burnstrike | chasma pcs: alisaie

[She doesn't mean for it to happen. Alisaie's out in the marketplace, examining the statues the way she'd said she meant to in the meeting the night before, when she catches sight of a strange shard of glass next to her foot. Her initial thought is to dispose of it, but as soon as she picks it up...

Well. Hello, Tesleen.

Goodbye, Tesleen.]

[ Nanaly happens to be at the market at the same time, looking through the grocers' stalls for some ingredients that might still be good for cooking. When she sees Alisaie over by the statues, she heads over to say hello, but at that moment--

Oh.

She stands there for a moment in a state of shock, from all the raw emotion that had for that brief time been hers -- the fear, the deep affection for this girl she'd never even met, the pain of such a sudden and terribly cruel loss. ]

Ah...

[ She blinks, reorienting herself to the return to her own reality... and when she looks up and sees that angel statue behind Alisaie now, she winces. Those have been a reminder of that loss for her this whole time, haven't they? ]

...I'm sorry. I know I wasn't supposed to see that.

[It takes her a moment to turn around--the pain of losing Tesleen like that is still fresh. Alisaie gathers herself and takes a breath, and when she looks at Nanaly she's in control of herself. At least, as in control as could be hoped for after that.]

It's all right. It's not a memory I'd like to show to anyone, but if it was going to happen, you're one of the few I would trust with it.

I'm sorry, too. I ought to have looked around before I picked it up.

[ She shakes her head. ]

Can't blame you for that. You're not in the habit of checking to see if people are watching every little thing you do, right? That's for creeps and sneaks with something to hide.

[ And Alisaie's an honest person who speaks her mind, even if there are things she'd rather keep to herself.

There's a pause; maybe she shouldn't try to talk about any of that at all, but she's always believed that pain is easier to deal with when you can talk about it with someone. ]

...That wasn't something that could be reversed, was it?

[Her eyes drop to the ground--it's not that she minds being open with Nanaly, but it's still a difficult subject.]

No. Once the change is wrought, there is no going back. They are reduced to their basest instincts--to seek out the aether of other living beings to satisfy their hunger. They seek only to feed and multiply. [Except for [jet engine noise], but that's not pertinent to this conversation.]

The boy you saw, Halric... he had been touched by their corruption as well. Not like Tesleen, but a sin eater had planted a seed of light within him as a seed in soil. Those cases were just as difficult to bear witness to.

[ More than understandable, and she won't push it if Alisaie doesn't want her to. ]

I'm sorry. Seeing someone slipping away slowly hurts a lot, but losing someone so quickly and unexpectedly has to be just as hard.

[ Especially if they're still there but as something barely recognizable. ]

If there's anything unresolved between you, I guess you don't have any chance to work it out.

[That gets a humorless chuckle out of Alisaie.] It was worse than what you saw, actually. Shortly after, Alphinaud and I assisted a few others in the evacuation of a town under attack from the sin eaters.

[...]

Tesleen was one of them.

[So, uh. They worked that out, if you wanna phrase it that way...]

But I know she's at peace now.

chasma pcs: alisaie

tuesday

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