vulcanblazer | Number Unknown - Fourth Wall Event!

Who... were they all then?

[While there's certainly a few photographs she's more curious of than others, that seems like the safer question, despite that it'll probably involve a long answer.]

[He smiles a bit before he answers.]

This'll take awhile. But all right.

[He points to the first picture.]

That guy? His name's Stahn. I met him pretty early on, and he was one of my best buddies. A great fighter with that sword of his... and the sword talked, too. And he had an appetite like a black hole, it was something to see. Pretty upstanding guy, if... not always the brightest. He's really the kind of guy you'd want watching your back.

[He moves to the next person.]

And it was Stahn who introduced me to Vyse, and convinced me to join his organization, the Blue Rogues. Vyse said he was a Sky Pirate. Despite the title of "pirate," he actually was leading the only village defense organization at the time. I got to know him, and... he was a really trustworthy sort dedicated to keeping people safe. Stahn, as it happened, was the number two guy in the Blue Rogues.

...Vyse disappeared pretty early in my stay here. Stahn decided he wouldn't be leader material and well... he asked me to command the Blue Rogues in his stead.

That is not terribly surprising.

[Adell had been easily their group's leader and defending people was certainly his 'thing', so Rozalin was not surprised someone would ask him to lead such a thing.]

Well, it was surprising to me at the time. I was still one of the newer recruits when he asked me.

[He pointed to the next one.]

That's Fatima. She was a Witch who used Darkness magic. She wasn't evil, though, despite what it may have sounded like. Actually, she was pretty interesting and had a different outlook on things, but she was definitely a good person and friend. Kinda serious and reserved at times, too. I think you would've liked her, actually.

Though not very reserved concerning her wardrobe choices, it appears.

[She says this, faintly amused more in that there was a time Adell wouldn't have been able to stand having someone like that anywhere near him.]

[He chuckles. He won't say it, but part of him didn't really mind that.]

No, not really. But hell, it's not like a lot of women in the Netherworld are either.

[He then moves to the next grouping of pictures, pointing to each picture: the Scarlet family, Luka, Sylvia, Charlotte, and... his Mom, of all people.]

These people, though. I lived with them for a good while in one of the bigger houses in the village.

Mom was here for a good while. Strange, she showed up when I caught the flu. It's like she knew I had, and showed up to give me a lecture and then take care of me for awhile. Kind of funny, in retrospect. She also learned how to use magic while she was here. She was getting pretty good before she got sent back.

[He looks at the picture of the Scarlet family next.]

Funny story about them. At first I only knew her. [He pointed to the purple-haired woman in the picture.] Patchouli. She was a witch too, with a mastery of quite a bit of magic. Something about her screamed that she had a good heart, despite being something of a shut-in and not great at dealing with people. But we ended up being friends... and she was the one who convinced me to make reading a habit.

[Which would explain the bookshelf, anyway.]

Then, most of the rest of her own "family" showed up. See, she lived in a place called the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Ominous name, but... the people there ended up being like family. There's Koakuma, Patchouli's assistant... [He pointed to the red haired girl with wings coming from her head. She was clearly a succubus, but didn't carry any typical signs of the traits Adell disliked about them.] ...klutzy and harmless, but genuinely kind and caring. [He then pointed to the maid.] Sakuya, their maid, who could stop time and do chores while doing it. Made the best tea, too. [Then to the taller redhead.] Meiling, their gatekeeper, who was a great martial artist and as loyal as they came. [Then he pointed to the youngest girls, first the one with blonde hair, then the one with purple hair and red eyes.] And Flandre and Remilia Scarlet. Flandre was the younger sister, and Remilia was the head of the household. Remilia held herself with the bearings of a noblewoman but had quite a few quirks, and Flandre was more like a normal little girl, though she was still a bit... strange.

They were all youkai, which are kinda like us demons, from what I can understand. Well, except Sakuya, anyway. She was a human. Remilia and Flandre were both vampires, but... they took their blood in tea, weird as that sounds. But, sure as heck better than them going out and draining people, and Luceti provides for vampires anyway.

You really do attract strange people, don't you?

[She remembers hearing that complaint several times when they were trying to find Zenon... ]

Mom said the same thing when we were living in the house.

[He smiled, with an odd bit of pride to it all, though he doesn't yet continue onto the other three pictures just yet.]

I can imagine she fit in just fine.

[Cause... Oh Adell's mom.]

[He laughed.]

Oh yes, she did. I think she was especially fond of Flandre and Sakuya.

[He moved onto the next one.]

That's Sylvia. She was a knight from her kingdom back home, and the best friend of her. [He points to Charlotte, but goes back to Sylvia.] She was a woman of few words. Didn't really like talking that much, but for just an ordinary human, she was extremely skilled with a sword. She was definitely a woman who spoke with her actions rather than her words. But she was always honorable, straightforward, and honest.

[Rozalin didn't really have a comment for this one, though she was not surprised someone like that was a friend of Adell's, given many of those trais he mentioned were some of his own most valued traits. So she merely nodded, indicating that she was listening.]

[He hesitates for a moment, and then moves to the next picture.]

...And that's Luka. Luka Megurine. She's... well, she was a Vocaloid, which is an artificially created being, meant for the purpose of singing songs composed by others. Basically, she was like an android or a robot. Though what made her strange was...

She was created with free will. In a sense, no different than you or I. The problem was she... wasn't really aware of it, and at first functioned like an android, needing a Master to follow orders from. Long story short, I became that person for her, but that was before I knew about her true artificial intelligence. I learned about it over time, and it was my job to help her realize her potential while still trying to arrange concerts and such for her.

[He shifted his weight back onto his heels, and slid his hands into his pockets. His voice got more serious and reflective as he did so.]

...To be honest, I wasn't very successful at either. Luka and I were very close, and we cared about each other a great deal, but... I kept making critical mistakes. Luka was a machine. She thought differently than you or I did, and I had a lot of trouble trying to communicate that she could think like us, make her own decisions and be independent if she wanted to be. Eventually, her AI started showing through, but she was terrified of accepting something that was beyond what her stated purpose was.

She thought she was broken. And I never was really able to convince her otherwise before she vanished.

[He loosened back up after that.]

...Still. Neither of us would've traded our time together for anything. Luka's the one that made me realize just how lucky I was to meet and befriend any of these people in the first place. She's the one who calculated the odds of these things happening being infinitely small... and with that in mind, it put a lot of things into perspective.

Edited 2013-01-27 20:33 (UTC)

[Another strange person... but someone very important, it seemed. She was beginning to wonder where she now fit in his life... Was she just a random photograph on his shelf? ...Not that this really should matter to her. Maybe he was right, and she was from some other parallel world or... something. There was no reason to let any of this bother her. It was pointless to let it get to her.

...If only her heart would obey her head.]

What about her?

[She nodded hesitantly at the last girl, the words having slipped quietly from her mouth before she could stop herself. ]

[Adell looked at the picture of Charlotte on his shelf, and a pit promptly formed in his stomach. Maybe this hadn't been the best idea, if he had to explain who Charlotte was, and what she was to him. It was a conversation he long dreaded having, one he tried very hard not to think about.

But it wasn't one he could avoid. And it wasn't one he should avoid. Of all people, Rozalin deserved answers about it. He couldn't hide that part of his history here from her. It wouldn't be right.]

That's Charlotte. Charlotte Hazelrink. Like I said, she was Sylvia's best friend, even if she came from another country. Like you, she was also a princess, if you can believe it. I met Charlotte very early in my stay here... and she was one of my earliest friends. She was free-spirited, kind, caring, a little... weird sometimes, but also extremely empathetic to people and the world around her.

[He didn't need to go on about how she was beautiful or attractive. That was plainly evident in the picture, though the same could be said about most of the women in these photographs.

He shifted his weight back on his heels and got serious again. This is where things would inevitably get... unpleasant.]

The two of us ended up getting very close over time. We... really just enjoyed each other's company a lot.

[He swallowed a knot in his throat. It was hard to talk about this, but it had to be done. He kept his tone level, as best as he could manage, anyway, and as forthright as possible.]

After more than a year of being close friends we both realized... there was more between us than just friendship. She and I pretty much fell for one another after that. We dated and were... in love, until she vanished about a year and a half ago.

[There. It was out there. A tough note to end on, but for now, he wasn't sure else where to go right now, and he didn't know how Rozalin would react to hearing that. His own feelings on the matter were still complicated and a mess.]

[ ...Blank was perhaps the best description of how she felt... maybe even a little stunned. It was hard to put a word to it, since she wasn't sure how to even begin to feel about it--she'd been only just still coming to understand love, after all.

Several moments of silence and she still didn't know what to say or how to react. It had been over 3 years, apparently... it was foolish to think he'd have waited to get back to someone he'd only merely kissed... right?]

I-I see...

[...Nope, she really had no idea what to say to that, thus quickly looked for a subject change, doing what she had a bit of a knack for: hiding her feelings. She reached out, lifting the photograph of herself to get a closer look at it.]

W-where did you get this? I-It... It does not appear to be one of Tink's photographs, though I certainly doubt I've seen all of them.

[Unfortunately for her, this version of Adell was much more experienced with love, and its feelings... and he was better at reading people because of it. Rozalin's silence about the matter, and the fact that she was dodging the issue entirely, was quite suspect right from the get go. Adell expected something more akin to a furious reaction, not one so... subdued.

But he knew well enough that a subdued reaction didn't mean things were okay. No, in fact, that meant there was much more of a problem than he anticipated. His only guess was... she really did feel that way about him as well. And though the possibility existed that her Adell and himself were different, feelings like that are not so easily separated. He figured he'd be in much the same position if Rozalin had told him something similar.

Still, he'll answer her question.]

That one's... kind of a long story. Complicated, we'll say. But it's definitely not one of his. I'm pretty sure none of his would really do you justice.

[Still, that picture of her is... surprisingly nice. And tasteful.]

...but when I had the chance to get it, I didn't want to miss it. Couldn't leave out one of the most important people in my life.

[His comment about Tink's photos made her faintly blush... it really was a good photo, however he got it. He'd really gone to trouble to get it? Hesitantly she looked over at him.]

I... am still that important to you?

[He looked back over to her in return.]

Of course you are. [He paused for a moment, reaching to rest a hand on the picture as well.] I never forgot about you, or the promise I made to you.

[He released the picture again.]

Even if things happened here, I wouldn't. I couldn't.

...Idiot...

[She says this and yet her voice is almost shaking... for that brief few seconds, she sounds like she might break down, though not in a bad way.

She was not just a random picture on his shelf... that was comforting.

She doesn't break down or anything, however, keeping her emotions checked. She carefully places the photo back where it was on his shelf for him.]

Y-you... you were going to cook dinner, weren't you?

[He gives her a warm smile after a moment, the quiet insult being oddly... comforting itself.]

Yeah, I was. But I wouldn't mind some company in the kitchen.

Well... I suppose so, as long as you aren't expecting me to do anything.

[She's managing to sound more like herself... she isn't as opposed to helping as she makes it sound, but it's probably more helpful for her NOT to help.

Come on now, I said I'd be cooking for you tonight. You leave the heavy lifting to me.

[He starts heading for the door, temporarily forgetting the spare blanket.]

[Finally she finds herself smiling once more, inspite of what she may be feeling inside.]

Well, alright then.

[With one last glance across the shelf, she follows after him, completely not thinking of the spare blanket either.]

Number Unknown - Fourth Wall Event!

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