Private ✪ Finweald Dream, That I Can Never Have Again

[Lune]

"Interview?"

The woman recalled having seen one or two of these particular posters but never bothered to read any of them. Apparently, @Rael was looking to interview people for interesting stories, particularly past, historical ones. And she even offers free food, too! How does she not get bankrupt from this? People must be lining up ready to tell her exciting stories. Or their exaggerated version of it.

She remembered during that clean-up job, the pink-haired elf was listening to and writing a lot of stories. Perhaps, that was her means to connect more to this world. Recording the histories, trying to feel what people actually feel during every moment. Very similar to songwriting, which she does herself.

With the blessing (or curse?) that Lune got, a lot of important memories also came with it. Memories that weren't hers, memories that she wouldn't ever dream.

People came and go, that's natural. Still, any knowledge must be preserved. How many Starcalled actually lived that long to tell the tales of old, like the Yladian Exodus? Azog, the Prince of Fire? Civil War? Dragonfall?

... Just the King?

Of course the other voice chimed in after all that thinking, she's the one having witnessed all of it firsthand.

He's a UI-lock, that's not good, innit?

I literally never used that slang. Anyway, knowledge-sharing sounds important, then.

And so, the woman departed to the tavern frequented by the storyteller, per the many instructions on how to contact her. Luckily, this establishment was one of the few that was largely untouched by the magia directives. Seating herself at one of the tables, she looked around to see if the elf was around or not.

It's not that she has anything else to do today, anyway.

@Rael

 

[Rael]

.

"You got another one."

"Another?"

Days passed in an incoherent blur ever since the Mother of Machines' defeat.

Days blended in together with one another, work never scarce as a multitude of requests for aid piled up from the different factions, calling for whoever was left to lend a helping hand.

Had it been not for the intervention of the tavern keeper, she might as well have forgotten how often she conducted her own personal business in his establishment, and left before even chancing a glance at the figure that sat down at the specified table.

Her lips parted with the soft intake of breath, a memory recalled as she made her way to her soon-to-be new acquaintance's table, identifying her less as a stranger and more as one she had once perceived as a threat. Not to her personal safety, but to the plan she had enacted on the battlefield.

Rael had accomplished her goal, had enacted her will upon the world and saw it change to her whim within the span of seconds at the expense of many others. There was no joy to be had in such a costly victory, in the blood-soaked roads paved for it to be achieved.

When all had been said and done, the repercussions suffered day after day, would she see it the same way? Would she remember, would she care?

The Storyteller conceded that even in the most merciful circumstance, the very least she could ask for was not to be spared of hatred or persecution, but a chance to be heard.

"Do excuse my lateness, there was a minor complication with an errand... Most of the rubble has yet to be removed from the roads," Rael began so as to catch the woman's attention, a hand thrust closer by way of greeting. "Thank you for coming, and for taking time out of your schedule for this. May I have your name?"

---

@Lune ​

 

[Lune]

Fortunately, she didn't have to wait for long. As soon as Lune spotted a pink silhouette coming around, the woman slowly got up from her seat to greet her. Basic courtesy.

"Oh, yeah, we're not acquainted yet." They actually were, but she was Moonsong back then. Not going to mention any of it at the moment, because it might add more unnecessary complications. Also hope Rael doesn't catch on or anything, because apparently, elves in this game have weird detective powers.

She introduced herself with a firm handshake and a slight nod, "Call me Lune." Motioning the elf to sit down and join her, her lips pursed and she paused for a while just as she was about to speak.

Wait, am I supposed to tell stories that were not even mine?

Go pretend they were yours or something. I don't really care.

Yeah, I'm not going to take credit for any of that. We'll just see when we get there.

Rael would sense multiple emotions beginning to stir inside the now half-blonde, half-blue-haired woman. As if they belonged to different persons, but originated from the same place.

"So, where should we start? There's a lot of history to be told," Lune's finger began to tap on the table rhythmically, setting up the tone before shrugging. "And maybe at the end, you'll understand why I did what I did."

She's talking about her stance regarding Szofrit's fate, of course.

@Rael

 

[Rael]

.

"Ah," though it didn't quite show on her face, she felt caught. Gratitude seeped through the cracks as she recognized the gesture to be a kindness in the disguise of a passing comment, one deliberately made to assuage what concerns yet remained tucked out of sight.

In the quiet that ensued, the elf prepared the tools of her trade, swiping at the air here and there and summoning her grimoire from its rest in her inventory, and with it, her brush, her quill. All enchanted for ease of record-keeping.

Rael's fingers halted as she fluttered through the pages, recognizing the influence of another's emotions upon her own. Her attention turned back to the bicolor-haired adventurer who would undoubtedly feel the weight of the storyteller's undivided attention, but no more. Without saying anything on it, she continued.

"As I have stated in the pamphlets you must've found, you are free to order anything throughout your stay here. All expenses covered."

The page, according to the warrioress' introduction, was titled Lune.

"If you would, then… I would know what faction you are currently affiliated with; how long you have been in Terrasphere; and if you are familiar with the concepts of UI-Locks and the deaths surrounding this game. Please explain the full extent of your understanding on the latter."

An empty section would remain below, there to fill out the details and notes collected throughout the interview to gain a better sense of the person a tale would be inspired by.

"I will fully state that I reserve myself the right to ask you to elaborate on certain topics where I might deem more precise details to be needed, and to gloss over certain events. For full disclosure, it's been brought to my attention that my questions can border on the invasive and personal - not limited to, but including, your counterpart on the other world.

Should this present a problem, please do tell."

---

@Lune ​

 

[Lune]

"That so? I'm just going to order some tea," Raising her hand, she waved to the tavernkeeper to relay her order before turning back to Rael, smirking. "For now," She added jokingly.

As Rael listed her questions, the blue-haired reaver was already trying to structure the answers in her head while nodding toward the other woman. The following statement caught her off-guard— some sort of disclaimer that any question could touch on her real-life information.

"Hmm..." Thinking for a time, Lune tapped the table with her fingers in a rhythm again while weighing the consequences. But she quickly accepted the terms somehow. "... Not a problem."

The tavernkeeper came with the drink she ordered, just in time as she was starting to answer the questions, and the elf was ready to document the interview. "I'm in the Adventurer's Guild, currently Platinum Rank."

"How long have I been in Terrasphere?" Lune repeated the question, her right hand picking up the cup, swirling it slowly while her eyes wandered, as if searching for a suitable answer to a seemingly trivial question. "More or less one year..." She enigmatically paused, sipping the cup of tea before continuing, all while maintaining eye contact with Rael "...Physically."

"UI-locking is a phenomenon in which this game, through the headset, kills you upon reaching your third death," During all her travels and information-gathering, Rael must have gotten a lot of information regarding the UI-lock. But was the knowledge about where and when it was discovered ever documented somewhere?

Let's try to find that out with something that only a handful of people actually know. Sipping her tea once more, the woman proceeded to do what people call the lore drop.

"The first documented real-life death was Sean Poteitoku, however, the former duke Roland Rutledge actually discovered the UI-lock and linked it to the Dissonance during a visit to Tertoria, even before the first death happened."

She quickly added.

"Of course, I had someone close to me die because of the game too."

@Rael

 

[Rael]

.

"Please, go on ahead," she insisted, entirely oblivious to the other's jokes as Rael silently resigned herself to another round of working as a researcher's lab rat.

The quill glided across the paper, matching speed with the woman's speech, the movement of her wrist coming to a subtle halt as the dim glow of the ink settled. She would raise her head in time for Lune to tell of the length of her stay in Terrasphere thus far, noting the unnecessary pause and distinction made towards the end of the sentence.

Like someone waiting to be asked.

A first assumption that she wasn't able to act on in due time, the conversation moving along.

"When the connection was made, it didn't take much for the news to be all over it. They spread like wildfire, with all sorts of rumors accompanying them, and then... Nothing. Silence."

All information had been erased, limiters and all manners of filters established across all forms of media to eradicate the memory of Terrasphere from the public eye. A tactic that had obviously failed, if the two present were any indication.

The whirlwind of chaotic emotions waging war within the warrioress' subsided in due time, coincidence found that they did so the very same moment her mouth opened to start regaling her with the basic knowledge the Storyteller had asked for.

"No names were ever given, however, and since all of this happened four years ago... May I have the name of your contact? The one who gave you such information. I do, too, know of some who have been UI-Locked but none were able to tell me as much as you have.

Should I... Assume you and this Sean Poteitoku to be close?"

Rael was not a gossip by nature, even if her voice dropped as she spoke that last question. Her desire for information came from a purely educational place, and for the whole picture to be attainable, links had to be made throughout her continuous search for the truths within the death game.

---

@Lune ​

 

[Lune]

"It doesn't help that when the game reemerged, so did all that information." There was a lot of pretty obvious information floating on the internet. For example, Vargold's Blog. All that big news from years ago never left everyone's memories anyway.

Lune's left eyebrow was raised in confusion at Rael's assumption. "... No? I don't think we physically met. I do know what he looks like." She remembered seeing some quick red-haired flame swordsman running around during the Szofrit battle, but honestly, Zelrius left a longer-lasting impression in that department.

Then, the elf asked for the name of a presumed contact. It looks like she caught what was going on and that this information wasn't an original content. I mean, it was kinda stolen from someone else's memory.

"Oh yeah, so this information came from a person known as Corvella. You can actually find her near Vintergard, just some distance from Camp Hope." The woman namedropped the origin of this information as she started to sip the tea again.

... Are you doing what I am thinking?

Maybe?

She then continued, while looking at the storyteller with a cheeky little smile. "She's always kneeling at that same spot for like four years now. Can't miss her, she's like, thirty feet tall."

Failing to contain her laugh, Lune chuckled.

"But obviously she's not going to open her mouth and talk. But you were right though, she walked on this world a lot longer than others."

@Rael

 

[Rael]

.

Her first assumption was stricken through, replaced by a small mention of an individual that had also been present, the first recorded individual to die... But what of the others that had been stuck before he?

"Sean is his name, then... You had mentioned another, a certain Roland Rutledge who had made the discovery. Was he the one afflicted by Dissonance, therefore unable to log out?"

Admittedly, she failed to see a direct connection between the two, her limited knowledge of the affliction pointed towards a corruption of the host's mental and bodily state, as witnessed by everyone who had fought Szofrit.

Unassuming of Lune's roundabout ways of explaining her contact's whereabouts, Rael turned a page and began to write the information down as soon as it was given. The smile and the subsequent giggles hadn't roused her suspicions, but as she finished the description of a very-well known statue, Rael let out the softest "Ah" that she could manage, resting her quill on the ink well.

"Yet somehow, she has managed to talk to you. The Immortal Heroine... A faulty title, it is, if it would condemn the name of the person behind it to obscurity. Made immortal by virtue of stone, but that too can crumble. So much already has..."

In a moment of inspiration, she thought of the distinctive origin of a second emotional influence exuding from her guest, her mind attributing what her eyes could not perceive to a lack of requisite power to do as much. Spirits were not her field, so all that remained was to take advantage of the newfound opportunity.

Rael, however, continued to misunderstand the depth of the connection between Lune and this individual, firing another assumption that worked on the basis of the latter being a spirit that had somehow become attached to the warrioress. She even stared at a point over Lune's shoulder, as if trying to make eye contact with something that she could not see.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Corvella. If you are, however, to take part in the interview, you shall be asked similar questions to Lune's. Please state your full name, affiliation, and how long you have been in Terrasphere."

---

@Lune​

 

[Lune]

"As far as I recalled, he logged out just fine during the disappearance." Lune closed her eyes, trying to recall that paper Brad had shown four years ago. Something something along the lines of dissonance, with lines, circles, and names. Then the events that transpired shortly after they vanquished Titanius.

"At that point, they thought it was strictly a dissonance thing. At least it was not until Sean asked people to check up on his real-life house, that they finally realized it was caused by the death of the real person." She recited the memories accurately, event by event. "A lot of people realized that they are already dead in the real world, including the King."

Lune held up her hand with three fingers up, "Eventually, they pinpointed that the third death being the cause of it."

Eventually picking up the fact that the blue-haired woman was talking about The Immortal Heroine all this time, she listened as Rael pointed out how faulty the title was, considering how quickly she was forgotten. By travelers, at least. Some landers created a cult around her and that one girl with the half-burned face from that tavern in Solvale still revered her as a goddess.

Wow, literally everyone I meet really like to roast you, huh?

She missed the point. But yeah, probably karma.

Then, an interesting thing happened. It seemed like because Lune recited the memories all too casually as if it was her own experience, Rael thought there was a ghost Corvella behind her whispering judging by how she suddenly called the heroine out while staring into the nothing behind. Of course, Lune turned her head backward confusingly, looking left and right before catching what was up and looking back at the elf.

See, you had to play with fire. Few minutes into the interview and you already somehow messed things up.

... Sorry, any idea to make this less awkward?

I'll borrow the driver's seat for a minute.

The blue-haired woman closed her eyes, and the next time she opened them, her pupils were green. "No ghosts over there," She spoke with a different, lower register. Picking up the cup of tea and emptying the content into her mouth with a single sip, the woman began to answer the questions.

"This might warrant a new page," She indicated, before promptly answering the questions concisely, as opposed to Lune's roundabout explanations. "Corvella. Lion's Pride, then Vigil Knights." The heroine continued, "Eight years in Terrasphere."

Putting back the cup onto the holder, she added. "Or four years. Depending on your perspective."

@Rael

 

[Rael]

.

There was little that could surprise her now.

When the world proved itself mad at every turning point, capable of throwing bends and twists in reality just to drive a point home of how truly frightening it could be, how perfectly tight it had coiled its threads around your neck, there remained little in the domain of the obscure and bizarre that could surprise her.

She had taken to try and decipher these turns before they happened, as a game of sorts, and so, when the specter of the fallen knightess took hold of her guest, it was no wonder that bewilderment colored her reaction. No matter how quickly she schooled her features back into the usual role of the quiet, dutiful, stoic observant.

"Lady Corvella, whose name in the other world would be..? She ought to be mourned, too."

But even beyond the curtain, she remained human. Human enough to let a tinge of sorrow tug at the syllables that passed through her lips, lamenting the fate of yet another individual trapped. Emotion beyond curiosity, a slippery slope that she had seen herself defer to more often as of late.

"I assume I, as well as many others who may have encountered Lune across their travels, might have you to thank for your unseen guidance, and expertise, then?" Rael lifted the teaspoon, tapping the porcelain cup in front of herself to call for the attention of the barmaid to come and refill Lune-slash-Corvella's cup no sooner had she emptied it.

And in the silence that descended after Corvella would deliver her response, no quick follow-up question came.

The feather danced across her palm, absently caressing ink-dipped fingers as the Storyteller re-read lines that did not exist upon a page that would be dedicated to the woman's name. She often held herself in a different manner when it came to those with more... sensitive circumstances.

But all that preparation would come to mean nothing in the face of the question that simply burst through all logical defenses.

"Why did you die?"

Not how, not when. Why.

---

@Lune​

 

[Lune]

While Rael was so far composed during this interview, she couldn't hide her puzzled face when the heroine spoke with Lune's mouth. Could anyone, really?

"Freya Eleria. Shouldn't be hard to find, name's kind of rare." She smiled, answering the pinkette's inquiry about her identity in real life. For years, she had discarded any thoughts and connection to that world. But now, maybe she could ask Dayeon to find closure.

The barmaid came, refilling her cup of tea. The multicolored-haired girl just smiled lightly to thank the barmaid as she took yet another sip. "I think you gave me too much credit," A light chuckle escaped her lips. "Nobody owes me anything. I'm just simply 'the one that came before'." She was entertained by the notion that she helped the adventurers to reach where they are now.

Who knows?

"Maybe for providing a beautiful-looking tourism object, that one Astor should thank me for. Gosh, I can't believe that Accelerator lad cut my arm." Despite being 'dead' for years, Corvella continued to joke, shaking her head. Humor is one powerful coping mechanism, or maybe it was just how she was.

But then, the heroine placed down the cup of tea, eyes closed trying to search for an answer to an unexpected question. Or perhaps, it was a question she have asked herself at one point.

"Because I believed," Only a half second of pause before she continued. "I believed there's benevolence in everything. This world, the people, the gods." She looked at the interviewer, very slightly tilting her head as if asking a question to the elf.

Do you believe such a thing?

@Rael

 

[Rael]

.

Rael could think of thousands of ways to counter the answer Corvella offered no sooner had she finished speaking it, but that was not her job.

Here to listen, here to take concerns of the departed into her mind and let them swallow her in their narrative for but a time. Her eyes narrowed, not at her, but rather at the liquid swirling about in the other's cup.

"Did you not think the same of the other world?"

Were Corvella, or Freya, to redirect her gaze to Rael's hand, she'd be able to see the Storyteller absentmindedly flitting through the heavy tome, flitting about pages with dozens upon dozens of different names. Entries more extensive than others, some with more detail, and even the hurriedly-made sketch reserved for the most profound moments of inspiration.

"I have encountered people who, over their stay in the game here, find things that they were somehow unable to find in the other world: connection, thrills, escape, a chance at the renewal of self." Perhaps she didn't need to say the direct connection between all of the items previously mentioned, and how all led to the same thing that stood front and center in a world with rare limitations, if any at all: power.

"Undoubtedly, it is a kind thing to dream, and a kinder thing still to allow others to do so."

She herself lived in a dream of sorts.

"Your wording implies that it was an intentional thing, and if it wasn't, then I'll apologize for the misunderstanding. In case I am correct, however... Why did you decide that this world was worth dying for, and the other not worth living for?"

---

@Lune ​

 

[Lune]

Did she put any faith in the real world? That a very broken mess of a world could be fixed, someday? The emerald eyes paused, looking at the reflection on the teacup for a while.

"I did."

The woman looked outside of the window as people passed by the tavern. Temporary or not, the time of peace always made her smile. Not all smile was happy, however. "I tried to make a difference for the better in both worlds." A small, dry smile, with a hint of sadness about things that could have been. "I was going to be a great policewoman, I would bet on it."

Regret is always bitter.

Glimpses of sketches and notes, so many pages dedicated to documenting the lives of others. Freya couldn't imagine if everyone there was interviewed one-to-one like this.

"Was it intentional, hmm..." She pondered upon the question of whether she bestowed such a fate on herself. On one side, she never really wanted to die, but the woman had like three chances to pull out and just continue living normally.

Unfortunately, she couldn't decide. "I don't believe I have an answer for that myself, sorry." The heroine then quickly added, "However, no world is ever worth dying for. Life is something to be celebrated, and so I chose the path of the protector."

In the end, all of it might be bad luck, fate, or just higher power at play. "There's always a risk of death anywhere, it just happened that I died in this game. Three times, compared to the real-world's one. That's quite generous, to be honest." She let out a small chuckle of irony, "Though I certainly did not expect the gigantic airship to fall straight onto me."

Slowly, she raised her finger, pointing it toward the pink-haired elf.

"What about you, Rael?" Suddenly, she turned the question against the interviewer, most likely catching her by surprise. "You risked your life trying to prove that just like everybody else, Szofrit deserves to be saved." She had been observing, after all. What was behind the action of the storyteller?

"How much is this world, compared to the other one?"

@Rael

 

[Rael]

.

Slowly, the conversation devolved into far more sorrowful themes, as was anticipated by the very own nature of their crafted surroundings. This world that had brought them escapism would just as easily bring them pain, bring them heartache.

Rael, uncharacteristically so, caught Corvella/Lune's hand as she pointed a finger at her. The elf held her carefully there, without much force in case the touch was found unwanted and the woman across from her wished to retreat. But if that weren't the case, then the pinkette would keep holding her, for no reason at all.

"It means nothing to me. The people within it, however..."

They were the reason for her chronicling. They who had suffered, and lost; they who had rejoiced, and won.

Holding her hand meant just that.

"There are two reasons for that. One without a name, at least not one that is known to me; and another with a name."

"The first saved me," Rael flipped the pages of her Grimoire with purpose, looking through records of battles witnessed and battles she had participated in, and opened the chapter to the siege of Camp Hope IV. A faithful rendition of a green-haired, loudmouthed individual she never quite knew the name of was on the page. "I was almost assassinated on that day, some hours before the siege began, because I learned too much for some. My injuries hadn't quite healed but I had no choice but to continue onwards. No, that would be incorrect. I had a choice, and I decided to continue onwards."

"He waltzed into a bladestorm to ensure that I would not succumb to my injuries, and lost his life in the process. If you are there, then you understand what happened next." Regretfully, the page turned into a depiction of the DEAD.naught with the head of her savior etched onto its metallic carcass, apologies left unsaid written at the bottom.

"The latter, I saved. In ways that only a person may save another." Unconsciously, her lips curled upwards at the corners in full view of a smile that was born out of inability to conceal the sheer weight of emotion the mention of him brought to her heart. Perhaps she, too, had been saved. For a person set on diminishing her emotions until nothing remained, that she would not even realize that she could smile as brilliantly as she was... But even that smile held its share of sorrow to it, perfectly disguised to all who didn't know of loss. "He is much like you, and can't return to our world. He has been alone for four years, lamenting the life that he couldn't have because he simply didn't know better about this game. How is that fair?"

"I think the world ought to be theirs, and as the sole inheritors to its will, those that remain trapped should be giving fighting chances for when we are not here anymore. You fight, and destroy, and then nothing is learned. The cycle is repeated, was repeated with this recent fight. People kept losing, just like they did all those years ago, because nothing was learned."

And like that, the touch fell away, because at this point in time, with all the protests and loudly voiced resentment, it didn't take a genius to understand that, no matter intentions, not everyone would see them for what it was. Not everyone would think of them as "good".

"Szofrit was a chance to change that. to uncover but a small portion of the mysteries that killed others. And when you understand, it's far easier to fight against it, make something better out of it, to help others avoid the fate you could not. They, other trapped Starcalled, and the Landers, deserve as much."

---

@Lune​

 

[Lune]

The woman was quite surprised when Rael suddenly touched her hand. Or rather, held it gently. "In that case, we're pretty much alike." Right, the people. The source of hope. Glad to know that a lot still view the landers as, well, people.

"Doesn't matter where it is. They are still people, with lives," She closed her eyes, and the last memory she ever had flashed inside the savior's mind. Just outside the burning Astorea, a small girl with a burn injury on the side of her face, looked up at her as she gradually stopped moving. "With people who they love and love them."

Wonder how is she now after all these years?

"I was there. Battle of Camp Hope IV."

She mentioned a fact that she quickly corrected.

"Or rather, Lune was there, holding onto the machine that ran as fast as the lightning." The woman swirled the tea inside the cup, which somehow felt bitter now. She let out a small, flat, and humorless chuckle. "Couldn't help but feel what she felt when she had to finish what became of him..."

Hearing the words `when we are not here anymore` was a realization, as she gulped. Yes, The Disappearance happened. It could happen again, and this time, there's no telling when people are coming back. Or even if they have the chance to.

"There's no fate. We don't get to decide what's fair for us, and...."

Terrasphere was not going to last forever, and even when she was alive, she swore to not let more people die because of this godforsaken death game. "The world will always realign itself. And then one day, this world, the people, and I will cease to exist." Eventually, VRSA might be able to shut them down for good.

And let her and countless others finally rest in peace. They're just a bunch of 0 and 1s, after all.

Yes, this was her will. However, the emerald eyes reflected nothing but just sadness and loneliness as she looked at Rael once again. "We'll be forgotten, as people from the other side will slowly move on. But, until that day comes..."

It also came to the elf. The image of an almost forgotten fallen defender, smiling ear to ear.

"We, as the Starcalled who owed this world, should do our best to keep it together when it still lasts. Isn't that right, Rael?"

There's always gonna be someone who's willing to fight. Her, Lune, Rael.

@Rael

 

[Rael]

.

By any and all accounts, Rael should cherish the opportunity, leap, and bend over backward to gather her thoughts as they spilled forth from her, tripping over one another at the chance to be given any real consideration from the one person who could answer all her questions.

She needed not to wonder about the height of lies' beauty when it sat directly across from her - hope incarnate, hope made flesh - and the elf allowed herself to bask in that radiance without compare.

Every word spoken a divide given reason to rise, every encouragement a hollow sentiment, every insistence on the abandonment of themselves to the duty of upkeeping their safe haven suddenly a curious thing to vow oneself to.

Corvella's eyes lacked not for the sorrow imparted upon her throughout the years, but they wanted for the anger that had become a commonality amongst nearly all afflicted whom she had encountered thus far. A person without regrets, without hopes that might drive them forward, could have very well chosen to escape the dream of their other world to step into a better, for lack of another word, reality.

Or had she matured beyond the grip of another life's chains? So discarded laid the thoughts and feelings and the heart of another woman, that they were unbefitting of anything but a passing thought? Live the lesson: fortunate is the person who dies inside of Terrasphere, for they may gain another life, free of the burdens of their original self?

...How was that fair to any of the lost?

Rael had said as much, though the sentiment wasn't nearly as strong within her. Driving sentences and sentiments to tie into the rest of the interview, make up the personality of the subject. When glancing at Corvella, lips drawn into a full bloom of a smile, all she could see was a sadness that somehow didn't feel real.

"Corvella, why do you yet remain?"

For all the goodness that she could do, the power that her name alone could command, fate's sway would not yield.

For all her talk of bettering and trailblazing a hopeful future for the sake of all people's, somehow even the warrioress seemed inclined to throw herself at what may come. Suffer the outcome, try your best until then, build and live upon what remains.

Like the outcome doesn't matter, like the effort in and of itself is meaningless so long as it has been made.

Is that what she means?

"Why do you inhabit Lune?"

---

@Lune ​

 

[Lune]

"Corvella, why do you yet remain?"

Her lips were shut briefly, emerald eyes wandering somewhere else as the woman slowly exhaled. "Do I remain, though?" Or was she just an illusion, a facade in a cracked mirror?

Why did she still persist? As a memory imprinted onto a part of someone else's personality? Could she have willed herself out of existence, to rest forever and after finally?

Yes.

Yet here, she was.

"Because I wanted it." Her will. That was what made her immortal.

It was a simple answer; not as if there was a need for any other explanation. "Life is a joy. Hope can turn mountains and divide seas." She wouldn't pass the opportunity to relive it again. Real or not, in the end, what mattered was if she was able to smile. "No such thing as a glorious purpose involved, as far as I am concerned."

"Why do you inhabit Lune?"

Why, indeed. She added more split ends to the broken hair strand, and kept Dayeon locked away from the true nature of their identities. The word 'protect' always came up as a justification.

"I can't answer what I don't know." The heroine quickly replied, without the need to search for an answer. "However, let's just say that I usually gravitate toward others who need help," She quickly added while half-whispering, winking at the interviewer. "Serious help." Not even the state of Vintergard was as messed up as the girl was.

@Rael