Maea’s defense of her lover brought a sad smile to Jigano’s lips, and he nodded ruefully at her mention of over-enthusiasm. ”Not as much as Quanil,” he murmured wryly, but there was fondness in his tone for both the former and current Loreseeker.
A fight, though? That would explain things, and he grimaced in sympathy. ”Whether to mend it or end it, you both need to make that decision together,” he suggested gently. ”At some point you’ll both need to sit down and talk again… or risk remaining in this limbo and misery instead of finding joy in the world. Whether that’s with him, or someone else, or on your own… It doesn’t sound like your heart will be able to more forward until you talk to him again. Though I understand not wanting to push him, either, if he’s not ready to talk.” Which brought them right back around to the problem of how long it was fair of Sunjata to make her wait on him… and whether he would ever be willing to find a compromise instead of running away from his problems in booze or fights or fucking other women.
He nodded at her choice to share her vision where she had, even if he wasn’t convinced of it – or at least, not of the sense of the storms waiting for ‘just one more portal to open’ when so many were already available. Her question brought a heavy sigh to his chest, however, and he looked down at his puddle with a grimace. ”I think it does matter,” he admitted. ”And the Old Gods don’t want it happening, but for some reason they’re keeping more… hands-off, while the Voice is given free-rein. Or at least, that’s how it feels. They asked mortals to stop the opening of the portals, but when the Ascended Goddess herself is the one doing the opening of them, what chance do we have?” He shrugged in answer to his own question, as much to Maea’s follow-up. ”What she did, near as I can tell, was take power and rise to challenge the Old Gods – something they didn’t take too kindly to. Her ambitions grew too great and her pursuit of more and more power brought her into conflict with those who… well. I feel putting words into their mouths would probably count as hubris, too,” he finished lamely, with a rueful smile. ”But I suspect that no one likes being challenged. Especially when the Old Gods are the gods of the world – all of it, from Fae to humans to hanging snakes to merfolk to… to dragons. They might favor certain individuals, but I haven’t seen anything to indicate that they favor a particular race above any other. The Voice, though… she was a human, once. And her attentions are for those humans who chose to Ascend beneath her. She has shown no concern for non-humans, and not much for those who can’t or won’t accept her dominion.” He grimaced, looking to Maea gravely. ”I think she unbalances the world by that favoritism, whatever her initial purpose was. And by making a demigod of Wessex, creating a stronger servant to counter those of the other gods, I don’t think he ambitions have run their course yet.”
It was a distracting speech, and it was only by chance that he glanced down as the colors began to shift within his watery mirror. At Maea’s question he only hummed, eyes riveted now to the shifting pool and the images that started to coalesce within. Light and shadow, water and fire. Blue lightning and sharp teeth and scales dyed black as LongNight…
A few moments more the images danced, and then a whisper of a breeze blew across the clearing, sending ripples over the gazing pools in their fancy birdbaths. When the ripples stilled the puddles reflected only the sky above and the thinning clouds revealing blue sky beyond. Jigano blinked a few times to clear his vision and then sat back with a deep breath, brow furrowed as he sought to memorize every image he had seen.
A fight, though? That would explain things, and he grimaced in sympathy. ”Whether to mend it or end it, you both need to make that decision together,” he suggested gently. ”At some point you’ll both need to sit down and talk again… or risk remaining in this limbo and misery instead of finding joy in the world. Whether that’s with him, or someone else, or on your own… It doesn’t sound like your heart will be able to more forward until you talk to him again. Though I understand not wanting to push him, either, if he’s not ready to talk.” Which brought them right back around to the problem of how long it was fair of Sunjata to make her wait on him… and whether he would ever be willing to find a compromise instead of running away from his problems in booze or fights or fucking other women.
He nodded at her choice to share her vision where she had, even if he wasn’t convinced of it – or at least, not of the sense of the storms waiting for ‘just one more portal to open’ when so many were already available. Her question brought a heavy sigh to his chest, however, and he looked down at his puddle with a grimace. ”I think it does matter,” he admitted. ”And the Old Gods don’t want it happening, but for some reason they’re keeping more… hands-off, while the Voice is given free-rein. Or at least, that’s how it feels. They asked mortals to stop the opening of the portals, but when the Ascended Goddess herself is the one doing the opening of them, what chance do we have?” He shrugged in answer to his own question, as much to Maea’s follow-up. ”What she did, near as I can tell, was take power and rise to challenge the Old Gods – something they didn’t take too kindly to. Her ambitions grew too great and her pursuit of more and more power brought her into conflict with those who… well. I feel putting words into their mouths would probably count as hubris, too,” he finished lamely, with a rueful smile. ”But I suspect that no one likes being challenged. Especially when the Old Gods are the gods of the world – all of it, from Fae to humans to hanging snakes to merfolk to… to dragons. They might favor certain individuals, but I haven’t seen anything to indicate that they favor a particular race above any other. The Voice, though… she was a human, once. And her attentions are for those humans who chose to Ascend beneath her. She has shown no concern for non-humans, and not much for those who can’t or won’t accept her dominion.” He grimaced, looking to Maea gravely. ”I think she unbalances the world by that favoritism, whatever her initial purpose was. And by making a demigod of Wessex, creating a stronger servant to counter those of the other gods, I don’t think he ambitions have run their course yet.”
It was a distracting speech, and it was only by chance that he glanced down as the colors began to shift within his watery mirror. At Maea’s question he only hummed, eyes riveted now to the shifting pool and the images that started to coalesce within. Light and shadow, water and fire. Blue lightning and sharp teeth and scales dyed black as LongNight…
A few moments more the images danced, and then a whisper of a breeze blew across the clearing, sending ripples over the gazing pools in their fancy birdbaths. When the ripples stilled the puddles reflected only the sky above and the thinning clouds revealing blue sky beyond. Jigano blinked a few times to clear his vision and then sat back with a deep breath, brow furrowed as he sought to memorize every image he had seen.
