Private Conversations

[dominioned]

The confessional before you is ornate and well maintained, ebony colored wood embellished with the visage of two angels. A jet black curtain separates the confessional from the rest of the Church, offering a surprising degree of privacy to any eavesdroppers nearby. Unlike the rest of Krakow, the inside is dimly lit by a small light bulb securely attached to the ceiling which emits a faint red light. While the atmosphere isn't exactly cozy, it is private.

A smooth voice calls out to you once you've sat down, familiar enough to identify the speaker despite the partition between you.

"Welcome welcome. I take it something is on your mind?"

We're in a museum now, Harry.

Comments

[psychophant]

[Red eyes... Fascinating.]

You're right. I loathe him. If I had my magic, I would have killed him already. [Dislikes: being talked down to.] He outlived his usefulness long ago, and should he decide he's done playing nice, then so am I. I refuse to let him think he's won.

[Is it a good thing or a bad thing that most of Illusio's secrets were revealed in the first trial? That he was given a power he couldn't easily exploit to kill without proper planning?]

My soul, you mean? You would want that in exchange for this, am I correct?

[It's not a yes or no, just a clarification.]

[dominioned]

...you would give up your soul for vengeance you wouldn't be able to witness yourself? [ His smile is downright pointy, literally. Since have his incisors been so long? ]

[psychophant]

[Gods, Rembrandt is terrifying. He is the last person Iago wants to make an enemy of.]

You're right, I wouldn't.

[That gets him to settle and he shrugs a bit.]

As much as I would like that vengeance, if I can't see it, it's certainly not worth my soul.

[He's not entirely clear on exactly how souls work and all that, but he's pretty damn sure giving up his soul means giving up a shot at whatever afterlife the ghosts have and he'd rather not risk erasing himself entirely just to screw Rideaux over.]

Rideaux's suffering would be worth quite a lot to me, but not that much. And again, this was all hypothetical, since I doubt he'd be stupid enough to kill me right now.

[A couple more weeks and maybe he'd need to be worried, but it sounds like things are going to end soon anyway.]

[dominioned]

Of course, of course. This hypothetical scenario was filled with several assumptions, after all. [ He leans back, folding his hands neatly on his lap. ]

The most grievous being that souls linger after their vessel has died.

[psychophant]

Of course. I assume you would have to be present at the time of death to take the soul anyway, which is a bit much to ask.

[ghosts, what ghosts......... but also he doesn't really know how souls work so who knows maybe those aren't even their souls???? mysteries.]

[dominioned]

What makes you say that?

[ what ghosts indeed. ]

[psychophant]

Presumably the soul fades immediately after death, correct? So if you were present at the time of death, perhaps you could take the soul before it fades. Possibly. I'm not entirely sure how souls work, however, so that is merely speculation.

[dominioned]

It does. But it really isn't too much to ask. Surely you're aware I can teleport by now?

[psychophant]

I am, yes. It is quite a convenient skill to have. [he uses dark magic, but close enough, right!!] Though that would require you to keep an eye on me at all times, and I'm certain you have more important things to do. Not to mention you'd have to sleep sometime... actually, do you need to sleep?

[dominioned]

Iago. [ Unfolding his hands, he flexes the fingers on his left, the leather glove more than supple. ]

If you undertook a job, ensuring you could actually collect on the payoff is the first step.

[psychophant]

It is, yes.

[He watches and considers Rembrandt's words carefully. There's more he could say, more he could ask, but...]

I apologize for bringing up such a hypothetical when I'm not willing to commit to such a trade. I've been trying not to be openly furious with Rideaux for everything he has decided to be, but it's difficult. I suppose I just wanted to hear that you'd be willing to be cruel on my behalf.

[...okay, that part's clearly a joke.]

[dominioned]

I don't need an excuse to be cruel, all things considered. [ So it was, but he responds regardless, his tone smooth and his smile wry. ]

As I said, there were several hypotheticals at play. One of them being that I would be interested in the first.

[ Point proven, probably. ]

[psychophant]

That certainly is true. And here I thought I was one of your favorites.

[It's joking!! Unless...?????]

[dominioned]

Who makes interesting conversation and who I am interested in are not necessarily mutual. [ So not saying, but hm. ]

[psychophant]

I suppose I'm not going to get an answer for that, am I...

[gods rembrandt, just stroke his ego a little!!!!]

Fair enough, though. But now I'm curious... Is there anyone here you dislike? I have a hard time imagining anyone actually angering you.

[dominioned]

Correct. [ He says so cheerfully, though his eyes are still more red than brown. ]

In a way, I suppose there is. But you're correct in that no one has actually angered me here, as that's a rather difficult thing to do.

[psychophant]

[what is it like to not get angry every five seconds???]

You do strike me as being even-tempered most of the time. I suppose it would be difficult to handle all of us if you were easily riled, however!

[dominioned]

That and I have had plenty of experience in dealing with imbeciles. [ Also very cheerfully, and practically ^_^ at this point. ]

[psychophant]

...I really can't argue with that given some of the people who are still alive, somehow...

[dominioned]

It's both unexpected and not. The more easily trusting of the group were taken out rather methodically, which is not all that surprising. But that none of the more conniving individuals have turned on each other yet, is.

[psychophant]

Agreed, certainly. I imagine it's because we're all of the opinion that killing and getting away with it is simply too big a risk to take. We've seen how this goes quite a few times by now, after all.

[It's ultimately why he didn't move on the third motive, because he isn't willing to put himself at risk quite like that.]

[dominioned]

Ulquiorra did make quite the effort, but fell just short. Perhaps the easiest path is the simplest one: a murder in which there is minimal power use points to everyone and no one at once.

[ You know, like killing someone with a gun. ]

[psychophant]

That's what I've been thinking. If I were to attempt, I wouldn't use Illusio at all. At this point, almost everyone's powers have been revealed anyway; it would be pointless to attempt to use your own. A frame job certainly could be done, if one knew enough about the other powers and had a way of mimicking it well enough. But really, it would be simplest to simply use a weapon and be done with it. That would leave behind less evidence, anyway.

[THIS CONVERSATION'S GONNA BE REAL FUNNY AT THE END OF THE WEEK.]

[dominioned]

Indeed. I did appreciate the attempt to frame it on sanguis, but in order for to be believable he would needed to know the inner working of the power. And considering how much he spoke in most instances, that was a rather tall order.

But there is always the option of framing it on one or two individuals in particular as well.

[ It sure is. ]

[psychophant]

I suspected it was an attempt to frame Rideaux in particular, but things didn't line up nearly as neatly as they could have.

[It also didn't stop him from trying to convince everyone it was Rideaux, because Iago is exceptionally petty and did not actually care about voting out the correct culprit.]

A proper attempt to frame someone would be interesting to see, but it would require quite a bit of knowledge about the other person. Ulquiorra certainly wasn't suited to that.