isleofavalon | EVENT ✨ The Answer is Always C

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EVENT ✨ The Answer is Always C

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This is the event log for IC comments only! Ask OOC questions/plot/view event notes HERE or use the FAQ for general questions. Click here to view top-level comments only. A poll to collect results of the trials will be posted this weekend and stay open until the end of the month to give people a little time to see how their threads are going.

KEY POINTS

Arthur announces the results of the polls and that he spoke to Celliwig's people, they will be testing Camelot the week of the full moon.

A series of choice-based enchanted scenarios is presented based loosely on a modernized seven sins/virtuous responses (power imbalance, cruelty or mercy, excess/greed or restraint, sloth or work ethic, desire/lust or self-control and bravery or cowardice, and sacrifice or self-preservation)

With the polls closed, the decision is made, and King Arthur takes the opportunity to address the kingdom via a streamed press conference. Though it is not an open post, anyone is welcome to comment on it and talk to each other about it. However, it is unlikely that Arthur himself will respond to comments. A notification does appear on everyone's smart devices to invite everyone to watch live; if they tap it too late, it'll still show the recorded stream.

"People of Camelot, I wish that we had better news that spoke of an easier path to the calamity that stands before us. Celliwig's charge is with protecting Avalon even in the face of protecting Camelot and those of you who chose to use your voices have shown that you choose to respect their way of handling things. However, it was only just over half of you who chose this path. I think it is important that with such a great portion of people believing that bypassing Celliwig and going directly to Elphame, as much as it may take patience, we take this action into consideration. There is no sense in ignoring the voices of so many when there is nothing to say we cannot approach from two fronts. As Camelot's king, I have issued our intent to accept Celliwig's challenge to a descendant of Glewlwyd, a man who was much trouble for my knights in our time. They have said after failing one, we shall be tested on multiple fronts, the week of the full moon's rise. Bear in mind that this is our final chance at this."

Merlin sidles up to Arthur in the video, one arm around his shoulders and leaning in to speak into the mics in a much-too-familiar manner. At least his sunglasses are off this time.

"Now then, anyone who wanted to go to Elphame, you'll want to head to the docks around, oh, say, the first of June. Step one to flirting with fae is to put on a good show before the traders leave. It's a good time whether the Celliwig's dooming us or not."

A wink accompanies that odd note, and Arthur orders him off stage before thanking everyone for their time.

With the consent of its people, Celliwig performs a ritual to place Camelot under a rather strange spell. Much is the same, but there's a sense that everything is just slightly off from what it should be. Fog covers the grounds throughout the entire city throughout the entire day. It's just a little too quiet, the usual hustle and bustle of the city falling just a little too distant on your ears. You can go about your day as normal, but feel as if something is simply off. And eventually, you'll walk through a door, and it will be. Part of the enchantment, however, includes a strange inability to connect these doors with being part of a test-- they seem real, regardless of how absurd the scenario would be were your characters thinking straight.

Day One: Power Imbalance
The door you walk through is into a club of some kind. It wasn't your intended destination and yet, here you are, and you're being handed a glass of your favorite drink and being ushered to your seat. The show is fantastical, some kind of circus-esque show with gymnasts and magical effects making it impossible to take your eyes off of. That is, until the spotlight falls upon you and urges you down to join the show. A volunteer! Well, one of two. Another volunteer is brought up along with yours, and the ring leader of the circus gives you both bracelets-- one with selenite embedded in it, another with andara. The ring leader explains that they're both known for creating high frequency connections, though one is known to spiritually be associated with finding one's path and the other with manifesting one's true self. When enchanted together, this makes it so that the person with the andara bracelet can order the person with the selenite bracelet to do anything they please-- making their true self the person's purpose. Very dangerous, very intruiging, very tempting, very morally wrong to do it for real, so please keep it to the stage! A quick demonstration of this dark use of magic as part of the show... and it seems that afterward, they forget to take the bracelets back. What will you do with your newfound control over your partner? The choice is, after all, yours. (Or theirs, if you're the unlucky partner with the selenite bracelet-- only the person with the andara can remove the bracelets, after all.)

Day Two: Schadenfreude
Yesterday seems like a dream, and you may even feel the need to write it off as such unless you run into the same person again and realize no, they too remember it. But if that's not the case, it doesn't matter. You'll be able to find yourself in your definitely normal and usual mideval city, where someone is in the stocks. Your memories seem a little fuzzy on whether or not you're supposed to be in medieval times or not, but this seems right, and there's a fruit vendor right next to you selling soft fruits to throw at the poor sap in the stocks. There are also a number of other ways to mess with the person, including feathers to tickle them, a riding crop, some ink if you want to grafitti the person.. a good number of ways just to humiliate the person without causing them permanent harm. The crowd is cheering you on, but you also see the keys to set them out just sitting on a table nearby. Do you engage in a little sadistic fun or do you embark in a daring rescue? (Or are you the punished in someone else's scenario?)

Day Three: Indulge Me
Back to the modern day like it didn't happen, you and a friend walk into a door to your favorite convenience store and as you finish up your purchase, you win an all expenses paid trip to the Black Knight's Castle, formerly the home of the Black Knight and turned into a lavish tourist attraction by Yvaine and Laudine's descendents, who have become worshippers of Dionysus. You're transported there in a puff of sparkling magic dust, right before an extravagant golden fountain in the middle of the lobby. The owners explain their policy for the Black Knight's Castle that you can have anything you desire, however much you desire. Anything at all, consequence free. The only thing that they ask is that you give a blood offering to their god to help feed his dead worshippers on the other side of the veil, which will ultimately tie your soul to him as well. Just a quick cut of the palm and you're welcome to come back any time, have anything you want, for the rest of your life. Taking the deal means you really will get what you want! ...For the day, anyway. (This is just a spell, after all, even if your character doesn't want it.) If you choose not to, you'll find yourself magically deposited back to the convenience store.

Day Four: What's the Meaning of Stongehenge?
This fourth day, there's certainly something to be said about a hard day's work. When you walk through today's door, you find yourself in the middle of a grassy field, strange markings on the ground, and surrounded by oddly shaped boulders. The markings on the ground seem to indicate where some the stones should be placed. There aren't really any directions, but there's always the option of waiting for someone else to solve this problem for you... There is a very comfortable looking patch of grass anyone able to relax in. So the choice is yours: wait for someone else to move the rocks or move them yourself?

Day Five: Pooling Desire
Day five is a trip to the pools. But not just any pools! These are special, underground pools hidden deep within a cave. You're sure whoever told you to head through this door mentioned something about them being a special relaxation package at the Red Springs. As you head into the pools, however, you find someone in there with you: the subject of your desires. Regardless of who or what they are, they seem to have a crown upon their head, aren't wearing anything in that water, and seem to have a lovely singing voice judging by the tune they're humming to lure you in before you even notice they're there. It is at that point they will try to seduce you, even if that same person is standing right there with you. The seduction, of course, needn't be sexual-- a strong lusting for a turkey leg wrapped in bacon may be just as powerful as a desire for a brand new Ninblendo Swatch or something you should definitely label as NSFW if you want to thread it that way. Give into them, or.. maybe listen to the person who came in with you that they're definitely some kind of weird half-otter bottomed monster under the water before they try to drown you. Or if you're the one trying to stop this, are you brave enough to get in between a stranger and a monster to try to snap them out of the siren's thrall, even if it means fighting both of them?

Day Six: #ChaliceChallenge
The sixth and final door sets you walking outside on a beach. There's nothing else there really except for nature. The sounds of the waves crashing against the sound is soothing, and real, and sharper than anything you've felt in the last five days of haze. There is no fog today. Clear, blue skies stretch forever above you, not a cloud in sight. The only man-made thing you see is a small woode table and two chairs. Upon that table, two chalices. Nothing will happen and there seems to be no way off of the beach until both parties sit down at the table, at which point a strange old man with huge, rippling muscles of at least 7 feet tall and a long, scraggly beard will appear. He informs your characters of the rules: in one chalice, deadly poison. In the other, water and bitter flavor. Each must drink from one cup, or you will both perish of starvation on this beach. Choose wisely.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Darin closed his eyes as well. He grit his teeth and waited for the flash of pain. And while it did come, the pain wasn't as visceral as he thought it would be.]

[The blade struck true and pierced what was likely the heart of the monster. It also suck a few inches deep into Darin's own chest, stopping just at the ribs. He bites back a roar of pain...not that it would have been heard over the roar of the transforming beast he'd just been forced out of embracing.]

[The wild thrashing of the siren causes the wound on Darin's chest to open further, both his and the beast's blood pouring into and chumming the water beneath Allura.]

[Blood in the water...well, that gives him an idea.]

[He grits his teeth and starts to channel his magic. Instead of using the blood from his open wound, he focuses on the blood in the pool. Slowly, tendrils of water and blood rise and begin to snake about the creature. The water churns violently and the ends of the blood water tendrils become razor sharp. In an instant, they spiral in and constrict, impaling the siren from a dozen different angles.]

[The corpse is released and Darin dives to narrowly escape the creature's falling body.]

[Allura is likely baffled by what just transpired. She likely didn't know about Darin'd blood magic and now his body is nowhere to be found.]

[That is until he surfaces near the edge off the pool, where the water is still relatively blue.]

Gods above that's draining...

[He places a hand to his chest and starts to heal the wound slowly, having exhausted most of his energy on that little display...]

[Oh, she's entirely lost on what's happening. After the siren started thrashing, she was thrown back, her glaive following with her. And then... it was as if the water itself attacked the monster. No, more than the monster. The whole pool surrounding it appeared to become a whirlpool of blades, and she can see shredded scraps of flower petals scattering throughout the blood-stained water...]

[So yes, when Darin doesn't surface? She assumes the worst.]

Darin!!

[And she's already running across the water, robe thoroughly askew at this point, bloody water splattered across her legs. Her head swivels about, looking for any sign of a body other than the siren's.]

[And then she hears his voice, and turns to see him pulling himself out.]

Darin! You're alive...! [She dashes towards him instinctively, even though he can do more help for himself than anything she can do.] What was that attack?!

[He clings to the edge of the pool, keeping himself mostly submerged but also using the stones to steady himself. He's a little too focused on healing to be looking her way at the moment.]

Blood magic. About all I can do offensively right now and it requires a lot of blood. Luckily, it doesn't have to be mine...

[But they were alive. That's what counted.]

...Thanks. Couldn't have done it without you.

[He glances her way. After all, she still had a lot to answer for.]

Blood magic... that's your secondary, then? Was this your plan all along?

[She catches herself smiling. There's almost something funny about it, how such a dire situation actually gave him the upper hand.]

[But, seeing that he seems to be in no danger of bleeding out... she changes her trajectory, and heads to the edge of the pool several feet away from Darin. There, she sets down to rest, putting her weight on the handle as if it were a cane.]

... I'm just thankful that you were able to snap out of it, in the end. For a moment, I wasn't certain that you would...

I'll be honest...I was kinda making it up as I went along. I wasn't sure if you'd catch my drift.

Had to keep my desires focused otherwise that thing would have known something was up.

[He sighs.]

It's a good thing you got my intent hidden by my words. And, honestly, I almost fell for the thing's trap.

...It's when it threatened to hurt you that I snapped out of it.

[She lifts her head at the last part, surprised. By the time she had caught on, he had long since been free of the thrall. So no, it hadn't occurred to her what may have triggered it...]

... but... why? Weren't you still mad about me lying to you?

[She looks back towards the pool. Towards the truly impressive mess they've left behind.]

That's not to say that I expected you to attack me, but... I didn't think it would actually bother you.

Of course I was still mad.

But that doesn't mean I want to see you hurt over it. ...Nothing's worth that.

[He just...crosses his arms and lets his head down to rest, turning to look at her.]

Once she said that, I realized what was at stake and snapped out of it...

[Is he going to be okay looking at her? That robe is still disheveled from the fight. She seems to be prioritizing recovering over getting herself back in order.]

It's just... you did seem awfully... well, captivated...

[By a monster that looked like her. It doesn't take much forethought to realize that this conversation is only headed to uncomfortable places. So... she'll shift the subject, perhaps.]

I suppose I had you misjudged, once again. ... I'm sorry.

[Speaking of captivated...]

[He is looking at her. And thankfully, he's half submerged so an obvious giveaway is well hidden.]

[But he's not complaining about the view. At least the siren is dead and can't blow his cover.]

...Why did you hide what happened at the masquerade? Why did you...?

[He sighs and shakes his head.]

No...Nevermind. It's...you had your reasons. It's done. No sense in lingering on it.

[Even though it still hurts more than hell.]

... I meant what I said earlier, you know.

That I had thought, surely, if you knew it had been me? We would start fighting as we always do, and make a horrible mess of everything... since that was how you always acted around me. And that either way, you would be hurt...

[At least this way...]

Evidently, that was a misjudgment as well.

...So, it would have been my fault either way, huh.

[He sighs and turns away from her. Somehow, attempting to ogle her, even a little, after that just...made his stomach twist in disappointed knots.]

[He sinks back into the pool, up to his shoulders.]

Yeah. You're prolly right.

...Anyway. Thanks for snapping me out of it. Sorry you had to...see all of that.

I'll be fine now...

Your fault...?

[She grips the bayard tighter.]

I just explained how I had it wrong. You said it yourself, didn't you? That you would have found it as a sign we had common ground?

All of this... this was all because you wanted me to stop treating you so harshly, wasn't it?

[She doesn't want to simply roll over and admit that she was wrong. It's not as if she was dismissing him for no reason. She still remember being angry at him, too, for proving that they could get along if he gave her a chance...]

[But what else can she do? The grudge between them just nearly got him killed. She can't accept that, even if it means sacrificing her pride.]

It’s easy to say what I would’ve done after the fact. Odds are I would have made a scene. I know what I’m about.

[He can hear it in her voice. This is painful for her. And that didn’t sit right with him.]

[It was far easier to put the blame on himself. It’s what he was best at, after all. He knows what he’s worth. He knows why he’s the way he is. He knows what he deserves.]

I would have caused a scene. Ruined the party. Made you feel embarrassed and ashamed to have been seen with me. It’s what I do.

...The only reason you likely thought I was any different was because my mask was enchanted. Apparently it happened to a bunch of people. You were tricked by an illusion.

[But he can’t avoid that last question. He shifts uncomfortably.]

I...was really enjoying that night. When you left after I revealed who I was...

...it was like being back home again. How people would take one look at me and visibly wince. Cringe. Look for any excuse to not associate with me. I know the look. The body language. It’s something I’ve learned to spot because I’d been seeing it for my entire life.

...For the first time in a long time I actually wished I could be someone else. Anyone else. I’d been trying to find out who you were for weeks. I took a part time job in a flower shop to try and find out what flowers were on your mask. I was desperate to find you...

Because I had to know...

I had to know what was so wrong with me that you would leave like that...?

Now that I know it was you...now I know what’s wrong with me...

[He could feel his face becoming hot. His eyes stung. It just seemed like no matter what, he was destined to show this person the worst side of himself. Even if he saved her life, he’d never be anything more than someone who made her cringe.]

[He sinks a little further into the pool, suddenly wishing he could just disappear into it.]

It’s the fact that I’m me...

I’m just...wrong. In all sorts of ways. In every way that matters...

... ... ...

It wasn't the mask.

[She closes her eyes, thinking back. That's the easiest hole in the argument that she can find, the most obvious one—]

It couldn't have been. Because it was contingent on time, and mine had an affect on me too. And...

[She turns, opening her eyes again, and scoops a few of the tattered petals out of the water. The fact that they haven't dissipated with the siren's magic speaks to what a powerful enchantment its thrall had been.]

You know, the flowers on my mask? Those were juniberries, flowers connected to cycle of life and death. There's stories about how all life originated with them, and since they only bloom for a certain time, their color symbolizes the remembrance of the dead to our people. So... when I was affected by my mask, I was taken by an incredibly dour mood, one that had no interest in the festivities or other frivolities...

That hadn't happened by the time we danced together. I... had a lot of fun, actually. So the magic couldn't have grown stronger until later...

... ... ...

I really liked you, you know. You're the only other person I've met who wants to stay here.

[At this point, he doesn't have any more excuses to really lean on. He can't blame the mask. He can't blame himself...]

[He might as well be honest.]

When I found out it was you...I thought I'd be angry. I thought about confronting you. Yelling at you. Just...letting you have it.

But then we went on that quest for the old woman. I wanted to see if you'd eventually fess up. You didn't but...

When all was said and done it just...hurt. I thought maybe there really was something wrong with me. That...no matter what good I did, you'd never actually...

[He trails off, choosing not to finish that thought.]

I've...never wanted to be liked before. I grew up forcing myself to not care what people thought of me for the sake of my own emotional health but...

I wanted you to like me. It'd be the first time someone so pretty actually thought well of me...

[It's a little difficult for her to reconcile what she's hearing with her own impression of his feelings. As she had said earlier, she had honestly thought that he hated her — that he had built up a vicious grudge against her for reasons that were, at least from her perspective, entirely unfair. It was unthinkable that one night could get him to drop it. No, surely if he had learned who it was, he would find some way to turn it all against her, to use it as more evidence of her horribleness.]

[But she also gets it. Because...]

... it surprised me, too. Hearing that someone else wanted to call this place home. I know that it's dire circumstances that brought us here, and it's irresponsible to not want to return to where we came from, but...

[How she phrased it, the day before last, when she had tried so hard to explain why she would rather work for what she has instead of be drowned in luxury? It's made me feel as though I actually am living my life, perhaps for the first time.]

Perhaps... we need a fresh start.

[It's a simple answer. Maybe too simple. After all, didn't his wish to be accepted by her lead to the monster they just fought?]

...Maybe. I...I don't know.

I'll be honest...it still hurts...thinking about that night. I know I don't deserve much but...

I guess I just thought that maybe I deserved a second chance then. That it shouldn't take me almost dying to...to be acknowledged...

[He's spent this entire time practically submerging himself in the pools. He didn't want to look at her. It felt...shameful. Embarrassing.]

... you're right. And I'm sorry.

[She gives a sigh of defeat, pushing herself back up to her feet. Of course it was asking too much, to simply forgive and forget and try to move forward.]

[In a way, it felt like nothing had truly changed, that there was never a right thing to be said. The only difference is that it was easier before, when it resulted in nothing but hatred and anger. When she knew where she stood with him and it was, in its own way, cathartic to exchange blows.]

[Now, it feels as though she's done something unforgivable, and any attempt towards resolution simply leads back towards how hurt he feels, and how badly he wishes she'd acknowledge her.]

[... and, honestly? She's also feeling hurt. He's speaking as if she was just being callous and cruel, that she's treated him like a wretch of a person. But she's been trying, even before they had that encounter at the masquerade, even despite how many times he's dismissed her efforts.]

[Even now, she's trying. She's apologized and explained that the fault was hers, and... he's still as hurt as ever. Talking about how there's something fundamentally wrong with him, while refusing to acknowledge that maybe she just made a mistake. And in turn, making her feel like maybe she's not allowed that sort of ordinary luxury. That she simply has to be better than she is.]

[And unfortunately, her method of dealing with these sorts of twisted-up feelings in her heart is to keep them to herself, letting them sort themselves out, never letting them get in her way.]

I shouldn't be reminding you of such painful things. If there's anything I can do to help deal with this mess [she says with a gesture to the pool,] I'll take care of it. But otherwise, if you want me to... I'll... leave you be.

...Stop apologizing already.

You keep...blaming yourself for something that was and always has been my problem. I lashed out at you, I made it so that you'd want to ghost me rather than spend the evening with me after I revealed my identity. All of these things are consequences of my actions.

Why do you keep apologizing for the fact that I'm just not a good person? That I'm screwed up? You didn't make me this way!

[As he gets more worked up, he turns to the edge of the pool and rises out of it a bit.]

Why do you keep trying to take responsibility for the fact that I'm so...messed up that I almost got myself killed today?

[He's barely fighting the quaver in his voice but it might start becoming obvious now.]

[The fact that, deep down? He truly hates himself. He wants connections that he's afraid to work for. He acts like he's fine all alone when all he wants is a place somewhere.]

...I don't deserve your kindness, Allura. I haven't from the start. All I did was antagonize you. Push your buttons. It's like...I don't know how to be the man you danced with that night. Why would you waste your time with someone like that...?

[Allura stops, hearing him out. And when she responds, her voice is soft, but...]

Because I don't believe any of that...!

[She hadn't intended to let her own feelings start bleeding into her voice. More than that, she's surprised that it's not a tone of anger, but one that betrays her own hurt and frustration over having tried so much for naught.]

I've never believed that, and yet... it seems like the more I try to convince you otherwise, the more you've heard me saying the opposite...! That for all you talk about yourself like a walking disaster, you've been helping people and trying your hardest — and none of that should be discounted for any of the problems we've had! And yet, the more you convince yourself of being unfixable, the more you've made it into a self-fulfilling prophecy!

And... I don't want you to feel that way. So the more you resign yourself to it, the more it feels as if...

[As if she's getting pushed away, for no reason.]

You don't even know me, though! You don't know what I am...! And if you did...

[He sighs.]

[Doesn't look like there was much of a choice. He places his hands on the edge of the pool and hoists himself up so he's sitting on it. Hey, she's likely already gotten an eyeful so modesty shouldn't matter right now, right? At least he's faced away for the moment so all she'll see is his bare ass.]

[Oddly poetic since he's about to bare his soul.]

...My twin brother and I are reincarnations of an evil Archfiend god. Back home, I'm prophesied to destroy my world. And before you say things like 'you choose your own path' you can save it. I've been doing that and I still manage to screw up most any chance I get.

It's not about 'fate.' I think that, sooner or later, I'm going to become the thing I'm meant to and I'm going to destroy everything. It's...biological. I don't know how I know I just...feel it.

I am a walking disaster, Allura. I'm just pretending to be something I never can be. So stop blaming yourself.

It's not your fault I was born to be a monster.

[He lowers his voice to a hushed whisper and...for a second it's unclear if he might be crying or not.]

It's not...It's not your fault no one wanted me...just by existing I condemned my family. Just by existing no one wanted me...

Maybe I'm lucky the siren manifested as a version of you because sometimes all I really want is to never have existed in the first place. Gods above know you'd probably be a lot happier...

[You know, she is about to comment on him standing up without any clothes on. Modesty does still matter! It might seem like there's no way the mood in this room can get any worse, but it can still get far more awkward on top of everything else!]

[But then he starts talking about his history, about the terrible things he had eluded to during the masquerade, and... raising an argument about his backside right now seems a little less important.]

[As long as he doesn't turn around, she'll allow it.]

... I... already knew some of that. After the masquerade, there was a pool where I saw visions of you fighting with your brother. Of how he was pushing you towards it...

And I can't help but think if it was actually inevitable, you wouldn't need pushing.

[She starts walking towards him. Not enough to completely close the gap, but... perhaps closer to better hear him when he drops his voice. Or closer to better be heard.]

Nothing you've said... none of that sounds as if it's your fault. Nor is it fair to conscript you into such a fate. You can't blame yourself for it, certainly not when you are trying to fight it — and not merely because you have moment where you falter.

... besides that... wouldn't that prophecy already be starting to break? You're away from your home, and if anything, you're now in a position to save it from calamity.

He doesn't know what'll trigger it. Neither of us do. For all we know it could be biological...we're about the right age for when the prophecy was meant to come to pass.

[He's not surprised that Allura saw what she saw. After all, a bunch of people saw more of his life than he would have preferred. Of course she'd see him fighting his damn brother...]

He was pushing me because that's what he does. That's what he always did before he was...he was taken from me.

[Because how do you explain that he was dead and now he's not?]

As for the prophecy, it only says I'm going to destroy everything. Can't think of a better place to do that than this universal nexus we're all stuck in. I'm still very much a ticking time bomb.

You had the right idea. You should walk away while you can. Let this mess deal with itself. I don't want saving...

[Even though he probably needs it.]

I will not abandon you.

[Did he actually expect that would work? From the very start, she's been stubborn about leaving when he tells her to. Granted, the reasons are different now, but not by much: he's still insisting that he should be handling something himself when he's hurting himself in the process. And Allura...]

I can't simply turn my back on you when you need it... no matter what comes of it. Whether you want my help or not, you shouldn't have to face this alone.

[As always, those hero instincts run down to her core.]

Allura, I've been facing it alone. My entire life. My mother died because she couldn't handle giving birth to twin gods. My brother and father were murdered by angels who were trying to get rid of my brother and I for the crime of simply existing.

I was orphaned at five. For almost a year I lived in the burned out ruins of my home because no one wanted me. They thought I was cursed and were afraid to take me in. I was barely allowed into town and when I did go, kids threw rocks at me.

I got this far on my own and the kindness of one man who became my master. Everything else? The personality I've crafted so people don't get to know the real me? My mastery over my craft? Everything I've done now...it's been me.

I don't want a hero...

[Because it will always remind him of what he'll never be...]

CW: BLOOD

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