AUDIENCE: HIKARU

[retellers]

Comments

[heartablaze]

What... do you know, then, Goat-kun?

I can go to the other leaders if I need to, but I... wanna hear whatever I can. There's only four of us left, and I...

I don't want to be a burden on Chijin or Haku-san or Onee-chan... or you. I want to know what's happening, even if it's not a good thing to hear. I don't want to blame the people who killed others when their only other option was going to be worse, and I don't want to blame the people that kept secrets for those they loved because they were frightened.

I blame this place. And I want to figure out how to stop this splintering, before anyone else needs to die.

[retellers]

[ he tilts his head. ]

Young one, I truly do not know anything that you do not, that I can say. Why do you assume I do?

[heartablaze]

Someone does, Goat-kun. And I don't want to keep finding answers on accident. I'm...

[An exhale, very subtly frustrated, before her composure comes right back.]

I'm tired of watching the people I love hurt. That's all.

[retellers]

Then I advise you to keep doing your best and talk to others.

[heartablaze]

...

I'll try, Goat-kun.

I know you said there might be a way to bring the removed people back, and you know where they are now. Is... there any way we can get them across that bridge you talked about? Not right now, but... someday?

[retellers]

That would be the way to bring them back, I imagine. Essentially, in this context, it would be the same as reviving the dead.

[heartablaze]

You said it's really unsafe, though... If we tried it right now, it would be really bad, right?

I wonder what we can do to make it safer for them.

[retellers]

Participants have no way of accessing the path right now. Even if they did try, I imagine they would only shatter inside.

[heartablaze]

Mmn.

We don't, but... you still do. It wasn't something you knew about before, so things are changing. I'm gonna believe they'll keep changing.

Elsa-sama said that the Realm is like a tree that's growing around some of the things we're doing. That we're affecting what happens, but that we just can't do it directly. That path can't be any different, can it?

[retellers]

Likely so. It is affected by nova, at the very least.

[heartablaze]

[She nods.]

I wonder if the others... the removed... I wonder if they can still create Nova. They still remember us, which means they can still create memories, so... maybe they can still help.

[She pulls an oreo out of her skirt pocket. Delicious! She just twists it apart for now, brow furrowing.]

Have you only remembered the one thing? Or have you been getting more as we get more nova?

[retellers]

I have regained memories alongside the rest of you--however, nothing of what I recall would be of assistance to you or anyone.

[heartablaze]

It's okay. I just... I always want to know more about you, Goat-kun.

I know a couple things - that you're kind and you try your best, and that all you want to do is help no matter what happens. I know you like bread and the Oreo cereal. I know animals like you, and you really seem to feel at home with them... and you seem really happy when you draw. I think Goat-kun is a gentle person, so...

I'm sorry if it's pushy to keep asking. I'm just hopeful for you, and for the others. I want to help you remember.

[retellers]

I do not mind, though... most of what I remember is not very happy, I should warn you.

[heartablaze]

I don't mind. Some of what I can still remember isn't happy, either. [Quite the opposite.] That doesn't always make it a bad thing, even if you'd want it to go away... It's still something that made you who you were once, you know?

[retellers]

It's not that I want them to go away, exactly... It is important to learn from past failures.

But they're not the sort of stories that others necessarily want to hear.

[heartablaze]

Maybe not.

I'm here, though, if you ever need somebody to listen. I don't know how much I can say, but... it's hard to have nobody who understands what you go through, you know? Sometimes, even those hard things are important to say.

[retellers]

It is fine. Many here have assured me that I am not alone.

[heartablaze]

[Ah. She looks a little torn, but thank god for [redacted] because she's just chill about .5 seconds later instead of worrying about it.]

I'm glad, then. As long as you've told somebody. We'll help you remember.

Haku-san mentioned you might have lost one of your powers... is that right?

[retellers]

[ he nods slowly. ]

The ability to manifest items, as that was one bestowed upon me by the Realm. Every other power is my own, and so has remained with me.

[heartablaze]

Can you still use your ice powers? I guess I should have asked when I first met, but I thought that was all the magic you had outside the portals and stuff.

[retellers]

Unlike most of the other Leaders, my power over ice was originally mine, so yes.

[heartablaze]

And the Realm let you keep your powers anyway, huh?

I wonder why it took all of ours away and not yours.

[retellers]

It is part of what was protected, in return for losing all of our memories. The Realm could not handle everyone's powers without destabilizing.