That Single Thread (after battle)
The Identities were incomplete, perhaps due to the abruptness with which they were summoned...
... and were nowhere strong enough to stand against the Pinky Nursefather.
<... Am I not even a threat to her?>
She did not cast even a sideways glance toward me, as though to say that so long as I didn't stand in her way, she wouldn't bother attacking me.
*sigh* Let's go again, C.H....
...
Her quiet gaze was fixed intently on Ryōshū's wounded form.
Facility power restoration complete.
The PA system buzzes, and the whirring sounds I assume to be coming from the reactivated elevators begin filling the hallways.
.......
... Crawling back to the House of Spiders... with that, huh?
.......
*sigh*... You're much more tolerable mute. Glad I S.Y.T.C.
That was when the woman began to speak from behind the veil...
... even though I was certain her tongue had been cut off, as I'd seen in that memory.
... What an unbearable sight it is...
... to see you still holding on...
Holding onto that single, frayed thread of memory.
...!
... How... how are you speaking...?
I remember chopping off your foul tongue... with this sword.
There should be nothing left of your mind but shattered bits of memory...
Why even go through all this trouble to save that thing?
... I'm still holding on to that single thread.
And it led me here. I'm going through all this trouble because I can still see that single thread, still connected through where everything has been severed and sheared.
Wrong. You've got it backwards.
It is precisely because everything else has been severed and sheared that your feelings are mere illusions.
Do you even remember her face? Her voice? Her height? Do you even remember how you used to spend time with her?
.......
Mommy.
... Can I call you mommy?
You can call me whatever. It doesn't matter.
But it does.
There's a biiiiig difference, mommy.
It's got a different echo, don'tcha think?
Admit it already.
You're holding onto that thread because without it, you'd have nothing left.
That's why you're hugging so tightly onto that illusion... like it's your everything.
.......
... Hilarious.
Had it been all those years ago... Your words would've cut through my heart like a knife.
Why do you... why do you always talk to me like that, Mother?
Whenever you do that, it hurts... it hurts right here even though I don't bleed. Like you're stabbing me.
So...
... does that make you feel miserable?
... Huh?
My life has been nothing but an unending stream of misery ever since you happened. Did you know that?
.......
Go ahead, answer me.
I kno - I know.
Good. Don't you ever forget that.
Don't forget that you're the weight tied to my ankle. You dragged me down here.
And you have the nerve to whine about some... mean words?
Ah...
... When did I permit you to look at my face? Look away!
Sorry.
I won't look at your face without your permission, Mother. I won't complain about hurting, either. I'm sorry...
I'm sorry...
None of you has changed one bit since the last time I saw you. And that is so... satisfying to watch.
All you ever know to do is blame everyone else for your miseries while never trying to change yourselves.
No wonder none of you ever managed to leave the House of Spiders, that quagmire of a place.
Quagmire...
I don't disagree.
The only way to be free... is never to have been caught in it to begin with.
For you and me both.
The Pinky Nursefather let out a wry laughter as she muttered.
Besides, we are no strangers, you and I. We've lived under the same roof for years, haven't we?
I don't know about the other Nursefathers, but... I can see right through your mind.
Perhaps... for you, hiding that child inside that safe may have seemed like the best plan at the time.
...!
What a tight space you've squeezed her into. A hole so small that only a child could have ever hoped to fit inside.
.......
What... did you say?
The Pinky Nursefather smote down upon Ryōshū's sword, holding it in place.
You dare swing that thing at me, presumptuous fool?
If you're serious about this, do unsheathe the sword as you did then.
You're nothing if you've no heart to do even that.
Aagh...
You always make that same face whenever I hurt you.
Why do you... Why do you always...
... lk to... me like...
On the day you swung that sword with such abandon...
... you left a rather nasty wound on me.
"Whatever this blade cut once... will become cut again in its presence."
"A wound that once healed shall reopen... and the prosthetics that replaced the limbs shall fall away and reveal the old amputations as their mechanical joints come apart."
......
That was supposed to be the absolute rule of this blade. A rule without exceptions. You told me that this power demands the sacrifice of memories - the truest proof that it is real.
Well... when has the discussion of truths and lies ever meant anything?