Dante's Psychometry

**This takes place just before dawn the day after the group returns from the Lobetfal mission. Dante doesn’t appear to have slept yet.**

Dante sat in his usual corner where he went to speak to Cora. He couldn’t see her but he knew she was listening, she always listened when he needed it. Good Cora, nice Cora.

“Dante is worried...” he began, pausing for a moment before he continued, “Dante is worried because he thinks someone is very mad at him. He doesn’t remember why but...back in the subway station...he touched some things. They were familiar. And pictures and voices came back to him. Yes...”

He takes a deep breath, “Good one’s too. Some good...some scary...but good. Look.” He takes his book out of his pocket and takes out the photograph he found of showed a younger Dante, about ten, smiling with an older girl who looked about fifteen and a man who some would recognise as Dr Jackson Adelaide.

Dante pauses to look at the photo, “...see this is happy. The person is happy...Bealum? She said Dante would not forget her if he has the photo.” He tucks it away again safely, “He thinks she is the one who wrote the letter that got all soggy too. Scared, it asked where Dante is. Where did he go...she misses him.”

“But then anger. So much. The bedding there...it was destroyed, torn apart. Someone is very very angry with Dante...they think he did something bad. The girl in red. It was her. She-...she said they made Dante a monster. They corrupted him...she hates them. But who does she mean? Beacon..? Or...or Dante’s Friend...?”

Dante is quiet again for a moment, troubled by the thought that someone is angry with him for things he can’t remember. He sighs softly, “What else did Dante touch? Oh! The eyes. Eyes in a jar.”

There is another slight hesitation in his speech, Dante’s tone changed as he remembered the memory he pulled off the jar, “There was...pressure. Immense pressure. So much pressure behind my eyes and a bright light. A bright light that would allow me to impart some of my gift into the worthy. And it would leave the unworthy with their eyes drained from their sockets.”

Dante suddenly goes silent and his eyes go wide.

*No.*

*Bad feeling.*

*Dante doesn’t want to feel it.*

He blinks a few times before shaking his head to try to get rid of the memory, “Not Dante...the eyes.”

His voice had returned to normal, though slightly panicked now.

“Not Dante. Not Dante’s feeling. The eyes, the eyes...Mm...what else did Dante see? The scary gurney, where...where...they made Dante an...ex-...experiment. Flashes of bad things, painful things. But...hmm...he must go talk to Dr Ekim, yes. Very important. Thank you for listening, good Cora. Dante will come back to talk again when Cora wants.”

For people who were on the mission, Dante would have mumbled about most of these things as he was touching the objects. When he touched the torn bedding and the jar with the eyes he physically recoiled and cried out in fear, rambling about what he saw if people asked what happened.

### Soggy letter

The desperation of a message, the longing that it will somehow find the sender.  "Dante ... where are you ... it's okay ... please find me ... I miss you so much ... it can't be real ... you can't be gone ... you didn't do this ... tell me you didn't do this!  Tell me that you're still you!"

### Happy photo

Hugs from someone not much older than him.  A smooth voice, full of love and warmth and gentle concern.  "Hey don't panic, Dante. You won't forget me. See this photo?  It'll help! I know your memories are fading but for so long as you have this photo you'll remember my name.  Bea-Bealum. Remember? Now snuggle up. You won't forget me. I'm right here. And the photo will remember it for you."

### Torn up bedding

Dante recoils from the town bedding, startled by the anger from this feeling.

An older teenage girl, all in red.  "You did this! You made him into a monster!  You ruined everything! You made him like that!  You corrupted him and turned him into a monster! Now my family is dead and it's All.  Your. Fault! I hate you! You're the worst! Go away! Go away! Go away!"

### Scary gurney

This one makes Dante freeze up, he is quiet but looks afraid. He seeks out Dr Ekim right after.

Ekim's Voice: "Hi there, Dante.  Please sit up on this bed and tell me how you feel.  They said you had a little fever. I'm here to help make sure it gets better.  You're a brave kid, Dante. Now please ... count to 10...." \*softer, still his voice, perhaps his thoughts\* "He's just a kid!  How can they do this to him? What would they do to my sons if they ever knew? Would they do this?" Also flashes of him getting various exams, sticking his tongue out, viewing certain slides and photos until his head buzzed.  And some flashes of backroom surgeries done by the closest thing the subway station had to their own doctors, when people came in hurt.

### Eyes in the jar

This one is a feeling, Dante recoils and clutches his head, shaking it to try and clear the feeling of pressure.

Pressure.  An obscene amount of pressure behind your eyes and a bright light that will allow you to impart some of your gift into the worthy and leave the unworthy merely with their eyes drained from their sockets.