( Audio )

[confined_to_briah]

( A day filled with the memories of betrayals, hm? Alexiel is glad that certain residents are no longer in the city. Otherwise she would have more than one knife in her back.

However, after feeling the impulse to right her betrayals (i.e. by using someone else like a pin-cushion), she decides to spend the day high above most of the other citizens. While a knife in her back wouldn't kill her or keep her down for long, it would hurt and she doesn't want to deal with the inevitable backlash of "I wasn't myself!" etc. etc..

Oh city, you never disappoint. )

Should anyone feel I've betrayed them, I suggest that you buy a doll and take out your frustrations on it.

( Her voice is laced with bitter amusement. )

I think it would do you more good in the long run.

Comments

voice;

[greatcherubim]

Alexiel?

[Gabriel has been told she's hear, and was expecting to hear from her eventually to an extent, but her voice is still a shock after so long even if it's not a surprise.]

You were one of a very few number I did not feel betrayed by.

voice;

[confined_to_briah]

Gabriel? ( She must have missed her arrival.

Perhaps she isn't as safe as she thought?

Shaking her head, she brings her communicator closer. )

I never had anything against you.

voice;

[greatcherubim]

Yes. I did not wish to startle you.

[Gabriel's voice softens a little.] I am aware, but nonetheless glad for the confirmation. I took solace in the presence of someone else who didn't like the way things were.

How have you been?

voice;

[confined_to_briah]

You wouldn't have.

( Alexiel seems to soften in return. She doesn't mind speaking to someone who followed their heart too. Not in the least. It's very refreshing. )

I'm glad you had some company. I'm sorry I wasn't in a better position. ( It took a long time for her to make her way back to heaven. )

Freedom agrees with me. It's nice to see Setsuna from this angle.

voice;

[greatcherubim]

You don't need to be sorry for anything, Alexiel.

I'm sure it must be. I know you haven't be free in so long. Do you genuinely get along with him so well?

[beyourarmy]

We definitely have no problems there.

[confined_to_briah]

That is comforting to hear.

[beyourarmy]

Good. If I see you, I won't be running.

[confined_to_briah]

I wouldn't let you get far. ( Because hugs are nice when she's with Setsuna. )

[beyourarmy]

[He just likes spending time with her. It's weirdly comforting.]

You really think you're that fast?

voice

[bedsidemanners]

I didn't realize you were here.

voice

[confined_to_briah]

And I hadn't realized you had returned.

voice

[bedsidemanners]

People are frighteningly lax on sharing details like that around here.

voice

[confined_to_briah]

I suppose it means little to them.

voice

[bedsidemanners]

That's a bit tetchy for a re-greeting, Alexiel.

Private//

[mortemscintilla]

[ Unfortunately or fortunately: ] It's a well-known fact that betrayal is the only truth that sticks.

[ He was, after all, in a profession where the transition from friend to foe was a matter of one paycheck. ]

Private//

[confined_to_briah]

At this point, it would be redundant in my case. ( She knows what she has done and she knows she practically betrayed 99% of heaven. ) They are welcome to rise to my level, but I won't let them stab me without protecting myself.

Private//

[mortemscintilla]

Personally [ knowing what he does about her history ] I wouldn't classify your actions as betrayal so much as an instinctive resistance. I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God -- that's a reason enough to stop anyone sane from groveling to a higher power.

[ Granted, everyone likes to rationalize their moments of betrayal. But on the whole, their reasoning is much pettier than Alexiel's would be. ]

Private//

[confined_to_briah]

It wasn't instinctive. ( But she won't deny that it probably should have been. ) It happened gradually, but then it all came crashing down on me. I knew that I had no other choice and I have never been one to grovel.

( She had only followed god's orders originally to keep Rosiel safe. )

Private//

[mortemscintilla]

No one ever said the truth -- or the decision to resist -- happens all at once. [ Certainly, it wasn't the case for him when he finally turned against the Syndicate. He'd despised forfeiting his life to it, but he'd felt it was the only way to find his sister. It was years before he finally reached a level of self-actualization and rebelled. ] Most people spend their whole lives making excuses and justifying their weaknesses, because they're slaves to routine. They're trapped in their own little boxes. Even if those boxes are their minds.

[ A wry half-smile, ] You could argue that quotidian reality is the biggest slave-master of all.

[sympathyforme]

That won't work.

[One could say he tried?]

[confined_to_briah]

Are you planning on stabbing me?

[sympathyforme]

Mhm. Not with a sword.

[He pauses, then grins.]

Alright, that was beneath me.

[confined_to_briah]

( Did he just?

He did. )

I don't recall you using that on my back.

[sympathyforme]

I was always one for low blows.

[That's why he was banished to pun hell.]