Argenti's Palace

[beautifulknight]

The stage is set they say;
They don their masks and shields,
Shadows creep and cover their minds;
Now, what beautiful role shall they play?

𝓜𝓮𝓵𝓾𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓲𝓷 𝓒𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓮


♫

Comments

[destage]

[Sayaka's startled for a moment, wondering if this will be the end of them. The beast must be so tired, and Sayaka is almost waiting for the other shoe to drop--for something to happen, for Argenti to be hurt, and they don't have much of anything to shield him that she knows of but...

Then he begins to speak, and Sayaka could swear that she feels hope in her heart. For the first time since this fight began.]

...You haven't failed us at all. You know that we all stumble sometimes, right?

[Sayaka's words are soft, and for the first time this fight--she lays down her weapons. Atropos helps her walk shakily over to where the shadow--where Argenti goes down to one knee, and her expression is soft and she feels her eyes start to well with something. Relief, she's sure. She's relieved that he's here. He's alive.

But Sayaka walks over to Argenti, stumbling a bit as she winds up going to a knee herself, but she continues speaking.]

That's part of...living. We're all going to stumble, and fall, and fail repeatedly. We're going to hurt the ones we care about at some points. It's never pleasant to do so, but that doesn't mean the people who truly care are going to run from you.

[It's something Sayaka has had to learn. Now that she has people who genuinely care for her. But she'll place a hand on what she can only assume to be his shoulder, even if it hurts her.]

You haven't failed. You've stumbled, yes, but even if you did fail...do you really think that would drive us away? [Sayaka chuckles a bit.] Unfortunately, you'll find us quite stubborn. We're going to be here, no matter what. We'll keep reaching out to you. Because that's what friends do. That's the real beauty of friendship--that no matter how far you fall, there will always be hands to catch you. No matter how tainted and ugly you believe yourself to be...we'll keep reaching, and we'll pull you out from the dark.

[Physical affection is still something Sayaka struggles with. Even on a good day like this, her arms tremble and shake a bit as they move, but...

If allowed, Sayaka will hug Argenti. (20)]

We believe in you. And you can certainly return--I don't think a single one of us want anything more than that, Argenti.