hadriel | ✘ Round 4

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✘ Round 4 | [Audio]

[It's time for someone who rarely accesses the network to rear his head again, driven to desperation as the days have ticked by and he's failed to find even a trace of one of his closest friends. That being said when Glacius speaks there's an uncharacteristic urgency tinting his voice, worry bubbling just underneath the surface.] Kate Galloway. Has--has anyone seen or heard from her recently?

[Realizing that in his haste to get to the point he's left out some details, he dials it back a bit:] She's, ah, a human woman. Brightly-colored hair. Worked at the clinic, primarily. I... haven't seen a trace of her ever since the masquerade and...

... Please. [His voice finally wavers noticeably, resignation clashing up against his innate tendency to hope again hope. This can't be how it goes.] I need someone to tell me she's still here.

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[ Sharon's quiet a moment. It's been something that's been on her mind a while now. She doesn't get close to people often but when she loses them, it's like a hole in her heart has been opened that will never close. ] I've um, I'm um been considering this for a while but what about... Not a graveyard, they're not dead, but maybe an area where we can write the names of those we've lost over the years. Somewhere we can mourn.

[The ice alien pauses as if mulling it over, surprised that she's showing this side of herself to him, but appreciative.] I think that is... a good idea. This way everyone can get a chance to confront their loss if they so desire it. I remember some time ago, Kate reached out to me about writing the history of this place on the Colosseum walls. Perhaps something like that would work. [And fitting, given it would have been her idea in the first place--one more way to pay respects to the work she has done here.]

We might want to keep it away from the colosseum. I don't think anyone would appreciate to come back and see their name on a wall and not remember a damn thing about this place, you know? [ She likes the idea and while she's worked on a few pieces for the colosseum, mostly paintings of the gods. The gods deserve to have their names and this horrible history written and preserved—in text, on the walls, in murals—but the people that suffered that don't deserve to be strung up where their suffering begins. ]

I was thinking... somewhere near the forest, somewhere calm, somewhere that doesn't remind us every day where we're at, where we come from.

Oh, no, I didn't mean to imply that it should actually be in the Colosseum--I would prefer that it was not, actually. I was just attempting to cite the method of writing on or in a wall somewhere. That way it is open to anyone who wants to add to it or simply come to it to reflect; anyone who walks by will see it.

That being said, I think the forest is a fine idea. It does make sense to have it somewhere that will not be in everyone's face but that will not be too out of the way, either. Plus, the peace and uqiet of that area would be suitable for reflection and rememberance.

...Humans use gravestones to represent their dead. We could... Maybe use wooden markers? With the person's name written down it, and if I knew who they were, I could draw a portrait as well as I remember them. People could leave things, like flowers or trinkets.

...Things they would have liked. [ She'd give Kate's a bottle of alcohol and maybe have a drink or two. How is she gone? How is Faith gone? The loss hurts more than she can say. ]

I... would we really want to use a grave marker for this? The individuals in question... not all of them are dead... and treating them as such may be a bit much for the people who cared about them. [He knows his only consolation in this is that Kate is somewhere else now--somewhere better, where she's not the plaything of depraved tormentors.]

But... I do like the sound of the rest of that. It is much more personal than writing all the names of the departed on a wall or board would be, and it would be kind of you to lend your artistic talents to make their memory feel more... tangible. Are there any other simple structures that we could be used that don't call up the imagery of a grave?

[ She considers a multitude of things, including planting something in their name, but that's not as easy to do as a name plaque or marker would be. She sighs. ] Not really. I think anything we use as a marker for a name will bring up the imagery of a graveyard, at least for a chunk of us. Names on a wall, names on stone, names on wood; anyone who's anyone knows that when names are written down, those people are likely gone.

... Yes... I am having a hard time thinking of anything either. Therefore, I defer to your decision in this matter. What can I do to assist you? I could cut and shape the markers, if that would be helpful.

...I'm sorry. [ She wishes she had something more creative to give him, something more hopeful, but who really feels hope when they've lost someone to the comings and goings of the Door, especially after developing bonds with them. She wonders if this is what Sorrow wants—the real reason he won't close to the Door.

Because what better way to gather sorrow is to make certain people lose the ones they love, at any single moment. ]

We could try and make each marker have a unique shape—something that reminds us of them, like an item or an animal or a heart. I think Faith would have loved a marker with a big heart shape on the top. [ She was big on... positivity after all. A Phoenix might have been a more accurate way to describe her but all Sharon can think of when she thinks of Faith is her smile and positivity and sunshine. Her eyes sting suddenly. Fuck. ]

We'd have to ask people for ideas for the ones we didn't have the chance to know.

Thank you--I appreciate the condolences, and am of course sorry that you have suffered similarly. [He, too, has wondered about the true functioning of the Door, if the gods truly have as little control over it as he claims--and his natural distrust for his captors means that he very much doubts it. As Sharon has already considered, it would be a very effective way for many of them to seize more power... which is all the alien believes they truly care about, in the end.

That's not what he wants to think about right now, however; the issue of honoring the departed is much more important. At least they are freed from this place, and don't have to suffer the depraved games of the gods any more.] Yes, I--I like that idea a lot. This way we can both contribute to shaping their memorials, while simultaneously making each one more properly personalized.

I may have to take some direction from you in the carvings, though, or at least find proper reference for them; there are a number of earth creatures or concepts that I am... unfamiliar with.

Don't worry, I can help with references to most human things, though I can't promise absolute accuracy—some more specific items, like flowers, have so many varieties that I only know what a handful look like.

Oh, do not worry--I am not expecting you to have completely expansive knowledge on every single thing on your planet. As long as you can provide me general guidance, I think we should be able to come up with something satisfactory together.

[A brief pause, then:] ... And thank you for this, for the idea and the... the opportunity. To do something better with myself... with my grief. I am ready to be useful again.

[ It's clear the gratitude is unexpected. ] Uh... it's nothing. We all need an outlet for our grief and I know not everyone's idea is blow the fuck out of the thing that hurt them.

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✘ Round 4 | [Audio]

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