[He’s been slashed. Stabbed. Kicked while he’s down. Akechi is her friend and Akechi doesn’t falter and the first time she heard Akechi laugh, really laugh, he was a knight, and she won’t ever forget that; and he may say Aubrey is nobody but he’ll take her hand in the moonlight, guide her to a hallowed ground, and she’ll follow his dance so Akechi is safe
and alive
and what use is breaking reality if he can’t be part of it
[And Aubrey doesn’t want to fight him anymore. Not like this.]
[In an observable reality, it takes seconds. Breaths. Aubrey’s expression has been wound tight in pain; it falters as his words seep in, twisting through muscle and bone and heart. It affects her. She gives up, and—
3/4
[He’s been slashed. Stabbed. Kicked while he’s down. Akechi is her friend and Akechi doesn’t falter and the first time she heard Akechi laugh, really laugh, he was a knight, and she won’t ever forget that; and he may say Aubrey is nobody but he’ll take her hand in the moonlight, guide her to a hallowed ground, and she’ll follow his dance so Akechi is safe
and alive
and what use is breaking reality if he can’t be part of it
[And Aubrey doesn’t want to fight him anymore. Not like this.]
[In an observable reality, it takes seconds. Breaths. Aubrey’s expression has been wound tight in pain; it falters as his words seep in, twisting through muscle and bone and heart. It affects her. She gives up, and—