darkinferno | [narrations + overflow]

Baaasically.

[Not that he's a vengeful person (most of the time), but sometimes people just Have Things Coming To Them.

He'll make most of the trek with keen focus, in any case, and only breaks concentration with mild surprise at that question.]

Eh? What, the whole being shrunk down to Thumbelina size, or something else?

The being shrunken down thing.

[Dante shrugs, trying to play it off as though it's no big deal.]

It's just... I'm starting to feel like this is all déjà vu or something.

[Don't tell him this is another memory... how many weird-ass things did his previous self get up to, anyways? It's all so disjointed and different that it feels like he's seen enough to fill four or five lives instead of just one.]

[THAT CAN'T BE PLAYED OFF LIKE IT'S NO BIG DEAL. Kiyomitsu is definitely giving him one of those sideeye squinty looks of vague judgment, confusion, and mild concern.]

...Like, normal déjà vu? Or like Retrospec "something's up here" déjà vu.

[Because both are pretty dang weird but one is definitely more concerning than the other.]

[Well, he TRIED. You can't blame a guy for trying! Dante gives another short shrug, still trying to affect that air of nonchalance. Really, it's no big deal. It's happening to all of them, right?]

I'm not sure. Probably "something's up here" déjà vu... it just feels like I've done this before. Or something like it. That's why I asked if you were feeling it too.

[What the hell kind of life had his other self led?]

[That much is true... What a wild collection of lives they all lead now, thanks in no small part to Retrospec.]

I'm sure you already know this but I'm gonna say it anyway - this is a really weird thing to be getting some déjà vu over. Also, if this sorta thing's happened to you more than once, that's some really spectacularly bad luck.

[Yeah, okay, there's a snort from Dante at that one.]

This is nothing compared to some of the other stuff I've remembered. From all of that, getting shrunk down like this is the least of my worries.

[He frowns, looking off into space for a moment, then cuts his hand across his body, an almost reflexive motion.]

It's the same sort of thing, though, right down to the fighting things. I might have been even smaller than this, because I remember jumping on flowers and leaves and they could support my weight.

Seriously? Your luck really is pretty bad, then, isn't it.

[Not even a question, because really, if starring in an awful prequel of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids! isn't at the top of the weird and concerning iceberg, that's probably a problem...

He's also caught between looking curious and baffled, here... What.]

...Well, does it help you out with all of this junk, at least? If you're gonna get stuck with weird memories, they might as well help you out.

When it comes to all of this? Yeah, it is. I'd be happy not to remember any of this.

[He shakes his head at Kiyomitsu's other question.]

Let's hope it doesn't help us out with all this. The other part I remember is fighting against a bunch of monsters. And they weren't as much of a pushover as that mantis was.

[And considering that that mantis wasn't a pushover? Yeah. Dante'll be happier if they don't start running into these monsters.]

[BOY DOES HE FEEL THAT... Even if he's already had this talk with Minako and determined that, more or less, he'd rather remember things and be aware than be unaware, that doesn't mean it sucks any less.

At the mention of monsters, though, he'll pause in his running for a second. Clearly he's surprised...]

You, too? There's seriously no way this is a coincidence... So many people remember fighting monsters it's not even funny.

[Yeah, for all his grumbling about it, Dante's tentatively in that boat too. It depends on how many more memories he has to endure of witchy-looking ladies telling him that he won't ever meet up with anybody but her in the afterlife because of how badly he's fucked everything up.]

I know what you mean. Monsters were one of the first things I remembered because so many other people were talking about them.

It makes you wonder if we're all going to remember something like that down the line. It could be one thing in common between all of us.

[Dante deserves a long nap, dealing with memories like that...]

Could be. ...I talked to a friend about it once and he said we might be like, soldiers? An army or something? That Retrospec is preparing to fight or something and they need... well. People who know how to fight, I guess. I thought he was just being crazy since he's like that- [SO NICE TO HIS DEAREST FRIENDS] -but now I'm wondering if it might be true. This isn't really a great commonality to have.

[Especially considering it's not even fighting normal people, though he's remembered a little of that as well. Monsters is so specific and strange...]

[He ran away for four days after that one to panic and self-medicate with alcohol and freak out and absorb the memory and its various consequences. That counts, right?]

It's a possibility. But what makes them think we're going to be willing to fight for them after all of this? I mean, I don't know about you, but I'm not feeling too charitable toward Retrospec right now. If they want us to protect them, they're going about it the wrong way.

[WELL THAT'S ONE WAY TO HANDLE TRAUMA.]

I mean, if we're gonna consider all the wildest and worst possibilities here, they might be able to change our memories or thoughts so we think we're part of some weird army they're starting to build.

[He'd like to... think... that even Retrospec wouldn't go that far, but considering the whole "changing the world one thing at a time and also everyone's tiny now and the bugs are murderous" thing, he's also not feeling charitable about that.]

[Look, Dante is perfectly normal and well-adjusted young adult who dEFINITELY KNOWS HOW TO HANDLE HIS FEARS AND ANXIETIES IN A HEALTHY MANNER OKAY..................

Still, the idea of Retrospec being able to change them like that is enough to send a chill down his back. Being able to change someone's memories, being able to change who they are... that's too much power for Retrospec to have. Who knows what they could do?]

You know, I mentioned it to the prof once, but... with all these memories and then changing the way we look-- [he gestures toward both of them and their eyes] --it almost feels like they're trying to make us into the people we were before. Once we remember everything about these different lives they're showing us, will we even still be us?

[It's a worry he's only voiced the one time, to Ardyn. And even though he feels more confident in the strength of his self, there's still a worry that when all of this is over... will he still be Dante?]

[SEEMS FAKE, HONESTLY.

But that's... It's not something he hasn't considered before, but it's definitely something he's prevented himself from lingering on for any significant amount of time. He's quiet for a second, considering, even as he distracts himself by looking up and down the sidewalk for any incoming insects. None are around, for once.]

...How different are you in the things you see? Some changes are probably gonna happen. I mean, some people are seeing stuff that's really far outside of the norm. [A little nod toward Dante as if to say "you probably know this already".] But it's not like we're totally different people, right? No one I've talked to has been unable to identify themselves, if that makes sense.

[But there's some mild uncertainty in his tone, nonetheless. Who's to say? He's never been one for psychology or asking about what things are intrinsic to a person's... personality.]

[ Dante is quiet for several minutes as he mulls the words over. For Kiyomitsu, it might be out of the ordinary from the way Dante usually presents himself--where he's usually cocksure and reckless, he's giving this serious thought.

"It's not like we're totally different people..." No. It's not. And that's part of what has him so worried, the feeling that he might become the boy he's having memories of. The boy who had friends, and lost them, who died and wandered alone in this afterworld where it was only him and this witch.

The boy who ended up alone because his heart was empty, suffocated by darkness. ]

Yeah, I guess so. We aren't totally different.

I don't know about you, but I still don't want to be him instead of me, though.

[It is a little unusual to see this kind of somberness, but it's not too surprising. In the face of so many changes - and who even knows what kind Dante himself is facing? - he's sure most people would prefer to distance themselves, pretend it isn't happening.]

Nah, I agree.

[He doesn't particularly feel inclined to continue remembering the things he's remembering, when so much of it revolves around battle and bloodshed.]

...But there's not much we can do right now. Guess that's why we're gonna have to keep checking back to see what we missed, yeah? They're gonna slip up eventually, those guys. There's no way they won't.

Yeah.

[He nods.]

That's why we can't let up, no matter how much they try to prevent us from checking up on them.

Let's go. We'll see what they've slipped up on today.

[narrations + overflow]

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