Gate of Memoirs/Bitterness

There are some things better left in the past, but grudges come at a heavy price.
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*"I was a fool to believe I could escape a kami's wrath."
*"Despite my bravado, I knew I had not the slightest chance of escaping."
*"Though my being here should be clue enough for the outcome of the match, unpleasant as it was."
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Land of Giants"	Music: "Land of Giants"
 	
*"I was bound like a servant to that self-deluding kami, allowed to live only through his merciful grace."
*"Preposterous..."
 	
*"I serve no man; I serve no god."
*"I learned to bide my time, just as I learned to walk upright."
 	
*"We spoke little. I mostly spat."
*"But something struck me as strange, even through our stilted interactions."
 	
*Suizen: "Hakuzo"...
*Suizen: Indulge my curiosity. Who gave you this name?
 	
*Hakuzo: I did.
*Hakuzo: Foxes don't need names, but I am not a mere fox. Clearly.
 	
*Suizen: I see.
 	
*Suizen: That must...be liberating.
 	
*Hakuzo: "Liberating"?
 	
*Hakuzo: By any other it would have worked as well.
*Hakuzo: A name is just a name.
 	
*A tense silence suspends itself between the two as Hakuzo glares daggers at the kami.
 	
*Forcing a thin smile, Hakuzo bends into a stiff bow.
*Hakuzo: If you're quite done being condescending, I should like to take my leave.
 	
*Suizen: As you wish.
Portrait 	Dialogue
 	
*"Utterly humiliating."
*"Let the fools speak of my sound defeat as if it were a triumph..."
*"I alone know that they will not survive what is to come."
*"I've seen it, after all."
*"That Darkness."
*The interior was surprisingly well-kept, despite its prodigious age.
*The sliding doors showed no sign of wear and fewer signs of dust,
*and their solid presence betrayed nothing ethereal.
*In the low light, no doubt from some ill-omened moon, was a still figure.
*Suizen: I thought it might be you.
 	
*Suizen: How long has it been... Hakuzo?
Music: "Devil's Heart"	Music: "Devil's Heart"
 	
*Hakuzo: You're...still here.
 	
*The seated figure gives him an inscrutable look.
*Suizen never aged, as was his nature, but in the absence of faithful, it was a miracle he had a form at all.
 	
*As is custom, Hakuzo gives the kami a bow—though about as sincere as most of his words.
 	
*Hakuzo: Even after every last bit of the world has fallen away, you alone remain.
 	
*Suizen: You seem surprised.
 	
*Hakuzo: Only that you still yet live. I expected worse.
*Hakuzo: That makes things a lot easier.
*Hakuzo: Hells know if there would even be a speck of whatever godly soul you kami possess still remaining.
 	
*Suizen: Your point, please.
 	
*Hakuzo: The world we both lived in was a lost cause, Suizen.
*Hakuzo: Neither you nor the kami had the power to change a thing.
*Hakuzo: You knew as much...when you let me go.
*Hakuzo leans in, his voice a mere whisper.
*Hakuzo: My question is... Why?
*Hakuzo: What do you know?
 	
*Suizen: Some things never change, I see.
 	
*Suizen: You are as insolent as ever.
 	
*Hakuzo: Cryptic to the end.
 	
*Hakuzo: I never expected you to simply *tell* me, anyway.