you will always be a monster
there is no turning back from it
there is no turning back from it
"I've had more time to consider the matter than you," she points out kindly, appreciating the odd backwards compliment but unwilling to seem pretentious. "The moment we are ready, we will not delay in telling everyone. But your silence means more than you know." One more fear off her shoulders, one less eventuality to keep her awake into the early hours of dawn, unable to sleep with the gravity of all she must do weighing heavy upon her small shoulders. Had Ludo merely taken the first soul to its side that had been as fervent as she? Had it considered that she was no warrior, no matter the spirit inside?
She is drawn from her thoughts by Juniper's ill-concealed reaction, knowing there is nothing she can do to avoid this particular nasty part of the conversation. The assumptions, the hurt. Drudging up old wounds and picking at them gleefully to suit her own needs. Nephele hates it. For all her hatred and vitriol towards the Ascended, she loves her people. She does not want to cause them pain in any way. Perhaps in another life she would have visited Juniper sooner, and maybe they could have been friends, long before all of this.
She waits through the torrential downpour of words, quiet and complacent, before she dares to speak. "I do, yes. But not to insult you or turn you into a new pariah." Steepling her fingers she leans forward, elbows pressing into her thighs as her bonfire eyes stare intently at Juniper. "I offer it to let you redeem your grandfathers name. To turn the tables, to show that he was never wrong in the first place." Whether Juniper places any weight on her family name, on giving it better standing, it's something she hopes will reach the girl.
"The fact of the matter is that I am devoted to aiding our people, even if that means overturning decades of bigotry and bias. Even Alina has agreed to allow me free reign in this endeavor, admits in her grudging way that we cannot live without the humans." Survive, perhaps, but not live. "If not for yourself or your grandfather, can you see that we need this role to help our people? To protect further monuments from being destroyed, to prevent the Ascended killing more of our people? We cannot exclude our potential allies."
She is drawn from her thoughts by Juniper's ill-concealed reaction, knowing there is nothing she can do to avoid this particular nasty part of the conversation. The assumptions, the hurt. Drudging up old wounds and picking at them gleefully to suit her own needs. Nephele hates it. For all her hatred and vitriol towards the Ascended, she loves her people. She does not want to cause them pain in any way. Perhaps in another life she would have visited Juniper sooner, and maybe they could have been friends, long before all of this.
She waits through the torrential downpour of words, quiet and complacent, before she dares to speak. "I do, yes. But not to insult you or turn you into a new pariah." Steepling her fingers she leans forward, elbows pressing into her thighs as her bonfire eyes stare intently at Juniper. "I offer it to let you redeem your grandfathers name. To turn the tables, to show that he was never wrong in the first place." Whether Juniper places any weight on her family name, on giving it better standing, it's something she hopes will reach the girl.
"The fact of the matter is that I am devoted to aiding our people, even if that means overturning decades of bigotry and bias. Even Alina has agreed to allow me free reign in this endeavor, admits in her grudging way that we cannot live without the humans." Survive, perhaps, but not live. "If not for yourself or your grandfather, can you see that we need this role to help our people? To protect further monuments from being destroyed, to prevent the Ascended killing more of our people? We cannot exclude our potential allies."
but what type of monster you become
is entirely up to you
is entirely up to you
