week 7 | Monday

[concasse]

[Wouldn't be right to visit one lady without the other, right? Though more than that -- Sanji has... business he wants to discuss with Tiger, that which is long overdue.

So when alone in the fire dorm, he calls to her with his mind]

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[themodsgrimm]

That's just my fate, isn't it?

[She laughs, mirthless and angry.]

No matter what I do, whatever my intentions are, I'm the one who stands for Evil, or for disorder, or for imbalance, so it's just so fitting! I punished Natsuo and I punished Stephanie, I revealed one of our Editors--I'm the monster!

[Her manic grin turns distant, lacking an object, and her hand comes up to clutch at the space over her heart.]

[concasse]

[That moment when Sanji realizes this problem is bigger than he is and doesn't know how to solve it...

Because he honestly hurts for her. At least in his case, Sanji was ready to embrace the perceptions that might be forced on him. It seems like Tiger never got a choice in the matter, really. Her choices always ended up betraying her.

It's getting easier to see why she hates Dragon so much.]

You're not a monster.

[A sigh]

I know not everyone will agree, but I just think you've had as hard of a time as any of us.

[themodsgrimm]

[Tiger hangs her head. Her shoulders shake, and she laughs.]

If I have, I probably deserve it.

[The hand over her chest squeezes harder, like she's trying to rip her heart out of her body.]

If I'm not a monster, perhaps I should be.

[...]

Everything good in me died a long time ago--and I'm so angry that I'm still fuming over what Beauty did to me, and he was just a child.

[concasse]

... He is a kid.

[Said firmly]

But you're allowed your anger over what happened, y'know. That's why I wanted to ask you, from your perspective.

[he is very tempted to go over to her, but decides to remain still at the last moment.]

[themodsgrimm]

[This whole conversation seems to be difficult for her to process. It's likely that she hasn't talked about it to anyone--either in a long time or at all, in any capacity. She's silent, again, before she finally admits:]

He reminded me of someone.

[concasse]

[... A pause, and then, gently:]

Who?

[themodsgrimm]

[Tiger tenses, like even a question as simple as that one was another twist of the knife no longer lodged in her heart.]

My son.

[concasse]

[Bad.

BAD.

Dear god in heaven, Sanji looks stricken.]

... oh.

[Leaning back into the couch. Heck.]

You... lost him?

[themodsgrimm]

[She nods slightly from where she hangs her head.

What more can she even say?]

[concasse]

[-- Okay no.

He can't just leave her like that.

Whatever Tiger has done, or tried to do, there is no anger in Sanji's heart. Silently he'll glide over to her, taking her hand, if she lets him.]

I'm sorry.

[themodsgrimm]

[It startles her. She looks at his hand around hers, not stopping him, not pulling away--it's like she just doesn't know what to do with what's happening.]

I only wanted...

[...]

If I could change the story, I'd never have to worry about him feeling the same resentment or anger as I do. But he's gone, and he's never coming back.

[Does it actually look like she's going to cry? She shields her face with her other hand.]

I can't even remember his name anymore.

[concasse]

[...]

Is that why you started this?

[Yeah, he uh. Found out.]

[themodsgrimm]

I don't remember why--I don't remember all of it.

[Because she's not the person she was when she started it.]

This was never supposed to happen. The dragon I fight now is not the dragon I challenged to this war, and nothing's the same as it once was. I wanted freedom, that's all.

[But it wasn't only herself she fought for that freedom for.]

[concasse]

Freedom?

[Freedom from what, his tone seems to ask? This is unfolding a little differently than what he had assumed]

[themodsgrimm]

From the Tiger and the Dragon.

[concasse]

[-- SHIT]

O-oi, wait a second--

You weren't the first Tiger?

Did you get locked into this role?

[He's having a fuckin mental crisis right now]

[themodsgrimm]

They're titles passed down through generations. My mother was the Tiger before me, and my grandmother before her...

[So, it only follows where it was to go next.]

One of us was eventually destined to end up in this position.

[concasse]

[...]

Does this mean your son was destined to become the Tiger after you?

[themodsgrimm]

Most likely.

[Her eyes close.]

We'll never know for sure, now.

[concasse]

[No, he supposes they won't.

The very brief desire to reunite Tiger with her son isn't gone, but Sanji at least realizes it will need some... doctoring before he can push forward, if at all.

What a sad tale this is.]

So if you win the war, it's freedom from your title that you seek?

[themodsgrimm]

No, not exactly.

[She frowns.]

I want to change what it means. I want the Tiger and the Dragon to become two separate stories, so these chains can be gone for good--so this story can never repeat itself again.

[concasse]

[FUCKIN CLOSES HIS EYES.

That is not a cruel wish at all, jesus wept]

What would happen to everyone in your ending? I'm talking the castle, you, and Dragon-sama?

[he's sorry for all of these questions but he needs to know]

[themodsgrimm]

I don't know what will happen to me or the castle.

[She hasn't thought that far ahead. Her goal has been single-minded from the start. She's never been the kind to consider what happens next.]

Dragon will die--that is her own wish. Whether it's by her own hand or by mine, it makes no difference to me.

[And then she frowns.]

I'll give you the rest of the ink that I have left over, there should be plenty to do with what you will.

[And for anyone else, she'd leave it at that, but...]

It might not be enough to do everything that you want, or bring everyone back--but there's a lot of it. A lot more than was ever necessary, and there may be even more still by the time this game ends.

[concasse]

[... Rocking back on his heels, Sanji folds his arms and dwells on this, silent for a while. His heart is beating a mile a minute]

With Dragon-sama's ending, she promised us ink to save everyone, enough to have our happy ending, and that she would likely take her own life, ending her story.

[He doesn't know if she was lying or not. However...]

But if we choose her ending, does that mean the story of the Tiger and the Dragon will continue? Are more people gonna be brought into a war?

[themodsgrimm]

She'll kill us both, and leave the story to start again with new characters, yes.

[She thinks.]

I don't know that there'd be a war for certain--but I don't know that there wouldn't be, either.

[concasse]

-- Your way guarantees that the story of the Tiger and Dragon officially ends, or at least doesn't involve anyone else. No more war.

Dragon-sama's way guarantees us ink, so we'll get whatever ending we want... but the story continues, and others might eventually suffer in our places.

[themodsgrimm]

[She finally straightens, seeming a bit more like herself now that the topic has shifted a bit away from what she remembers of her own past.]

It's balance. It's a Happily Ever After.

[Tiger scoffs.]

But how she could call it that--we've all seen what Happily Ever After does to people.

[concasse]

... I won't lie to ya.

Everyone in the castle is set on Dragon-sama's ending, because it gets us what we want -- back to our stories, our families, our homes...


No one knew our Happily Ever After was gonna damn a new group of people to follow this pattern.

[themodsgrimm]

Trust me, I know. It's hard not to expect her to win at this point.

[She clicks her tongue.]

We're of two minds on everything. The way that she sees her own ending and the way that she sees mine is not the same as the way that I see them.

[That said.]

I'm not going to stop fighting, not even when I have no hope.

[concasse]

[... if he'd learned this even a week ago, Sanji wonders what he would have done. Asked to kill the rest of the Villains? Apologized for letting Tiger down? It's not as if Sanji doesn't crave that Happy Ending either. Pirates are very selfish. And he wants so badly for everyone to get their dues.

... But he's gotten this far on the kindness of others, and... and there is something earnest about Tiger's wish, that Sanji recognizes as choices he might've made, too.

Her dream isn't ugly.]

No matter what happens, I think I would have picked your ending.

[Turning away, hand on his hip]

Thank you for telling me, by the way. I wouldn't have been happy with my choices if I'd never learned the whole truth.

[themodsgrimm]

As long as your choice is one you're making for yourself, I can't be upset with you.

[She crosses her arms, sighing.]

...and thank you for...being here.