07's Dorm
Ivan: The door opened without a hitch. He watches as it slowly creaks, giving way to the now empty room of Lotus.
(...Guess the doors of the dead don't have a lock anymore.) He grimly thinks, stepping inside.
He's here for something.
Ivan: Gently peering around the room, he's careful not to mess anything up more than he needs to. He treats even the skill-unkempt bedsheets as sacred ground, unfurling them only to put them back just as they were.
And then, on the little shelf in the corner of the room, he finds...
...A necklace.
It's odd, really. Such a beautiful necklace, lying here. Why did Lotus never wear it? ...He would ask him, but he wasn't here now.
As he approached the item, taking it in his cursed talons, he inspected each and every bead it was composed of.
...No. He didn't deserve to take this.
He put it back.
Ivan: And yet, as he turned to leave...he felt a presence. He saw nothing...only felt it. Surely it couldn't be him. But...that presence kept him frozen in place.
It drew words out of his mouth like a wisp on the wind.
"I'm...sorry. I'm sorry, Lotus."
???: "Don't be."
Something answered.
Ivan: It wasn't real. It couldn't be....but it sounded so much like him. Was it a figment of Ivan's imagination?
At this rate, he didn't care. Simply hearing something that sounded like him again made his feathers stand on end.
Ivan: "I can't help it. I...I'm the reason why you..."
???: "It was a choice I made. I wanted you to live, no matter what."
The mysterious voice answered again...it still felt like a figment of his imagination, but still...the sound felt so real.
"You have other people to protect, don't you?"
Ivan: ...For a moment, it felt like there was a sparkly presence from the bed where Lotus always sat. He stared at it, and in that moment...he couldn't believe it.
He couldn't believe this was a figment of his imagination. This had to be something.
"...I...I do...there's, other people out there, aren't there? But..."
He gave a small smile for a moment, something he hadn't done as he'd been coddled up in his room for two days. And yet, this too quickly faded.
???: "I need you to live." The voice said.
The presence shifted, and something wrapped Ivan up in the tightest hug he's ever felt.
Ivan: "Ah!"
It's as if he went limp. Something was holding him up, and yet all the tension in his body fell away.
"A-Ah...Ah..."
...He couldn't hold it back. Trying to return the hug to nothing at all, tears fell from his face. It burned his now-injured eye...but he didn't care.
???: "You're going to be okay, Ivan." The voice said, seeming to be getting further and further away.
"J-Just...live, alright?"
....It was gone.
Ivan: He almost fell to the floor, but buckled his knees to keep himself straight.
Sniffle. Sniff...
...He stared at the necklace again.
"...I'll keep my promise to you, Lotus." He whispered to himself, taking the necklace again with a gentle hand.
He carefully put it upon his neck, the moon charm at the end of it giving a soft glow.
"I'll live. No matter what."