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]

Which is where I left it, and where I intend it to stay. [He refuses to refer to the statue by name, as if Lloyd is really here.]

[savedtheworld]

Oh. You... you left it there.

W-Why there?

[He tries to be cautious with his wording. Regardless of what he has or hasn't learned, knows he should be careful around Mithos. So he's gauging everything he says carefully.]

[imatreenow]

Because I never wanted to see it again. [His words ring with the sharp accusation: and then you had the nerve to give it a conspicuous spot right across the street from him.]

[savedtheworld]

Oh. S-sorry. And here you can - You can see it again!

Do you want me to... take it somewhere else?

[imatreenow]

[He'll just keep boring into Aang with his glare, watching him scramble to accommodate to his whims. He hadn't expected this to go so smoothly. He had dreaded any indication of friendliness between them, rotting leftover memories from the last time they'd met.] Anywhere else.

[savedtheworld]

[He frets and looks down at the stone shoes of Lloyd Irving. He tries not to think of that time - after everything he's heard. How could someone who seemed so nice and friendly back then... who still looked like a child now... be full of such hate? Be a killer of many?

He wanted to reach out to him, to try at least. But he was afraid, too. It might be too early to make a move like that... and it would be too risky when it could unintentionally provoke him and put the lives of his friends, of Ikki, in danger.]

What if I keep it in my house?

[imatreenow]

[He's torn. Because if it's inside, Mithos won't have to see it anymore, and maybe through the strange magic of Luceti it will stay in place if someone else claims it as their own. But if it's inside, that means others will see it, and they'll celebrate Lloyd as a hero, and he'll have to sit with the knowledge that this is happening right across the street from him.]

Why do you want to keep it?

[savedtheworld]

Because... I did talk to him once, the last time he was here. I didn't get to know him well, but I think of him as a friend. So I'd rather have something that looks like him around than to leave it out in the cold. And... and you won't have to worry about seeing it anymore. I don't want any trouble.

[imatreenow]

[Another who had known Lloyd while he was here... He's now staring past Aang, his glare falling on the statue's base.] Do you know why he's called a hero?

[savedtheworld]

I- I don't know the whole story. But... I know he helped people.

[imatreenow]

I suppose there are few who do know the whole story. [He morbidly wonders how much even the people of Lloyd's world know... How could one explain killing a man who was supposed to already be dead? His eyes are back on Aang.]

They call him a hero because, even if they don't know it, he ended my life. Nothing else he did would have mattered if not for that.

[savedtheworld]

[He gasps at that. No matter what details he'd heard so far... that was one notable omission.]

W-what do you mean? He- he wouldn't...

[imatreenow]

[A better reaction than he expected, and he feeds off it.] I mean exactly as I said - Lloyd killed me.

[What he doesn't share is that Lloyd offered him the chance to live in the new world he and his companions were making. But to Mithos, the choice to live on with no chance of his sister joining him again was no choice at all.]

[savedtheworld]

But- That...

[He bows his head, struggling to imagine it. Not to mention that he'd learned that Mithos was evil, but he had no idea he was dead. Aside from Yuri, he hadn't really met any people here whom he knew to be past their death. So a rush of fear and pity came up his spine. Especially since he had thought Lloyd was like him, in a way. Raine has spoken so highly of him. And Aang had vanquished his own enemy without taking a life. Now he saw that Lloyd was unable to avoid that.]

I'm sorry you died.

[imatreenow]

[Sometimes, he isn't sure whether he's sorry or not. Is he bitter about his defeat at Lloyd's hands? Yes. Is he angry that everything he had was taken from him? Of course. But armed with the terrible truth that Martel hadn't wanted what he fought for, he has to wonder what sort of victory that would have been. He would have an eternity to spend with just himself, his sister, and his sister's disappointment.

But even that would be better than what he has now, nothing and no one.

Still, he has his fallback response.] Apologies change nothing.

[savedtheworld]

Apologies can't change the past. I know that. But it's important to know that... no matter what you've done... I feel sorry that you died. That's important for the present.

And... and this is hard for me to take in. A lot. But... I don't think I can judge Lloyd. Even for that. I was in a position like that, and I had to face a choice like that once. Twice, kind of. Both times... I was able to find another way. But it could have gone differently. It could have been like that.

[imatreenow]

You care that much about one single life? [No matter what you've done, he had said. Mithos had already suspected this when Aang regarded him so cautiously, but someone must have informed the human about him, and he can guess who.]

[savedtheworld]

Of course I do. My people taught me to respect all life, even the smallest spider-flies. And I believe in it. Life's too sacred to - to put out like that.

[imatreenow]

Not all lives have the same worth. Your ideals are foolish in a world where everyone must step on each other to survive. [And in one broad stroke, he paints himself as a victim and excuses all the questionable things he's done.]

[savedtheworld]

I don't believe that. There's always another way. People can always be reached. Or - or stopped without death.

[imatreenow]

And what if there isn't another way? You can't save everyone. You can't find a perfect solution for everything.

[savedtheworld]

Even if I can't save everyone doesn't mean I shouldn't try. And- and I can try to find solutions as close to perfect as possible.

[imatreenow]

[He scoffs.] You sound just like him. [His tone makes it clear that this is not a compliment.]

[savedtheworld]

Like who? [Even if it doesn't seem too hard to guess with the way the conversation started.]

[imatreenow]

Lloyd.