REDACTABLE - Ochako

[heartablaze]

Comments

[infreefall]

[ nik i need you to know how upset i am that there is a character named ascot? this is so distressing?

anyway.

ochako pauses, startled into silence by the memory and the solemnity with which hikaru speaks. this girl... she really has had a hard time, hasn't she? frowning, ochako steps forward, so that she can kneel beside hikaru. ]

To the people who were removed from the realm, or to someone else...?

[heartablaze]

[Please enjoy his giant hat, it is his best quality]

...Both. [She'll look at the gravestone in front of her, worn to the point of being illegible.] If this place is made of memories, then even if we can't tell who died here anymore... it doesn't mean they deserve to be forgotten. Just like anybody else that's lost.

[A beat, before she glances to Ochako with a quiet smile.]

Is that why you're here too, Ochako-chan?

[infreefall]

I didn't think of that, actually... I was just exploring. [ despite the embarrassment in her voice, ochako sees no reason to lie about it. ] I did pay my respects to the ones who were removed, but I went to the shrine for that.

...Have you lost a lot of people before you came here, Hikaru-san?

[heartablaze]

Mn... I don't really know. [Said rather plainly, even though her eyes sadden.] Two people, that I remember, but...

You don't need to lose a lot for things to still hurt. Even just one person leaves something empty behind.

[infreefall]

[ she nods. ]

Yeah, you're right. I wish no one here had to go through that at all, but... [ murder... ] But at least they aren't totally gone. We can still talk to them.

[ unlike people they've lost in their own worlds. ]

[heartablaze]

...

We can bring them back, Ochako-chan. We'll need more nova, because it's way too dangerous right now. But everybody that's been removed might have a chance to come back.

[infreefall]

I know. We'll get there, eventually, but for now...

[ she pauses, considering. ]

Did you leave a message for anyone, like that note suggested?

[heartablaze]

Mm. I wrote to all of them.

Schwann was the only one who wrote back.

[infreefall]

Oh... I didn't know they could write back. But I'm glad he did.

[heartablaze]

Yeah. On the PHS. It gets all messed up, so I couldn't understand a lot of it, but... he tried to warn me about something. I just don't know what it was.

[She still seems pretty chill about this, all things considered.]

[infreefall]

[ that doesn't seem to surprise ochako at all. ]

They've been glitching a lot lately, haven't they? It must mean the disturbances are getting worse.

[heartablaze]

Yeah. One of the leaders said it's because of where they're kept. That things get, um... lost, between here and there.

We still can't give up. No matter what's actually going on, or how bad it gets.

I don't want to see everything fall apart again.

[infreefall]

...That's what happened in your world, isn't it? Things fell apart.

[heartablaze]

[She nods, her tone barely shifting, despite the heaviness of the topic.]

You saw it too, huh...? I'm real sorry if it was confusing.

...

Cefiro can't exist without a Pillar. Their last Pillar... well, she was killed. And nobody really knew how to find a new one. Only that they needed to be someone with a strong enough heart. But until they find one... it's gonna keep vanishing, until there's nothing left.

[Her hands stay in her lap, relaxed.]

It's why I need to go back. No matter what. I can't let that happen.

[infreefall]

Sorry, I didn't mean to pry or anything.

[ even so, she listens closely, with a frown. a whole country (is it a country?) is vanishing, huh? it's hard to imagine, even after witnessing part of it like this. ]

We'll get everyone back to where they belong. [ somehow. ] And... maybe some of us will be able to help you afterward. The more people on your side, the more likely you'll find a new pillar in time, right?

[heartablaze]

Oh, we wouldn't need to look. I was chosen already.

[Said like they're talking about the weather and not about whatever the world the Pillar even is.]

It's not prying, though. I don't mind talking about any of it.

[infreefall]

Eh? [ what? ] But doesn't that mean...

[ didn't hikaru say in the memory that the pillar has to live alone, without love? ]

[heartablaze]

Doesn't that mean what?

[Oblivious.]

[infreefall]

In that memory... you said the pillar has to live alone. But what does that mean, exactly? That you can't have anyone?

[heartablaze]

...Yeah. [Still stated rather abruptly, but at least the tone softens.]

The Pillar has to support the entire world with their prayers. If they can't pray for Cefiro, and only Cefiro, then the world will start to vanish.

So the Pillar needs to be alone.

[infreefall]

That doesn't sound fair... [ but of course, hikaru would know better than anyone. ] There can't be more than one pillar? You could support each other that way, and then the world wouldn't have to depend on just one person.

[heartablaze]

That's what I hope, too. That maybe I can find a way to change it somehow, without making the world suffer. Because a place like Cefiro... I think it's a beautiful idea. A world where belief is your power. I think that deserves to be shared by everyone.

But right now, it can only be one person. They have to have the strongest heart above everybody else around them, to help calm the fear of the people and shape the world to something good.

[infreefall]

[ ochako nods. it does sound nice, but with that kind of structure - it must be horribly unstable, right? to rely on just one person, and to fail if they even begin to think of anything else... ]

Would that be your wish, if your team wins?

[heartablaze]

[She shakes her head, her smile subtle as she looks back to the gravestone in front of her.]

I don't need a wish, Ochako-chan. I believe in the people who love Cefiro to help me.

I can't let them down. So I'm gonna make sure we all make it out of here. I want to be able to hold my head high when everything is over.

[infreefall]

...I can see why they'd choose you, then. You do have a strong heart.