[Immediately post-Wonder Quartet]

[grimgrimwar]

[Private Message to Reiji:]
I protected your Keystone, like you wanted. You can consider this the end of our arrangement.

[Private Message to Hibiki:]
Hey. I'm gonna do my own thing from here on out. Take care of yourself, okay?

[Event:]
[Alexandra is immediately approaching a few people after the climax of the Wonder Quartet and Yuya's duel with Reiji. Top of that list includes Yuya, Yuma and Labrys. Before, in between or after she's spoken to those people, she's open to be approached by anybody else who was present in the Quartet.]

Comments

[tachyonparticle]

... You do know that'll just make me wonder what it is you want to say anyway, correct?

/2

[grimgrimwar]

I...yeah, I know. [She rubs her head.]

[grimgrimwar]

[Then, she gets more serious.] ...I don't think I was wrong. For wanting to destroy Eliphas. And if I could...I probably still would. I just think he's too dangerous and he doesn't deserve to get away with what he's done. But. I never should've let Tartarus use that to manipulate me. And it was unforgivable for me to...hurt people. With what I turned into. And to put you at risk trying to drag me out of the trouble I got myself into. I need to. Take responsibility for all of that.

[tachyonparticle]

*... she closes her eyes. Eliphas aside, given her feelings overall still about the Astrals...

She does agree-- agreeing to let Tartarus use her like that is similar to why she wants to make sure Akaba doesn't use those cards again. To then turn around and hurt others... even if Tartarus had influence on those decisions, Tartarus wasn't the one controlling her. She gets that.

... But she isn't sure of how to say it. She needs to say something here.*

... I guess the question is... how do you intend on taking responsibility for that? For what were your own choices?

[grimgrimwar]

...I don't know. Yuya and Yuma will probably just tell me to forget about it, because that's how they are. I guess I could turn myself back into the police and go to jail.

[tachyonparticle]

And serve out your time in captivity for what you did? I guess that is how people are expected to repent... *Probably not off from what we decided for Caduceus, though in our case, we'd have wanted to purify her if possible...

... she decides to not think about that for the moment.*

Do you think that'd make up for it, though? As in, your personal feelings about it.

[grimgrimwar]

I don't know.

I'm used to fighting. To at least...trying to use my powers to do the right thing. Part of me thinks that just sitting in a jail cell would be a waste of what I can do.

Like Spider-Man says, I guess.

[tachyonparticle]

... Spider who?

[grimgrimwar]

....Spider-Man?

With great power comes great responsibility?

[tachyonparticle]

... That... doesn't ring a bell, I'm sorry. *what kind of alien race doesn't know about superhero comics, this is insanity.*

But getting to the point of what you just said... You do have your powers. And I agree. I think that just sitting around not using them would be a waste of what you could potentially do.

Maybe what you can do here, with these people from "Academia"... Maybe you already took the first step you could take, towards repentance for your actions?

[grimgrimwar]

...

No.

[She looks away.]

Not really.

[tachyonparticle]

... Well, it's what I'd be doing to repent if I felt that I had done something truly wrong. I'd be working. Not waiting. But at the same time... Having to wait would be punishment to me. *she shakes her head*

But I could admit that my standards of what constitute extended repentance may... likely be different from what humans usually consider to be reasonable. But... Guilt may also simply carry on without stop, at times.

[grimgrimwar]

Being here...I haven't taken a step towards anything yet. I let Academia do as they please. I let tons of people get turned into cards, because I let myself think I had to focus on one person out of everybody. [She puts a hand over her eyes.] ....Yuzu was right there with me. And I left her. I knew it was wrong and I did it anyway.

[tachyonparticle]

... Why did you leave her?

[grimgrimwar]

... [She points at Serena.] Akaba Reiji told me to protect her from Academia during the Wonder Quartet. No matter what. We had them both in a safe place. But they split up. I wanted to stay with Yuzu, but. [Obviously, that didn't happen.]

[tachyonparticle]

*she glances over at Serena, before focusing back onto you, Alex*

... He told me a little about who she is. A religious icon to the attackers. Important to them.

Why did they split up?

[grimgrimwar]

So she could go find out the truth of what Academia is and what they're doing. Yuzu left to be a decoy, draw attention away from her.

[tachyonparticle]

So she used herself as bait, essentially. *she can see where this is heading...*

... Can I wager a guess that she likely insisted on going alone, to more effectively act as bait?

[grimgrimwar]

...yeah. She didn't want me to stay with her. She wanted us to protect Serena. I still should've... ...I could've done something instead of just letting her go off alone.

[tachyonparticle]

... Listen. I don't know why she vanished. I don't know what happened to her, or why she would've needed protecting herself. I don't know anything, other than what I've seen, and what I've been told.

But that's just it. You prepared yourself for this attack, but from the offset, all you knew was to protect one person. You didn't know that anyone else would've been a target, so you couldn't act accordingly to it. And from what I knew, that girl, Serena, was the only one who was being sought after.

And... maybe it just sounds like excuses. Reasons to throw off responsibility about it. But mistakes are made. The only way to handle them is to fix them.

*she puts her hands on Alex's shoulders, squeezing a bit firmly, but it's... meant to be a comforting gesture, not a threatening one.* You should find a way to do that, Alexandra.

[grimgrimwar]

...if there's a way to save the people that were turned into cards... I want to do that.

[tachyonparticle]

*... she pauses to think about it. The carding technique is... odd for her to consider, especially thinking of how monsters are usually expressed, but...*

... Maybe there is somewhere in the 12 Dimensions, that knows the answer to that? It seems like it would be something that one of the worlds would have some knowledge about, given the basis.

[grimgrimwar]

...maybe. [She has an expression like she's started to think of something.] If I can stop Academia and bring back those people... I dunno. Maybe that'd be a start.

[tachyonparticle]

*she nods, letting her hands linger on your shoulders for a moment, before letting go*

Maybe so. But... Please don't hesitate to ask me to help, if there's any way I possibly can. Even if it's to help you get to where you need to be.

[grimgrimwar]

[Alex looks at her hand for a moment, then manages another smile.] ...thanks, Labrys. I, uh. I gotta go talk to Yuya and Yuma. After that...we can head to the island?