Careful was all that Jigano could ask of anyone this week, whether they were planning to stay inside or intending to face the dark. He nodded at Sam gravely, trusting the bookmaker to keep to his word before he turned his attention back to checking the bodies. There didn't seem to be anything amiss, and he breathed a silent sigh of relief.
He turned back to his friend with a shadow of his usual raised brow, eyes dropping to the way the bookmaker plucked at his wounds. "Sam, you're doing it again," he said, mildly enough as he returned to the other man's side and opened the door again to let them return to the light and warmth of the hall. He had wanted to let the topic of the Voice drop, to leave the conversation vague, but if his friend insisted on pushing him, now, when the Voice's failed earlier experiments had just devoured three of Sam's fingers and Rexanna's eyes...
Fine. They could have that talk.
"And there's more to you than fluid and upgrades. For all she likes you to depend on her and her alone, she didn't make your souls. You weren't born Ascended. She didn't make you. She twisted what Vi and Rae gave you to suit her purpose... which isn't very good for anyone who isn't Ascended." Just ask the Fae, who were mourning their dead around the Mathair after the Voice decided she didn't want to respect their land and traditions.
"And yet you've made the choice to follow the Voice," Jigano said softly, leaning against the wall and watching Sam with tired eyes. "There's a price for leaving. There's a price for staying. A question for you, then. You don't have to answer it now, just... think about it, please. Are you more worried about her hurting you for leaving? Or are you more worried about hurting others if you stay with her?"
He turned back to his friend with a shadow of his usual raised brow, eyes dropping to the way the bookmaker plucked at his wounds. "Sam, you're doing it again," he said, mildly enough as he returned to the other man's side and opened the door again to let them return to the light and warmth of the hall. He had wanted to let the topic of the Voice drop, to leave the conversation vague, but if his friend insisted on pushing him, now, when the Voice's failed earlier experiments had just devoured three of Sam's fingers and Rexanna's eyes...
Fine. They could have that talk.
"And there's more to you than fluid and upgrades. For all she likes you to depend on her and her alone, she didn't make your souls. You weren't born Ascended. She didn't make you. She twisted what Vi and Rae gave you to suit her purpose... which isn't very good for anyone who isn't Ascended." Just ask the Fae, who were mourning their dead around the Mathair after the Voice decided she didn't want to respect their land and traditions.
"And yet you've made the choice to follow the Voice," Jigano said softly, leaning against the wall and watching Sam with tired eyes. "There's a price for leaving. There's a price for staying. A question for you, then. You don't have to answer it now, just... think about it, please. Are you more worried about her hurting you for leaving? Or are you more worried about hurting others if you stay with her?"
