Entry tags:
- character: cecil harvey,
- character: ceodore harvey,
- character: dhaos,
- character: fenimore xelhes,
- character: grune,
- character: norma beatty,
- character: rosa farrell,
- character: rupert giles,
- character: selphie tilmitt,
- character: walter delques,
- genre: angst,
- genre: gen,
- media: buffy the vampire slayer,
- media: final fantasy iv,
- media: final fantasy iv: the after years,
- media: final fantasy viii,
- media: luceti,
- media: tales of legendia,
- media: tales of phantasia,
- media: vampires: los muertos,
- rating: pg-13
Lucetific - Eventfic - Vampire!Giles plot
Title: A Promise to Keep
Fandoms:![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
luceti, Tales of Legendia, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, Tales of Phantasia, Vampires: Los Muertos
Genre: Gen/Angst? Not really sure how to classify this one.
Rating: PG-13
Words: 2306
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the above fandoms.
Summary: When Giles starts acting very strangely, when he hurts her friends, Grune must keep the promise of their friendship in one of the most difficult ways of all.
Author's Notes: In a nutshell, my take on one of the ways the Vampire!Giles plot in Luceti could have run. I harbour no illusions that this is actually how things would have turned out--but it was fun to write anyway. Ceodore and Selphie's roles were determined by their position on the sign-up lists; everything else came from my brain.
A note for those unfamiliar with Tales of Legendia's canon: The deity of Melfes is Nerifes, which is also the ocean of that world. Thus, any water-element spells also have the dual element of light.
Thank you very much to![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hickumu for helping me with details of the Los Muertos variety of vampires and how Vampire!Giles would have reacted. Any mistakes are most definitely my own.
Fenimore doesn't want her to go outside anymore.
She doesn't want anyone to go outside anymore, except for maybe Walter. She thinks Walter might be safe, because he's very strong, but Grune can tell she still worries about him, even if she pretends not to.
She's been upset for a while now, ever since they found that poor squirrel on their doorstep. Grune still feels sad whenever she thinks of it. When it's safe again, she's going to find some flowers to place where Walter had buried it in the yard. Maybe she'll plant some pansies or bluebells in the spring. Those would be pretty.
Norma has been upset, too. She made her promise not to go outside by herself anymore. Grune had promised, and she'd meant it, but later she had realized that it was a promise she couldn't keep. After all, if she didn't go outside, then no one would get Dhaos his groceries, and he would be hungry. She couldn't let that happen.
Because of that promise, tonight, she makes sure to step outside when everyone is too busy to notice. She won't be long, and she'll come back soon, so it will be all right.
There aren't very many people outside at all, she notices as she travels through the village, and so she keeps her journal open in her shopping basket for company. The conversation is comfortable to have around her; it's almost as if all her friends are coming with her.
She smiles as she listens to everyone talk, until she hears the harsh, shaky whisper.
"Ceo? Someone?" The girl making the entry swallows hard; her voice is so pinched that it's only as she goes on that Grune recognizes who she is. "'M in trouble—need help."
"Selphie?" Grune pulls her journal out of her basket. "I'll help. Where are you?"
"Behind the grocery shop—Grune, don't" —a small, desperate noise of pain— "don't come, get someone else, he'll—Ceo. . . ."
The sound cuts off.
Grune closes her journal and places it in her basket. She hopes Dhaos won't mind waiting a little longer for his groceries. She hopes everyone at home won't worry because she's going to be away for a little while.
She breaks into a run.
*
She's nearly all the way across the square when someone steps around the side of the smithy. She doesn't pay them any attention until they speak.
"Hello, Grune."
Grune stops. She knows that voice very well; hearing it sends relief flying through her. Giles can help her find Selphie. They can both look after her and protect her from what hurt her and made her scared.
"Giles, have you seen Selphie? She said she's in trouble."
"No, I can't say that I have." Giles doesn't sound upset to hear that. He sounds very calm. "Why don't we look for her together?"
Grune . . . hesitates. Giles is one of her dearest friends. She trusts him absolutely. But he doesn't sound right. He's standing differently. And there's something dark on his clothes.
". . . Are you all right?" she asks.
"Of course." He sounds a little surprised. "I feel fine. Wonderful, in fact. Now let's go look for Selphie, shall we?"
. . . He isn't stammering, she realizes. Giles always stammers, especially when he's worried. And if he knew someone was in trouble, he would be worried, because Giles has a kind heart.
She steps a little closer to see him better, and it's then she realizes what the stain on his clothes is.
"Are you sure you're okay? You're hurt." Her eyes trace his body, trying to find where he's injured. She can't see anything that would bleed that much, only some bruises.
Giles looks down, and . . . was he surprised? Or did he pretend? "Oh, this? It's nothing. Don't worry about it, Grune."
Grune brings her eyes to his. "Giles, where did it come from?"
Giles makes a little grimace. "I'd been hoping not to have to tell you, but . . . it's Selphie's."
Her breathing stops.
"I don't know why, but she attacked me." Giles shrugs a little. "I'm guessing the Malnosso did something to her—she didn't seem to know what she was doing, poor girl. So I had to defend myself. You understand, don't you, Grune?"
She's breathing again, steadily. Everything about her is steady now, and so calm—just as calm as Giles. She would have believed him, because he's Giles, but nothing about him is right this evening. And Selphie, her brave and cheerful friend, had sounded so scared.
"You're lying," she says.
"Grune—I'm hurt," Giles says with his words, but not with his voice. "You know I'd never lie to you."
She doesn't flinch. She doesn't waver. "You're lying."
He had been smiling, almost the way he usually does. He isn't smiling now, though—he's turned it off.
"You're right. I am lying." His voice has taken on a strange, sharp edge. "But she attacked me first. That part is the truth. You won't let her get away with it, will you?"
There's the sound of a stumble and a tiny gasp. They both turn.
Ceodore and Selphie are visible in the alley between the clothing and grocery shops. Ceodore is supporting Selphie, and she. . . .
Grune looks back at all the blood on Giles' clothes. Selphie . . . is very, very hurt.
"Ah." Giles sounds pleased. "There you are."
He begins walking toward them slowly, taking his time. Ceodore struggles to set down Selphie without hurting her any more.
"Stay back!" he shouts, and then he sees Grune behind Giles. His eyes go wide. "Lady Grune? You need to go home right away!" With Selphie now slumped against the wall of the grocery shop, he draws his sword. "He was the one to attack Selphie!"
She shakes her head. "I won't leave."
She could never abandon her friends when they were in danger. And she had promised Cecil she would keep Ceodore safe. It's one of the most important promises she's ever made.
"Grune knows I won't hurt her," Giles says before Ceodore can answer. He's still walking toward him. He isn't getting faster or slower. He's just walking.
"In fact," Giles goes on, "I'm going to give her a gift."
And then he leaps. Ceodore just manages to raise his sword in time. Giles is moving quickly now, quicker than Grune has ever seen, and he's too strong. Ceodore can barely keep him back.
Grune reaches a decision. Something is wrong with Giles. She can't let this go on for any longer. The real Giles wouldn't want her to.
She begins to cast.
She hears Selphie weakly cry Ceodore's name. And then, as she gathers strength to her, she hears Giles laugh. It isn't the embarrassed chuckle or rarer, full sound she loves. This laugh is mean and ugly. It makes her resolve still stronger, and when she next speaks, her words ring out across the plaza.
"Bloody Howling."
Barely visible in the darkness of the square, her curse eres swallows Giles and coils around him. The others make sounds of shock; Giles' voice is coloured with pain. When the spell has let him go, he stumbles away from Ceodore.
Ceodore stares at her, his mouth fallen slightly open. "Lady Grune. . . ."
Then he began healing himself, and Giles turns. His calmness has been broken by shock.
"Grune—"
"I need to stop you, Giles," she says levelly.
The part of her that can't bear to see him in pain has gone away. Even if she's hurting him, this is how she's being his friend now, because the Giles she loves would want to be stopped. And so that's what she's going to do.
"But—Grune." He still isn't calm yet. He sounds as if he can't understand what happened. "I'm going to help you. I'm going to make you feel strong, and—and incredible. I just need a few minutes to finish here, and then I promise everything will be all right."
She shakes her head. "No. I won't let you." No matter how many times he says her name in his voice that's almost right, she won't stop. Not even if he promises. This promise is wrong. It isn't meant to be kept.
Giles takes a step toward her. "You don't understand what you're—"
Ceodore lunges, his sword thrusting straight and low, but Giles spins on his heels and catches it on the edge of his arm. He hurls Ceodore backwards and the boy crashes into the wall of the grocery shop.
"Ceo!" Selphie struggles to stand.
Ceodore gasps and coughs. "Lady Grune, don't listen to him! Get away, or use anything but dark spells if you—"
"That's quite enough of that." Giles doesn't sound happy. He turns back to Ceodore and meets his bright, determined eyes.
Grune begins drawing energy to herself. Ceodore said not to use dark spells, but Bloody Howling is her weakest eres. If she uses anything else, she could hurt Giles more than she needs to stop him.
Giles turns away after only a few seconds and Ceodore collapses to his knees.
If she lets Ceodore get hurt, she'll be breaking her promise to Cecil. And Giles, when he remembers who he is, will be sad.
"M-Mother?"
Ceodore sounds horrified. He stumbles forward, half-crawling. "Mother! Hold on, I-I'll—!"
He abandons his sword to clutch at nothing at all.
"Ceo, wake up!" Selphie rasps out. "He's tricking you!"
"There. That should take care of him," Giles says, satisfied. He starts walking forward again, towards her now. He isn't afraid of the lights gathering around her feet.
She isn't afraid of him. She holds his gaze and doesn't hesitate in her casting.
"And now for you."
Grune doesn't look away. She won't. For the sake of their friendship, she will not look away.
The look of sure confidence begins to slip from his face the closer she comes to completing her spell. His expression turns to confusion. And then he sounds scared. "Why won't it—?"
She has not stopped looking at him this entire time. And even if her heart is sad, her voice is strong.
"Aqua Laser."
When the first wave of Nerifes' power slams into him, Giles screams. With the second, his voice tears in his throat. Even after the water disappears, Giles stays curled in on himself, his hands pushed into his face beneath his glasses. He gasps and pants and shudders.
She watches him. She only watches him.
She doesn't understand why her eres hurt him so much. That spell isn't very much stronger than Bloody Howling, but Giles is acting as though it were very painful. He's acting as though he's been burned.
She hears Ceodore gasp, too, and she moves her gaze to him. Selphie is standing protectively in front of him, her weapon—two bars connected with a chain—in her hands. Ceodore is straightening behind her.
"What happened?" Ceodore sounds shaken and confused. "W-Where's Mother?"
"She wasn't ever here," Selphie tells him. "Giles cast a spell on you. Next time, don't meet his eyes!"
Ceodore's confusion goes away and he picks up his sword without speaking, his expression angry.
"How could—"
At Giles' bewildered words, Grune looks back at him. He still can't stand up all the way, but he can look at her now.
She gets ready to cast again.
"Why—?"
Lights form around her feet.
Giles turns and runs.
He's still moving too fast, and so she and Ceodore can't follow. But it's all right. They need to look after Selphie.
She looks back to her two friends. Selphie is in Ceodore's arms and his sword is on the ground again. She must have let herself fall, because she didn't need to protect Ceodore anymore. As Grune watches them, white light appears first around Ceodore, then Selphie.
She walks across the empty square. The clicks of her heels echo in a strange way. She stops beside Ceodore and waits until he's finished healing Selphie. Then, she holds out her hand.
"Here. I can help you home."
Selphie takes it. As they lift her and she sets an arm around their necks, Selphie says, "Thanks, Grune. Thanks, Ceo."
"I think we should go to the clinic," Ceodore says as they begin to walk slowly. "This is too much for even Mother to manage on her own."
"But Ceo, I hate the clinic." Then Selphie sighs. ". . . All right." She looks down. "Oh, Grune, I'm sorry—I wrecked your dress."
Grune looks down, too. Now she has Selphie's blood on her clothes, just like Giles.
"It's all right," she says. "I can get another."
They walk for a bit. Then:
". . . Lady Grune—what did you do to him?" Ceodore asks. He sounds a little uncertain.
She doesn't answer for a while. She thinks about the way Giles' face twisted up and how he sounded as though he were being pulled apart by pain.
". . . I don't know."
*
After Selphie is safe in the clinic and Grune tells everyone on the journals what happened, she goes home. Everyone is relieved to see her, and when she explains where the blood on her dress is from, they stop being so scared.
They try to get her to promise not to go outside again, but this time, she doesn't do it. She has a bigger promise to keep: the promise of her friendship with Giles. If she has the ability to stop him from hurting anyone else, then she can't stay inside.
She doesn't see him again, though—not until after he's been stopped. But she's all right with that. She knows she did her best for him. And she knows that, when he wakes up as himself again, he'll be glad.
Fandoms:
luceti, Tales of Legendia, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, Tales of Phantasia, Vampires: Los MuertosGenre: Gen/Angst? Not really sure how to classify this one.
Rating: PG-13
Words: 2306
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the above fandoms.
Summary: When Giles starts acting very strangely, when he hurts her friends, Grune must keep the promise of their friendship in one of the most difficult ways of all.
Author's Notes: In a nutshell, my take on one of the ways the Vampire!Giles plot in Luceti could have run. I harbour no illusions that this is actually how things would have turned out--but it was fun to write anyway. Ceodore and Selphie's roles were determined by their position on the sign-up lists; everything else came from my brain.
A note for those unfamiliar with Tales of Legendia's canon: The deity of Melfes is Nerifes, which is also the ocean of that world. Thus, any water-element spells also have the dual element of light.
Thank you very much to
hickumu for helping me with details of the Los Muertos variety of vampires and how Vampire!Giles would have reacted. Any mistakes are most definitely my own.Fenimore doesn't want her to go outside anymore.
She doesn't want anyone to go outside anymore, except for maybe Walter. She thinks Walter might be safe, because he's very strong, but Grune can tell she still worries about him, even if she pretends not to.
She's been upset for a while now, ever since they found that poor squirrel on their doorstep. Grune still feels sad whenever she thinks of it. When it's safe again, she's going to find some flowers to place where Walter had buried it in the yard. Maybe she'll plant some pansies or bluebells in the spring. Those would be pretty.
Norma has been upset, too. She made her promise not to go outside by herself anymore. Grune had promised, and she'd meant it, but later she had realized that it was a promise she couldn't keep. After all, if she didn't go outside, then no one would get Dhaos his groceries, and he would be hungry. She couldn't let that happen.
Because of that promise, tonight, she makes sure to step outside when everyone is too busy to notice. She won't be long, and she'll come back soon, so it will be all right.
There aren't very many people outside at all, she notices as she travels through the village, and so she keeps her journal open in her shopping basket for company. The conversation is comfortable to have around her; it's almost as if all her friends are coming with her.
She smiles as she listens to everyone talk, until she hears the harsh, shaky whisper.
"Ceo? Someone?" The girl making the entry swallows hard; her voice is so pinched that it's only as she goes on that Grune recognizes who she is. "'M in trouble—need help."
"Selphie?" Grune pulls her journal out of her basket. "I'll help. Where are you?"
"Behind the grocery shop—Grune, don't" —a small, desperate noise of pain— "don't come, get someone else, he'll—Ceo. . . ."
The sound cuts off.
Grune closes her journal and places it in her basket. She hopes Dhaos won't mind waiting a little longer for his groceries. She hopes everyone at home won't worry because she's going to be away for a little while.
She breaks into a run.
She's nearly all the way across the square when someone steps around the side of the smithy. She doesn't pay them any attention until they speak.
"Hello, Grune."
Grune stops. She knows that voice very well; hearing it sends relief flying through her. Giles can help her find Selphie. They can both look after her and protect her from what hurt her and made her scared.
"Giles, have you seen Selphie? She said she's in trouble."
"No, I can't say that I have." Giles doesn't sound upset to hear that. He sounds very calm. "Why don't we look for her together?"
Grune . . . hesitates. Giles is one of her dearest friends. She trusts him absolutely. But he doesn't sound right. He's standing differently. And there's something dark on his clothes.
". . . Are you all right?" she asks.
"Of course." He sounds a little surprised. "I feel fine. Wonderful, in fact. Now let's go look for Selphie, shall we?"
. . . He isn't stammering, she realizes. Giles always stammers, especially when he's worried. And if he knew someone was in trouble, he would be worried, because Giles has a kind heart.
She steps a little closer to see him better, and it's then she realizes what the stain on his clothes is.
"Are you sure you're okay? You're hurt." Her eyes trace his body, trying to find where he's injured. She can't see anything that would bleed that much, only some bruises.
Giles looks down, and . . . was he surprised? Or did he pretend? "Oh, this? It's nothing. Don't worry about it, Grune."
Grune brings her eyes to his. "Giles, where did it come from?"
Giles makes a little grimace. "I'd been hoping not to have to tell you, but . . . it's Selphie's."
Her breathing stops.
"I don't know why, but she attacked me." Giles shrugs a little. "I'm guessing the Malnosso did something to her—she didn't seem to know what she was doing, poor girl. So I had to defend myself. You understand, don't you, Grune?"
She's breathing again, steadily. Everything about her is steady now, and so calm—just as calm as Giles. She would have believed him, because he's Giles, but nothing about him is right this evening. And Selphie, her brave and cheerful friend, had sounded so scared.
"You're lying," she says.
"Grune—I'm hurt," Giles says with his words, but not with his voice. "You know I'd never lie to you."
She doesn't flinch. She doesn't waver. "You're lying."
He had been smiling, almost the way he usually does. He isn't smiling now, though—he's turned it off.
"You're right. I am lying." His voice has taken on a strange, sharp edge. "But she attacked me first. That part is the truth. You won't let her get away with it, will you?"
There's the sound of a stumble and a tiny gasp. They both turn.
Ceodore and Selphie are visible in the alley between the clothing and grocery shops. Ceodore is supporting Selphie, and she. . . .
Grune looks back at all the blood on Giles' clothes. Selphie . . . is very, very hurt.
"Ah." Giles sounds pleased. "There you are."
He begins walking toward them slowly, taking his time. Ceodore struggles to set down Selphie without hurting her any more.
"Stay back!" he shouts, and then he sees Grune behind Giles. His eyes go wide. "Lady Grune? You need to go home right away!" With Selphie now slumped against the wall of the grocery shop, he draws his sword. "He was the one to attack Selphie!"
She shakes her head. "I won't leave."
She could never abandon her friends when they were in danger. And she had promised Cecil she would keep Ceodore safe. It's one of the most important promises she's ever made.
"Grune knows I won't hurt her," Giles says before Ceodore can answer. He's still walking toward him. He isn't getting faster or slower. He's just walking.
"In fact," Giles goes on, "I'm going to give her a gift."
And then he leaps. Ceodore just manages to raise his sword in time. Giles is moving quickly now, quicker than Grune has ever seen, and he's too strong. Ceodore can barely keep him back.
Grune reaches a decision. Something is wrong with Giles. She can't let this go on for any longer. The real Giles wouldn't want her to.
She begins to cast.
She hears Selphie weakly cry Ceodore's name. And then, as she gathers strength to her, she hears Giles laugh. It isn't the embarrassed chuckle or rarer, full sound she loves. This laugh is mean and ugly. It makes her resolve still stronger, and when she next speaks, her words ring out across the plaza.
"Bloody Howling."
Barely visible in the darkness of the square, her curse eres swallows Giles and coils around him. The others make sounds of shock; Giles' voice is coloured with pain. When the spell has let him go, he stumbles away from Ceodore.
Ceodore stares at her, his mouth fallen slightly open. "Lady Grune. . . ."
Then he began healing himself, and Giles turns. His calmness has been broken by shock.
"Grune—"
"I need to stop you, Giles," she says levelly.
The part of her that can't bear to see him in pain has gone away. Even if she's hurting him, this is how she's being his friend now, because the Giles she loves would want to be stopped. And so that's what she's going to do.
"But—Grune." He still isn't calm yet. He sounds as if he can't understand what happened. "I'm going to help you. I'm going to make you feel strong, and—and incredible. I just need a few minutes to finish here, and then I promise everything will be all right."
She shakes her head. "No. I won't let you." No matter how many times he says her name in his voice that's almost right, she won't stop. Not even if he promises. This promise is wrong. It isn't meant to be kept.
Giles takes a step toward her. "You don't understand what you're—"
Ceodore lunges, his sword thrusting straight and low, but Giles spins on his heels and catches it on the edge of his arm. He hurls Ceodore backwards and the boy crashes into the wall of the grocery shop.
"Ceo!" Selphie struggles to stand.
Ceodore gasps and coughs. "Lady Grune, don't listen to him! Get away, or use anything but dark spells if you—"
"That's quite enough of that." Giles doesn't sound happy. He turns back to Ceodore and meets his bright, determined eyes.
Grune begins drawing energy to herself. Ceodore said not to use dark spells, but Bloody Howling is her weakest eres. If she uses anything else, she could hurt Giles more than she needs to stop him.
Giles turns away after only a few seconds and Ceodore collapses to his knees.
If she lets Ceodore get hurt, she'll be breaking her promise to Cecil. And Giles, when he remembers who he is, will be sad.
"M-Mother?"
Ceodore sounds horrified. He stumbles forward, half-crawling. "Mother! Hold on, I-I'll—!"
He abandons his sword to clutch at nothing at all.
"Ceo, wake up!" Selphie rasps out. "He's tricking you!"
"There. That should take care of him," Giles says, satisfied. He starts walking forward again, towards her now. He isn't afraid of the lights gathering around her feet.
She isn't afraid of him. She holds his gaze and doesn't hesitate in her casting.
"And now for you."
Grune doesn't look away. She won't. For the sake of their friendship, she will not look away.
The look of sure confidence begins to slip from his face the closer she comes to completing her spell. His expression turns to confusion. And then he sounds scared. "Why won't it—?"
She has not stopped looking at him this entire time. And even if her heart is sad, her voice is strong.
"Aqua Laser."
When the first wave of Nerifes' power slams into him, Giles screams. With the second, his voice tears in his throat. Even after the water disappears, Giles stays curled in on himself, his hands pushed into his face beneath his glasses. He gasps and pants and shudders.
She watches him. She only watches him.
She doesn't understand why her eres hurt him so much. That spell isn't very much stronger than Bloody Howling, but Giles is acting as though it were very painful. He's acting as though he's been burned.
She hears Ceodore gasp, too, and she moves her gaze to him. Selphie is standing protectively in front of him, her weapon—two bars connected with a chain—in her hands. Ceodore is straightening behind her.
"What happened?" Ceodore sounds shaken and confused. "W-Where's Mother?"
"She wasn't ever here," Selphie tells him. "Giles cast a spell on you. Next time, don't meet his eyes!"
Ceodore's confusion goes away and he picks up his sword without speaking, his expression angry.
"How could—"
At Giles' bewildered words, Grune looks back at him. He still can't stand up all the way, but he can look at her now.
She gets ready to cast again.
"Why—?"
Lights form around her feet.
Giles turns and runs.
He's still moving too fast, and so she and Ceodore can't follow. But it's all right. They need to look after Selphie.
She looks back to her two friends. Selphie is in Ceodore's arms and his sword is on the ground again. She must have let herself fall, because she didn't need to protect Ceodore anymore. As Grune watches them, white light appears first around Ceodore, then Selphie.
She walks across the empty square. The clicks of her heels echo in a strange way. She stops beside Ceodore and waits until he's finished healing Selphie. Then, she holds out her hand.
"Here. I can help you home."
Selphie takes it. As they lift her and she sets an arm around their necks, Selphie says, "Thanks, Grune. Thanks, Ceo."
"I think we should go to the clinic," Ceodore says as they begin to walk slowly. "This is too much for even Mother to manage on her own."
"But Ceo, I hate the clinic." Then Selphie sighs. ". . . All right." She looks down. "Oh, Grune, I'm sorry—I wrecked your dress."
Grune looks down, too. Now she has Selphie's blood on her clothes, just like Giles.
"It's all right," she says. "I can get another."
They walk for a bit. Then:
". . . Lady Grune—what did you do to him?" Ceodore asks. He sounds a little uncertain.
She doesn't answer for a while. She thinks about the way Giles' face twisted up and how he sounded as though he were being pulled apart by pain.
". . . I don't know."
After Selphie is safe in the clinic and Grune tells everyone on the journals what happened, she goes home. Everyone is relieved to see her, and when she explains where the blood on her dress is from, they stop being so scared.
They try to get her to promise not to go outside again, but this time, she doesn't do it. She has a bigger promise to keep: the promise of her friendship with Giles. If she has the ability to stop him from hurting anyone else, then she can't stay inside.
She doesn't see him again, though—not until after he's been stopped. But she's all right with that. She knows she did her best for him. And she knows that, when he wakes up as himself again, he'll be glad.
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Vyc, this was badass and you should feel badass.
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(I'm way less confident about Ceodore, though, so I'll probably have questions for you there, too ^-^;; )
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(Ask away! Mind you, all I know about him comes from 1) RPing with him, 2) knowledge of the universe, and 3) jokes my friends make on tumblr, but I'll do my best!)
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SCREAM SELPHIE... And Ceodore, alskdjl. Giles, why you gotta be so mean ;__;
But Grune to the rescue! It's... kind of terrible how she immediately knows something is wrong, and no this isn't Giles and Giles would want you to stop him ;__; And I love the line about Giles' promise not being right, and how it isn't meant to be kept.
Gruuuuuuuune, she's such a wonderful friend *___* And everyone is rightly worried for her, but ffffalskjdak. Do not fear, everyone, Grune will not let anyone hurt anyone else ^^
...So, um, yes. Thumbs up XD
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Isn't Ceodore so lucky he's genetically weak to mind control??
Grune might be unobservant about some things, but when it comes to her closest friends, she can be surprisingly perceptive! Of course, considering Giles had no stammer, a hell of a lot more confidence, and gave no fucks about someone being in danger...yeah. The blood on his clothes helped, too. :P
Damn right!
So don't do anything stupid, Dhaos.Yay thumbs up!
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As for how blunt she got, I've no canon basis for this (because amnesiac!Grune rarely gets to comment on serious situations), but it springs from what I think of as amnesiac!Grune's personal morality system. Stealing because you were hungry? She'd be as lenient as hell. Hurting someone deliberately because you thought it would be fun? FUCK NO, and if you're unrepentent, she will show your ass no mercy in protecting the victim. Throw in making one of her best friends into a monster and welp. There you are.
But yeah, "You're lying" and "I need to stop you, Giles" were the two lines that would not leave me alone until I wrote the fic, just because they're so absolute--the result of when you push Grune too far. It hasn't happened in Luceti yet, her getting pushed to this degree, just because it is that damn hard, but man do I hope it will someday.
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He was rescued and the sociopath arrested before he could do anything. But the episode ends with one of his friends saying to him that the gun Data had been holding had been fired a split second before he was beamed out, and Data basically going "I have no idea what you're talking about."
So yeah, there was some of that in there, too. /tl;dr