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[songstressedout]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, SongDiva. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 018.07.154.55 *** SongDiva has joined 018.07.154.55 <SongDiva> Hello? Is this thing on...? <SongDiva> Oh! Good! It's working! <SongDiva> These computers are... strange, but it looks like I managed to get it working alright! I'll uh, try to get back to you as soon as possible if you say anything here!

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[isawallflower]

[ ...Stay soft and gentle. Stay soft and gentle. Stay soft and— ]

I- [ Easy. ] I don't think it's that easy to say someone's a bad person, Yuzu. Especially if you've been forced into it. Like all of us have.

[ ... ]

The, um, the voice? What'd it sound like?

[songstressedout]

[ Her eyes widen a bit at that question. ]

Um... sometimes it sounded like a woman I've never met... other times it sounded like me...

[ Said-woman being the Fog God, but since she's refused to communicated with either of the gods, she doesn't know what any of them sound like. ]

cw: untreated mental illness; intrusive thoughts

[isawallflower]

[ It's consistent. That's... Okay. That sounds different enough that... It's not like she's worried about it, just- just it makes more sense, if that's- if everyone heard something telling them to give in and just fucking fix the problem already, you useless fuck—

Riley lets out a slow breath. ]

That's... There's clearly some kind of...of outside influence. Someone told me things like this just kind of...happen, in Ryslig.

[songstressedout]

[ Yuzu takes a deep breath. ]

...I know. I know that voice was probably just another thing that happens here...

[ She knows that voice was hardly her own. She dealt with it the entire week she was trapped inside a cage being "trained". ]

But I agreed with it. I was set free and it asked me if I wanted to make them pay.

[ A beat. ]

I said yes. That's my sin. I could have chosen to fight it, even if just for a little bit, but I didn't. I only started fighting it when I realized that I hurt someone important to me.

[ She turns to face Riley and smiles. It looks and feels bittersweet, but it isn't forced. ]

Thanks for taking me here... it helped. Hopefully I can help you in return someday.

[isawallflower]

[ But isn't that not fair? ...It was something put on her, so- she didn't want to, Riley di- Yuzu didn't want to, so it's not...

Riley continues to look troubled. Like she can't accept this, but— but she can't argue against it. ]

Of course... But just- just focus on helping yourself right now, okay? You've been through a lot.

[songstressedout]

[ To Yuzu, it didn't matter that she didn't want to. What mattered was that she did it.

So, now she found herself trying to find a way to atone. She notes Riley's troubled look... is it because she doesn't understand what Yuzu is saying, or is she uncomfortable being around her... being around someone who killed so recently. ]

Right... thanks, Riley.

[ Some time has passed since Riley's arrived... about the same amount of time before Yuzu's own first changes. ]

If you ever need help with, well, anything... let me know. I'll be sure to help out however I can.

[ And with another bittersweet smile, she begins to leave. ]

[isawallflower]

[ She should speak up. She...should try and reassure her, that she didn't do anything unforgivable, that everyone at that horrible circus were the ones to make that move.

But. ]

Take... Take care, okay?

[ But.

It was becoming a monster, put in this situation, that made Yuzu lash out. But, for Riley...

Maybe you've been a monster this whole time.

It's the thought she doesn't want to entertain. The thought she keeps circling back to. The thought that back home kept her paralyzed, unable to shake the feeling that she really fucked up.

So she lets Yuzu leave. She stays on the roof, contemplating, for a time she can't fully comprehend. ]