A New Future/Dimitri: King of Faerghus


Dimitri	Ngh! These headaches... Once I ascended the throne of Faerghus, I was certain they were gone for good... Why have they returned to me here in Askr?
"After all is said and done, we are both murderers. Both stained. Both monsters." "I will kill that woman, I swear it." "Kill every last one of them!"		???
Dimitri	Ugh! The shadow of my bloody past... haunts me still... Can these wretched stains never be washed clean? Will they torment me as long as I live? It doesn't matter. However it may plague me, I must move forward. I swore a vow. To my friends, to my people...to the professor as well. I am the King of Faerghus. My resolve will not falter.
Do you truly believe your people wish to be governed by a broken king?		???
Dimitri	You are no shadow of my memory! Who are you?! Identify yourself!
Names are such irrelevant trifles. But if you must know me by one...		???
You may call me Líf.		Líf


Líf	...
You are not from this world, are you?		Dimitri
Líf	No, I am not. And I am no longer human, either. I have no heart. No life. No future.
Then what could you possibly want from me?		Dimitri
Líf	You—and the darkness within you— do not belong in this world.
...		Dimitri
Líf	Your place is on the other side. The same as me.
What exactly are you getting at?		Dimitri
Líf	We are the same.
"Only hatred remains. If I could tear that woman to shreds right this very moment, I would."		???
Dimitri	Agh! My head...
"Hah...hahahaha! A grievous error, Professor!" "The Dimitri you once knew is dead. All that remains is the repulsive, blood-stained monster..."		???
Dimitri	Why are these memories...resurfacing so powerfully in my mind?


Líf	I was once a prince. My country came under attack, and...due to my error, all was lost.
...		Dimitri
Líf	My family. My friends. My people. My entire country...gone. Such loss is enough to drive anyone mad. You know this as well as I.
I have never been so arrogant as to assume I fully grasp another's pain. However, I...believe I do have some understanding of what that is like.		Dimitri
Líf	We have seen the same darkness. We belong on the same side. We are the same...
Urgh!		Dimitri
???	"Have I caught you off guard, Your Highness?" "I bet it hurts reeeeal bad, doesn't it? But it's nothing compared to what my brother felt!" "You will never be forgiven, you know. I will never forgive you!" "You filthy monster! It's time to DIIIIE!"
AAAGH!		Dimitri
Líf	...
It's true... I am stained with hatred... My fury has taken...many lives... I have heard so many crying out... for their loved ones...for mercy... These hands have silenced them...		Dimitri
Líf	...
My sins cannot ever be erased, no matter how much I may torture myself with guilt. But to avert my gaze from that fact... would be an even greater injustice. No. Come what may, I intend to spend the rest of my life atoning for the harm I have caused.		Dimitri


Líf	Atoning for the harm you have caused? Pretty words...if empty ones.
However they may sound to you, they are words by which I live. The suffering of the dead does not die with them. That weight passes on to those they leave behind. For the sake of those who survive, I will do all that I can to heal the damage I have done.		Dimitri
Líf	So you will continue to inflict this pain upon yourself for all your days... Until your life is used up and, at last, you perish.
Yes. I am prepared for that.		Dimitri
Líf	There was a time when I believed that killing those from another world could save the people in my own. That I could somehow balance the ledger of living and dead. Do you believe you can do the same, lion-hearted king?
Those who have been lost cannot ever be restored. The lives I have destroyed are gone forever. I can never cancel out that loss. But if I try, I can save twice as many lives as I have taken. Or even more.		Dimitri
Líf	Interesting. Best get to work, then...
He's gone... Just who is this Líf? An illusion to force me to confront my past, or... Whatever the case may be, my course is clear. I will save twice the number of lives I have taken. More, if I can. No matter how painful or difficult it may be...that will be my path. So long as even one person is relying on me, I must not fail. I must not look away. If you were here now, Professor, that is what I would say to you. That is what I've decided on.		Dimitri