eighteen [action]

[imatreenow]

[Friday afternoon finds Mithos dragging a granite statue through the streets of Luceti. It will look familiar to those who can claim Aselia as their home world, carved adoringly in the likeness of a young man wielding dual swords. The figure is planted atop a base that bears a plaque engraved with the simple honor, "The Hero Lloyd Irving." All together, it stands at about three and a half feet, scaled down from the original model.

For Mithos, it's a bitter reminder of things that could never have been. Its sudden appearance in his house had been an elbow nudging him sharply in the ribs, an obnoxious stage whisper prompting, "Hey, remember that time all your hopes and dreams were crushed?"

Yes, yes he remembers.

Which is why he had to get rid of it. The first day, he dragged the statue behind the house, let it topple into the river, and watched the determined stony face sink below the surface. The next morning, it found its way back to his living room. Each day, he drags it farther away, and each morning it proudly comes back.

His route today takes him up from the south end of the village through the north end and into the woods. The farther away, the better.]

Comments

[imatreenow]

No, we’re not. [His words are frigid - steel icicles.] Sometimes I can’t even believe that I used to think you were the person I could rely on the most. [No, most of the time... The memories are like something out of someone else’s life, and he hates that the most.]

[shiningbinds]

[He's silent. He should never have been the one Mithos relied on in any way. Not with how things ended up, not with how weak willed he was. In Kratos' mind, it's an endless loop of regrets, always coming to the same conclusion and then starting all over again. He waits if Mithos has anything else to say.]

[imatreenow]

[His eyes narrow in Kratos's silence.] Are you done wasting my time? [He has a statue to get rid of, man.]

[shiningbinds]

[Hmph. It's a question Kratos should have expected.]

In a place such as this, do we not have all the time in the world? [No matter how they have changed as people, Kratos still has lingering concern for Mithos. No amount of change could destroy it, even if it would be for the best.] One must wonder how you came into possession with... that.

[He has his suspicions.]

[imatreenow]

That doesn't mean I want to spend it listening to you.

[His expression grows sharper and uglier the longer this so-called conversation wears on him. As for that stupid question...] What do you think?

[shiningbinds]

I never assumed that you would.

[...]

Ah. Yes, of course. [The same reason he has the purple atrocity underneath his arm.]