Tessa

The fairytale’s over. You have the scars to prove it.

Suddenly, she bit her thumb harder, eyebrow quirked. She looks upon Lydia as if she has forgotten something vital.

“No, I….entirely understand it, even if the details of what I did personally are fuzzy. ……no, do not remind me. I need to conserve memory space. All I know was that it was beyond forgiveness and the notion is enough.”

“Punnett did it with a rapier, kicking off this whole affair. What’s your excuse? Hate me all you want. Swing at me. Spit at me. At the end of the day, I cannot seek for your forgiveness. I will play my part in preparing you, instead.”

“You — you are genuinely asking what /you/ can do, then?” Her voice….cracks. There is a lot of “Aurick” to be seen in her softened features.

“Going to beat the ever-loving shit out of the very same bastard I helped release, champ. Think I won’t? Maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll be skewered clean through the head again. But I did not claw my way out of the rift to hear your defeatism.”

“Not really. This is frankly one of those moments where you dramatically fling yourself behind closed doors, find all of it true, and think to yourself, “ah! Gods be damned, she was right!” No. I do not expect things. The wounds are fresh for you and half a lifetime ago for me.”

“In between Null walking the Earth, True’s emergence on that same Earth, a multitude of freaks from other timelines getting dumped here, and moreover, your /fiance accidentally channeling an incarnate of death/, none of these interest you? W’okay. Catch you later.”

“You can. Obligated to stand and take the hit, I am not. So long as you are capable of listening, in the midst of swing…..and befriending a multitude of women over the phone, I could not care an iota less.”

“I am exactly the same threat. There is nothing to prove.” There isn’t a hint of wavering on her tone, however, a hoarseness much like one having to recall a long-gone transgression. “If that is you. Lydia.”

“I /swore/. Do not be in the business of jumping conclusions. Stand down, I did not come here to hurt you.” Tessa straightened. “In fact. I do not recognize you until it is too late.”

She leaned HARD to the side, gripping her hat (see reply in previous quote) and not so much as huffing or grunting. “It was just a simple question. Tch’uka….”

What Robin did was so brutal Twitter censored it smh

He's right there. I could kill him. I could leave no trace.

You don’t want vengeance. You don’t want power. You just want to repair what you wrought.

“Millenia have passed. Or maybe, only a few decades….I’m not sure. But back out here…..it seems to have only been….a few months. Tch….. It’s only what I deserve.”