[closed] the price quest

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WHO: Xiaolang Li, Leon Zhong, Mio Sonozaki, Izumi Sena and Cloud Strife
WHERE: The wild, wild woods of Bosuma
WHEN: May 18th-20th
WHAT: who keeps sending the thirteen year old on missions-- They're on a Zee Quest!
WARNINGS: Language on Sena's end?? Also probable violence towards not so friendly forest creatures and possible mentions of murder-memories with Mio! Will update when needed!



You know, there’s something about Retrospec users that draws a lot of secrecy and hidden talent. It’s kind of interesting if you think about it, but that’s what makes you perfect for this assignment. Interested?



[arrival + painting | monster fighting | witch's house | downtime]

Comments

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[Out of all the concerning things to happen during this conversation, Mio starting to cry was probably one of the worse. He honestly didn't think she could cry, prior to all of this. She always seemed so confident, so brash, more likely to bring someone else to tears than break down on her own. But, as Xiaolang was quickly learning, he knew a lot less about Mio than he assumed. Seeing her try to hold back a sob, the tears hovering on her voice... it felt wrong. She shouldn't have to be reduced to this.

Quietly, he lets go of her shirt, reaching into his pocket to get a pack of tissues, before tapping them against her arm gently.]

... here.

[She wasn't in tears just yet, but they were there in case she needed them. And really... he couldn't help but feel responsible for all of this. Maybe he shouldn't have tried to pry the information out of her In the first place, and while it was good that he knew now, and she had one more person to share the burden with... was it really worth all of this?

He can't help but frown a bit, though, at her reasoning behind it. Again, there were uncomfortable parallels with Sakura remembering her trial, and him recalling her failing it, but he wasn't about to bring that up. It seemed trite in comparison to what could possibly afflict her in the future.]

Not all the memories we get have real reason behind them. It could just be explaining... Shion's actions. It doesn't necessarily mean they'll give it back to you. They've done stupid things in the past, but-- they can't do it. There's no good reason for it.

[Whether he's trying to convince Mio or himself of this fact was debatable. Xiaolang wasn't much of an optimist-- he tried to look at things as realistically as he could-- but he couldn't help but hope for the best for this. That this was just to put things in perspective in her memories.

But Mio's memories were another thing on their own, and getting concerned about the disease covered up the larger issue at hand. She knew about these murders, these deaths of hers, because she saw them play out in her head. She had to witness all of that, with hardly anyone to talk to about it...]

... you don't need to apologize, though. If anything, that should be me doing that, not you.

[promisedyou]

[He was definitely quickly learning a lot about her now, and it almost, in some ways made her feel uncomfortable in spite of the comforts that it brought being able to tell him. Maybe it's the guilt that sits in the pit of her stomach - of being able to tell Xiaolang, but not being able to tell her own sister makes it feel like there's some sort of double standard here.

In fact, she brings her arm to her eyes to wipe any tears that tempted to fall, any tears that were already dotting her lashes and dared to fall to begin with.

When he taps her arm though, she turns around and smiles in a way that's an attempt to be reassuring. As if she's trying to brush off all the pain and sorrow that comes with such a heavy burden.]

I don't know about that.

[While it might be kind to convince her otherwise, Mio's thought about this long and hard in her head.]

It's like asking "why do they give us our memories back", I guess...

[To her, saying those words alone feels foreign; as if she's struggling with saying it in the first place. Maybe there would be no good reason normally. But everyone has been getting things that belonged to 'their past lives', so to speak, so that means that there has to be something behind it...]

I mean, I don't even know if they can control what's given back like that or the reasons behind it. But explaining Shion's actions, huh? I wonder.

[She's always felt that she can't entirely blame it all on an illness. It would be stupid of her to shift it like that. Because she's well aware that isn't entirely the case. Because she knows Shion's feelings. She understands it, all too well in spite of the fact that she shouldn't. And it makes her sick.

Sick because she does get it.]

Thank you. [Those two words are enough to convey so much.]