It's not a thing at all...If it is I've never seen it. [There was quite a few things that hadn't been explained yet. But most of those had just become a part of life for her. Titans were humans that had been changed. How she didn't know, it involved an injection. But the same could be said for phones.
She knew there was a scientific explanation. But Mikasa was just a farm girl who didn't understand it. But Edelgard's last words get her a pause and an evaluating stare.] You're a monster?
[Mikasa blinks, leaning forward in her seat to look. Rood. She'd heard of vampires, briefly. Only the basics, that they didn't like the sun, drank blood.]
...You don't seem to have changed very much.
[She still looked more human than Mikasa did at this point. Unless she'd changed a lot and this was the end result.But Mikasa had no way of knowing that.]
It's hard to notice inside changes... [She'd noticed little things, being hungrier than normal. How things smelled. The odd, slight hum that seemed to pulse through some items and beings.
Whatever else she was going to say to that is lost though.]
You don't look very dead...I've seen corpses less than a month old and they're different. [Unless this was more magic, the answer to everything.]
You're pale...[No blue or black patches forming in some areas, or funky smells.
But Mikasa does as she's asked. Right arm stretching out, sleeve sliding back enough to show some of the bandages covering her forearm. Taking the cold hand with her much warmer one.
She squints for a second, hand moving slightly so her fingers could reach to check a pulse.
...
Welp, nothing. Her hand is just going to slip away silently.]
...But how are the vampires that have always lived here if you had to die to become one
[Edelgard's glove extends well, well up beyond her wrist. But there's definitely no pulse. She's. Definitely dead.]
...It's a kind of magic. When one starts to transform into a vampire, you die at the end of the transformation. I don't know how it works if one's born as a vampire in this world.
[She hums, nodding.] Those are the ones. They didn't have a lot useful to say.
[Mikasa might have seen one being interrogated. Not very will, her eyes could see through illusions too well for that to work. But the one they'd caught hadn't said anything. Mostly just taunts.]
All in one night? Mine seems so much more...gradual. And itchy... [Though she'd learnt not scratch after the first time. When Leslie had checked to see how bad it was and had stained her coat-]
No...no. I'd been changing slowly for months. My fangs grew in, and I became sick a lot more easily. Then I stopped being able to eat normal food for sustenance, and...other minor changes.
Some positive, like turning my body into mist? But plenty of negatives.
[At the mention of the coat...]
Was that you? Yes, we managed to get it cleaned...but...I never asked what happened.
So it was more internal... Though I don't know what's happening there.
[She had good senses. But other than eating more and becoming fidgety, she hadn't noticed anything. Though that could have been the access to more food, and the lack of fighting.]
...Yes. A lump of the shell came off. It didn't hurt but the blood made her panic.
[Leslie had tried.] I'm glad. I'm not sure if I'd be able to afford to replace it.
[There's not a lot Mikasa could say to that. She'd worn things after outgrowing them until the fabric was too worn through. Same with the blood stains really. But she'd rather try and get a replacement than leave the girl with blood covered clothes, Leslie wasn't her. And Mikasa was getting very used to people being from less...needy places.
But the comment does get a headtilt. She is starting to do a concern.]
...Just how little did she eat? [Mikasa's pale, pupils shrinking as she thinks. Swallowing. Because Leslie was a lot smaller than Mikasa was at that age. And Mikasa had only gotten bread every few days for years. And she'd still been larger.]
...She looked too well dressed to be unable to eat.
[Because that and the food shortages had always been why Mikasa and the others had gone without.]
I'm not sure. But she wasn't healthy when she arrived.
[Back in the dream...well, she had clothes but, that seemed more a matter of keeping up appearances for her "parents" than actually caring for her well being.]
Either way, I've seen to her food, and to her clothing. The poor dear deserves that much.
[Mikasa just glanced down, frowning, unsure what to make of it. Because why? If they could afford clothing like what she'd had, but didn't feed her... It didn't make sense.]
That's...good. And she does... [The words are slow hesitant. More careful, with a lot more thought that she'd normally put into it, because words are hard, but this is important.]
...Could you tell me more about that? I was told they only went for monsters, the parts...
[She'd heard the large stuff, seen the trail but.. All the mirrorbound she'd spoken to about it had been directly affected. They'd not wanted to talk about it.]
A group of people kidnapped a couple of dozen mirrorbound. They set fires and grabbed people in the confusion. Many of them were tortured. It was...barbaric. I saw firsthand just how brutal the locals can be.
All of the conspirators were hanged shortly after they were discovered and a raid was conducted.
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She knew there was a scientific explanation. But Mikasa was just a farm girl who didn't understand it. But Edelgard's last words get her a pause and an evaluating stare.] You're a monster?
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I am a vampire.
[Simple as that. No real reason to beat around the bush, there.]
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Rood. She'd heard of vampires, briefly. Only the basics, that they didn't like the sun, drank blood.]...You don't seem to have changed very much.
[She still looked more human than Mikasa did at this point. Unless she'd changed a lot and this was the end result.But Mikasa had no way of knowing that.]
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[Edelgard shrugs at that.]
I'm allergic to the sun, to the point where it can kill me, and I drink blood, as you might have guessed.
[She tilts her head to show the fangs better.]
And I died, last month. My heart no longer beats, and without food my body is relatively cool.
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Whatever else she was going to say to that is lost though.]
You don't look very dead...I've seen corpses less than a month old and they're different. [Unless this was more magic, the answer to everything.]
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[Edelgard holds out her hand, the one that hadn't been on the cup.]
Feel my hand, Mikasa.
[She's wearing a glove, because she always does, but it's...cool, if not quite icy.]
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But Mikasa does as she's asked. Right arm stretching out, sleeve sliding back enough to show some of the bandages covering her forearm. Taking the cold hand with her much warmer one.
She squints for a second, hand moving slightly so her fingers could reach to check a pulse.
...
Welp, nothing. Her hand is just going to slip away silently.]
...But how are the vampires that have always lived here if you had to die to become one
[Is this what those necromancers were doing?]
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[Edelgard's glove extends well, well up beyond her wrist. But there's definitely no pulse. She's. Definitely dead.]
...It's a kind of magic. When one starts to transform into a vampire, you die at the end of the transformation. I don't know how it works if one's born as a vampire in this world.
Honestly, I never thought to ask.
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[She's settling back into her seat. Those creatures had been very different though. The only similarity was that neither of them had a pulse.
Mikasa lets out a small, unsure noise. Before she comments though. Because even if she was blunt, this was a bit.]
It looks like it was a peaceful death though..? [No torn off limbs or anything.]
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[She is familiar with them. And she was not merciful.]
You are correct though. It was peaceful. I passed into a sleep, and woke up a day later, when the transformation finished.
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[Mikasa might have seen one being interrogated. Not very will, her eyes could see through illusions too well for that to work. But the one they'd caught hadn't said anything. Mostly just taunts.]
All in one night? Mine seems so much more...gradual. And itchy... [Though she'd learnt not scratch after the first time. When Leslie had checked to see how bad it was and had stained her coat-]
Were you able to clean Leslie's coat after that?
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Some positive, like turning my body into mist? But plenty of negatives.
[At the mention of the coat...]
Was that you? Yes, we managed to get it cleaned...but...I never asked what happened.
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[She had good senses. But other than eating more and becoming fidgety, she hadn't noticed anything. Though that could have been the access to more food, and the lack of fighting.]
...Yes. A lump of the shell came off. It didn't hurt but the blood made her panic.
[Leslie had tried.] I'm glad. I'm not sure if I'd be able to afford to replace it.
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[Edelgard shakes her head, leaning back in her chair.]
Frankly, she'll grow out of that coat soon anyway. Now that she's finally getting proper nutrition, I expect her to start needing new clothes.
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But the comment does get a headtilt. She is starting to do a concern.]
...Proper nutrition?
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[Basically, Edelgard is fattening her up.]
She should be larger, at her age. She's twelve, and looks like she's perhaps eight.
Just talking bout Leslie behind her back ;-;
...She looked too well dressed to be unable to eat.
[Because that and the food shortages had always been why Mikasa and the others had gone without.]
womp womp
[Back in the dream...well, she had clothes but, that seemed more a matter of keeping up appearances for her "parents" than actually caring for her well being.]
Either way, I've seen to her food, and to her clothing. The poor dear deserves that much.
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That's...good. And she does... [The words are slow hesitant. More careful, with a lot more thought that she'd normally put into it, because words are hard, but this is important.]
Is there anything else? [She help?]
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[Edelgard considers...]
Keep an eye on her during the day? I obviously can't go out in sunlight. If you'd be willing...
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I can do that. I'm more active at night, but I can stay up for a long time...
[Enough to be able to wait out Leslie. Even if she takes her into the wilde on a school trip.]
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[Edelgard knows that if that incident repeats, and Leslie was involved, she would murder the kidnappers.]
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[She'd heard the large stuff, seen the trail but.. All the mirrorbound she'd spoken to about it had been directly affected. They'd not wanted to talk about it.]
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All of the conspirators were hanged shortly after they were discovered and a raid was conducted.
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That doesn't mean they found all of them. Some followers stay silent when they've not got the advantage...
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