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lucy is a different kind of eldritch
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She yanks his wrist out of his mouth. "Damn straight I did! Look, I am all in favor of remembering the dead, but self-harm isn't going to make what happened to him any less real. Misery may love company, but more suffering is not better than less! And a dead Master is not, in fact, fundamentally more important than the billions of dead humans in the world! On which I am making small but meaningful progress! I will do what I can for him, and I applaud the pursuit of knowledge, but don't fucking chew yourself up because--because someone else was cannibalized! If you're that dedicated I will happily tell you what I know, in private, where no innocent bystanders need to deal with it," she says, gesturing at the remaining scientists. 

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He whines when she removes his wrist from his mouth. "But- I've already given him so much. My family, my dreams, my memories - was all that for nothing?"

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"All that was stupid!"

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He glares at her. "This- this is all I've ever been good at. Before him I was just another useless little boy. I could finally mean something, seeking him. I made an art out of self-destruction. I had his name, until you took it from me. I was his name. Now I can't even hear his voice."

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"Self-destruction doesn't mean anything. Not to mention the destruction of others; did you see how terrified that woman was? Better zero than a negative number."

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"Maybe it doesn't mean anything when you do it. But I made scrimshaw of my bones, canvas of my skin, candles of my soul, all for him. Made myself a vessel for his name. Made something real of myself. Because he wanted me to."

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Flatly: "He does not matter more than you."

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"How could he not? I'm just..." Words fail him. He gestures at himself vaguely.

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"You're a person! That's enough!"

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He stares at her. His wrist rises towards his mouth apparently unconsciously, then he stills it with a visible effort. "What... am I for, then? The candles were the first thing that fit me."

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"Well, I don't know, but you've got a very long time to figure it out." She sighs, and looks over at the scholars. "I am so sorry about this."

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One scholar, scribbling down notes, looks up and blinks. "Don't apologize, this is incredible!"

The Provocateuse comes around to the side of the gurney and leans over the Seeker. "I want to tell you something, Mort," she says. "And I want you to remember it."

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He looks up at her. "...you killed me," he says.

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"Yes. But you've been given a second chance. And if you take the incredible opportunity you have been given and you waste it trying to get your candles back, I will kill you again. Do you understand me? You can do anything you like. You can seek the forgiveness of your family, become a scholar, join the Revolution... but if you Seek again, I will kill you. And this time, it will stick."

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He shivers. "I... I understand."

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"Does that apply to anything related to Eaten or can I tell him dangerous secrets."

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"I don't care what he knows, I'm warning him against trying to complete his old quest. Making himself into the Name again."

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"Oh, yeah, don't do that." 

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"Well, she'll kill me if I do, so it's not really an option, is it. But I'll hear what you want to tell me."

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"Cool. I'm done all the present resurrections and the scientists probably shouldn't actually hear all this on no notice, apparently these secrets are dangerous although, uh, probably not as dangerous as attempting to join some kind of autocannibal death cult, and I have places to be, so let's walk. Unless you have anything else for me to do?" she asks the scientists. 

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The Dean shakes his head. "You can go," he says, then turns to start ordering people around.

The Seeker hops off the gurney, the sheet falling from his otherwise naked body. He looks down. "Does anyone have some trousers?" he asks, without significant concern.

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The Provocateuse removes a sort of smock from her handbag, and hands it over. "I'll stay here for now, Wastelander," she says. "Try to warn me next time you unravel the fabric of society."

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"No promises," she says brightly, and leads the young ex-Seeker out. 

"So. Back in some prior city or other, Veils and Candles were lovers. Then Veils got mad at Candles for some reason, killed him, and fed him to the sellers of the next city. Then he chucked Candles's bones down a well. The people who ate him currently hang out somewhere else snacking on passersby, I'm going to put a stop to that at some point, it's on the list."

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He looks troubled. "I remember. The well... I had to make a sacrifice."

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"What kind of sacrifice."

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