[Remember that anon who first sent messages shortly after the first of April? Well, guess who's leaving a nice little message on your network?]

I see that there are plenty of new faces, each as confused as the rest when we too arrived. I do hope most of you are well-met? Especially since it has been raining so very often this week. Such a soothing sound, the rainfall...

Though it would seem that a few are not so fond of it? It has me curious if it is simply personal preferences or because the human body is more susceptible to illness...

[...Weird. Nothing even vaguely threatening and a lacking mention of death. But then, that is likely because someone else already brought up that topic this week. For most, it ends there. But for a certain former detective...]

( Heavily encrypted/anonymous to Tohru Adachi. )

[There's been a break in the rain up on the island, and the SFC broadcasts a stretch of beach, the sand damp and the sky cloudy and dark. That doesn't seem to bother the beach's two inhabitants, a pair of trolls near the water, one with nubby horns and a dark cloak that billows and ripples behind him in the breeze, and another all in yellow, lying down, his head resting against the other's thigh.]

It's hard. I know it is.

[Signless' voice is soft and reassuring. He obviously doesn't realize the device is recording, let alone broadcasting.]

If it wasn't hard, it wouldn't mean anything. Part of the sacrifice is giving up the emotions that are easier, the ones that come more naturally, and letting yourself breathe free again.

[Psii makes a soft noise that the SFC barely picks up and shifts, the bones of his shoulders pinching together on his back, clearly visible under his shirt, and moves a little closer to Signless.]

Being like this, though, you're giving the other person so much power over yourself, letting this desire occupy such large parts of your day, and if you aren't careful, it's going to consume you entirely. Do you remember the fires in the plains on Alternia? When the grass would get so dry, and then there would be a single spark, and the entire prairie would be ablaze? Hatred is like the sun that dries the grass out, and revenge is the spark that starts the conflagration.

[Signless pauses, looking out at the water for awhile before continuing.]

I've struggled with this too, you know. It's very hard for me to think about... about the Empress and what she'll do--what she did, and not want to hate her. But then, that's giving her too much credit. That's giving her more power over my life than she needs. That's what she would want, for me to spend all my time thinking of ways to try and get revenge. [his voice hardens, becomes steely] Not that she doesn't deserve it.

[It evens out again, becoming soft and gentle once more.]

I choose not to live that way, though. I choose to not give her that satisfaction, to not give her what she wants. I choose to forgive, and breathe free and easy.

You want to choose that too.

[OOC: answers can come from Signless or Psii or both!]