recrowns: (➸ free of the colosseums)

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[personal profile] recrowns 2020-10-27 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ . . . . the irony is that to someone else here - they'd asked him, about mistakes that he'd made.

to them, he'd said "I once let war and strategy come to me first, rather than believing in humanity." he'd recounted their experience of xing, where it took yona suggesting that yu-hon was not fit to be king in order for something to shake him. yona's right.

now that he's on the other side - with xing as a vassal kingdom and peace at the southern border - he... wishes he wasn't so difficult to convince in that moment too.

but even if she can admit that much -

can he?]


... Yona, I—
recrowns: (➸ are all someone else's problem)

[personal profile] recrowns 2020-10-27 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
[a bubble bumps into his back. there's no telling what he could've said next - because instead a memory plays:

You are nine years old, and you are breaking into your father’s grave.

Not by accident, but by design.

Darkness provides cover for you to break into the royal family’s mausoleum, where your father was entombed along with his father, and his mother, and all the royals before him. Your father, who was originally meant to be king, before he was passed over by his younger brother; your father, who did not care for rank and wanted only to serve his country; your father, who would not die in an accident.

Kye-sook’s story sits with you – what the man witnessed with his own eyes. Even as you muscle open the coffin with your small hands, with your hands who are dirtied by this act of desecration, you think about what your father would have wanted. What he would have thought, if he could see you now.

“If we don’t apply our reasoning with efficiency to swiftly arrive at answers, the country will be ruined.”

The people are saying that Lord Yu-hon died by accident. An eyewitness said that he was murdered.

To swiftly arrive at an answer, the simplest way would be to check the corpse.

Your father is broken.

His body is mangled, bloodied, and torn. His skin is cold and ripped in places where tree branches punctured him upon his fall. He is not your gallant father, who would tell you to beat your colds into submission, or lavish you with praise when you finished another book.

At first glance, it would look like an accident.

You turn him onto his back.

It takes time, but your fingers eventually run across it – a wound that is in the middle of his back, the incision wide and deep, of a blade that ran through his body.

You think of what Kye-sook said he saw. The report that he gave to you before you entered this place, and the words exchanged by your father and uncle.

“If you rule righteously as king, I’ll gladly swear my loyalty to you! I’ll dedicate whatever life I have left to you! But don’t clutch at a useless straw of hope in a position like yours!! Do you think you can entrust our country to the gods!?”

You know it then.

Uncle Il killed your father.

Uncle Il will entrust this country to gods he has never met, and hope that will be enough to serve the people.

You think of the strategy books you’ve read as a child. Economics, agriculture, trade, war strategy – all necessary items to consider in the ruling of a kingdom. There are no chapters on the gods providing rescue.

You hope that Uncle Il’s rule is fair, and he will wake up from this dream of godly rule.

You lay your father back into his resting place, you don’t cry.

(You want to cry. Your mother hasn’t stopped crying since the day your father was taken. You have to be strong for her, who has become so afraid – you want to go back to vibrant days, but if they’ll never return, you have to give vibrant days. You know you can’t cry. You know you can’t cry.)

There is no waking up from this.

and - once it's over, his eyes widen. for once, he cannot hold his expression back. no, he could've held onto this memory by himself, all his life but.

of all people, he wishes that yona hadn't seen it.]
recrowns: (➸ i can keep them deep within)

[personal profile] recrowns 2020-10-27 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
[these are the facts that he lived with his entire life.

mere months after their adventure outside the castle to save yona from kidnappers, mere months after the time that they all caught colds and spent the days laughing like they would never get older, mere months after some of soo-won's most precious memories - his father died, and he had to investigate that murder.

It can be simple. As long as we're together.

if only that could have been true.

nothing could be simple, because of the ideology held by the adults that came before them. the blood spilled, the ruthless murders, the raw emotion and the betrayals that stained the grounds all around the palace and places in between.

but it would have been nice - if they could keep being together, and not have to worry about anything else.

it would have been nice - if soo-won could have kept this much to himself, and yona never had to know.

he watches her flickers of doubt in front of him, the horror, the trauma, and he wonders what he could say. because even if he could never put yona's box first, it's not as though eh relishes in her fear, her despair. so he struggles to find words but what comes out is - ]


He loved you.

[just as he'd done when the servants were talking about il behind his back, when yona was scared that her father was never going to come for her, he tries to find reassurances in -

the love that did exist.

amidst all the betrayal, love did exist.]


His Majesty Il.

He loved you - and he.... He wrote to my mother, after...

[ . . . ]

It is because he loved you. And there is nothing wrong with loving someone, and treasuring them, and wanting to keep them safe. Even if... Even if I couldn't agree with everything that he chose to do, and the way that he chose to lead—

... I don't... want you to doubt that. Even knowing what he'd done - both... sides of him still exist.

[after all, he loved il too.

yona is so strong, he thinks - and she's only gotten stronger in the time that they've been apart. but something like this - if there is anything in the world that can test a heart... wouldn't it be this?]
recrowns: (➸ yet i cherish them deeply)

[personal profile] recrowns 2020-10-27 04:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ . . . ah.]

... I know I'm not. [his voice is softer then, less certain - less assured of what he's trying to tell her because she's right. he's not hak. he'll never be hak. to be someone so loyal, so steadfast, so true.... it's not possible for him.] I don't think I ever will be.

[he'll never reach that particular goal. even when it came to reassuring his mother - he could not replace his father. taking on the throne, he could not be the crimson dragon king. even now, speaking to yona - he cannot be the person who would truly be able to take care of her.

his whole life is trying to fill spaces that he will never be enough for.

and yet - he tries.]


.... it's never been my job to do so, nor has it been my right.

[but - he tries anyway. why? because he can't stop himself? because he doesn't know how to do anything else besides care for her, even on the days when he wishes that it would be easier to kill his own heart if it means the aching and the wondering will stop?

he can't do that either. he has a kingdom to lead.]


But I don't speak with you... because I have to.

[it is only ever because - he wants to.

but perhaps that is still too selfish for him to admit.]
recrowns: (➸ while you sleep)

[personal profile] recrowns 2020-10-28 05:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ . . . . why not?

for some reason - this is what rattles his resolve. every single time, this girl is what rattles his resolve. when he could not bring himself to move in xing, when he aimed to hide her away from the eyes of others in awa, when he looked over the acts of "bandits" during the revolt of the fire tribe.

his expression falters - into something saddened, into something almost guilty even when he knows that it shouldn't. what right does he have, when he's the one who hurt her?]


I wouldn't blame you if you did.

[if she wanted to run very far away from him, and all that he's done.]

.... I'm not - blind to what has happened, Yona. What I've done. I know - you must want to kill me.

[even if not all his memories are with him - the words they exchanged in awa still are]

But the words I've spoken to you since we've been here....

[.... I want you to live a life much happier than the one I've chosen, Yona.]

I cannot say they were dishonest.
recrowns: (➸ starring you in my notebook)

[personal profile] recrowns 2020-10-28 07:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[ . . . . ]

I'd told you that - a few weeks prior to this, someone had forced me into a position where I was disclosing more information about myself. What I didn't bring up is that... when I spoke to you... it felt stronger than usual.

Like I was meant to share more of myself with you - perhaps in response to how much you expressed worry over me, but I didn't let you.

[but - their relationship was different then. because yona cared about him, and worried over him so openly, and he could embrace her without worrying extensively about what parts they were missing.

it felt like it used to be - like those warm days in the palace when he didn't have to be anyone but soo-won.]


I don't want to rely on you - if it will mean making things harder for you.

You are a reliable person, and you have demonstrated your strength and intellect without a doubt -

[ . . . but?]

.... but I'm not someone who has earned your aide.

[won't it hurt? to help someone that you know was willing to let you suffer?

how could he accept something like that, when all he wants is for her to be happy?]
recrowns: (➸ living your life cutthroat)

[personal profile] recrowns 2020-10-28 07:32 pm (UTC)(link)
[ . . . . . he raises his brows at that, mildly surprised - but... he supposes this is the difference then. of the yona that he used to know, and the yona that is in front of him now.

(.... but is even that much correct? the yona of his childhood did get fussy with him now and again - wanted to be taken seriously. maybe even when he was hiding so much from her and hak - he wanted to protect her happiness for as long as he could.

even if it would come to an end.)

there is a moment where he seems to be clearly thoughtful, analytical.]


.... then - if you wish to cooperate.

.... Yona, are you on Wolf's team and did you kill Yoshizawa when assigned to do so?

Or are you on Tiger's team, and that is why the memory came back to you this weekend?

[ . . . . ]

Both of us must return to Kouka as soon as we can - and to that end, I'm willing to do everything I can, to help the people here as well. Even if you don't trust in me....

I hope you're willing to trust in that.
recrowns: (➸ it's not enough)

[personal profile] recrowns 2020-10-28 07:44 pm (UTC)(link)
That doesn't matter this week, because no one's PHS icon flashed. So either you remembered what happened to His Majesty Il a week ago and you neglected to confront me about the matter, or something returned the memory for you - such as taking a life.

[and so.

which is it?

but there is something - when she says that she can't trust him with his safety, that something flashes briefly in his eyes.]


.... mm.

[he can let her believe that.]

Then.... we'll figure out how to return us both home.
recrowns: (➸ but the real bombshells)

[personal profile] recrowns 2020-10-28 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[he looks thoughtful at this, considering.]

Then all that means is that a second threshold to recover memories exists. I'll verify that.

[but the rest of it.... hm.]

Unless you know of a team's icon that blinked? I don't need to know who told you - only which team.
recrowns: (➸ it's not enough)

[personal profile] recrowns 2020-10-28 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[he shakes his head]

No, I believe it's a defensive measure to protect Emet-Selch's team, given that he was revealed to be a killer and lived. Thus, no one's team icon has blinked and we have to determine the truth in less straightforward ways.

It may remain that someone on Wolf's team killed Yoshizawa - depending on whether Wolf seemed to get any new information pertaining to the Realm this week. It's likely he got memories regardless.

It's that information about the Realm that I seek, and I've yet to find it.
recrowns: (➸ will you hold the line)

[personal profile] recrowns 2020-10-28 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Then if you could continue to do so, that would be easiest. The Leaders aren't obligated to tell the truth - but at least currently I believe that Swan and Goat haven't gotten anything either. Fox is harder to get information from, I'm waiting for a contact to tell me if they've heard otherwise from Rabbit, and I intend to meet with Tiger myself.

But the pieces of information we get each week are rather vital...

Though I'd heard that you got a message from the departed last week - was it not scrambled at all? No letters were missing?
recrowns: (➸ i hope that you're smiling)

[personal profile] recrowns 2020-10-28 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, I see. So all messages will be coming in with missing letters then, even if we have the app. I haven't gotten any this week - but I anticipate more coming, especially since more teams are getting the app since we've passed the threshold.

Yours was from Cater, correct? Do you know if she sent one to anyone else?
recrowns: (➸ it's a goddamned arms race.)

[personal profile] recrowns 2020-10-30 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
Mm - Hikaru didn't realize that it was you who posted them.

[so he heard about her multitude of messages]

I currently believe that the departed can send about two messages each week - the same as we can. So we'll see when they come, and in what format.

[ . . . ]

Then - I'll be relying on you, in trying to determine how we ought to proceed.

[because at least in terms of how to best help everyone here - they can agree on that as a common goal.

it's just their interpersonal relationship that's a bit more complicated]

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