[PCA] UNIVERSAL CONSTANTS

[skinstealer]

MAES: I- I just couldn't stand it- 
MAES: I t-thought about- 
MAES: Everything that could have been lost, all because I said not to look-
CHARON: I think if we managed this long without incident, it's incredibly lost in multiple senses.
MAES: B- 
MAES: The...the- ....there's- 
MAES: The other one, that-

 

She audibly swallows, choking a little.

MAES: ...It was all alone. 
MAES: I decided that for it. 
MAES: I- 
MAES: I even yelled at Jester for s-showing it kindness-
CHARON: It protected us despite sharing a common source.
MAES: That just means I l-left it there. 
MAES: It- 
MAES: ...I can't forgive myself for leaving a sibling in the dark. 
MAES: For years.
CHARON: You didn't believe in ghosts.
MAES: Everyone told me to check. 
MAES: Jester knew for god knows how long. 
MAES: I ignored all of it!
CHARON: "Doesn't really matter, everyone knows now.
MAES: B-but-
CHARON: But?
MAES: ...what do I do now?
CHARON: Think on it.
MAES: I don't have time.
CHARON: I'll give you the time.
MAES: ...how?
CHARON: ...My castle.
MAES: ...castle? 
MAES: Is-

 

She pokes her face out again, this time all the way. What little can be seen of her hair is a mess, as if she'd been pulling it out.

MAES: The...is that where your armory is?
CHARON: Mm...

 

The dog tries to scoot closer.

CHARON: Castle is a better way to describe. 
CHARON: In there time doesn't work the same way. 
CHARON: A day can be a week, a month, any number of eternities your mind can make it.
MAES: ...just like that?
CHARON: Easy as it sounds, a timeless world where you can rest and study a decade in a vacation's break.
MAES: ..okay. 
MAES: I'll...allow it. 
MAES: I can't show up to work like this...
CHARON: Mm.. 
CHARON: When?

 

She pushes herself to untangle the blankets, looking more and more worse for wear the more she emerges from her hiding place. Fur torn out in clumps, hair a mess, self-induced oozing black wounds on her hips and thighs and stains all over her chest... 

She can't find the strength to cover up.

MAES: ...I h-hate that you're seeing this.
CHARON: We'll clean you up.
MAES: O-oh...you'll all be there, isn't that how it works?
CHARON: No limitations on proxy summoning in their own home.
MAES: ...You'll have to carry me.
CHARON: I can do that.

 

She pulls herself out entirely, holding out her arms weakly. 


He scoops the cat up carefully.

 

[Image Description: Charon scoops up an exhausted, injured and bloodstained Maes in his arms. His face has a number of scratches from the previous fight, his eye slightly visible through his glasses lens. In the background a number of square portals showing a night lit world filled with stars and clouds and a singular large mysterious tower slanted.]

CHARON: Just tell me when.

 

She presses her face into his chest fluff.

MAES: ...take me away from all this.