beaconkeeper | IN THE NIGHT IC INBOX

We were fine before.

Uhhh IDK that I would call that "fine"? You were on a little raft in the middle of a super choppy lake! In the rain!! With a scary thing up ahead of you!!!!

Not to mention if you die out on the water - which is easy to do, remember? Your life is dependent on a LANTERN! With FIRE! But like, if you do die out there? It's not likely you'll be able to come back.

At least you'd be learning something from it.

You were watching us last time after all.

Sora's lucky anyway. He'd find a way around it.

What's that supposed to mean? You're cool with risking dying for good if it means the town at large learns something?

Awfully selfless of you, if that's what you're getting at!

Not that I'm about to take you up on it, though. :/ It's my job to protect you! That means YOU, buster!!!

I'm sorry about your friend, by the way.

[ too quickly: ]

He's not my friend.

[ then a beat later: ]

And I don't give a crap about any of these people.

Why not?

Why should I?

Do you enjoy being alone?

I'm not interested in making anything easier or better for them.

Yeah yeah, I get it, you're Stormcloud McMisanthropy, apathetic toward all.

What do you get out of that?

Literally, why are you the way that you are?

All that negative emotion they give off, it gives me power. Why would I stop that from happening?

I'm the Darkness to another boy's Light. I was created when Master Xenahort pulled all the Darkness out of his heart. Given a body. Given a name.

I AM all that negative emotion.

...OK, so you thrive on suffering?

I'm going back to my original question: Why are you so keen on risking your life for the pursuit of knowledge?

How much clearer could I be?

There's something more at work. I want to know what it is.

It's only death.

What's the point in knowing if you just die from it, though...?

Like, do you get me? If you die out on the lake, the chances of you making it back to town aren't great.

What's it to you?

One less person for you to be worried about destroying your hopeless operation.

...Technically, I guess, but I don't ENJOY seeing you guys die.

And like, if you don't care about yourself? Someone should. I'll take up that mantle if no one else is going to.

[ He's ready to say something about how she doesn't need to enjoy it to understand how practical it is. Xehanort hadn't necessarily enjoyed what he was doing so much as he enjoyed a result that got him closer to his goal. So why shouldn't Robin be the same?

But she distracts him, with that other statement, and some strange feeling surges up under his skin that he can't name. Something like anger, something like humiliation.

She doesn't know what he's capable of. She doesn't know he's probably the single biggest threat living in Beacon right now to her mission. How can she say something so naive and with such conviction? ]

What a foolish notion.

Hm, well, too bad. I run this town, pal. I'm responsible for you.

I get what you're arguing, you know. Chasing after some kinda knowledge that could save us all... That's worth losing some of us in the process. Winters certainly felt that way. He'd say, like, "it's a necessary evil in war" or something. I know he didn't mind the thought of dying to further the cause.

You're right. You risking your life out there could totally be worth the info we'd get, even if we lost you.

But, like, you're my townie, you know? I'm not gonna promise to take care of you guys and then send you out to get yourself killed.

I don't care if the logic checks out. I'm not gonna want you to go.

Winters was right. You'll never win without sacrificing lives.

Besides, there's not much you can do about it up in your tower. If you want to stop me you'll have to kill me yourself.

I'm going to wait for Sora. We'll go when he gets back.

I know that. Believe me, I do. But I've sacrificed more than enough lives as it is. Too many people have died already.

But you're right, there's nothing I can do...

When you're ready to go, tell me. I'll help however I can.

IN THE NIGHT IC INBOX

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