esoteric_rose | Record: 1

[Fred frowns faintly.]

I'm... not certain. Being yourself and someone else at the same time... it strikes a familiar cord in me. But I'm not sure why.

[She tugs gently at a stray thread hanging from her sling.]

So... it is a painting by da Vinci. [Her voice lowers slightly as she starts talking half to herself.] But why was I on Earth? And why Paris? Sometimes memories seem to be more frustrating then they are helpful...

Possibly you'll learn in time.

[He listens to her spoken thoughts. Did she have memories not of Earth?]

They can be so, especially when given in pieces and you are forced to examine them, hoping to dredge up meaning. And then they refuse to close a nagging gap...

Hmmm, yes.

[And perhaps someday she would also learn more of the planet she did remember. A dream of orange skies and red grass, while very pretty and quite distinctive, gave her very few real answers.]

[She looks at Juliet again suddenly.]

Did you know it could do that? Your... weapon. And... did you see it? It seemed different from the memory I got from the crystal. Like strips of film.

[He waits a beat before answering]

Yes, to both questions. My scythe...it has the power to invoke memories like that...and anyone around can see. I know this from both memories and...personal experimentation.

[She thinks about that a moment.]

Interesting... I had no idea that there was any way to retrieve our memories aside from the crystals. All the same, I think I shall avoid this method of getting them in future. The 'punishments' we get from the crystals generally seem to be less painful.

[She smiles to take the sting out of her words and changes the subject.]

Did it surprise you to learn I was not a human?

It isn't the most pleasurable way of retrieving information, that is certain.

There's also the fourth floor...though that's another story.

[He smiles back]

No. Seeing as I'm not one myself.

The mysterious fourth floor? That has something to do with memory retrieval? [She thinks about that for a moment before adding,] I suppose that would have something to do with why I have never been able to exit the lift on that floor.

[Fred looks a bit taken aback. She stares at Juliet for a moment, then blinks and shrugs her right shoulder.]

I don't know why I am surprised, really, but you are not of my kind. I would know if you were. Whatever force governs Edensphere clearly selects the residents of this place at random.

It's quite a strange thing...I've been sent there twice. Time seems to flow slower...a few hours there is a few days here.

[He closes his eyes briefly, then opens them.]

Yes...your signature is definitely not human, now that I take the time to separate it out. And unlike mine. It really is random...

Just a question, do you know exactly what you are?

[That feeling again, when Juliet talked of time. Strange.]

So you can sense my... mental pattern? Or is it more like an aura? I could sense Storm in that manner, his mental pattern, but he has been the only one I have been able to sense so far.

[Speaking of Storm, where was he? She had heard nothing about him one way or the other... it was a bit worrisome, frankly.]

I have no clue, save that I seem to be rather interested in time, and its function and flow. And I have two hearts, which I gather is quite different from most residents of Edensphere.

[Fred wondered what visiting the fourth floor would feel like. Would she even be able to feel anything out of the ordinary? It would be quite interesting to find out.]

Similar to an aura...the spiritual signature. Everyone's differs, but alike entities share certain patterns. It's how I was able to tell that Tybalt wasn't human, more akin to myself but not quite the same. No one has a signature close to mine. Yours is radically different from a human's-think of it like someone playing two different piano pieces in different keys.

[Storm-he doesn't recognize that name.]

Two hearts...that is unusual, but not an impairment in any sense.

...Regardless, yours sound like a happier kind than mine.

[She listens to his explanation with interest.]

Fascinating. You can feel everyone like that?

I'm sure my people had a reason for evolving this way. Who knows the ways a 'spare' heart might come in handy?

[She looks a bit uneasy at his last statement.]

...perhaps.

Yes...the people I know best are the ones whose signature I can pick out almost instantly. But I can feel when others are around, it's very hard for me to be caught by surprise.

[He sees her discomfort.]

...I'm sorry.

No need to apologize.

[She shifts in her seat, adjusting the way her arm sits in the sling slightly.]

I wish I knew more about my people. Perhaps then I would know why I feel... uneasy about them.

[He listens, nodding slightly.]

I understand, in a sense. I..do not judge my kind, and I know why we take the actions we do, but it's a dangerous thing to be.

[Fred hesitates a moment before she asks her next question.]

You may feel this is a personal question, but... do you know what you are?

[He nods, trying to frame it in the best way.]

I am...a shinigami.

[He is silent, then very softly adds:]

...Translated, that means "death god".

Shini... gami. [Fred rolls the word around in her mouth as if she were tasting it.] That is an Earth language, correct?

[She pauses for a moment, digesting his words and trying to think of the best way to reply to them.]

I assume the name is somehow reflective of what your kind does?

I was told it is part of a language known as Japanese.

[He answers calmly, trying to keep composure.]

It is more like a job...we are sent to judge humans and decide whether they continue to live or pass on.

[Fred almost wants to ask more about Juliet's... kind? Species? But the man seems a bit uncomfortable talking about the subject, so she doesn't press him.]

Hmmm. That sounds... rather a difficult job to do. I do not think I could make similar decisions, myself.

...There is a way that we can decide. It's not simply looking at someone and saying "This person should live", we have to do...review.

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