hadriel | 001

[ The scene set is that of a living room. It does not appear to have been lived in much, no trinkets on shelves or the table, and no pillows set up on the couch. The video is static for a long moment before the Outsider appears on screen in a wash of black smoke and shining pieces of onyx. He's set himself up in the center of the couch, on the back of it, his feet planted on the cushion. His hands are folded together as he leans forward. There's a twinkle of amusement in his beetle-black eyes. ]

Have you ever heard the tale of Empress Emily Drexal Lela Kaldwin, first of her name? [ No response? No problem. He's going to tell it to you anyway. ] A child born to take the throne, she grew up privileged. She learned about the world from a distance and when people killed her mother and stole her throne, her father took up sword to take it back for her. [ He disappears in a wisp, reappearing further from the camera. The distance has no effect on the loudness of his voice. He gestures widely with his arms. ] Her father returned the throne to her and though she tried to be the Empress her mother once was, she lost sight of what was important: the voices of her people.

Another came for her throne while she was blinded, a woman who had been born in the hole and clawed her way out to the top, and that woman took it with blood. If only Emily had paid attention. If only she spent a little less time on the rooftops of her city or in the arms of her lover. If, if, if. [ Again, he disappears, this time appearing to lean against the left arm of the couch. He shakes his head. ] She took up sword, same as her father. She took on my mark, same as her father.

But do you think she managed to get her crown back? Could she do it as bloodlessly as her father? [ A quiet chuckle in the back of his throat. ] Or would she be as ruthless a killer as her betrayers?

It's a tale that can end in so many different ways.

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The Empress I knew fought hard to write her wrongs, to make the hard choices instead of the easy ones, and some of them... [ A hum, echoing and thoughtful. ] Blood isn't the only way to exact vengeance on those who've taken from you.

At the start of her journey, she wasn't yet ready to face her consequences, but eventually, weeks of her harrowing journey taught lessons that were unignorable. But perhaps there's a timeline that exists where she chooses the bloodier option. Where she takes back her throne with death.

An ending like that, though, isn't one I care much for.

Perhaps not, but I suppose some would find bloody vengeance a much more satisfying ending, be it merely personality or just the conclusion they've reached.

[Or, in Chara's experience in Hadriel, you're just...so angry at what you've learned. Even if it was not the logical or right choice it didn't matter at the time.

He says 'timelines' in a way that implies it may be like their own.]

You are not fond of the endings that end with a blade and d...blood? What kind of endings do you like?

Too often, stories end in blood. People are quick to reach for the dagger or pistol, quick to betray the people that put their trust in them, quick to do what's expected. Wouldn't you prefer the unexpected ending than the expected one?

[ When he gives his Mark, all he expects is change. Good change, bad change. Change is change and it all leads them to the future where the world will be devoured. ]

[He has a point. Chara had walked down the path of Genocide, among many others, and that path had been easy. Certainly there were two beings who had grounded things to a screeching halt...but eventually they moved on.

Sparing Monsters were much harder.]

I suppose you are right. But what of those who find the middle ground between blades and words? What then?

[Chara learned of the 'good' ending they could have but had no desire to claim for themselves. It also rendered every other ending they earned as nothing but dust in the wind. Where those endings even worth it?]

There are few that can find such a balance, but, from what I've witnessed of my world, that brings about the least amount of change. It keeps, very much, the status quo. [ And those are not the people he grants his Mark to. Not because they aren't interesting, or because they haven't fought as hard to get to where they are, but because it doesn't bring about the change he so often seeks. ]

I suppose so.

[They didn't exactly get anywhere with those sorts of endings. Although Chara will not consider them completely useless from what they learned. And it's not like everyone had the power to go back whenever they wished.]

So you have a preference for endings that bring about change? What about those who have the power to take as many tries as they want to make that 'change'?

[ Oh. Now that sounds interesting. He leans in towards the camera, black eyes as endless and deep as the darkest parts of the ocean. ]

Is that a power you have? [ Curious. It's not an ability he's heard about before. It's not one that exists where he comes from and, if it did, he's certain he would be aware of it. ] To restart and do over?

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