summonere | noctium inbox

[ Leaves crunch beneath her heels with each step, made louder by the silence around then. They’d made it quite far from the rest of the crowd. Her eyes stay forward, a practiced straight face whenever this topic came about. ]

He failed a test, so my other older brother killed him on our father’s orders.

[ Looking back at him again, she smiles emptily. ]

A delightful bunch we are, don’t you think?

Challenging, certainly.

[ Considering how often Dante and Vergil have been at each other's throats over the true meaning of Sparda's legacy... He doesn't find it too strange. Then again, he's spent his life playing by the rules of demons and fairies. Both sets of creatures are terribly prone to petty pointless killings. ]

Is that why you have so many siblings? Is the assumption that many more of you will die over time?

My father loves children, can’t you tell?

[ A shrug, as if it was the most obvious thing. And in a way, he did, but just the ones he benefited the most from.

V’s accepting reaction does make her wonder though, if his own complicated history had anything to do with that. ]

It’s probably his way of ensuring that the only the strongest will maintain the family line. We’re rather competitive.

[ The explanation certainly tells him something about her, why she is like this. Although someone with a personality that compliments his own-- well, he could have assumed certain complications to her history as well. ]

What are their names then, the others? And why aren't they your favorite?

[ It's his job to find a lie in all of this, of course he has to ask and judge her answers and reactions. ]

[ That was one way to find out how many siblings she had, wasn’t it? ]

Oh my, do you plan on memorizing them all? I don’t even bother with that, because they aren’t my favorites.

[ A lie, of course. One had to know their enemies to know what to look out for. Though some have learned to keep out of her way, so she rarely hears a peep from them. ]

Idiots and beasts [ Like Fontaine, who falls for the simplest provocations and desires his own sister. ] brats that don’t know their place [ Like Charlotte, who think they can take what is hers. ]

All chasing after approval they won’t ever receive, because my father only ever has room for three.

[ One of those three spots taken by herself.

Something dark skitters by in the corner of her eye, and Roxana reaches over, plucking a stray spider from his shoulder, allowing it to crawl around her fingers. ]

But I can tell you this,

[ As it makes it way to the palm of her hand, she crushes it, without a single change in her expression. ]

they certainly know mine.

[ She holds her hand to one of the ferrets, offering the spider to them should they still want it. ]

Next question?

[ A cute little ferret dances on her back legs to squeak for this treat, she accepts it into her little paws which is cute for a moment until she tears off a good chunk in one big bite. Or maybe that's still a little cute, depending on your perspective. The other pet barks jealously and so V bends down to offer another. A momentary distraction as he pets their heads, scritching carefully with one of his talons. ]

Whose death did you fake, and why?

[ It’s cute to her. Like how her butterflies swarm over a carcass and devour them, something about seemingly harmless creatures eating in such a brutal way was satisfying. They were just surviving, after all.

He moves on to the next, and it somehow cements even more that she’s no longer in her home. It was a secret that her life depended on, the one that took years of planning and even more to maintain. But, V’s responses so far have made her feel like he was less likely to judge her actions. Most likely, he’s done similar if not worse things. ]

Another family’s son whom my father had kidnapped.

[ She distances herself with her words, despite the warmth Cassis had made her feel for the brief time they were together. It was a dangerous feeling to have, and not one she could allow herself to entertain. ]

If he died at my family’s hands…it would have led to all our deaths. So I pretended to keep him as my toy, acted as if I was torturing him, and once he was well enough from his other wounds I sent him back. Of course, my father thinks he’s dead. So I had him eaten in front of him.

[ Would that even sound “real” to V? Well, that was the point, wasn’t it. ]

[ He doesn't have the right to judge much of anyone. In his former life, he had outright chosen the role of villain. Vergil had tried to unleash Hell on the human world more than once, and he suffered for his choices appropriately. His life in the Castle wasn't necessarily any more morally clear. V is a liar and a manipulator, someone hungry for power and control in the world-- But also someone trying to learn better. His best friend in that Castle had been an assassin, the boy he bonded with was a piece of an destructive, immortal creature.

V doesn't judge, he simply takes notes. ]

All that to protect such a delightful family?

[ This brings a laugh out of her, genuinely humored. It was a strangely pleasant feeling. ]

I’m not as strong as the rest of them. If it came to a fight like that, I will certainly lose. So yes, I had to spare them along with myself.

[ She pauses here, crouching down to watch the ferrets more closely. This wasn’t something she’s divulged to anyone else, not even to her closes attendant, Emma. ]

And because…I will be the one to bring this family down.

[ With her own hands, she would get her revenge for Ashil. The Agrece would fall as it did in the original story, but it would be on her terms. It might sound righteous to bring down the villains of the story, but the path to that was anything but. ]

I told you we’re competitive.

[ She was every bit an Agrece. ]

Oh? That feels like winning to you?

[ An airy question, the judgment of it all is only a facade to see what kind of reaction that gets. ]

[ To someone more honorable, such as the young man she saved, planning the demise of her own family was probably no better than the terrible acts they’ve pulled. But to her, ripping the rug from right under her family’s noses was justice. In the end, it would cost her her own life too. It’s already costing her her life, the poison deteriorating her from the inside. ]

I imagine it will.

[ There was no other role for her in that story anyway. ]

What would winning be for you?

[ A faint sneer that would make him look like Vergil if only his face were different. For so long winning had meant power, had meant humiliating Dante and finally, finally proving that he was the true heir to their father's legacy. For Dante, winning had meant love. Being together as brothers and overcoming their past together. That often seems just as ridiculous. ]

I think I'd leave them all to find my own way forward.

[ She’s not offended. It was an understandable response from someone outside of it all.

But there was no where the she could go that they couldn’t reach. Dion would tear castles down to find her. The only exception, it seems, would be being sent to a different world. ]

Does my story bother you?

No.

[ Maybe it does, but it shouldn't. He's several years and several worlds away from his family drama. Although difficult to stick to that resolution when your existence is a direct result of that drama. ]

I would be a poor scribe if I was troubled by every story.

So it doesn’t bother you that I plan on decimating my family?

[ She’s joking, partially. But he hasn’t looked too offended by anything she’s said. Roxana’s more accustomed to judgment than acceptance, so it wouldn’t have bothered her. Although it would have been somewhat disappointing. She was starting to enjoy his company.]

You’re quite the open-minded scribe. But I assume that’s what makes a good one.

Anything short of destroying the world will not move me much. We all make our own choices. I have no bearing on yours.

I suppose, if I was being gracious, I could assume one or two of your many siblings might be capable of a change of heart. But I'm unlikely to meet them to make such a determination.

[ So, as you were, Lady Agrece. ]

And hopefully you never do.

[ She chuckles, holding her hand out to him to help her stand back up. ]

Feel like you might have answer yet?

[ He provides it without hesitation, extending out black claws. ]

Of the options presented, the simplest place would be to change the exact number of siblings.

[ What a way to word that but he doesn't really expect it to be that simple. She's more clever than that and when you're playing with someone clever they can make even the truth a lie. ]

I'm hardly going to keep you here to relay me your entire family tree for verification.

[ And she doesn’t hesitate to take it, wrapping her long, delicate fingers around it as she stands. Even when she’s upright, she doesn’t let go just yet, the feeling of synchrony truly quite pleasing. ]

I wouldn’t bore you with that either. I save torture for those I don’t like.

[ A joke, sort of. ]

Is that your final answer?

[ He might’ve caught on to her, even if he didn’t know the exact answer, and she was being difficult on purpose so she won’t hold it against him. ]

Well, we don't have all night. It may as well be.

[ Even if he loses, he still received something that he finds of value: the stories of others. He is the scribe, that is the work. ]

We might not have all night, but…

[ Her smile widens a touch, her hand slipping along his fingers before pulling away completely. ]

We’ll have a whole day next time.

[ He gives a theatrical little bow as she slips away. He is competitive, but a much more gracious loser than Vergil ever was. ]

Are you pleased?

Pleased, yes, satisfied?

[ It wasn’t the fairest of games, and she thinks that she might have some fun going at it again on an even playing ground.

She steps around him as if circling him, studying his face like she was imaging the kind of expression he might make. ]

I’d like to see what really drives you more.

Until next time, then.

[ He hasn't exactly hidden anything but he is a chimera of a thing, driven by strange impulses and old memories that no longer belong to him. She might find it entertaining enough. ]

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