XOqNI

[tongueamok]

Hello, this is Carlisle. I mean, it's not Carlisle as in I'm actually answering you right now, so if you're trying to reply to me at the second, you should probably save your breath because I'm not really here. This is some kind of a recording of my voice, but this is my communicator. I'm going to assume these devices are as common here as they are in other places — not my world, but others, ones more technologically advanced than where I come from— so if you'd like to leave me a message, then you may do so here, or er... Right. Here is fine. So just leave yo— [beep]

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[tongueamok]

Another deity, the one who collects us upon death, should he see fit. The two have a symbiotic relationship... of sorts.

[He drags his bandaged arm along his face again, straightening up, finally removing his hand from the wall. He's standing well enough on his own now.]

He flew into her great maw to steal her tongue, but found himself ensnared. He now collects souls to return them to the cycle, lest she devour him completely.

[Or so they say. There are a lot of stories and reasons passed down as to why they work together, but that one is the one that his order teaches, and the one that makes the most sense to him.]

[puzzlingly]

「Atem nods at that, sounds a little more familiar that way.」

Will she not help you?

[tongueamok]

That... is complicated.

[He shakily makes his way back to his chair, sliding into it. His tea is cold by now.]

I used to believe that she might take pity upon me, and allow me to return to the cycle despite my affliction. I now know that the problem isn't that my very essence is tainted, but that even if it wasn't, there is not enough of me left to return at all. It is a true conundrum with no real solution.

[puzzlingly]

「For once, Atem keeps his mouth shut, given his earlier reaction, he doesn't want to risk it.」 

Are you sure about that?

「Might as well gauge the situation, that's not at all what Ravine told him. Not everything was lost.」

[tongueamok]

Even if you could seal the wound, I am barely alive.

[As much as it pains him to say it aloud, he has known it for some time, and tried to accept his slow demise. Much worse is how it affects those around him. Perhaps that is the reason twice-cursed are discouraged from forming relationships with others, often ostracized by society at large. Carlisle can't say he blames anyone for that, no matter how embittered he may truly be about it.]

That is why Kate wanted to make a phylactery. She thought that, by storing what is left of me in some external vessel, it might prevent some degree of what is to come.

[And even Kate doesn't know the full extent of it.]

[puzzlingly]

「Okay... Time to use his trap card, maybe. No, it is.」

What... what about what Ravine offered you?

「Had she told him...?

She had specifically asked him about his opinion over it, and he had said no, but it shouldn't be his call. It was really unfair for both of them.」 

[tongueamok]

So you have been talking to others.

[Apparently, he was not talking about Ravine earlier. That brings back the question of just how much Atem knows -- how much a seer was willing to disclose to him. There is no true privacy in this place, clearly, not even with his students. He should have known that much from dealing with Emily.]

She did not go into the finer details, and there is no guarantee what she has to offer would work. And as for what remains, I have already made arrangements for it to be dealt with.

[He assumes if Ravine told Atem about his affliction, she perhaps told him about the end result.]

[puzzlingly]

She's is the only one I've talked to.

「But telling him about it is definitely not up to him, he needs to talk to her first, he cannot be the only thing that's stopping her from helping someone else.

But Atem's fear is back to his eyes with that last.」

What do you mean...?

「Has he truly given up?」

[tongueamok]

[Ah. Perhaps Ravine did have some discretion after all. Carlisle's face tightens, his eyes fixating on his hands.]

When there is nothing left of the twice-cursed, they become... something unrecognizable.

[To put it in Atem's own words.]

[puzzlingly]

「Atem brings a hand over his face, over his eyes, momentarily as if it would shield him from the world from a few seconds. The truth is that he's deeply in conflict with himself, he doesn't want to lose his friend, he doesn't want Ravine to suffer anymore, she deserves better, but so does Carlisle...」

I'll... talk to her.

「His voice is but a whisper and he dares not to look up at those glowing eyes again. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he allowed let that opportunity pass.」

[tongueamok]

[It's a good thing he doesn't look at those glowing eyes, because when Carlisle speaks, they are upon Atem once more.]

I would prefer you didn't.

[His voice is calm, resolute, but there is apprehension there, deep down. He cannot ever fully deny it.]

She was kind to offer, but why trouble her further for a dying man? Though I fear it, as anyone might fear the end of their existence, I accepted it was an inevitability long ago... even if others have not.

[It's not just Atem, apparently.]

[puzzlingly]

Yeah, I don't believe you.

「You cannot help me. Mind your own business. You understand nothing. He's been hearing that ever since he got here and he's more than done with it. It is not Carlisle's call to tell him not to speak to his friend about something that's bothering him anyway, he made that promise, and he'd rather tell her instead of her just finding out with her powers anyway. It's not up to him in the end what Ravine might or not do anyway, but she had the decency to ask him if he'd be okay with it, that's the very least he can do now, to tell her it's her call now and that he supports whatever decision she makes. Atem is pretty sure that Ravine might do anything in her power to help Carlisle anyway, with or without his consent, that's who she is and it's part of who she is, and he would do the same.

That said, Atem goes back to the table and grabs a sheet of paper, quickly scribbling the appropriate glyph on a empty space — from memory, nonetheless —  without much consideration he gets Carlisle's tea and places it on top; a quite obvious activation later, the tea is steaming again and left in front of the priest once more. Then he opts to collect the items they enchanted, keeping the card he enchanted in his duelist belt and wearing both his cartouche and Rey's dogtags for safekeeping. The little seed is left untouched for Carlisle to deal with it. He does his best to clean the mess that they may have left on the table, he puts together paper and notes and leaves them neatly (or not) in a corner, he cleans, once more, whatever ink that Carlisle might have spit up on the floor, he just, busies himself a little and gives Carlisle whatever space he may need without nagging him anymore — Atem's dealt with stubborn people before, and even he seems to understand when enough is enough.」

We are done for today, right?

[tongueamok]

[Carlisle lets Atem busy himself, using the silence between them to simmer in his own guilt. He accepted his impending demise long ago: he has had years to do so, after all, having been cursed since he was 14. However, he cannot help but feel the weight of what it means for those around him, for those he has damned to watch him die just by association. Every time that guilt presses upon him anew, he wonders if it was worth it -- if connections and friendships with him, of all people, are worth the suffering they endure from his loss.

He knows a couple of individuals who would say that the impact he has left upon them was worth the trouble; for others, he is not so sure. As someone who has lost those closest to him, he knows he wouldn't envy their positions.

Accepting the tea with a quiet word of gratitude, he says nothing else until Atem speaks again, knowing he cannot change the lad's mind. As always, he feels powerless, out of control of his own life and choices. He has no choice in them even in death -- a pathetic fate for a pathetic man.]

We are.

[He pulls in a breath, inhaling the steam of the drink before him.]

Thank you... for all you've done today. Let us hope our efforts were not in vain.

[puzzlingly]

「Despite the tension in the air, Atem gives a sigh and a small smile at the older man. His frustration only shows how much he cares about him, he's not about to stay mad at his stubbornness. His hopes are his as well after all, they worked so hard — if only Carlisle allowed him to work that hard for him.」

They won't be.

「He's got faith in themselves, for a change. In Carlisle and his abilities, that much he had been able to hopefully show all over these days, following his instructions to the letter, studying with passion and dedication. This was not a hobby or a game, there would be time for that...

He can only hope.

Atem gives his mentor a less sour glance, wondering if he should stay longer, but decides against it. It'd be harder on Carlisle than it'd be on himself.」

How lucky am I, no homework today.

「He taunts him, mildly, as he goes get whatever he brought with him (his notes, his sword, presumably) and walks quietly to the door.」