damedana | Serpentine Horizon Inbox

[It's probably late enough that nobody but him is chilling the main hall, sitting at one of the few iron tables. He's just relaxing, arms crossed, not moving much at all as he waits.]

[coming in and easily taking a seat across the table from him]

So Beato told you, I'm guessing?

Correct. I figured it would be fine to meet you proper then.

My name is Kuroro Lucifer, leader of the Phantom Troupe. We're also known as the Spiders. We're a group of Class A thieves in my world which is essentially the worst of them.

It's nice to meet you.

Ushiromiya Battler. Unfortunately, I don't have any interesting titles from where I grew up. I'm just the grandson of a man who benefited from the benevolence of a Golden Witch and brought his family back from the brink of collapse.

Not very impressive, probably, but I am Beato's opponent in her games.

I had a brief glance at one of her memories, and you were in it.

I asked you to come by because I wanted to discuss with you one of her secrets that I have about her. I felt like you should know.

[well now he's curious about that memory but also... frowns.]

All right? I'll listen.

[He pulls out a picture of Beato, with cat ears, posing like a catgirl.]

[... pffffhahahaha.]

Ihihihihih she really is cute as a catgirl going "nyaa", isn't she?

She’s really cute!

So you’re really ok with it, huh? It doesn’t bother me personally, but you know I’m pretty different from most people here, I’ve found out.

[sitting back but pointing at the picture]

I want a copy of that.

And yeah, I'm okay with it. I had some past issues that made it more complicated than it had to be, but in the end, none of that actually matters. It doesn't change my feelings, and while I don't know you very well, you've been here for Beato when I wasn't.

Thank you for that.

Don't thank me for that.

[... frrrrrowns.]

What? Don't feel grateful that Beato wasn't alone for two weeks? I'll thank Finch for that, too.

Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying that's why you're doing it, but it's still an end result. Why not thank you?

Edited 2022-07-21 03:22 (UTC)

Because it wasn't as if there were good intentions at the start. I did it specifically to try and make sure that our teams could be connected for alliance reasons. I hadn't done that for her, I did it for me.

Like I said. That doesn't change the end result.

[considers for a moment, then leans forward, elbows on the table.]

What memory did you see with me in it? I want to have an idea of what you know about things.

Something about the red truth.

Ah. That time.

Nostalgic.

If I remember right, she even called me "incompetent" in red, that witch.

But that means you can tell, right? We didn't start with good reasons, either. In fact, there was a time when I really thought I hated her--you could even say I had good reason to with her game and how much I suffered then, enough that I once said that I'd make it a mutual hell.

[taps a finger on the table.]

That doesn't change where we ended up. So intentional or not, good reasons or not--I don't care about that. The fact is that you helped her during a time when she was alone among strangers. You don't have to accept it or keep it, but I'm still going to give you thanks for that.

...I understand now. The reason you two are connected. She really did not have a chance there.

[grins a bit.]

Trust me. She did not make it easy.

Did you make it easy for her?

Not at all. I won't make excuses and I'm not really proud of that.

That's pretty funny, but I suppose people like that tend to flock towards one another.

Stubborn types that make things harder for each other?

You could say that.

I would say, selfish individuals those who simply cannot leave things alone when they want something.

Haahaha... I can't really argue against that one.

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