westwhere | everything is happening right now

Wrath is grateful he simply accepts it. He can see in his expression that he is aware of the problem. Humans so often let their emotions cloud what they do. It becomes dangerous especially in a place like Hell, but it can be dangerous here too where so many of the cards are stacked against them. It does not help that he has a cursed mirror inside of him radiating misery at an incredibly high rate - higher than when they last spoke about it.

"He is most certainly the easier target," he says in agreement to that, because as far as he could tell Chrichter was human - granted those senses have been muddled since arriving, but he saw nothing to indicate he had any special protection. "And he also may have valuable information."

However, Wrath would approve of Chrichter being killed. It would certainly improve the city a great deal to not have him making mannequins any longer and wielding them within the city for whatever he believes the correct moves are. They say they want the city to return, and yet their attacks always seem to be set up in a way that should divide the city instead.

He looks over at Five after a moment. They have come to a point where they are no longer counting favors back and forth. They simply give them when they are able whether it is information or something else.

"...what is it?"

It's not a bad idea. If Five hadn't had so much going on, he might have already thought to hunt Chrichter down back when Wrath first came out of that room filled with mannequins and dark water. Or earlier, when Wrath had been investigating the assassination attempt. They live together and yet he was still too involved in his own mess to keep tabs on an obvious lead.

He should have at least looked into it before going up that tower, but at the time he couldn't pass up the chance to find the child. Now he's positive that things are going to get worse and everything is going to get more dire. Possibly because of him. He can't be everywhere at once, which is why he's asking this now.

"I need help keeping an eye on someone." On top of everything. It doesn't feel natural to go out of his way for someone who wanted him dead not that long ago, but he owes it to Diego. Learning about her pregnancy changed some things, and that's not the only reason he's asking. "The woman from the future's name is Lila. She's important, to my brother. If everything she says is true, I can't let anything happen to her."

Wrath tends to look out for most people from within their group given he thinks all their skills are likely necessary to set this world right and use the beacon to truly return them all back where they belong. However, he has always made an exception for Five's siblings (and Five), looked out for them more than most given Five asked him to do so back when they were in Taravast.

"...I can do so."

There is a pause. Lila.

He remembers hearing her mentioned on the network, seeing a conversation or two she had. She seemed familiar with the Hargreeves, which had piqued Wrath's interest at the time.

"You trust what she says to be true?"

He can tell from his reaction that he's at least heard her over the network. That saves him having to describe her. If he wasn't expecting hell to break loose, he wouldn't bring it up, but given the circumstances.

"As a general rule, no. But I can't take the risk in case it is." It's a pretty big leap for him to suddenly have her back, but family is family. That she happens to be the only source of information he has about whatever else occurred in the future, and her apparent success in helping to jumpstart a briefcase, means his hands are tied.

"Thank you," he adds, sincerely. The past few months haven't let up on him at all, and there aren't many others he trusts enough to ask. He hasn't forgotten what Wrath did in the Unwinding and how he tends to fare better in these situations.

He frowns to himself and tries to chase away the memory of that disturbing episode in the rain that ultimately lead to him jumping to all the wrong conclusions. And since he's decided he's taking a break until he finishes the sandwich, he really should be keeping better track of his roommate. Make sure he hasn't overlooked something. Which he most certainly has.

"I don't know about you, but I didn't vote to stay because I'm optimistic."

Given Wrath does not trust his own brothers (and would not protect them - though they have no need for it generally speaking), he can accept this. There are many reasons why he may wish to protect this particular individual without necessarily trusting them nor caring about them personally himself. She has valuable information if nothing else, and there must be a reason Five finds it important to protect her because of it.

He nods in simple acceptance of the sincere thanks.

Wrath notes the frown on Five's face, wonders what it is he's considering at the moment. This city has brought many difficult experiences to the entire group, and Wrath would prefer to be free of it entirely, but the wrongness of death being utilized in this way is impossible to shake.

"...why did you vote to stay?"

Five would think the answer is obvious. He's a stubborn old man who can't leave well enough alone. Even if he's the only one still refusing to accept that his brother simply disappeared, he'd like nothing more than to find someone to blame. It would have been refreshingly simple if Lila had been behind it, but there might be only one way to find the answer.

"Unfinished business." Not just with the child and his brother. He hasn't chased down Mingyu yet, so he assumes someone tipped him off that he figured out who was behind his memory loss. If they left, it'd be too easy for him to slip between the cracks.

"It seems like the majority of their populations is either dead or they were never alive to start with. We should work on stopping the spread at its source." That makes it sound more responsible than getting revenge. "If I didn't think it was more trouble than it's worth, I'd suggest dusting off the artefact to put an end to all of it. "

Wrath occasionally likes to prompt people to say the obvious because the way they answer can be telling in its own right. Unfinished business. With the child, with the disappearance of his brother. He is curious if there is anything else though he does not ask.

His gaze narrows, however, at the rest of what Five says. Wrath is many terrible things, and he has never shied away from the reality of that, but his position is ultimately one of balance, of justice, of condemning the worst of souls for what they have decided to do in life. Wrath has accepted Five taking the tongue because he showed proper precautions with it and showed that he head learned from previous mistakes, but the casual way he makes that statement along with Five's misery flowing out of the mirror is making Wrath reconsider.

And because of the danger of the artefact, he will not simply allow the statement to go unaddressed either.

"And what purpose would that serve? Say there was no trouble attached, what purpose would be served through summoning the kraken on an entire city?"

Even if destroying the entire city was the right move (and it isn't), the use of the tongue would not be an efficient way of ensuring all that needed to be destroyed would be destroyed. People would run. Escape. The disease would spread beyond this place. The boy may not even be caught up in the violence brought on by the tongue and then escape to do this elsewhere in a new city.

Five raises an eyebrow when Wrath latches onto his offhand comment. He hadn't given that option much thought, or much serious thought, aside from the growing desire to see the entire city wiped off the map. It isn't even a viable suggestion, considering they aren't near enough to the ocean, and he would wave it off if he didn't think Wrath needed to hear his answer.

"Nothing good." He doesn't want to admit that he would rather see it end up like Taravast, because he lost two siblings in that fight and he's been paying for it since. Not that his plan to get them back is any less crazy. He glances up at the wall where he'd scrawled his last equation and shakes his head. "I didn't factor it in."

Besides, there's no separating the trouble that comes with it. Even if it didn't immediately backfire, they made sure everyone knew he has the artefact and he knows they'd come after him. There are no easy solutions. He feels so mentally spent trying to account for all their problems that he has to look back at the candle to make sure it's still burning.

"Saving them is a lot harder. I barely made it up the tower to find the child." Not to mention he can't be certain that killing him would save anyone. But Wrath stayed too, and he's suddenly curious. "Is that what you want to do?"

Wrath is reassured by Five's answer. It is unclear if the tongue could summon something else out if it were to be used here. They still do not know enough about the artefact, and it is still being hunted down by that group who wanted it along with all the members of this group who would come for Five's head should he decide to use it. He is grateful Five sees that despite all that is currently happening and the strength of his own curse, which is the primary reason he had to be certain.

Saving them is harder. This is true.

"The most effective way to end what is happening here and prevent its spread is finding a cure to the disease, stopping it at its source as you said, and killing Chrichter and anyone far gone enough to be on his side. The way this city is both a mockery of death and life at once."

It spikes this wrongness in Wrath's bones, and so his motivation goes beyond saving necessarily though he feels no need to bring unnecessary death to innocents. A long breath follows.

"And understanding what the child truly is."

But it's unlikely he can just start spouting a different type of sickness to replace the one they can hopefully find a cure to.

Is there even anything left to save? Five still hasn't gotten to the bottom of what happens in the Unwinding, but he knows he nearly lost himself there. Even the people left alive could just be husks, playing a role the child assigned them. Chrichter's motivations aren't clear enough to know if he's just another puppet too, but he agrees with the sentiment.

As for what the child is, at least he can be vindicated that Wrath didn't think he was one from the start. Doesn't make taunting him with news of his father's death any smarter, but it helps to distance himself from the implications. He's not really a child, and if Five is honest with himself, it was more his confusion that he was acting like one that made him hesitate.

"We know he takes after his mother. I saw it myself." Spores literally formed out of his tears. "Chasing her off seemed to stop the sickness from taking hold in Taravast, but doing that here runs the risk of her finding him. Then there's Wei Wuxian claiming he's alive."

Alive means he can be killed. The question is if that would only make him more powerful. As curious as he is, he knows his track record with magic and how his attempts have gone to deal with it himself. The tower is still too fresh in his mind.

"Or he doesn't take after anyone, and the man in white is responsible for everything. If he made them, he could make others."

"...alive and yet he has not aged, and he somehow inherits the ability of his undead mother," Wrath speaks slowly, because the Undead should not be able to transfer their power as a biological mother might to their child. Once they are dead, the connection should shift, and yet- This world continues to elude his understanding of both life and death, of the creatures that can exist in both. He trusts Wei Wuxian's senses - they have always aligned in a sense with his own when it comes to reading what is dead, what is alive, but-

This city in particular seems to be making it all more unbalanced due to the protection that prevented anyone from being able to see, living versus dead.

"The man in white clearly has a great deal of responsibility. In all truth, for all the answers we have received, we are left with only further questions." And it is unlikely these questions will be answered in this city, but they have to lay it all to rest one way or another.

This place is not sustainable - much of it is not real, not alive ( a child's playhouse like they found in the room where the mannequins are made).

Wrath echos some the same thoughts Five had. He isn't undead but he isn't human. Five didn't know what he was dealing with when he confronted him, and he underestimated him after Diego managed to land a killing blow to his father. The extent of his powers are unknown. Neither of his parents could manipulate the mind and create alternate realities. For a moment he wonders if Lila could mimic that sort of power, but he doesn't know if it's wise to put that idea in her head.

He doesn't even know if he can fight against something that took complete control of him, more than once. They induced fear in him with a touch, trapped him in a fantasy born of his own memories, and struck him down with disease that overtook him in seconds. The only reason he survived them was because someone found him in time.

"He got too close." He doesn't elaborate what he means, but as he moves to grab his cup he's reminded of the wounds that weren't all miraculously healed by the magic in the tower. They took control of someone he trusted, who literally stabbed him in the back. As much as he likes to boast how he refuses to die until he accomplishes his goal, his fate slipped out of his hands and he's yet to feel like he's regained his grasp on it.

That's what he was attempting to do when he got back to the apartment, and the risks of attempting his own solutions seem less and less important. He's so tired of being in pain, of losing his family, that he's close to doing anything to make it stop. He holds in a breath and looks back at Wrath. If he told him everything he's thinking, he already knows what he'd say.

"Are you going to see Emilia?" he asks in a more casual tone, like all it took was a sip of coffee to stop him from spiraling. "I need her to make me some more candles."

Wrath's gaze narrows at the statement without elaboration, and now he is watching Five carefully like he is searching for weakness, for any sign of pain at all. What exactly does that mean? He got too close. Five doesn't elaborate, and Wrath does not know that he would even if asked.

For the moment, Wrath allows for the change of subject, but he files the information away regardless, keeping an eye on Five, not entirely trusting the casual way he speaks.

The question gives him the slightest of pauses though his expression doesn't shift at all despite the aching distance between Wrath and his wife at the moment. They have not seen each other nor spoke beyond check-ins since their last painful conversation regarding the curse, regarding what Emilia does not know and what Wrath has not allowed himself to choose, because she does not know it. Now she has shut him out entirely. Any attempt he makes to reach out, she responds in an icy fashion that is all too familiar to him, and he no longer intends to simply wait for her to be ready. They have already lost such time - more than she could know.

In true demon fashion and evasiveness, however, he answers the question with one of his own.

"Do you not have enough candles?"

He does not know that he has seen Five without one since their arrival.

Five tilts his head at the way he dodges the question. It might have gotten by most people, but he's familiar with the technique. With everything that's been going on, he hasn't been paying attention to their usual visitors. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn't seen the two them together in a while.

"Not anymore. That's one of the last, and this isn't a time to run out." He gestures to the candle burning near him that has been burning for hours already. If not for that, he could have passed out almost as soon as he got back from the Tower. He needs them to stay focused and alert, especially now that he's potentially made their situation worse.

He frowns at Wrath, suddenly concerned that he's missing something that's going to become a real issue for him. Allison hasn't mentioned anything about it and she sees Emilia all the time.

"...Why? Is there a shortage I should know about?"

"...not currently. However, our next location may fail to have the supplies needed."

So if Five does truly have a need for these candles, they may very well run out of them or the ability to create more of them at any time. It is something to keep in mind as Wrath begins to wonder whether or not he is truly addicted to them. And yes, Wrath shifts the focus away from Emilia at present, because he is not going to stop by her home to see her.

She would simply kick him out again. He has to come up with another way of seeing her, and he knows she'll be interested in helping cure this city whatever it takes.

"And, I believe, sleep is vital to mortals at some point - candle or no candle. Have you slept?"

Going too long without it is certainly not going to help with Five's current mindset regardless of the candles. It isn't as if he can carry them lit on his person without potentially damaging his clothing.

If Five didn't think he was deflecting to keep from asking about Emilia, he might take more offense to his concern. For one thing, if supplies are going to be running low, it's more of a reason to stock up now. Especially before shit inevitably hits the fan because they decided to stay. And for another, there's far too much going on to waste precious hours sleeping. Isn't it enough that he's taking the time to eat?

"I was asleep for days during the Unwinding, and you saw how that turned out." It wasn't a restful sleep, but he distinctly remembers waking up in the Mouse House. The implication is that he hasn't slept since then, but the candles work just fine.

"We have no way of knowing what power they have over dreams." He hadn't thought of it before, but now that he does, it's worth noting. Then he chews on the edge of his sandwich that he's started to lose steam on and adds a little quieter, "And I have too much work to do."

Wrath's gaze narrows at him, because he doesn't think he has to say the Unwinding does not count as the type of sleep he is referring to. So he does not state that out loud, but it is clearly in his expression as he surveys Five.

"...the candles can only go so far."

But if he is running out of them and Emilia is not available to make more...

Well. He may be forced to get rest instead. All the more reason to not go to the shop to retrieve them. There is a pause as Wrath wonders about whether or not he should say what he will next, but better to take Five's mind off the candles that Wrath will not be fetching.

"I intend to look into... methods for ending the curse when we have left this city behind."

Five had thought he'd made a good enough point about why he needed to do whatever he needed to do to stay awake and alert, and how the candles are the easiest solution. So when he's met with skepticism and doubt, he doesn't have an immediate response. Wrath has a reason to be concerned after the mistake he made, and he hasn't explained his math so he understands how important all this is, but it still doesn't sit right. They have enough to do without worrying about him.

The candles work. That's good enough for now.

Then he shifts the subject and he's distracted from his argument. He leans forward and watches Wrath for a hint of what that means. They haven't talked about what Five learned since their first day in the city, but if that's what he means, he must have figured something out. At least that's what he assumes. It's unfortunate that he still has to ask, given the circumstances.

"Your curse?"

"...yes."

It has been the source of his arguments with Emilia. She can feel him holding back, and he is limited on what he can share, limited in so many ways by the curse that locks both him and Emilia in its grasp. He can no longer afford to wait, to see if another place may provide more answers. He has answers from his time in Taravast. There are spells and rituals he might use, and he doubts it will break the curse entirely, but even if it can chip away at it, it could change everything.

If he could simply call his wife by what she truly is, if he could release some of her power or her memories, if he could show her anything at all, it would pull them from this standstill they are stuck in. The yearning inside to simply be able to speak freely, to have Emilia understand and to know rattles within the walls of his chest against his ribcage. Wrath's expression remains neutral but somber as he speaks, quieter.

"It would have to wait until we are free from this city. Our concerns at present are greater."

They are too wrapped up in their current worries here. Wrath continues to speak, and he is careful in his speech for multiple reasons (what will he be allowed to say?)

"But I believe I can use what I learned at Taravast to transfer some of that curse. It would not break it completely - there are... too many pieces. However," There's a pause then, "I would need the piece of mirror inside of you to transfer a portion of the curse within."

He lifts his gaze to meet Five's then, understanding he asks something Five has wrestled to do for himself all this time. "I am asking if you would be willing, and it does not have to be decided now."

Five can tell before he starts that there's another reason he's bringing it up to him now. Anyone else and he'd be more apprehensive, but he can relate to how a curse can eat away at you, no matter what else is going on. Wrath also benefits from being one of the only people he trusts, going back a lifetime. So he's attentive as he listens, aided by the nearby candle that helps his focus.

Opposed to the last time, when he was drunk when this subject came up. He might have promised to help him with it back then, if he could. He's not completely sure he said that out loud, but he'd honestly meant to, for all he's done for him and his family. It just never occurred to him that he'd already have found a way to take him up on that until he asks.

From the look on his face, his proposal isn't something Five was prepared for. He silently adjusts his posture and makes an effort to mask the suddenly onslaught of anxiety that twists inside him. Over time he's gotten better at ignoring the curse, but he's acutely aware of the anguish he's absorbed when it's pointed out.

Wrath knows it's not as simple as handing the mirror over. It's so much of a risk that Five opted to suffer for months on end because the alternative seemed more dangerous. There's no guarantee that it can be removed without complications, and he can't afford to be out of commission if there are. At the same time, Wrath is the one who often reminds him that it's getting worse. He doesn't have to be told; he feel it getting closer to as bad as it ever got in Taravast.

Wrath was there, so he might be able to sense how close that is. Which means there's another slight possibility that he doesn't want to acknowledge. If Wrath doesn't think Five will come to him on his own until he snaps, he could be using a favor to convince him to let him remove it. But the more he considers it, the more he dismisses that fear. Of anyone, Wrath wouldn't try to manipulate him for his own good.

He still doesn't know how it could possibly help Wrath's curse, and he can't, without knowing what it is. He takes a long breath and exhales.

"...You think it'll make enough of a difference?"

Wrath can sense Five's anxiety, and beyond that, he is aware that the mirror has currently absorbed so much anguish to be similar to its state as it was in Taravast. There is a reason he said it did not have to be decided now. It's been shown in the past to negatively affect Five's choices due to its effect, and Wrath wants Five to be able to choose this freely if he does choose it at all. Unfortunately, they have no reliable way to release more anguish from the mirror inside of him, and so it may only continue to get worse.

"I do though I cannot be certain." He wants that to be clear as well that this is its own gamble, its own risk. He thinks it may help based. Wrath believes that it can be utilized, but he may be wrong - there is always that chance when using different types of magic to affect one another. "I am operating off of what I have learned, what I know of magic and curses within my own world, but all of that is limited due to the constraints of the curse."

However, the mirror inside of Five does have the capacity to absorb, and part of his curse was at least that Wrath would forget all but his hate, that if he should ever love, he would lose that as well. Not to mention the lock on Emilia, the molding to make her hate him should she ever meet him again. He won't know the best way to use that mirror until he examines the mirror himself when it is outside of Five, but he does think it can be used.

"And as we spoke about before, there is risk to you as well." He knows Five won't have forgotten, but Wrath wants to make it clear that he understands this is something big he asks. "As I mentioned, it does not have to be decided now, and it is likely better that it isn't given the state of your own curse and this city."

But he wanted to ask now so Five would have time to settle with it, think about it.

It makes him all the more curious what kind of curse Wrath has if he thinks the mirror can help it. The piece inside of Five is only a fraction of the mirror it came from, but he can't say it doesn't have the capacity to absorb a huge amount of anguish over time. He's fairly sure the Merchant knew what it did, and why the dead man in the lake needed to be put out of his misery.

There's no telling what it will look like if Wrath attempts to pull it out, since it wasn't a physical object when it attached to him. His efforts to study it came up short, but he's barely mentioned it to a handful of others from their group. Wrath is the only one left who seems able to really understand what it's doing to him.

"We both know the state isn't going to get better unless I can drain it again, and then it's just another matter of time." He can be logical about that much. All he's been able to do is delay the inevitable as it slowly saps away his sanity. It was never his intention to do nothing about it, but he's very aware of what it took to transfer the curse from the man in the lake. There's a reason he didn't trust the other necromancers.

"If removing it... if I die, I'd need to be brought back. I'm not done."

Wrath nods in acknowledgement of that awareness. It will not get better without a method of draining it, and they see no method currently within this city. It will only continue to get worse, but that does not mean he wants to influence Five's choice too much. There will be a cost regardless, and that should not be thrown away or hidden, but acknowledged along with the rest of what they have spoken about.

His gaze is sharp as it lands on Five then. He is a little too casual about his own death for Wrath's liking. Five is not immortal, and he is not part of Wrath's House, which means he is very capable of dying and ceasing to exist. Wrath has never experienced grief (he was made to forget before he could experience grief before), and he would not like to start.

"If I thought it would kill you, I would not have asked."

He would like to make that much clear immediately.

"We would have healers on hand. All precautions would be taken care of ahead of time."

It isn't the first time he's thought the curse might kill him someday, either when he tried to remove it or when it drove him insane again and he made a mistake he couldn't come back from. As long as he gets his siblings back and on their way back home before that happens, that's all that matters.

He's also realistic. The mirror has been knotted up inside him for so long and caused him so much suffering that it's hard to imagine removing it can be an easy process. Not to mention he's still physically a child. A scrawny one at that. There's a finite amount of abuse this body can take.

He might still agree if they could guarantee that they'd bring him back, if it came to it. (As long as Allison is around, he thinks she'd make sure they did.) There's a reason he framed it like a deal, so it means something that Wrath wouldn't consider it. Outright refusing to gamble with his life. He doesn't feel comfortable with the idea of healers standing by, but it's a nice thing to say.

"...Well, Lila didn't mention anything about a curse, or my untimely death. Could be that she just hasn't gotten around to it, but that's more than I had before." She could still be from an alternate timeline where this didn't happen, but he's trying to take the good news where he can. Because he's almost positive it gets worse from there.

"I'll be surprised if it can help, but it'd be a pleasant change if it wasn't all for nothing." He meets his gaze to consider him for a long moment. Then takes a sip of coffee and nods. "Ask me again when we're out of this hellhole."

One way or another, the mirror does need to be removed from Five, because continuing on in this way, it can only end in disaster of one kind or another. They are both aware of it so Wrath does not bother to mention the full extent of how this might turn out if the curse continues on its path of sapping up all the despair it can hold.

However, it is meaningful to Wrath that Five should genuinely consider it now if only because it may end up helping Wrath with his own curse. If he did not think it would help at all, he would not have brought it up, but he does think he should be able to filter some of that curse into the mirror whether his own or Emilia's.

"I will." For the time being, they both have a great deal to focus on before they can hope to leave this place. There's another pause then as he adds genuinely: "Thank you."

Whatever he ends up deciding, Wrath appreciates the consideration regardless. And he will appreciate it all the more if after all this time, he finally has a method to fight back against the curse that has stolen so much from him: wings and then far worse, his wife.

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