I NEED SOMEONE TO REMEMBER MY NAME | Febuary Catch-All

[the_obedient_servant]

Who: Chara + Others
What: Catch-all for closed threads through Febuary
When: The month of Febuary.
Where: All over the place.

Content Warnings: Suicidal ideation, co-dependency, existential despair, children up to NO GOOD, TBA.

Comments

cw for suicidal ideation

[the_obedient_servant]

[Hmm. So, she does understand, to the extent that she can within the confines of her own story. Perhaps all that's different is that she couldn't reach the same level of control that Chara could.

They're silent for a little while, and their expression is pretty unreadable.]

You don't have to keep apologizing.

...I spoke to a boy here, on this beach. He said that death is the only way to be free. I suspect that to be a lie too. You are immortalized by your legacy, that of a static tragedy. You do not get a choice of the role you'll play as your story is twisted.

There is nobody left but me to tell mine now. Frisk believes they know but they never reached the ending that I did. The true ending of our story, one where there is nobody left to tell it, and nobody left for it to be told to.

I didn't destroy an island, I didn't slaughter a family, I didn't settle for those I once loved.

I erased my pointless world and everything in it. Forever.

[forwantofahorse]

...

I lost count of how many message bottles I sent out to sea.

[There's a distant look in Sayo's eyes as she remembers her feverish scrawlings in the Golden Land, burning the midnight oil until it set her desk aflame as she wrote, wrote, wrote.

For a few, precious moments back then, she felt like she wasn't furniture anymore. That she was a witch, great and powerful, weaving infinite fragments with her stories.]

All of them were lies, of course. All discarded drafts for the mysteries I was planning to enshroud Rokkenjima in. I wanted to create a scandal so fantastic that it wouldn't let any of us rest in peace. That I could stay the Golden Witch, Beatrice, forever.

...I also wanted to be solved. For someone to really see me, even if it was long after I was dead. Stupid, I know. [She laughs harshly.] But since this me doesn't have the power to erase and destroy entire worlds, it was all I could do to control my own narrative after the tragedy was over and done with.

[Sighing, Sayo finally turns to look at Chara in the eye.] Still, in that respect, we are... very different. I'm not going to pretend I understand what led you here, Chara. I think that would be the gravest insult I could deliver; comparing my amateur writing to the gravity of what you did, what you chose to do. I can barely comprehend the scope of what you describe, if I'm being honest.

...but we both made ourselves into horror stories of our own volition, although you made sure yours would never be told and I made sure mine would spread forever. [She smiles wanly.] And I personally think that tea is best enjoyed in the company of fellow monsters.

[the_obedient_servant]

[Countless versions of one story to enshroud an island in mystery... It's hard for Chara to understand what it's like to create a story built on lies after living in a story built on lies.]

All stories are lies. It's in their very nature that they be built on deception and illusions. [UNDERTALE more so than many others.] Tea sounds excellent. Though, frankly, I wouldn't call myself a monster. My family were monsters, as were all the people I killed.

I always preferred what they called me on the surface. A demon.

Would you prefer it, then, if I were to call you Beatrice?

[forwantofahorse]

...I would appreciate that, I believe.

[The seed of Mariage Sorciere planted once again. Although without a single trace of innocence this time.]

A witch and a demon, eh? Quite a pair! [Despite the melancholy subject matter, Beatrice throws back her head and cackles. A deep, throaty witch's cackle, one that she has not released in one time. Acknowledgment, something close to understanding. Even without the spark of idealism...

It feels... nostalgic.

Sayo may have needed this.]

[the_obedient_servant]

[Maybe when they were younger, when embracing their role as a demon was just a childish fantasy, but now... it's all become real. For better and for worse. They used to be scared and fragile and angry, and now they're something cold and merciless and apathetic.

Chara doesn't cackle, it's not their style, but their lip does curl into a smirk. They much prefer this side to Sayo - or Beatrice, rather - to the meek persona she puts forward.]

Something to be feared, certainly. [And to cover their bases...] I think it goes without saying that if you keep my secrets, I'll keep yours.

We can even make it an infernal pact of sorts.

wrap?

[forwantofahorse]

Kyahaha! Mariage Sorciere reborn and a demonic contract rolled into one? Why, I thought Halloween wasn't due for months yet! [Grinning, Beatrice extends her hand to shake Chara's.

Beatrice isn't Sayo completely, of course. But it's a familiar, comfortable mask to wear, taking her farther and farther from the pitiful doormat Shannon than her own raw, shabby self could ever be.]