RE: 16 days of literature: Awkward Tension
I love that the love between Musashi and Kal was so great, that even after everything Kal had done, Musashi gave her the little mercy she still could. Having Heitor as a a spectral figure, and being like that with her after what she did to him, gives a lot of depth to Kals state of mind. He seeing him as a loving figure who wanted to look after her after she had killed him plays into the comments about possibly (or not) being under the influence of a witch doctor. Musashi could have just killed her as soon as the guards left, but instead she goes through this emotionally charged exchange with Kal. The mixture of love, anger and pain, its more like she is reminding herself of all the things Kal did, telling herself she can't save Kal again as she builds herself up to be able to spare her a worse fate. So beautifully sad <3 <3
UwU ~ Thanks for reading and thanks for the compliments, mój Ukochany!~ Indeed, this was the first story I picked up upon when I noticed the dialogue. Something with the word phrasing of Musashi tipped me off (and the fact it contrasted with Kal’s mannerisms, tied into the fact that Colonel had no explicit gender stated). So I wanted to imply a story that preludes even the beginning of this story and why Musashi said what she said here. Of which hopefully my ending provided as that absent prelude by being flashback memory. By which, everything else gets repainted by that mark of the tragedy. The spectral, Hate, mercy kill and the final reach all can sneak in without much structural change. And yet, while the mark is gone, the sting of the mark of tragedy shall remain as a constant reminder. Because it shall always root itself deep and remain as a phantom pain even when removed/superseded.