tampered | [ log ; ongoing ]

When; December 5, evening
Rating; PG
Characters; Emil Castagnier [

emiltastic ] & Tenebrae [

not_tenebie ]
Summary; And just like Leon said, being "dead" kind of sucks.
Log;

When Emil woke up, it was a familiar ceiling that welcomed him this time. It was... strange. Lying down like that and knowing you'd probably been asleep for a while, and at the same time not feeling rested at all. And also, there was that very real memory of himself, or his body, dying. He'd died while Ruca was still in his body, but because the city was strange and all, he was back again and... strange. He remembered what Leon said about what it was like to be dead too - how did Leon know about that anyway? - and... Leon was right. It was cold and, reaching to touch his chest, his heart just wasn't beating anymore.

"I guess that I really am dead," he muttered to himself as he sat up. It was nice to be back in his room though, even if it was a bit smaller than Ruca's and kinda lonely. Where was Tenebrae?

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As is on cue, the Centurion of Darkness entered the room in a cloud of black smoke. He looked slightly weary, but he was doing his best to conceal this fact. Tenebrae was unaware as to how Emil's "death" in the city would affect him, so it would do well to hide his current state, that way it would not alarm Emil (But some time in the depths of the Underground would do him well after this fiasco, as the concentrations of mana were highest there. That, and the darkness was rather lovely).

"Ah, Emil, you've awoken. How do you feel?"

"Kind of strange..." Emil answered truthfully. He turned then to give the Centurion of Darkness a weak smile. "But I'm glad that I'm still here- and back to my own body too..."

He looked down then and watched as he rubbed his hands together. Somehow, that didn't produce any warmth like it did before. "It's kind of cold, though."

"I would imagine so." he commented, regarding his master idly. While it was not uncommon for Emil to appear in a state like this after a hard battle, Tenebrae'd never wanted to see him in such a state in the City, especially after having been returned to a core state.

"...I see." Again, as if on cue, he produced a blanket for the boy, holding it out to him with the end of his tail.

"Thanks, Tenebrae." The gesture was simple, really, and maybe if he asked Tenebrae would say that it was just natural reaction. But even so, it made it easier somehow to accept the consequences of his death. As long as he was alive, right? If it was cold then he'll just dress warmer or something, try his very best to be warm when his body was colder. It would be like being at Triet again before they hatched Ignis.

"Do you think Yuri's back to normal now?" he asked after wrapping the blanket around himself. Something felt off, really, about the time and... somehow, it didn't feel like he'd only been gone for a while. What day was it? He was kind of afraid to ask.

Deciding it was best to stop floating above Emil, Tenebrae sat himself down next to his bed before continuing the conversation. It would be easier for him this way, he hoped.

"I imagine he would be. At the very least, his mental state will have returned to normal. His physical state, on the other hand..." the Centurion trailed off, his tail swaying back and forth through the air as he thought of how to word it. "Even with a healer, it is unlikely he will be in top physical condition within the next few days."

Okay, something about that answer didn't make sense. It did but at the same time, wasn't it just a curse?

"So they beat him up before the curse was ov--" No that wasn't right, because they were talking about trying to catch Yuri before he... "But before midnight, they didn't know where Yuri'd gone. And curses don't really last for that long... Did something else happen, Tenebrae?"

Well, there was no use not explaining it, but he could certainly skew a few details to keep Emil from realizing the truth.

"Yes, something else did happen. Somehow, the City interfered with the power granted to you via your pact with Ratatosk, and you were turned into something akin to a Centurion's Core, and in that state, you caused the same madness as a Core would." Tenebrae explained, pausing to sigh. "Yuri was very hard to apprehend, and he killed quite a few people before we were able to recover you."

"I was turned into something like a Centurion's Core...?" Emil repeated that part of Tenebrae's statement slowly as he tried to understand it all. He knew, of course, what the Centurion's Cores did to people: that was one of the first things he learned in his journey with Marta and Tenebrae. The Cores granted people power and insanity. He'd seen what it did to Marta's father, and that hadn't been nice to see at all. And that... that happened to Yuri?

"And Yuri... went mad?" Still half in thought, Emil muttered this as he looked down. "But- I'm... I'm a Knight of Ratatosk. N-not a Centurion or anything... did it... it really... happened... like that?"

"That is correct, I'm afraid. The City's influence is the only logical reason for why that happened to you." He sighed yet again as he remembered the events of the previous week, the end of his tail rubbing his head as if it were a hand.

"There is little else I can say, Emil. That's what happened, and we cannot change it."

He was silent for a few moments. Somehow he knew that from the sound of it all, something terrible had happened, and yet he really couldn't quite grasp it all completely yet. Maybe it was because he hadn't seen it- was it like that for Tenebrae too? When he returned to his Core for?

Emil shook his head and then wrapped the blanket around him more tightly. "Tenebrae, do you think... do you think I can visit Yuri? I mean... I... I want to apologize," he paused then and sighed. "Do they know?"

"Perhaps in a few days. Remember, when Solum was removed from Brute, he very nearly died. And considering the injuries Yuri sustained over the course of the week, he will likely be unable to do much of anything for some time. So while you might apologize, he might not be awake for the apology."

Yet another pause. "No, I haven't told them yet. I wanted to explain everything to you, first and foremost. I will explain everything to them tomorrow."

Yeah, Emil remembered that. That was one of the last things he remembered before he found himself in this city. Seeing Marta try to heal Brute after it all had been--

"Marta!" He realized suddenly. "Tenebrae... do you think she'll be mad at me? I mean... I went ahead and got myself like this..."

"I don't see why she would be. After all, this is hardly your fault. The nature of this place makes it very hard to predict what will happen to any of us."

"She's going to be sad that I died..." Emil muttered as he hugged his knees and sighed. "I feel like I let her down. What do I do?"

Another sigh. "But I guess it's like... like whining about spilled milk, right?"

There was the matter of Ratatosk!Mode too. What would he say? Not that Emil could really talk to himself, but... he felt like he let him down too.

"I imagine she will be sad, but it is not something we can dwell on for the time being." he started, "What you can do is reassure her that it won't change things, should she ever arrive."

There was one major issue of concern, though. Tenebrae had heard of making trades to the deities for various things, one's life included, but even he could not be sure if Emil was truly dead or not at this point, as he shouldn't be for all intents and purposes.

"Though, I do want you to promise me one thing."

"Mm. I'll have to make sure I don't make Marta worried..."

Emil had a look of determination on his face as he said this. The last thing he wanted to see was Marta sad like she was after the core was extracted from Brute. He didn't like seeing Marta sad then, and he didn't want to see Marta sad for him now.

"And- um... what is it?"

"You must never trade anything to the deities to get your life back, are we clear?"

It would be best to be short and to the point, given the topic at hand.

"H-huh? But... why?" Of course, while Emil hadn't exactly thought of trading with the deities for his life directly, he had pondered the possibility of gaining his life again in the city. "... I mean, is there a reason?"

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