imatreenow | six [action/voice]

[A peaceful melody played on a panpipe can be heard through the journal, or by anyone who happens to be passing by House 52 this afternoon. Veteran residents may recognize this particular tune as one that Martel played on occassion during her stay in Luceti, but to Mithos it is simply the song his sister would play to comfort him all those many, many years ago. Even now, it remains a source of comfort, one of the ways in which he can remember Martel. He can feel her presence beside him as he sits beneath a tree at the edge of the woods behind the house. Outside, despite the chill. Martel's music was never meant to be contained by walls, just as her soul and his memories of her were never meant to be contained by death.

Recieving his sister's panpipe (yes, the very same one, even though it had been broken when last seen) has been the first good thing to happen in quite some time. It is like a reminder not to give up -- Martel still needs him.

Mithos is entirely unaware that the journal is recording him, thus replies to any voice responses (or written responses) will occur last chronologically. Just for clarification.]

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[Minutes pass before he speaks again. He still is entirely unsure what to feel about this, what to think of her, and his uncertainty is transparent in his words though he tries to sound indifferent. He doesn't trust anyone, he can't. He doesn't. He won't. But the question is so persistent that it comes out anyway.]

Do....you know what it's like? To be hated for something you didn't choose? To have someone you love taken away because of that?

[He instantly regrets saying something so vulnerable to this girl he doesn't know at all. But...he can't rid himself of the feeling that she just knows. Everything. It's bizarre and frightening.]

[Transparent his uncertainty may be, she's not going to call him out on it. Such things are hard to admit to someone you barely know, especially in a village that largely rejects such ideas.]

Yeah... hated and hunted on one side, tolerated but pitied on the other. It's... infuriating... there's so many emotions involved in it I just want to throw them away. But people expect you to tolerate it and search for more peaceful ways...

How can you continue believing in that when you watch your loved ones killed right before, but no one around does anything to stop it?

[Once again, nearly everything she says could be something pulled straight out of his own mind and heart. It's freaking him out, yet at the same time there is a deep curiosity he can't deny. There's someone in this world like him, someone who has been through similar suffering, someone who knows that the world can't be forgiven for what it has done. He sounds less uncertain as he tries to acclimate to this foreign concept.]

You can't trust anyone when the person you love most is betrayed over and over again. But when you stop believing in the world, that it can change, people call you a coward. Is it so wrong to be unable to tolerate being despised? Humans are arrogant to look down on me for that. They think they know everything, but they don't understand at all.

Because there is no way for them to understand, sometimes I don't think they even try. And even those who do, they have no idea what it really means to be despised for something you had no control over. ... Yet they still ask you to believe as they continue to pity you, they say they don't, but...

I don't think it's wrong... the burden is a lot to carry on your own, having everyone's hate placed on you.

[She's the first person to ever explicitly tell him that the weakness in his heart isn't his fault. She isn't judging him or accusing him. It's...an enormous relief, yet deeply bewildering at the same time. There is a long pause, though not as lengthy as before.]

.....Who are you?

My name...? [She's going to assume that's what he's asking, though she wouldn't mind sharing what she was with him at this point. After all, he... understood.]

... It's Kaori.

[He actually isn't sure what he meant by that question. It just...needed to be asked. But now that she's given her name, is he expected to give his own? It's a sign of trust, and he doesn't know whether or not he can trust her. His instincts tell him to push her away like everyone else. The part of him that still yearns for acceptance is drawn to her. Mithos doesn't know which to follow.]

.........Mithos.

[As soon as he tells her, he's stung with regret. What is he doing?

So Mithos does what he does best: run away. The journal is closed and the conversation comes to an abrupt end.]

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