[Voice (morning) / Action (evening)]

[truthget]

[Voice - Locked from Al, Winry, Gracia, and Elicia]

This might seem like a weird question, but I need to ask.

A lot of people - kids, even - act like they're fine with death and killing. The draft taught me that much. And around here dying doesn't even seem to matter because you just come back anyway. Is that what makes it- [Not okay, he can't

Comments

[Voice]

[cakeblocked]

It's not - !

[Dammit. Luke quiets down by gritting his teeth and clenching his fist. It's not like Ed's saying it is okay, he's just... asking.]

It's... never been acceptable to me. Not even here... Just because you're brought back doesn't make it any less - [Horrifying. Disgusting. Scary. Necessary.] ... acceptable.

[Voice]

[truthget]

...So why do it? Why kill, if it affects you like that?

[Since it obviously does, judging by his reaction.]

[Voice]

[cakeblocked]

[Maybe Luke shouldn't have said anything. The question, the question that feels like an accusation, burns into him and makes him curl up in his chair, his legs pulled up and his arms around them, though he still looks at the journal.]

In my world, it's... kill or be killed. For a while I didn't even feel like fighting anymore, but... but I nearly got killed for it.

[And Tear was injured instead. It's now that he looks away, glancing down below the journal and at the floor.]

And I can't die yet.

[Voice]

[truthget]

Is that really the truth? That there's only two choices? Why do fights have to end with someone dying, one way or another?

[Because in a way... a lot of his confrontations and battles have ended that way, too. Even if he's not the one to deliver the killing blow, he and Al have left a lot of bodies in the wake of their journey. Tucker, the Devil's Nest gang, #48, even the homunculus... is it just his selfishness, clinging to his ideals and forcing others to make the sort of decisions that he can't? To live with that knowledge of who they've killed because he can't stand to be the one to do it?

Is it determination, or is he just being a child?]

[voice]

[infireandflame]

[Oh geeze. It's not a weird question so much as a loaded one.]

It's never acceptable, whether you're used to it or not... and even those soldiers in times of war are little more than murderers in times of peace.

The day you no longer feel that guilt is the day you cease to be human.

[voice]

[truthget]

[Yeah, that too. And Edward can't help a slight grimace; after talking with Riza and finding out everything the colonel did during the Ishbalan War, he's been wary of the topic of killing ever being brought up with Roy. Still, as an alchemist unassociated with human transmutation (at the moment) his input could be beneficial here.]

I meant that it's acceptable enough to keep killing, even if you don't want to. What good is feeling guilty if you're still killing people?

[voice]

[infireandflame]

Death is death, whether it lasts or not. You want a reason for why people do it? That's simple: you don't want to die, so you kill them before they can kill you. The reasons are always simple.

There isn't any good to it, and those who can't bring themselves to do it are replaced by those who will. In the end, it comes down to whether or not you can live with doing it yourself or pushing it off on another.

[voice]

[truthget]

[That's right... that had happened to Armstrong in the war. And when he'd disappeared in Baschool, Kimbley had carved the bloody crest in that region in his place, or so he'd heard after the fact. Refusing to kill often just throws the job in someone else's direction, like it or not.]

Maybe it's just a kid's way of thinking, but... I don't get it. I don't get why someone has to die. Isn't there a way to fight where no one dies?

[Voice]

[sea_king_bait]

[She's not even going to touch that question. Still, that tone in his voice sparks her to respond.]

...Ed-chin? Are you okay?

[Voice]

[truthget]

[Oh, geez. Probably shouldn't have left it so open, but he did want something of a broad audience. His own fault.]

Yeah... sorry, Keimi. I'm okay.

[Voice]

[sea_king_bait]

Okay. [She pauses for a moment. She wants to say I don't believe you, but for some reason, she can't bring herself to say it.]

Maybe... you shouldn't stress yourself out thinking about... stuff like that.

[Spoken from experience. Keimi does her best not to think about all that's happened in her past, and the potential chaos waiting for her when she returns home.]

[Voice]

[truthget]

This isn't something I can just ignore. And... I won't run away from it, either. Not if I want to learn the truth.

[As unpleasant a subject as this is, it's not something he wants to just brush aside. Especially when it affects Alphonse, too.]

[Voice] - /spams all your characters

[chiisaichou]

[Oh, she wanted to avoid this entirely. Miyabi wanted absolutely nothing to do with this. She's already angry enough with her death, and the penalty, and so far has had nightmares, reliving her death. The moment before, when cold steel pierced her chest, then the choking, crushing blackness...and the time after, spent in a dead world with no color.

She wanted to not even touch on this at all.

Funny how things just don't turn out the way you want.]

You're still dying. You feel it. If people think that just by coming back to life, dying is something that can be accepted, then they're idiots. And they disgrace the spirits of those that have died! [No, she's not going to clip her words. Why? because she just doesn't care. Fuck Luceti, and fuck the people in it.]

They have no idea...n-no idea what it's like. ...To die. A-And jut...just come back. ...With something precious taken from you. They don't know...what it's like to live that way. [Miyabi voice cracks at the end, and she holds her breath, to keep her tears at bay. She's so

[Voice] - /NEVER COMPLAINS

[truthget]

[Edward pauses before he responds. It's pretty damn obvious that she's upset, and after what she just described, he really can't blame her. So she's someone who died- maybe even recently. And as much as he'd like to ask her more questions about that - for Al, it's for Al's sake, he'll tell himself a million times it's not just to indulge in his own curiosity or for science - he just... can't. Not when she sounds so distressed by the subject alone.]

...Sorry... for bringing up those memories.

[He knew this would be hard, but...]

[Voice] - /f-feels the love.

[chiisaichou]

...It's fine. [She tells herself, but Miyabi knows that's a lie. She can't blame this person. He's just asking an honest question. Of course it still stung, no matter how hard she tried - and she did try, really - to cope, it was just....hard. Very, very hard. And with Sanji and Amaterasu gone so soon after...when she needed them the most...ugh.]

You're at no fault, sir. I'm...sorry for the way I sounded. It was impolite of me. Why are you asking? About death, I mean.

[Voice] - |D <3

[truthget]

[That's kind of a hard question to answer without revealing the nature of his alchemy or relationship with Al, so he pauses at first before responding.]

On most worlds, it's impossible to revive the dead. Where I'm from, I learned the truth of that fact not too long ago. For a scientist, understanding the nature of life and death is... pretty crucial. It sounds cold, but being here gives me a unique opportunity to learn.

[Text]

[tsuntrader]

[...] Survival. Killing isn't something to be taken lightly, but it's not always avoidable.

[Text]

[truthget]

[Too many kids answering this question already. It's startling.]

That sounds too much like a no-win scenario.

[Text]

[tsuntrader]

Life is filled with a lot of those.

[Text]

[truthget]

I don't like that. Just because you can't think of a way out of a problem doesn't mean it can't be solved. That just means you're giving up on it.