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[He hadn't expected to leave, and he hadn't expected to come back, either. Not that he remembered this place when he was there. But it was a shock to wake up again in a mortal body, with the phone sitting next to his bed as if he had never left.]

[He stared at the calendar on the phone. A week? That's how long he was gone? That… he'd have to talk to his boss about missing a week of work.]

[But what he had seen when he was back there… it was too much. Too painful, and he groped around for his pillow, knocking his phone to the floor, turning on the video. He pulled his pillow to his chest, starting to cry.]

[The video flicks on to show part of the underside of Ryu's bed as well as part of the ceiling. Ryu is visible on the edge of the screen, though he's curled up into a ball and his voice is muffled and choked with tears.]

Why? Why do they do this? I don't understand. Elina… that mortal… I'll kill him. I'll kill him for what he did to Cray and Nina. If… if he ever shows up here, I'll kill him then, too. I can't… there's nothing else for someone like him…

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*He is so happy to hear that voice...but they crying bothers him in a way he can't quite pin down. And the death threats...that's something to be confused about from Ryu. And here he was all set to be angry when he saw that number...*

Well, it looks like someone's had an interesting trip. That's your room, I trust?

[He sniffs and looks over at Albedo on the screen.]

Yes...

*Click. Albedo doesn't say he's coming, doesn't even knock. He just walks in, closing the door as soon as his cape is clear.*

Even I can tell you've had a rough time of it. Problems at home?

[Well he sort of figured. But he scoops up his phone and puts it on his dresser.]

Yes. Things are getting worse.

*Okay, now that he's here, this is...actually kind of awkward. All of his experience with traumatized children is in causing the trauma, so he doesn't really know how to deal with the damage control end. He guesses he'll just...come a bit further into the room and stand there? Yeah, he's not sure if sitting down would help or not...*

Mmmm, the universe can be a cruel place indeed. I suppose such things are constant. But it must have been a horror indeed, to earn such threats from yourself.

[He nods, and takes a deep breath.]

He turned her into an Endless. He wanted to torture her in order to make a 'better' sacrifice for the Hex Cannon.

I believe our own dear William put it best in one of his works: What fools these mortals be. Such petty ambitions that drive men to the very edge of insanity and beyond, so as to lose all concern but for their own power and how to obtain more of it.

*After thinking it over and figuring out what he would have wanted when he was younger and upset, he sits down next to Ryu.*

[He leans against Albedo's side, trying to figure out how to put this.]

I didn't think I could hate anyone like that. But between Yuna and Rasso... I know there's good humans in the world. But there's some that just... they seem like they're not able to be redeemed. I don't want to be this angry. But... some mortals... I don't know how to deal with them...

*He'll just put an arm around Ryu. He's feeling a little clingy with how long the kid's been gone anyway.*

I recall telling you that not all could be saved, did I not? There are indeed certain kinds of men beyond redemption and not even concerned with matters of penance. Death may indeed be the only way to deal with them in any lasting fashion.

[Arm around him is good. It makes him feel a little better.]

I don't want to kill any more people though. I felt so out of control the last time I did. But... I don't know what else to do with him.

Killing need not be accompanied by loss of control over oneself. Even Nigredo can't argue that point, as he was certainly acting on rational thought rather than emotion or impulse the last time he killed our father.

Last time -

[He won't even ask about that.]

Mm. I know that - I've killed plenty of monsters and Shadows before. But killing a person felt... different. Frightening. Wrong, and yet right at the same time. I know being what I am means I'm more powerful than mortals, but that doesn't give me the right to kill them...

But I don't know. I might have to make an exception for him.

What right, then, do mortals possess to kill each other that the exercise it so freely? Humans are constantly weeding their own numbers through war and hatred. It sounds to me as if the survivors would even thank you for putting an end to this person's miserable existence.

... I don't know. I don't know about anything.

[He grabs onto Albedo's shirt and leans in.]

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