucking LAUNCHES himself at sazantos (not sazantos?), swinging his axe in a great, wide strike, and shouts at the top of his lungs sorry ashlyn ]
YOU'RE WIDE OPEN!!!!
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she's proud of rondo but also somehow not.......... ]
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for rondo, though.
in another world, in another universe, sazantos would've dodged him. scoffed, rolling his eyes. do you always shout a warning right before you come at someone, you moron? not very wide open after that. maybe he would've slapped at the back of rondo's head, even, unimpressed as always. just like normal. just like the way it was supposed to be. a world, kept safe by the guardians of the flame, sacred and forever burning with what is right.
what happens instead is rondo slices him completely in half.
it's a messy affair. the axe goes through sazantos without much resistance, but the thing is that violence like this is never sanitized and easy. the slice catches him at the torso, right below his arm, and goes diagonal, down to his hip. his organs spill from his chest cavity, only just barely caught in places by his ribs. blood splatters across rondo's face, across his clothes. and maybe the worst part about it is sazantos's expression.
betrayed. you... you did this. why would you do this?
he chokes, blood gurgling up from his throat. dies slow, scrabbling at the ground. it's undignified. his eyes are wide and - maybe a little terrified.
weren't you supposed to save him, rondo?]
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it startles him, to say the least. sure, he doesn't know how to use an axe, but - that's the thing. it's sazantos. it doesn't matter. every single time he's launched himself at him yelling, he's blocked him, sent him thrown backwards, rolled his eyes. now, of course, things are different. now, this is what's expected.
now, as the flameguard, he has to kill him. it's the way things have to be. sazantos, armed with the accursed flame, and rondo, the sacred. and though he's fought him, it's never once been easy. he's never, never once, been able to just land a hit with no struggle, and not - not like this. the axe grinds in and his breath catches in horror.
blood splatters the front of his clothing.
the betrayal is - it's, that's not how this goes, that's not. he wouldn't - he'd never - the scrabbling, the fear, that's not -- (and how can he know, that someday, sazantos willl say, i don't want to die?)
he yanks the axe free as fast as he can, stunned, and takes a step backwards, horrified. ]
Sa.. [ no - no, no, that's not - this is how it's supposed to be - ] Sir Sazantos.
[ this is how it has to be. this is what he's going to have to do. this was -
he stumbles back, eyes wet with tears, and just - he just stares. ]
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once she recovers her footing, she moves to go stand next to rondo, reaching out to touch his arm gently. ]
Not real. Come on.
[ she doesn't want to look back at her friends. she's afraid they'll still be smiling. ]
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there's this strange sensation as the both of you deal with this violence - like something was in place. something was trying to make sure you got your happy ending, but not any more. you've broken something. or... someone has, it wasn't your decision. and now you'll never have it again.
sazantos chokes, a rattle of a breath, and then his eyes go dull. he doesn't even get last words. that's not how reality goes. you don't get closure. you just watch someone you love die unceremonious at your hand. the music is gone now, and the pleasure chamber is empty, save for the pool. the water is still and tepid.
ashlyn doesn't look back. her friends are so, so quiet. deathly quiet.
do you leave the mirror? it's open. there's a way out.]
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rondo kneels down. blood on his knees, blood on his shaking hands, and he reaches... and he closes sazantos' blue, blue eyes. something he won't get to at home, he doesn't think. he's not even sure if there'll be a body left to bury. perfect worlds don't exist. reality is what it is. messy, ugly, beautiful, full of love and hate and greed and desire and selflessness and kindness. reality is what it is. ]
... I'm sorry. [ rondo says, very, very quietly.
and eyes wet, he stands up, and he wipes his arm across his face, and he squares his shoulders, and he waits for ashlyn to catch up so they can head out of this awful mirror together. ]
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but she manages. ]
Let's go.
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the thing is still in the water, presumably.]
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as they step back out, rondo does remember, as he's composing himself. there's a thing! ]
You're not hurt any further, right? There's - I saw something, at the bottom of the pool. It might be... I'm going to dive down to get it.
[ god knows he wants to wash sazantos' blood off of himself. he puts the axe back on his back, and once he's pretty sure there's nothing else horrible out here that's going to attack them, he goes to start diving down into the water. ]
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[ physically. ]
I'll be here. [ they don't both need to go diving for it, but she won't wander off this time. she'll be waiting in case something goes horrifically wrong. you never know. ]
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rondo dives! he gets allllll the way to the bottom, and his fingers wrap around the handle of a hammer! oooooh.]
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when he surfaces, rondo comes up for air... hammer first, lifted in the air like he's thor, and then his head pops up afterwards. rondo swims over to the opposite edge of the pool, pops out, and shakes himself off like a dog so he doesn't splash ashlyn, and then makes his way over to her, hammer in hand.
he shows it to her with a smile. tired, now. hurting, his heart aching, but it's there. mission complete. (maybe). ] One down. Let's go find the others.
[ surely they aren't turned into debtor tables ]
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once rondo is back, she gives him a little nod. ]
Sure. We'll see what they've found.
[ and hopefully they're okay. off we goooo. ]
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back out to the hallway we go to wait just a bit for the others to get out of their exfoliating.]
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that's what iwatooshi would want him to do, right? for now, rondo will wait in the hallway, close to ashlyn and protectively in front of her, watching the door to the other room like a hawk, or like an anxious dog that's locked out of the bedroom. ]
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