[Text: Marlene]

[taking_names]

[more artifacts from week 32 sorry!]

So I assume by now you heard what I did and think I am the worst person on the continent.

If that is somehow not the case please let me know, otherwise my plan is to hide from you forever if that's all right.

Comments

[marleneonthewall]

Why, what did you do?

[yup, Duncan never quite explained to her how Missie died]

[taking_names]

[she doesn't know?! Heimdall, what, didn't you think it was important to blacken his name??

...why is he offended by this]

I'm afraid to tell you even from presumably miles and miles away.

[marleneonthewall]

[all she knows is that Missie ended up dead and Duncan killed the Vahishta to resurrect her. He didn't tell her the whole story because he has not told all that many people the whole story. Too much shit going on to remember to bother.]

Er...

That bad, is it?

[taking_names]

Think of the worst possible thing you could expect me to say that I did and then multiply it by a thousand.

[marleneonthewall]

I can imagine some fairly awful things, you might need to point me in a direction.

Or just say it.

[taking_names]

Do you know your player's sister?

[marleneonthewall]

He's got a few, I think. I know Missie.

[taking_names]

That's probably the one.

[breathe in, breathe out]

I killed her a little.

[it definitely wasn't a little]

[marleneonthewall]

[what.]

[she just stares at this for a minute.]

[she knows Nova hated Duncan, made some threats, Duncan didn't trust him, etc... She also knows that Missie died and Duncan didn't tell her how.]

[the pieces fit together. he's probably not fucking with her.]

Why?

[taking_names]

My life sort of devolved into nothing but a rivalry with the players and then I tried to end the rivalry because my side of it wasn't valid but then there was just nothing, and things in my head started to get strange.

The best way to explain it is I wanted to beat one of them at something and I saw an opportunity to trick her and I didn't think about anything else until I'd made a giant mess.

[marleneonthewall]

Oh, Nova.

[She feels sad for him, really. That's a terrible mess to make of your post-awakening life.]

[If Missie had stayed dead she'd be angrier about this. She is a little bit angry, but she's more sad that Nova didn't see any other way for things to go. Was he really that hopeless? Could she have said or done something to make things turn out differently...?]

You know she's come back blind?

[taking_names]

[he was sure she was going to breathe fire

he must be really good at explaining himself!]

I heard. I haven't said anything to her, though. I'm not sure what to follow that with except "I promise never to do it again," but I did such a good job of making peace with her right before I killed her that I don't think she'd believe me if I tried to make another peace.

[marleneonthewall]

It's probably best if you just let her be. Getting killed isn't the sort of thing you forgive easy.

Don't forgive yourself for it easy, either. That was a monstrous thing to do to someone.

[taking_names]

Should I be angrier at myself?

[is that voluntary?]

[marleneonthewall]

Yeah, for being a bloody idiot!

Honestly, you haven't got to KILL someone to beat them at something.

[taking_names]

That became very obvious to me afterward.

[marleneonthewall]

Good! Cause if you do it again I'm not going to feel even a little bad for you.

[taking_names]

[trying to beat himself up over it sounds difficult... and pointless

he regrets it, and he still doesn't quite understand why he did it, but it never quite becomes guilt

but this seems like a bad thing to point out]

Thank you for not hating me for it.

If you don't, that is.

[marleneonthewall]

Oi, does Duncan know it was you?

[taking_names]

Who's that?

[marleneonthewall]

Her brother. Heimdall.

[she just thinks he doesn't know Heimdall's real name, or forgot it]

[taking_names]

Oh-- yes, he knows. He killed me and brought me back, that's why I'm so much calmer and full of perspective now.

[marleneonthewall]

You're joking!

He didn't tell me that part either!

[taking_names]

I guess he's been busy curing diseases and such.

[marleneonthewall]

I was with him for the whole first night and all he ever told me was the parts about his sister dying and him resurrecting her!

That bloody bastard, was he scared of how I'd react?