004

[madamemoiselle]

{Diva appears on the Astral Plane, and if she was looking bad before, it’s a lot worse now. But after what happened at her new "home", it'd be considered a miracle she was even alive. She’s nude, but covered head to toe in blood. Bandages are wrapped around her in certain places, and stitches stand out against her skin where limbs seem to have been reattached.

As soon as weight is put on her feet, she falls, as her ankles crack and bend to the side. She whimpers for a moment, curling in on herself to hold her ankles tenderly, but as her arms protest the movement as well, she finally screams in agonized pain.}

Comments

[didorothy]

[smiles slightly] Well, you're liked here.

[and then, serious again] You don't have to steal blood, Diva. There are people here who'd be willing to give it to you, short of killing themselves. People here like you. Most of them are used to pretty weird things. There are enough people who'd give blood to you for you to live.

[madamemoiselle]

{She almost looks like she might cry again.}...You...You really think so?

[didorothy]

I do.

[madamemoiselle]

{A very genuine smile, then}...That's...Mm, that's really nice. I hope that...it's true.

{Diva takes a deep breath before reaching to the stitches on her legs first. She pulls on one carefully, not wanting to break it and have to start again, but she's grimacing in pain again and trying to hold back any noise by biting her lip}

[didorothy]

[and he shifts to sit closer to her side, carefully putting his hand over her free one] Do... do you want to talk, to help distract you from the pain?

[madamemoiselle]

{She finishes pulling out the first one before she answers} Ah....well...

I feel kind of bad for that Sephiroth person. {she grabs hold of another and starts to remove it as well} I thought that I was the only one that had to deal with anything like...like being an experiment. It's not something that people who....haven't e-experienced it can...imagine. {pauses to take another deep breath} I...didn't even think that there was another person like Joel. Joel...and this not Joel, they're the same. It's...really scary.

[didorothy]

I'm sorry you had to go through that again.

Do you feel better, knowing you're not the only one?

[madamemoiselle]

Hmm...maybe. I've never even heard...I've never met this Se...phiroth person. {And stitch number two comes out with a rather unpleasant noise}

But it's kind of sad either way. I feel bad for that person because I know what it's like, but...well, it was different too. A lot has changed since the time...Well, the time I lived in that tower. That was the 1800s, so...well, stitches like these didn't really exist. It's a lot worse to just have to grab your arm and hold it up to what's left until it heals. And I'd get infections pretty often, but if I was lucky enough to have one on the days Joel came, then I got another week. So, you can imagine, being sick for a day wasn't as bad as the kind of experiments Joel did.

{She starts pulling out another with a grimace} Ah...but you p-probably don't want to hear about something like that. It's....not pleasant.

[didorothy]

I didn't go into policing because I want to hear pleasant things. I want to help, and if it helps you to talk about it, I'm all ears.

[madamemoiselle]

{Shakes her head slightly} Ah...we could sit here forever and I'd never be able to tell you all of the...things like that. I've been...alive too long, you know? {She stops to breathe heavily, setting that long black string down as well, but continues}

With all of the the things humans have done to me, I think that people just assume that I hate them. But...I can't. Well, I do sometimes, but there are good people. But humans die. So I never know them longer than three years because they either die or...well, I just never see them again. Except the famous ones like Adolf, or Alexei. History remembers them, so I at least get to find out later. Oh, but I'm glad Adolf died the way he did. He was such a mean man~ I never understood why Martin was his friend. {She nods with a small noise of agreement to herself before she starts to pull out the next one}

[didorothy]

My guess's that your Martin was using him.

Why three years?

[madamemoiselle]

I thought that too...But no, Martin and Adolf were actually friends. They were...kind of the same. Martin was just more willing to be subservient...But Martin was an idiot. He was trying to hurt me that whole time. {Her expression changes to a slightly sour one, but seeming almost...bored} There's only so far I'm going to let my Chevalier have their way before they get punished.

Ah, but three years is how it works. Ever since Amshel became my Chevalier, I can only be awake for three years at a time before I have to sleep for thirty years. I hate that more than anything else. {And with that, she pulls out the last stitch with a heavy sigh} But it's nothing compared to the first fifty years, I think.

[didorothy]

[her expression registers as something to worry about in his head] Diva... [but he shakes his head]

That sounds like a pretty horrible way to make it through the centuries. Unless they're good dreams, anyway.

[madamemoiselle]

What? {Innocently, before she turns her head to the side with a small noise of indignation} I wasn't just going to play nice forever and let him send me off to whatever high-ranking official might have needed my help or some nonsense like that. Amshel liked Martin, so he let him, but really! It's not like I'm going to seduce every man that they ask me to. I got tired of it, so I had Solomon make sure that Martin paid in his blood after I had gone to sleep since he obviously didn't value mine.

Hm...Well, I don't wake up feeling scared. Well, then again, I don't wake up feeling really anything. It's stupid. I have to wake up and drink my Chevalier's blood, or else I won't remember anything. It happened to Saya this time. Her Chevalier, he didn't come when she woke up, so she forgot everything. Even her dearest sister.

[didorothy]

You had him killed?

That's... not the best set-up. [frowns]

[madamemoiselle]

Of course. If my Chevalier aren't useful anymore, then there's no point in keeping them around.

It's not. I think it's stupid. If I had known I would have had to do that, I would have never made Amshel my Chevalier! It's the worst.

[didorothy]

They're people, too, Diva.

Is there no way out of it, now?

[madamemoiselle]

Maybe, but they belong to me. Their lives are mine, and mine is theirs. So if I decide that I don't need their life anymore, the only way to free them from being bound to me is to kill them. But that's only been Martin so far. Though...Solomon hasn't exactly been....{She trails off, not really wanting to go on further, because just considering it was making her heart burn with jealousy}

...No. I'm stuck with it now. But...I wouldn't want to lose my Chevalier either. They're the most precious thing in the world.

[didorothy]

Everyone is their own person, Diva. Even if other people treat them like things that are owned, each person's life is his or her own. Taking that away isn't right.

They don't seem that great.

[madamemoiselle]

{There's a long moment of silence where Diva just looks coldly off to the side. When she does speak, it's almost a whisper}......They're all that I have.

[didorothy]

[looks at her for a moment, perhaps trying to read her, but his voice is soft and firm]

We'll find you more, then.

[madamemoiselle]

No...It's not a bad thing. I love my Chevalier. Amshel, Karl, Nathan, James, Solomon {who was purposely last}, they protect me. They use me, and I use them, but...it works. I don't mind, as long as they'll stay with me.

[didorothy]

But Diva, that's not... [shakes his head and sighs] Forget it.

[madamemoiselle]

It's not the same for me to live as it is you. I need my Chevalier, because they're the only people that can live as long as I can! I can't just make friends with people, then wake up and find out that they died. I can't deal with that.

My Chevalier...My Chevalier are important because they're the only people in the world that can stay with me at all. Everyone...everything else, it dies.

[didorothy]

I'm sorry, Diva.

But... maybe... here, there are people who aren't human. Maybe you can find someone there. [laughs softly] Or maybe you should get nicer Chevalier.