Aurelia
and my hands aren't clean
maybe they never will be
maybe they never will be
Aurelia nods gravely, empathetic to the tensions of risking friendship for what is believed to be right, or just, or... simply better. She understands that quite personally in this moment, but in terms of a different matter that needn't be brought up. She gestures for Seren to lead the way, to choose where she feels most at ease to begin the discussion. If there is a bit of anticipation in the way she attempts to casually stride with the other woman, she tries not to make it too obvious. It will come, whatever Seren wishes to unveil to her, and she isn't keen on pressuring the truth out. She wants to hear it unfiltered and raw from Seren's point of view.
That she does, and she can't help but to grimace a bit as the events surrounding the unicorn are brought up once more. It's a necessary facet to the story, however. "It's not your fault..." she comments quietly, hoping in vain to ease some of the emotions Seren is struggling with over it. However, not wishing to dig her hole deeper, she says nothing more and continues to listen, strains to hear all of it so that the quiet undertones are not lost among the hubbub of Haulani.
Aurelia hesitates as Seren comes to a sudden halt, and she rounds back to face the other girl with uncertainty. It's in this small moment that she isn't totally sure she wants to know the identity of the person who almost killed her, who set the Slagveld on fire, but she knows that she needs to know. She hopes that it will provide clarity of some sort, if not to her then to Sunjata.
Maeve's name is spoken and immediately her brows raise and lower in bewilderment. "I'm familiar.." she mutters, of the Halenani Madame. Intimately familiar, in fact, but that's not important here and now. What she doesn't understand... is what Maeve has to do with any of this. Who could she possibly want to protect, and why? When she had lost so much in the monsoons. Aurelia had heard about it, the devastation and the many workers there hurt, left without homes - Maeve amongst them. Why would she want to protect someone that tried to commit the same level of destruction on the city, when she had to understand so personally what it felt like.
But Seren answers her, and it's a good thing she didn't interrupt to ask all of the questions swirling around in her mind. "Hotaru?" The name is spoken with a great measure of not only disbelief, but also disdain. Her gaze casts downward, flickering back and forth as her mind tries to piece together the why from the who and the what.
"But why would Hotaru attack the Slagveld?" She can't help but to ask this question aloud, though she's sure that Seren doesn't know either. "She... she's Sunjata's wife- or, she was. Is this really over a marriage that she walked away from?" Anger fumes at her nostrils and she has to steady herself for a second.
"That can't be it... there has to be a better reason..." one of her hands comes up to run through her curled hair, where the skin on her arms is fractured by lightning scars that appear like the coils of ferns imprinted, embedded, forever left with a mark from a woman who had no real reason. Not any except revenge, and what a self-destructive plight that is. Aurelia would know.
It's perhaps disappointing that the revelation of who doesn't bring with it clarity. Only more doubt and confusion and... frustration, beneath it. But Aurelia refocuses on Seren and, through the questioning, she suddenly says, "Seren," and she places both hands on the young demi-god's shoulders to anchor her with her words, to meet her eyes, "Thank you for telling me. I know this wasn't easy but it will help a great deal. I hope you know that." Slowly, gently, she lets go and steps back out of Seren's immediate space. "I don't know why Hotaru would do this, if it really was her, or why Maeve would want to protect her, but.. now at least we have a hope of getting to the bottom of all this. Maybe she can be stopped from doing something else she'll regret, before it's too late."
That she does, and she can't help but to grimace a bit as the events surrounding the unicorn are brought up once more. It's a necessary facet to the story, however. "It's not your fault..." she comments quietly, hoping in vain to ease some of the emotions Seren is struggling with over it. However, not wishing to dig her hole deeper, she says nothing more and continues to listen, strains to hear all of it so that the quiet undertones are not lost among the hubbub of Haulani.
Aurelia hesitates as Seren comes to a sudden halt, and she rounds back to face the other girl with uncertainty. It's in this small moment that she isn't totally sure she wants to know the identity of the person who almost killed her, who set the Slagveld on fire, but she knows that she needs to know. She hopes that it will provide clarity of some sort, if not to her then to Sunjata.
Maeve's name is spoken and immediately her brows raise and lower in bewilderment. "I'm familiar.." she mutters, of the Halenani Madame. Intimately familiar, in fact, but that's not important here and now. What she doesn't understand... is what Maeve has to do with any of this. Who could she possibly want to protect, and why? When she had lost so much in the monsoons. Aurelia had heard about it, the devastation and the many workers there hurt, left without homes - Maeve amongst them. Why would she want to protect someone that tried to commit the same level of destruction on the city, when she had to understand so personally what it felt like.
But Seren answers her, and it's a good thing she didn't interrupt to ask all of the questions swirling around in her mind. "Hotaru?" The name is spoken with a great measure of not only disbelief, but also disdain. Her gaze casts downward, flickering back and forth as her mind tries to piece together the why from the who and the what.
"But why would Hotaru attack the Slagveld?" She can't help but to ask this question aloud, though she's sure that Seren doesn't know either. "She... she's Sunjata's wife- or, she was. Is this really over a marriage that she walked away from?" Anger fumes at her nostrils and she has to steady herself for a second.
"That can't be it... there has to be a better reason..." one of her hands comes up to run through her curled hair, where the skin on her arms is fractured by lightning scars that appear like the coils of ferns imprinted, embedded, forever left with a mark from a woman who had no real reason. Not any except revenge, and what a self-destructive plight that is. Aurelia would know.
It's perhaps disappointing that the revelation of who doesn't bring with it clarity. Only more doubt and confusion and... frustration, beneath it. But Aurelia refocuses on Seren and, through the questioning, she suddenly says, "Seren," and she places both hands on the young demi-god's shoulders to anchor her with her words, to meet her eyes, "Thank you for telling me. I know this wasn't easy but it will help a great deal. I hope you know that." Slowly, gently, she lets go and steps back out of Seren's immediate space. "I don't know why Hotaru would do this, if it really was her, or why Maeve would want to protect her, but.. now at least we have a hope of getting to the bottom of all this. Maybe she can be stopped from doing something else she'll regret, before it's too late."
but they can still carry you home
when you're ready to sleep
when you're ready to sleep
