The Sorow of Jericho Anarei
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Jericho Antares
FAKKU Writer
"Do you have any idea?"
"Idea of what?"
"Of just how simple it would be to...drift away. Disconnect yourself from the world, and simply exist. Exist for whatever you want."
"Why would you want to?"
"I think you mean 'why would we want to?' "
"I'm not you."
"Hm, you may be right there. You're not me, but I am most assuredly you."
"Stop talking in circles. What do you want? Who are you?"
"I'm the 'Jericho' that wishes for sublime peace. I'm the 'you' that just wants all of this to go away. I want to cloister myself in my mind and live there until I die. It's alright if no one else can come with me. They all hate me anyway. All I need is Rei. She loves me, and here, in this metaphor, I can love her."
Jericho balled his fist in anger at his other self. It pained him to acknowledge something so pitiful being born from his own conscience.
"I can't abandon the world and become a vegetable, and even if I wanted to, Rei wouldn't go along with it."
"You'd be surprised with the truth, you know. She truly loves you. Maybe I'm the only portion of you that's hopelessly romantic enough to think it, or maybe I'm the only one that knows enough about love to decipher it, but she loves you."
"No."
"It's true, she'd lock your body away in a bunker and spend eternity with you, and all you'd have to do is ask her."
Jericho felt his reason quiver and his confidence shook for a moment.
"And that's all I needed to tell you. Goodbye, me. I'll be good from now on." The fragment of Jericho said before fading with a cheshire-cat smile. Jericho watched the fragment fade slowly and then woke up in the metaphor.
"Jerry, did it work?" Rei asked excitedly. Jericho sat up and looked at her cautiously, then gazed around the meadow.
"Are we alone?"
"Uh, yes. Why?"
"The latest fragment said something that made me think, shook my resolve."
"What?"
"I just need to ask you something. I need you to answer honestly."
"I will, Jerry, now what is it?"
"Do you love me?"
Rei immediately looked away from him and the metaphor around them wavered with curls of smoke and the smell of incense, Rei's metaphor for embarassment. Jericho inhaled sharply and looked at the ground. "I see."
Rei hung her head and blinked slowly, then signed out of the metaphor, a single tear remaining behind her. Jerry looked at the crystalline object floating in the air and felt a pang of regret in his chest. Not because of how he confronted her, but because of the fact that he felt no love for her.
"I'm sorry, Rei. I'm sorry that I can't be what you want me to be." He whispered softly in the empty meadow, plants dying all around him.
"Idea of what?"
"Of just how simple it would be to...drift away. Disconnect yourself from the world, and simply exist. Exist for whatever you want."
"Why would you want to?"
"I think you mean 'why would we want to?' "
"I'm not you."
"Hm, you may be right there. You're not me, but I am most assuredly you."
"Stop talking in circles. What do you want? Who are you?"
"I'm the 'Jericho' that wishes for sublime peace. I'm the 'you' that just wants all of this to go away. I want to cloister myself in my mind and live there until I die. It's alright if no one else can come with me. They all hate me anyway. All I need is Rei. She loves me, and here, in this metaphor, I can love her."
Jericho balled his fist in anger at his other self. It pained him to acknowledge something so pitiful being born from his own conscience.
"I can't abandon the world and become a vegetable, and even if I wanted to, Rei wouldn't go along with it."
"You'd be surprised with the truth, you know. She truly loves you. Maybe I'm the only portion of you that's hopelessly romantic enough to think it, or maybe I'm the only one that knows enough about love to decipher it, but she loves you."
"No."
"It's true, she'd lock your body away in a bunker and spend eternity with you, and all you'd have to do is ask her."
Jericho felt his reason quiver and his confidence shook for a moment.
"And that's all I needed to tell you. Goodbye, me. I'll be good from now on." The fragment of Jericho said before fading with a cheshire-cat smile. Jericho watched the fragment fade slowly and then woke up in the metaphor.
"Jerry, did it work?" Rei asked excitedly. Jericho sat up and looked at her cautiously, then gazed around the meadow.
"Are we alone?"
"Uh, yes. Why?"
"The latest fragment said something that made me think, shook my resolve."
"What?"
"I just need to ask you something. I need you to answer honestly."
"I will, Jerry, now what is it?"
"Do you love me?"
Rei immediately looked away from him and the metaphor around them wavered with curls of smoke and the smell of incense, Rei's metaphor for embarassment. Jericho inhaled sharply and looked at the ground. "I see."
Rei hung her head and blinked slowly, then signed out of the metaphor, a single tear remaining behind her. Jerry looked at the crystalline object floating in the air and felt a pang of regret in his chest. Not because of how he confronted her, but because of the fact that he felt no love for her.
"I'm sorry, Rei. I'm sorry that I can't be what you want me to be." He whispered softly in the empty meadow, plants dying all around him.
This is the sorrow of Jericho Anarei
