darkinferno | [ic inbox]

[Ohhh. Okay, he sees where this is coming from now. Dante swallows his first instinct, looking for a response that won't make her feel like he's belittling her worries.]

I can't say I'm glad that any of us wound up stranded like that... but if it had to happen, I'm glad the both of us wound up in the same place. I've got her back, she's got mine, and between the two of us we... could usually keep everyone safe.

[With two notable exceptions.]

Yeah. I know you guys did your best.

[She trusted Dante to stubbornly stick up for the people that he knew. He was just that way.]

Have some...mixed news, too. I know you have your run-ins with the cops sometimes. Did you know Noah Gabranth?

[That's the problem. He's not sure if he did.

But Dante shoves the thought away for now. It's not important right now.]

Yeah. No sense of humor, expected the world to stop for him, thought he'd get information just by demanding it?

What about him?

He's off the network now.

[Pen frowns.]

I remembered him in my hallucinomemories. I'm not sure if that's good or bad based on those, but he's not aware anymore.

What sort of stuff did you remember about him?

He...is a Judge. Capital J, some sort of soldier and lawman or something.

[She shoves the last of that slice in her mouth and chews before adding:]

And I remembered him trying to kill the other me.

Oh. That's all?

[Dante's finishing his piece as well, leaning back onto his hands. The corner of his mouth turns up in a faint, halfhearted smirk, just enough to let her know he's joking as he chews.]

Just because you remember that doesn't mean he'd do the same thing now.

I've... got a couple memories of fighting someone else that's on the network here. Really fighting, not just sparring like we do Sundays. I don't like this version of him either, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna try to kill him. That's not the type of person I am.

I know that. I grew up with him around. Gabranth has been as much a part of my life as my brothers.

[More than, really.]

We talked about it though. And...not talked about it. I don't think he'd try and kill me obviously. But maybe it's better this way, avoiding any chance.

Anyway, I just thought you should know he was off.

Yeah, I'll make sure I don't accidentally drunk-text him again. He'll probably be less likely to let it go if I do.

[Is he joking? Who knows.]

It'll be weird, not seeing his grumpy ass around.

Yeah. And as weird as it sounds, it'll be easier to talk to him again, with him not remembering. But...safer.

[Back to stodgy cop.]

Pass that Fireball?

Nah, I get it.

[He reaches down, grabbing the bottle and passing it over.]

There are a couple people in this city I'd get along with a lot better if they didn't remember any of this stuff, too.

[Taking it, she unscrews the top and takes a sip. Straight cinnamon whiskey. Yum.]

Sora?

[Oops, someone's taking a loooooooong drink instead of replying right away.]

That obvious, huh? Or did you hear it from someone else?

Just from him.

[Penelope shrugs, taking another drink.]

He seemed like a nice kid, but I don't actually know him.

[That's a snort.]

I couldn't tell you. If it weren't for both of us remembering all this Retrospec shit, I'd make sure I never had to see his face around this city.

[Definitely bad memories here.]

As bad as Gabranth and I?

[She's curious now, mostly because Sora seems like...a really sweet if really naive kid.]

Edited 2017-09-01 17:09 (UTC)

[A pause... and then he nods.]

I've got at least one memory of the two of us fighting. When he won I... [Dante lifts his free hand, looking at it as though he might fade away just by talking about it.] I was fading away.

I don't know what happened after that.

Fading away...?

[That's an oddly specific way to phrase that.]

Think it could have something to do with whatever powers you have? I assume he's similar, jumping around like that.

I don't think so. It didn't feel like that at all. [But how can he explain what it did feel like?]

There's another memory I've got. When I first remembered it, I didn't know what was going on--I thought I'd remembered dying. I was walking in this place called the realm of darkness, and it felt like something was leeching away my strength. [Almost instinctively, his free hand comes up, resting over his heart.] If I'd let it, it would've eaten away at me until there was nothing left. I would've faded away into the darkness.

That's kind of what it was like. I could feel myself fading, like the strength was being sapped out of me. Like the fight had taken everything I had.

[Silently, Penelope takes a bite of more pizza, leaning forward a little to consider what he's saying. That's...pretty heavy. Especially heavy, coming from a guy like Dante. He never really seemed all that serious about much of anything, but this? Well hell, Intense is definitely what she'd call it.]

So, you think that this other you started to fade out after the...other Sora fought you. And you don't know the motivations behind either person, I guess?

[The realm of darkness sounds a little like a place she remembered, almost. A foggy, dead place filled with shadows and beasts and traps. Deadly, some sort of...necropolis, she thought. Or a dead city.

But there was more to it than that.]

Did he say anything? Seem more emotional?

[Dante shakes his head firmly as soon as she mentions that he probably didn't know the motivations of either of them. No... no, he definitely remembers that--at least, part of it.]

What all did Freya tell you about Hell Manor? Did she tell you about everything that happened while we were fighting the wraith?

[Surprisingly, it's not entirely an attempt to dodge the question!]

[Shaking her head, Pen closes her eyes and blows out a breath.]

She said ghosts, and she told me the gist, but I didn't pry. The wound from Ryoji was pretty raw, and I didn't want to do that to her.

Why?

[He's not going to throw Freya under the bus then.]

The ghosts... they could possess people. They could force you to attack other people against your own will and you couldn't do anything to stop it.

The same thing happened to the other me. He was fighting Sora, but it wasn't him--it was something controlling him instead.

[That. Actually she understands.]

Possession I get. So you think this...shadow world had something to do with it?

[Again, he's shaking his head decisively.]

No. That came after. Once I was in that shadow world... [Okay, give him a moment. Dante runs his free hand through his hair, trying to figure out how he could phrase this better. It's hard, because he doesn't know for certain what the chain of events was--he can only guess based on the little information he has.]

I don't... really want to go into the details, but when I was in that place, I was trapped there. I'd... [A sigh. This is actually something he hasn't told anybody yet, not Togusa, not Prompto, not even the prof.] I'd died. There was a voice that told me I'd lost the battle for my body, but my heart had survived. That's why I was there. He called it "this place of darkness where hearts are gathered."

It felt the same, though. I started fading away after fighting Sora, and when I was there I was fading away again.

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