WW - The New World

[bettsyboy]

"being a battlemage is a lot like you described being a reaper... unsettling and you make enemies... but we make our choices and we live with them, we charge enemy lines and we just keep going if we wanna live another day"


he placed a hand on Leslie and looked her in the eye


"no-one hates death, they just hate losing someone no-one blames death itself, no-one blames you"


He sighed


"and a teacher, i guess its hard to describe, you teach these kids things and just hope they listen and remember it, you get some tough cases who you really need to get through to, and you get the more receptive ones who you just wanna shut up... still, no death involved so thats a plus and the food in the teacher's lounge is pretty good"


a bit of Leslie's hair was swept over her face by the wind, Marco brushed it away.

 

[Coro]

Vent gulped.


"I doubt you hallucinated it, really..... It's not like it couldn't have happened, but I'm trusting your gut." Vent said simply. Out of the sheer force of habit, he cracked his knuckles, and sighed.

 

[Esme]

Alec smiled softly, looking at him, before grasping one of his hands and kissing the knuckles he had just cracked. "Then I don't know what we do..."


~


"You haven't met the people I have." Leslie smiled softly at his comment, before listening to him intently. "Do you care for them, your soldiers and your students?"

 

[bettsyboy]

"well of course i do, but in different ways... its easy to get heavily attached to soldiers after they pull you out of a wrecked tank or something like that, but the thing is, with soldiers, you have to always remember that each moment really could be your last with them, especially on a battlefield"


he looked into her jet-black eyes, he could see it,some emotion, they were slight twitches and the such but they were there.


"and students... its kinda like how you would care for your child, but its... not like that, its kinda hard to explain, you know they are your responsibility and their future depends on you, so caring for the kids kinda goes along with that"


he placed a hand on hers and smiled again.

 

[Esme]

"I see." Feeling the warm hand over her own, Leslie looked down at it, before taking a sip of her drink. "It must be...lonely." She thought out loud, "As you know, you'll watch them die, or grow up and move on around you....you don't get to keep anyone for yourself."

 

[bettsyboy]

Marco chuckled


"it can seem like that, but those students who grow up will never forget you, and you never forget those who die on the battlefield, its both lonely and... not"


he rubbed her hand gently.


"as for keeping someone... i have you, don't i?"

 

[Esme]

"Yes. You do." Leslie mused, before looking out over the cliff again. "You do not..regret..what you do?"

 

[bettsyboy]

Marco looked down a bit


"well sure i have regrets... if i send a platoon to be a distract an enemy horde, i regret that i send them to their deaths knowingly, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made"


a slight look of guilt came over him.


"sacrifices... i never send a soldier blindly to their deaths, i inform them one by one, and they are free to refuse, those who refuse are transferred to another platoon, but the vast majority accept"

 

[Esme]

"I see." Leslie sensed something off in her stomach, an odd sort of sinking sense. Looking at Marco, she frowned. "Could I help you in the future...to avoid that?"

 

[bettsyboy]

Marco smiled to her


"no... Leslie you are now the bringer of death, you are a part of nature, and one of the beautiful things about nature is that it does'nt take sides"


he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek


"but i appreciate the offer"

 

[Esme]

"Oh." She said simply. Her cheeks had went a flame, though she couldn't tell one why. Staring down at her lap, she played with the wine glass, spinning the liquid in it around in circles. "It's not against the rules. The rules of code, I mean.Myself, the Giver of Life, and the Guardian, we may all freely choose sides in matters....but I do understand what you mean, I shall not press the matter."

 

[bettsyboy]

"ah, i see now"


he took another sip of his drink, then put the glass on the ground.


"Leslie, if you dont mind me asking... why did you... change hearts? and who's heart was it?"

 

[Esme]

"Because mine was ripped out and crushed." Leslie said simply enough, like it didn't matter, which, to her at least, it didn't. "It was a chosen's heart."

 

[bettsyboy]

Marco's jaw dropped


"who did it leslie? who was the bastard who tore your heart out?.. and whats a "chosen"? chosen by who?"

 

[Esme]

"It does not matter. He lay forever frozen on the threshold of death unable to be brought back evermore. " Leslie said off handedly, before looking a bit more serious. " A chosen is that of a group of few. Only the four....suits so to speak, are allowed to use them. They themselves are chosen by birth right to be what they are."

 

[bettsyboy]

"uhh... what?"


Marco had a look on his face like someone just tried to explain the exact workings of a fusion reactor... in short it was like "i didnt understand a single word of that"

 

[Esme]

"Of which part do you not understand. That he is dead, or what they are?" Leslie responded softly, quirking her eyebrow.

 

[bettsyboy]

"w-what they are"


he listened intently, for some reason, he was somewhat concerned.


"and why did they rip your heart out anyway?"

 

[Esme]

"They are a special type of being, neither an angel nor a demon yet both at the same time. They live in peace and comfort, waiting to serve the four suits, of Life, Death, Gaurd, and Destroy. Do not worry, it does not harm them for something so simple as a heart transfer. After all, their's will grow back within a fort night. " Leslie spoke in a level tone, taking another sip of wine. "Because I took his when I killed him the first time."

 

[bettsyboy]

"i see"


Marco sighed a bit and drank a bit more as well.


"well, apart from work, what have you been doing with yourself? surely there must be more than just being a reaper these days"

 

[Esme]

"I've been studying, following a few side distractions around, learning how to knit....occasionally checking in on you and a few others." Her voice cracked a bit at the end, causing her to cough a few times to clear her throat. For some reason, a memory of him saying if tonight didn't go well, he was done came to mind, along with something that made her new heart beat fast, and not in a good way. "And you...?"

 

[bettsyboy]

Marco noticed the look of worry on her


"i've been around, you know, teaching, fighting the old ones and teaching"


he leaned a bit closer to her


"whats wrong, Leslie?"

 

[Esme]

"Nothing, just thought of something I once heard..." Smiling at Marco, she patted his hand gently. "You teach a lot then?"

 

[bettsyboy]

"well yeah, i teachboth atthe school and i teach some of the new recruits in the army"


he cleared his throat


"something you once heard?"


he knew she didnt want to talk about it, but Marco felt this would be important, either immediately or later.


"come on Leslie, you can tell me"

 

[Esme]

"Ah. You must be awfully busy then..." Leslie smiled softly at him, understand the time restraint subject all to well herself. As he spoke again, she frowned. "I heard you speaking to Alec, you had asked her about tonight...it's nothing, really, I shouldn't have even been prying. So, have you found any students to be over your expectations this year...?"