[hr]ATTN: [@PaulHaynek] (Sorae) & [@The Irish Tree] (Eula)[hr]As Alice was redirected to where Eula had headed, she would come across her and Sorae in mid-conversation; momentarily listening in, as the boarish woman spoke to the metal woman. Wrinkling her nose, Alice would scent Carroll on Eula, and approached them - well, more like, she was stalking up to Eula.

However, before she would confront the Automaton, Eula would shift in a manner that threw her off for a moment...[hr][hider=I Remember Touch]Sorae’s approach had caught Eula unaware, and even more aware of the fact that Carroll hadn’t left the place they’d just been at. It seemed this Sogen’s wife was needed to find out who killed Clan Tokinomiya…which, Eula had no idea who they were, but did have a general agreement that murder was bad, and therefore must be punished. [color=C48BD3][b]"I will conduct my search shortly, but…let me go check on something first. Excuse me,"[/b][/color] the automaton said, before returning to where she had parted with Carroll.

"[color=976f29][i]Uh... right, then...[/i][/color]" Alice offered, as the Robot split off to seek her Sword Devil. It was baffling how someone supposedly hailing from one of the smartest Species in the Realms could be such an airhead to not notice that she was by herself for over an hour. Then again, Eula wasn’t exactly... all together, to be nice about it, in Alice’s (literally) day-old opinion of her. "[color=976f29][i]I’ll be here, then...[/i][/color]" she says, before wheeling on Sorae...

Meanwhile, Eula’s search - or, rather, her retrieval would be brought pause by the quiet crying of someone in the distance.

Eula’s mind was…fuzzy in places, after waking up. As if some part of her were still sleeping. She didn’t understand it, and diagnostics showed nothing wrong. Her senses were sharp, that she was sure of, as she honed in on the quiet sobs that broke the silence in the building, the automaton’s footsteps echoing a bit as she approached the source. Her hand had a small buzz running along it, an imperceptible residual “aura” of demonic energy contact. She had a feeling this sobbing was from its source. 

[color=C48BD3][b]"...Carroll?"[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]Hrm!?[/i][/color]" Carroll snapped up at the call of her name, and struggled to compose herself.

Eula approached and crouched down before her. [color=C48BD3][b]"...You were crying…is something wrong?"[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]No,[/i][/color]" Carroll lied outright.

[color=C48BD3][b]"Your eyes are red and puffy,"[/b][/color] Eula retorted.

"[color=808080][i]Just allergies![/i][/color]" Carroll says, as if that was a thing for a living sword.

Eula was quiet for a moment before she sat down. [color=C48BD3][b]"I see. Must be the dust,"[/b][/color] she said, not wanting to press the subject.

Carroll sniffled, rubbing her eyes. "[color=808080][i]I’m sorry...[/i][/color]" she says, gathering her knees to her chest, as she looked so small and helpless in her garb; looking, quite simply, like an academy student lost on her first day.

[color=C48BD3][b]"You have nothing to apologize for. …Everyone gets allergies, from time to time."[/b][/color]

Carroll chuckled. "[color=808080][i]It’s stupid... I’m stupid...[/i][/color]" she says, pulling her hat down. "[color=808080][i]Stupid... Stupid...[/i][/color]"

Eula would slowly reach out and lay her right hand atop Carroll’s hat, patting it softly. [color=C48BD3][b]"You are not."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]...[/i][/color]" Carroll groaned, bowing her head further, "[color=808080][i]I am... I shouldn’t have...[/i][/color]"

Eula didn’t say a word. She didn’t know what she could even say, since she’d only known Carroll for a day now. But…she was certain that she didn’t want to move her hand away.

"[color=808080][i]I’m sorry... I possessed you, so I could dream...[/i][/color]" Carroll says. "[color=808080][i]Someone like me doesn’t deserve dreams...[/i][/color]"

[color=C48BD3][b]"...What is a dream?"[/b][/color] Eula asked simply.

"[color=808080][i]Like, scientifically or philosophically,[/i][/color]" Carroll asks.

[color=C48BD3][b]"I am aware of both definitions. But what is a dream to you?"[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]A memory... memories I don’t deserve to remember...[/i][/color]" Carroll says.

[color=C48BD3][b]"I see. Then, you really have done nothing wrong. Remembering isn’t a sin. And if you’re still convinced it is, then I forgive you. For treasuring your memories enough to want to see them."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]I don’t deserve to see those I’ve failed...[/i][/color]" Carroll says.

[color=C48BD3][b]”Sometimes…keeping something in your memory is the way you help it to survive. You might never forget, and might never forgive yourself. …But…those memories…don’t they at least deserve to be carried by you?"[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]I failed my family... my daughters... my wife... my home... my unborn child...[/i][/color]" Carroll grit her shark-like teeth, "[color=808080][i]They deserved better than me...[/i][/color]"

Eula was silent for a time, before she would crouch a bit lower, moving her arms to wrap around Carroll. She couldn’t hope to understand what Carroll had gone through, but…nobody deserved to suffer alone.

Carroll gasped, as Eula hugged her - not out of pity, but sympathy. It wasn’t stated nor alluded to, but transmitted between the two beings of steel and mana, as Carroll’s reflexively hugged back; her arm transforming, and linking the pair together in their mindscape again.

However, instead of Europa visiting Carroll, Eula was momentarily splashed into a lively scene of Carroll’s family in the middle of a dinnertime foodfight, with a messy Carroll bowing her head against the fridge, as Io patted her head - much like Eula had. The scene was abruptly ended by Carroll jerking back.

...retreating into her curled ball once again.

Eula was lost once the dream took hold, her confusion giving Carroll enough time to retreat into the safety of herself. …The automaton didn’t know what to think, but would quietly embrace Carroll once more.

Unless she took Carroll’s hand, she wouldn’t go back. However, Carroll didn’t retreat further - a modicum of trust, maybe, or just... familiarity she was so selfish to push away?

Eula wouldn’t intrude. Not to Carroll’s happiness. She would only hold her, leaving the decision on whether to reach out entirely onto Carroll.

"[color=808080][i]Do you hate me...[/i][/color]" Carroll asks, "[color=808080][i]My transgression... selfishness...[/i][/color]" she didn’t look up from her bowed curl, "[color=808080][i]Using you in her place... because you look like she did once...[/i][/color]"

[color=C48BD3][b]"I don’t. You haven’t used me for anything, Carroll. Nothing that can hurt me."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]That’s a lie,[/i][/color]" Carroll says. "[color=808080][i]You might not be a Synth, but even you have emotions,[/i][/color]" she says, "[color=808080][i]Those injuries aren’t just for show. They mark a desire to protect something. That is a hurt you take on that will always be able to hurt you. If it couldn’t, you wouldn’t... we wouldn’t... this wouldn’t be happening.[/i][/color]"

Eula would consider Carroll’s words for a moment, before reaching down to take Carroll’s hands, not letting go this time. [color=C48BD3][b]"If she meant everything to you, then remember."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]I don’t want to remember...[/i][/color]" Carroll groaned, tears swelling in her eyes. "[color=808080][i]I don’t want you to get wrapped up in my memories! It’s not fair to you![/i][/color]"

Fair. What a novel concept. Fair is a summer’s day, fair is an agreement of two. Fair isn’t life, because if it was, Shizuyama wouldn’t be under attack by a foreign power, aided only by those who they’d sworn to expel from their lands. Fair…wasn’t what Carroll had to experience, feeling pain in her happiest moments.

Fair wasn’t being an automaton with no memories and no Master. But…life wasn’t fair. So neither would Eula be. [color=C48BD3][b]"It is my mistake to make. Nobody else’s."[/b][/color]

Carroll let her head drop, confused. "[color=808080][i]Why,[/i][/color]" she asks.

[color=C48BD3][b]"Because. I know how it feels to have memories taken. …I…lost the human who awoke me, almost a lifetime ago. I’ve burned them, into my memory, so…I understand at least that much. And…if you loved her, and she loved you back…she wouldn’t want your memories of her to be painful."[/b][/color] Eula said, for one, singular moment, having a smile exactly like Carroll’s lost love. 

"[color=808080][i]Why do you have to look like her...[/i][/color]" Carroll struggled to keep her face straight. "[color=808080][i]Was I such a bad person to be tormented like this...[/i][/color]" Carroll trembled, before her last string snapped; tears slipping out, as her voice freed, and her sobbing renewed. "[color=808080][i]I miss her so much, and I can’t burden your shoulders like this, so why would you let me!?[/i][/color]"

[color=C48BD3][b]"Because…you held my hand. Even if just for a short time."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]I don’t understand...[/i][/color]" Carroll says.

[color=C48BD3][b]"Neither do I,"[/b][/color] Eula said simply, offering her hand once more.

Carroll looked at her offered hand, and then at Eula, "[color=808080][i]Why, though? Aren’t you scared?[/i][/color]"

[color=C48BD3][b]"If I were, I wouldn’t have come to this land. Automatons don’t feel fear…at least, not in the truest sense of it. Simulated feelings, synapses leading to warnings…fundamental fear on an instinctual level. But, if I can help someone, I will reach out. No matter what scares me."[/b][/color]

Carroll held up her hand. "[color=808080][i]I don’t understand you... but... I’ll trust you... with my memories, then...[/i][/color]" Carroll says, before taking Eula’s hand firmly.

Eula would accept it and help Carroll stand up.

Carroll stood to her full shortstack (minus the stack) height, and cracked her neck. "[color=808080][i]Okay... that was embarrassing... but... cathartic... [/i][/color]" she says, interlacing her fingers with Eula’s reflexively. "[color=808080][i]So... thanks or whatever... I guess.[/i][/color]"

[color=C48BD3][b]"You are welcome,"[/b][/color] Eula said, remaining silent after for a healthy enough amount of time for Carroll to realize they were still holding hands.

Carroll wouldn’t realize until she started to walk to the door, and was yoinked back by Eula not following. "[color=808080][i]Keh! Sorry![/i][/color]" she blushed, yanking her arm back.

Eula would flop forward and land squarely on her face as Carroll yanked her arm back, rolling over and sitting back up. [color=C48BD3][b]"I…suppose I should have let go as soon as you started moving. My apologies."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]You... okay...?[/i][/color]" Carroll asks.

Eula nodded, before standing back up and dusting herself off. [color=C48BD3][b]"...Oh, I should mention…I have to leave soon. Sorae suspects that finding a traitor noble’s wife will lead to justice for one of this land’s clans. Will you be alright while I am searching for her?"[/b][/color]

Carroll froze for a moment. Yes, was the long and short answer. She did fine on her own. However, her emotion out of check as they were... a part of her sought to say, "[color=808080][i]No.[/i][/color]"

Waiting for her answer, Eula would give her the time she needed. But, would add one simple offer: [color=C48BD3][b]"You could join me in the search but…I’m not sure if you would want to fight with your recent allergy attack."[/b][/color]

"[color=808080][i]Allergy...[/i][/color]" Carroll giggled, suddenly, covering her mouth, as she full-sent laughed; her cheeks were redder than ripe strawberries in fresh snow, as she brightened.

Eula would smile faintly, waiting for Carroll to compose herself…this time, at least, she was having a good time.

"[color=808080][i]You are adorable...[/i][/color]" Carroll says, "[color=808080][i]I'm not doing anything, so if you need back up, I can provide support. Ask around, and come find me, if nothing pans out.[/i][/color]"

Eula nodded. [color=C48BD3][b]"Very well. Thank you,"[/b][/color] the automaton said, before turning to depart.

"[color=808080][i]Hang on,[/i][/color]" Carroll says, spinning Eula to caress her cheek with her transformed hand, and press a kiss to the opposite cheek, "[color=808080][i]Thanks, for real.[/i][/color]"

Beaming, Carroll would flitter past Eula, and make for the door with a crystal-clear blush, as she retreated to compartmentalize her life.

Eula didn’t understand why Carroll would blush as she went on by, but would walk out after to see about what she could do to find any information on Sogen’s wife, and to seek out Sorae once she was done speaking with Alice.

Carroll would find herself something to do, specifically somewhere she could sharpen her edge. She was feeling particularly dull... and yet... happy, too…[/hider][hr]As Eula departed, Alice would cross her arms, glaring at the warrior woman from before, "[color=976f29][i]Let’s talk, you and I, because I’m missing a lot of details, including how I got this scar on my side, and a no-sense bitch like you won’t waste my time with superfluous details...[/i][/color]"