PERI/AZAMA C~S

C:
Azama: Ah, what a peaceful day… It sure would be a shame if someone very loud were to come by and ruin it.
Peri: Hey, Azama!
Azama: Ah, if it isn’t the executioner herself!
Peri: Oooh, are we doing nicknames? I didn’t know we knew each other well enough for nicknames.
Peri: But that’s not fair, I don’t have one for you. How about… Lazybones!
Azama: Are you… Are you trying to do my thing against me? It won’t work.
Peri: Y’know, I’m surprised your reputation isn’t more like mine. How can you heal people if your lectures bore them to death?
Azama: Oh, if a battle of wits is what you want, a battle of wits is what you’ll have!
Azama: Hmm… For starters, we could talk about your hair. What did you even do to get that pink?
Peri: Gosh, how rude! Can’t a lady keep her secrets?
Peri: Besides, I could say the same thing for how your hair looks so scraggly.
Peri: All that prayer, and the gods still haven’t given you the secret to nice hair…
Azama: And what do you do for your liege, anyway? Besides discreetly murder his enemies, of course.
Peri: At least I can kill, all you do is blah, blah, blah. I don’t even know if you could lift a real weapon. Why, I bet you’re as thin as a skeleton under those robes!
Peri: Why do you keep your eyes closed, anyway? Why don’t you want people to see ‘em, huh?
Azama: …
Azama: And how about that killing ability of yours?
Azama: I wonder… Where’d you get it from, your mom or your dad?
Peri: !
Peri: This isn’t funny anymore.
Azama: Oh? And here I thought you weren’t one to back down from a challenge.
Azama: One could say I’ve KILLED the competition!
Peri: You’re making me REAL mad… !
Azama: Aww, you’re shaking! I didn’t know I was so intimidating as to frighten Lady Death herself.
Azama: Wait til Xander hears about this! His prized retainer, scared half to death by a harmless healer!
Peri: Grrrrrr, that does it!
Peri: Say your prayers, monk!
Azama: …
Azama: Now’s as good a time to die as any, I guess.
Azama: Oh, well. I wonder who’ll find my body.
Peri: …
Azama: I wonder if Setsuna would even notice I’m dead... Ha! I bet even if you lopped my head clean off, she’d think I was taking a nap, or meditating. I guess we’ll find out soon enough, though. Er, you will, I suppose.
Peri: You’re… you’re not scared? You’re not gonna beg for your life, or anything?
Azama: Of course not! Death comes for us all.
Azama: I’m due to die sooner or later anyway.
Peri: But… that’s…
Peri: This isn’t fun at all!
Peri: How is killing you gonna be fun if you’re just laying down and accepting it?!
Azama: I was already laying down when you got here, no use getting up if I’m just going to get back down.
Azama: Besides, life is meaningless.
Peri: Well yeah, but you’re not supposed to just be peaceful and stuff!
Peri: That takes away the whole point!!!
Azama: The point to what, killing?
Azama: Why is it that you kill so much, anyway?
Peri: It helps me feel better. When I’m havin’ a rough day, there’s nothing better than taking a deep breath, drinking a nice cup of coffee, and killing some people.
Azama: So it’s therapeutic for you… I feel similarly, without the murder part. Or the coffee. I meditate as frequently as possible to help feel calmer. Perhaps I could interest you in trying it?
Peri: … Eh, can’t go worse than calligraphy did. Sure, why not!
Azama: Oh, wow. I didn’t expect you to agree so easily. I usually meditate out here, so come by whenever you’re ready and I’ll get you started.
Peri: Sounds great! See ya later!
[Peri leaves]
Azama: ... Another day, another failed attempt on my life. Oh, well. Guess I’ll become one with the universe another day.



B:
Peri: …
Azama: …
Peri: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Azama: And you were doing so well…
Azama: What’s bothered you enough to stop meditating?
Peri: Meditating’s what’s bothering me! It’s so boring!
Azama: Try thinking of something that calms you down, that relaxes you.
Peri: Like killing?
Azama: That seems to do the opposite, at least in my experience.
Azama: Is your life truly so dull that you have nothing else?
Peri: … Stabbing?
Azama: That’s the same thing.
Peri: It is not! Stabbing doesn’t always kill, and it’s not the only way to kill.
Peri: So if I think of almost-lethal stabbing, like in the arm or something, I’m not thinking about killing! Problem solved!
Azama: Same result, though.
Peri: Wah…
Azama: Any non-harmful ways you de-stress?
Peri: Well, there’s cooking…
Azama: My, aren’t we smashing gender roles today?
Azama: Whatever works for you, though.
Azama: Think of yourself in the kitchen, making a nice meal or something.
Azama: Maybe you could think back to your childhood too, if that helps.
Peri: Ooooh! Great idea!
Azama: A little less muttering would be ideal, but you’re getting the hang of it.
Peri: *humming*
Peri: Chop, chop, chop…
Peri: Chop…
Peri: …
Peri: Mister… stop chopping... please…
Peri: She’s…
Azama: What did I just tell you about muttering?
Peri: M-mommy, no…
Azama: What? If you’re going to keep jabbering on, at least do it loud enough that I can understand what you’re sa--
Peri: MOOOOMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!
Azama: Peri!
Peri: *gasp*
Peri *sobbing*: I’m really sorry, Azama, I just… I can’t do any more of this, I need to go stab something.
[Peri leaves]
Azama: Hmm. That almost sounded like…
Azama: … Oh.
Azama: Ohhhhhh.
Azama: I guess I owe an apology for once, huh.



A:
Peri: Hey… I’m sorry about last time.
Azama: Don’t apologize. If anyone should, it’s me. I don’t know what happened back there...
Peri: I was having a carefree time just cooking, it was like I was a kid again… and then…
Peri: …
Azama: … Would talking about what happened help at all?
Peri: Yea…
Peri: A servant killed my mommy when I was a kid…
Peri: He was killed, but every servant just looked like him, and I had to get rid of him…
Azama: And that’s why you kill so many people now?
Peri: Yeah, it became like a second nature.
Azama: I see…
Azama: When you tried to kill me, I didn’t know about your parents. So… sorry for joking about them like that.
Azama: Don’t tell anyone I apologized to you though, or I’ll never forgive you.
Peri: It’s fine now! You’re a good guy, Azama, and your secret’s safe with me. C’mere!
Azama: What are you—oof!
Azama: (Huh. Healing people emotionally counts, I guess. Noted.)
Peri: What was that?
Azama: Oh, nothing.
Peri: Ah, alright. So, wanna get started?
Azama: On…
Peri: Meditating!
Azama: Really? But you hated it last time.
Peri: Yea, but I’m ready to try it again. I’ll do better this time.
Azama: Well, I’m not sure how to turn that down.
[scene change]
Azama: …
Peri: …
Azama: Well, I’m about done.
Azama: You did much better this time, not a word. I’m impressed.
Peri: …
Azama: It’s interesting meditating with someone else, nobody’s ever really bothered to try since...
Azama: Well, not like there’s any point in not telling you anymore. You’re the only one in this entire army that’s actually tried meditating with me, and you’ve told me your life story, so I suppose you can hear mine.
Azama: I was born on the western fringes of Hoshido, to a family that helped run a shrine.
Azama: For most of my time there, things seemed fine. It was mostly boring.
Azama: Then, in my adolescence, it changed… I don’t remember if it was all at once or if it was a gradual change I’d failed to notice before it finished, but it was there.
Azama: The shrine became much more concerned with… THINGS.
Azama: They were preaching that having material wealth made you holier, and that the gods would bless you with it should you donate to the shrine.
Azama: None of this seemed right to me, so I spoke out.
Azama: The high priest was furious with me, but my father spoke with him and calmed him down a small bit.
Azama: He told me to leave, and not return until I’d found proof that their way wasn’t correct.
Azama: So I, being a naïve fool, went.
Azama: I’d thought, “if I could just bring back something, anything that would support me, they’d listen!”
Azama: I wandered for weeks…
Azama: Then eventually, when I’d finally made it to the peak and I was on the brink of death…
Azama: She appeared.
Azama: A deity, the one that presided over the range.
Azama: She restored my vitality and revealed many hidden and noble truths to me that day.
Azama: She told me that the high priests fully expected me to die out there in the wilderness.
Azama: To prove that I wasn’t simply hallucinating in my dying moments, she used a powerful charm to summon a torrential downpour, and then cleared it up as quickly as it had appeared. Then she gave it to me, and told me to use it to help others and prove myself.
Azama: I was ecstatic! I could finally change the shrine for the better, like it was in my youth!
Peri: …
Azama: So I went back to town and I told them their gods are fake.
Azama: They were furious! In hindsight, I probably should have told them about the mountain deity BEFORE I told them their gods are fake. Heh. Anyway, I explained myself, I told them about my experience and, as proof, I revealed my charm to them and told them I was going to perform a miracle.
Azama: And then…
Azama: It did nothing.
Azama: I still don’t understand why then, of all times, was when it failed me.
Azama: They accused me of heresy, and I was to be put to death.
Azama: My father wasn’t able to change their minds this time, but he was able to sneak me out of the village.
Azama: He gave me some money and some basic supplies, and he told me to get as far away from the village as I could and never come back.
Azama: So I did.
Azama: It’s been seven years since I’ve seen him, or any of them.
Azama: I traveled far and thought much. I healed many, and I failed many.
Azama: Eventually, I met an injured pegasus knight. I healed her and went on my merry way. Little did I know, she was a princess of Hoshido.
Azama: And the rest, as they say, is history.
Azama: But… having been so close to death twice, I didn’t feel any different.
Azama: The first time didn’t give me any new appreciation for life, and neither did the second. It was all the same.
Azama: I hear my older brother’s in charge of the whole thing now. I should go back after the war, see if he’s changed anything.
Peri: …
Azama: I’ve changed a lot.
Azama: I’m much more accustomed to speaking my mind fully now than I was then.
Azama: All that travel I had to do did wonders for my physique.
Azama: Even down to what I am… The deity changed my eyes that day as well. “To reflect the truths I’ve seen,” I was told.
Peri: …
Azama: You know, for all your juvenile tendencies, you’re actually a great listener. Thank you, Peri.
Peri: …
Azama: Peri?
Peri: Zzz…
Azama: Oh…



S:
Azama: …
Peri: … *yawn*
Azama: Ah, Peri! Nice of you to rejoin us.
Peri: Yea, heh, I kinda got lost in thoughts…
Azama: That sure is a way of putting it.
Peri: At least I wasn’t all alone though, you were here!
Azama: I’m glad I could be of assistance.
Peri: I have a question about this whole “serenity” thing though.
Azama: Oh?
Peri: Is it weird that to calm myself, I think about you?
Azama: … Well, there certainly are worse things to think about.
Peri: ‘Cause I wanna be close to you and run my hands through your hair! I felt it once actually, it’s surprisingly soft.
Azama: Ha! I appreciate the flattery.
Peri: And those muscles! Who knew a monk could be so ripped under all those robes?
Azama: … This seems excessive…
Peri: And your eyes, it’s almost like I’m looking at the stars when I see them…
Azama: Oh, wow… It almost sounds like you’ve fallen in love with me, Peri.
Peri: Huh? Oh yea, I guess I have.
Azama: … Why and how? All that’s been accomplished in our time together is meditation, crying, and attempted murder.
Peri: Well, you DID keep saving my life out there in battle…
Azama: A fair point.
Azama: … Oh, hells, I can’t even pretend for a moment that I don’t feel the same.
Azama: You’re a beautiful woman, Peri, in many ways.
Azama: I’m not usually a man who focuses on the physical things, but your face… It’s gorgeous.
Azama: You’re so graceful on your feet, and you’re very loyal when someone’s on your good side.
Azama: And you’re very reliable. I like that. It’s a nice change of pace for me. I’ve saved your life, true, but you’ve saved mine in turn repeatedly.
Azama: Since I’ve been spending time with you, I feel like my head’s clearer.
Azama: I even tried using my charm again the other day, and it actually worked!
Peri: Wow!
Azama: I could barely believe it myself!
Azama: Though I still can’t help but wonder why it didn’t work all those years ago…
Peri: Oh right, then! Thanks for re-telling it to me, by the way.
Azama: I’d already gone through it for you once, it was easier the second time.
Peri: Yea, sorry about that… I dunno, maybe it’s ‘cause you were trying to show your village more for yourself than for them.
Azama: … What?
Peri: It kinda seems like you were less worried about them knowing the truth or whatever and more worried about them knowing how wrong they were, and that you were right.
Peri: Like you wanted to rub it in their faces or something.
Azama: !
Azama: That’s…
Azama: You…
Peri: So are we going out now?
Azama: … Thank you for that, Peri. I suppose we are.
Peri: Yaaaaay! ♫ Peri and Azama, sittin’ in a tree, ♪ K-I-L-L-I-N-G~
Azama: Oh yeah, about that.
Azama: It might be bad for a healer’s reputation if his lover kills thoughtlessly.
Peri: That’s what you’re here for though, right? I kill people, and you heal ‘em!
Azama: That’s not how that works. Not only can I not bring people who’re already dead back to life, but some injuries are too grievous to heal.
Peri: Aww, phooey.
Peri: But, what if…
Peri: If you think someone’s on death’s door and beyond help, you can call me over and I’ll put ‘em out of their misery! How’s that sound?
Azama: …
Azama: You’re… not wrong? I guess.
Azama: Eh, whatever. Everyone dies, nothing matters.
Peri: That’s the spirit!