She shook her head. “Fine. I lost it for a bit there, but you know, Jack, I don’t give two shits about any of that-”
“If you really didn’t give two shits about whether I became one of the most men powerful in the world, then you wouldn’t have nearly taken my head off over it,” Jack said sharply.
Hound glared at him, but Jack did not bunch an inch.
“Fine. A minor part of the reason-” she started again.
“Minor?” Jack interrupted again, raising one eyebrow in disbelief.
“Major, considerable, fundamental, essential reason why our relationship works, is because you’re strong, and I am strong. We can not function unless we stand as equals.”
“Equal? Yes. But what part do we have to be equal at? I would still love you, the person you are, regardless of your in-game state, or your stupid rank,” Jack said.
“I wouldn’t be me, I wouldn’t be the person I am, without the strength that I have. And it’s not the rank’s gold font I am stressing about, it's the goddamn perk that comes with it.”
Jack started biting at the insides of his mouth. “Immortality,” he said with blunt spite.
“-With or without you. I’m only a couple years away from being an SSS. Once I get there, my brain will be preserved, and instead of my body, the capsule will read my DNA code,” Hound said, her voice gone cold.
Jack did not say anything, and neither did his face.
Hound’s hands curled into a fist. She smashed it against her chest. “My body is not going to last, Jack, I only have a decade of 1:4 in-game time before the modified cells turn completely cancerous!” Hound screamed. “The process began. I’m at the of my first stage. The second will begin soon; I'll start losing my sanity. I'll start losing control of everything. The third will kill me. I can already feel my muscles spasming, I can barely control them anymore."
Jack did not say anything, and once again, neither did his face.
Yet still, Hound understood. Her anger deflated like a balloon. Realization dawned on her face.
“You knew…you knew all along,” she whispered, stuffing her face into her palms “...Is that why you asked about my strength? No, before that. You called me here not to help you pick a weapon, nor to keep you company, but because you knew my body…” Hound started. Her body tensed and shivered. “How did you know? How long ago?” she said, her eyes sheepish.
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Jack shrugged.
Hound sunk to the ground.
“I can’t take it with you. What do you want? Why did you call me here?”
Jack did not say anything.
“Look,” Hound started, her voice monotone. She did not look at Jack. “Come back to the guild. Knowing you, you’ll be able to make it, you have plenty of time--if you try hard enough. If you give up on this ax silliness and come back to what you do best, I mean, with the trickery and backstabbing and magery and all,” Hound said. “Come serve the guild. Once I become an SSS, I won’t be able to transfer out of the current world. I’ll be too restricted to be with you, even if you do come back. Please, Jack, come with me. I miss you. Let’s massacre people, hand in hand. Let’s plot in a dark corner, and let's wreak havoc upon the world. You miss those days too, don’t you? Do you remember that time, against guild Harbor, where we assassinated the guild leader in his bed, and then fucked on his spilled blood? Do you remember all those other good times, namely the ones where we did not get caught fucking in places we shouldn't be fucking?" Hound said, a half-hearted chuckle shaking her small body.
Jack did not say anything for a while. He simply stared at the crumbled feature of his lover, at one of the few human beings he’d ever harbored affection for; and after a while, shook his head solemnly. “I can’t do this, Hound, I’m at the end of my wits. I’m not willing to slave away the rest of my life in order to be with you. Yes, I know, I can win if I do. We can win. Win win win!” He sang and twirled, his voice heavy and cold. There was no humor in his words, yet his mask was a smile. A perfect smiley face. A tired smiley face.
“Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking; Jack has never lost a battle. Jack has never lost a battle of wits--how cunning, how sly and ingenious he is! Always out on top, on the lip of every half-wit, one way or the other. Yes, I know it all, oh trust me, Hound, I know how mighty and feared I am, how the legends stretch far and how their impossibility instills horror into our enemies,” Jack started, “The dark and terrible-- Jack, the son of Sauron.
Ok, don't give me that look, I just made that one up. As I was saying: The mastermind causing the empires to rot! Beware, even mindless beasts and wretched monsters do his bidding! No light, no sound, a simple death assassin he is not. At any given time you can wind up in his ear, then he will terrorize your mind and feast on your fears. Death is his mistress, misery his lover. How his enemies fall inexplicably, how his enemies tear at each other, how they fall. Fall fall fall” Jack shouted as his body fell backward in a fit of dry chuckles.
His back did not touch the ground, however. The tips of his hair brushed the ground before he had somehow frozen his descent from an impossible position.
“But do you know, Hound, how unbearably wretched it all is?” He whispered, nearly inaudibly. He lifted his head upwards, still looking upon the bland ceiling. “Do you know the irony is. Hound? Those legends? Those titles? Most of them I fabricated myself; implemented through a clever use of trickery and illusion. After that, the reputation was enough to foster respect. And Power. My power, such power...” Jack said, bending his upper body towards her “...Is built upon lies and lies. It's all one, big, fucking lie.”
You don’t understand, Hound, you can’t understand. You move your limbs according to your own design, according to your own desires and goals. You crush your enemies underfoot, charging into mayhem and blood and gore--while I sit back and plan all day and night like an ancient rat, and I plan and plan and plan and plan and plan, and plan and plan and plan and plan and plan, and I see far into the future and I can predict my enemies movement and I can create non-existent skills and I can destroy people. I fight battles I already won, and remove the possibility of battles I can not.
Yes, I know oh how vain the mighty warriors are, in comparison to what I do, how utterly insignificant and pointless their minor victories are-- in the grand scheme of things. In my grand schemes and venoms and concoctions and plots.
But I can’t, Hound, I just can’t. I can’t do this anymore. You overestimate me, Hound, I’m not half the monster you think I am. I won against Blade Master? Do you hear yourself, Hound? Do you hear yourself? The character I spent more than a decade and a half on now only has 1% of its previous stats for the next 196 years because I wanted to win one single inconsequential duel. All for just one duel in which nothing was wagered. Nothing gained--just another lie. Another lie I'll use in the future to create an ever better lie.
It's all just one fat pyramid scheme, that's all it is. That's how the state runs. Don't you see? The D's are glad they are not F's, while the C's laugh at the D's. The B's look down on C's as Stagnates while the A's are proud they have achieved glory, over their lesser counterparts. Then comes the S, then the SS, and the pinnacle of perfection--the complete giving of body and soul, the SSS," Jack said, then added after a pause "Who are then looked down upon as precious slaves by those who created the meaningless letters."
It was at that time that Hound looked up from the ground, and said something which made Jack truly proud. "That's all life is, Jack, it's all just one stupid pyramid scheme."
Jack smiled. "Yes, yes it is--and I am planning on being on top of it," He said as he walked towards the exist "With, or without you, love," and left the room.