Voice, un: eve

[playtag]

WHO: Eve
WHERE: Network, the cottage
WHEN: A few days before Christmas
WHAT: Isekai ponders the mysteries of Terry's Chocolate Orange
WARNINGS: Eventual violence against chocolate

[A photograph of one foil covered Terry's chocolate orange accompanies this post.]

I got a chocolate covered orange? The strange shopkeeper said it was a Christmas tradition.

The packaging says to "whack and unwrap" but...

Won't that damage the orange?

Comments

[aslowburn]

Hah, well, I wouldn't recommend it to most. It comes with a lot of complications, chief among of which is my family.

[Her messy, messy family. ]

That is a fairly astute compression, yes. It's something like that. And unfortunately, no. I have no control over it. There are some things I certainly wish I could forget.

[playtag]

Is your family also loud and argues a lot?

[Had it been earlier, Eve might have had more questions about what a family was like at all. But during her first visit, Persephone had pointed out the little ragtag family that had formed in the cottage, opening her eyes a little. And while she has few complaints about her new found family, they can be pretty noisy. Eve's used to it, but still.]

Oh.

[Disappointment is apparent in Eve's voice. Well, that is a shame.]

Unfortunate indeed. I too have some memories I would rather forget.

[She's doing her damn best to wipe the slate clean.]

[aslowburn]

HAH, that's...certainly one way to put it, yes.

[It's just that their arguments tend to have...massive real-world consequences.

She appreciates the tone, all the same. Eve is a good kid. ]

Is that so? When you're so young?

[What on earth could this child have gone through to have such regrets already? ]

hints of child soldier

[playtag]

[So many consequences. Mostly impacting everyone else!]

[There is a distinct pause as Eve realizes she once again has to navigate how to explain her... whole deal. To someone who doesn't know the weight of her past.]

[Or all the people she's killed.]

Yes. Well...

I have only been free for... roughly two years.

[...Well, that's one way to explain her regrets.]

[aslowburn]

[Oh.

Persephone feels anger boiling in her chest. She was relatively young when Hades forced her into marriage, but she wasn't this young. He feels her hands curling into fists. ]

I see. [It's said with no small amount of sharpness.] Did those who captured you find their grizzly ends?

[playtag]

[Did. did she say the wrong thing?]

[Eve looks startled. She's admittedly still a little puzzled that people react so strongly to hearing anything about her time with Torneo. Even though it has happened many times now. Almost like they all wish they could have punched him like Sven did. (Because they do, and they should.)]

[But also the question about being captured throws her off.]

Um... I was never captured. [Unless you count getting scooped into her first found family but no harming them] The man who funded my creation, he never let me go far.

[So she was stuck in the same building from the start. In a way, much worse.]

But he got beat up and arrested?

[Then immediately murdered. Don't get caught when exchanging money with shady folks.]

[aslowburn]

[Confusion crosses Persephone's expression, just for a moment. Before she connects the dots and realisation comes into play instead. It doesn't do much to quell her anger.]

So he created you and kept you under lock and key, like he owned you?

[No. Absolutely not. Hades springs to mind, as he always does. Reminding her time and time again that she was his property his prize. And Eve is so young, so very young. She absolutely should not have faced that. ]

You are a person. No one has any claim on you- you... do understand that, yes? Is that something you have come to understand since?

...I sincerely hope he dealt with more than that.

cw: hints past abuse, dehumanization, absolute bastard torneo

[playtag]

[There was admittedly nothing Eve could say about her past to make Persephone less angry. Though that does not make her less nervous. Especially when the Greek goddess hits the nail right on the head, calling to mind so many of Torneo's words. She freezes like a deer in headlights, chocolate forgotten.]

He didn't... create... [Deep breath, her voice quieter] Torneo spend a great deal of money on me. He made that very clear...

[So yes, Torneo did think he owned her. The product of his research funding... a living weapon. The idea that Eve might be human, let alone a human child seemed to not cross his mind. Truly the worst scum.]

Yes, Sven said something like that when he rescued me from that place. "People decide how to live their own lives."

I am free now. I am allowed to be free.

[And recalling Sven does seem to calm her down slightly, even with the heavy topic.]

...His life's research was burned to the ground in front of him. [Which really was the worst fate as far as that guy was concerned.] And... he is dead.

[She only knows thanks to existence of the Library records. Which she did not touch but now she knows.]

[aslowburn]

[Persephone was enraged. Wishing to destroy a being who wasn't even here. ]

...And yet he still pushed their work along, no? But your Sven is right. This is your choice, your decision. No one should have the right to claim ownership of another. Not for a moment. You are allowed to be free, and you shall remain so for the rest of your days if I have anything to say about it.

[He's dead. Good. Persephone calms, folding her arms.]

Then he'd best hope I never come across him in my realm. He is under my jurisdiction now.