chlorokyll | inbox (duocaeli)

[Oh, but there's a line drawn there. Even V has trouble giving his brother that much blatant credit. He would rather attribute it to himself; literally, this half of him, who had to undergo so much to become whole yet again.]

I never said that. My brother is still an idiot, through and through.

No, I was the one who came to this realization. It simply took me reaching my lowest point to do so.

[ They can just 🤝 over having idiot brothers. Because as much as Knives might care for Vash, there is also no doubt in his mind that he's a stubborn fool. ]

Your lowest point. [ Knives has yet to be burned to nothing as his brother chooses humans over him, so he's not quite there. And even then, there's probably an even lower point he'd have to get to in order to change his ways. ] And what was that?

[Yeah. A "stubborn fool" describes Dante very well; Vergil's probably called him that more than once.]

A time when I was weak and dying.

[But if Knives wants the specifics, he's not going to get them today.]

Everything was put into a different perspective, let's just say.

[ Weak and dying. Knives knows that he isn't dying at the moment, but the way this place has weakened him has certainly forced him to shift his habits to some degree.

He doubts it would change his entire perspective on life, though. ]

Weaker than this place has made us?

Yes. Here, I might not have all of my familiars with me, but at least I am still very much functional.

Had something drained your power more intensely back on your world?

[ Sorry, if there were lines to be read between to sense that V doesn't want to talk about it, Knives clearly doesn't care. ]

Yes.

[And yet he does not expound. He doesn't care if Knives doesn't care. The hint is glaringly bright.]

[ Ah, fine. He knows a brick wall when he sees one. He would probably be just as reticent were their positions reversed. ]

And where did that leave you? After you made this great realization that the power you coveted for so long was not what you wanted after all?

[Good. Not that it could have been any more obvious.]

It left me with cleaning up something of a mess I had made prior.

And then that left me here. And thus, here I am.

Do you believe there to be some connection? Between cleaning up this mess and arriving here?

I can't say. It's hard to imagine that there's any connection at all without knowing why everyone else has been brought here, too.

So what about you? What were you doing before you found yourself in this world?

I had found a means by which to access the higher dimension, the Plant core from which all those countless resources originate. With that power, I planned to create a paradise for my brother and my sisters, as well as create more Independents.

[On its own, not a terrible goal. To create a home for himself and his own kind, as well as create more like himself... That just sounds like a race trying to survive.

But he's already gotten a little extra context by way of this man already admitting to decimating a town to achieve his goals. So he has to ask-]

And what of the humans?

They will be systematically wiped out.

[ Yep, he just admits it. No shame, because why would there be? ]

[He's beginning to understand where the sticking point is, here.]

...Surely you see the problem with this.

[ Well, Knives can't say he's surprised by this reaction, but he is disappointed. Just slightly.

No matter. ]

If I felt there was a problem with it, it would not be part of my plan.

[Sorry Knives, but some of us have tread down that Character Arc already. He wonders if the other man was hoping for some camaraderie on this, and while V can certainly offer understanding—his mindset was similar for a while—that’s about as far as it stretches these days. He’s sure even Vergil would feel the same way.]

It simply seems extreme. The extermination of an entire race? Is there not another option?

[ It's not that Knives necessarily expected camaraderie, seeing how V has been clear on the fact that he's human himself despite all that he's revealed about his past. He's also apparently gone through something that's made him think twice about his bids for power.

Rip to V but he's different. ]

There are some other options, yes, but all of them will take far too much time. The planet will be made a ruin by then, my sisters laid to waste, my brother ripped apart.

Edited 2023-05-22 17:50 (UTC)

[Perhaps he is different. Maybe Knives is even more stubborn than Vergil ever was, though he does wonder if there's another sticking point that isn't being revealed in this conversation. After all, V himself had to go through several revelations, being departed from his whole self, to understand why he did the things that he did. A deep dive into his past, memories that had always hurt, but had informed so much of who he was.]

And yet your brother can surely see this outcome, too, but he chooses another route. Why do you think that is? It can't only be because of foolishness.

No, it is not simply foolishness. There is guilt in it as well. He's constantly seeking their approval and their forgiveness.

Their forgiveness?

I think you would be better off asking him to explain it.

[ Not that he'd couldn't, but describing the details of the Big Fall feels like a step too far in this conversation where he's otherwise been quite open. The wounds around it have healed over, but they can also be torn open with ease. ]

[Maybe he would be. It sounds like this is a subject that's too much of a physical wall to clamber over just yet. And speaking with his brother might add more context, the other side of the story-]

Very well. Then I will. Consider "seeking your brother out" on my future to-do list while living in this world.

[they've already met probably]

[ No doubt Vash will find some way to avoid delving too deeply into it as well, but it is no longer Knives' problem, and he's decided that he and V have exchanged more than enough information for one day.

It's always uncomfortable when you find you have a little too much in common with someone, but also not quite enough. ]

You do that.

I will let you know what becomes of the flowers.

Please do. I'm curious.

Talk to you again later, then.

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