Down and out, and out of luck, we're spinning but the needle's stuck
The more Darkeye went on speaking, the more worried Maea's expression grew. It would seem that she had poked a hornets nest here - or that this man might stir one up, with his passion. And while it was endearing and heartening to hear a relative stranger speak so well of her, it also made her recoil slightly. It was too much, and too sudden. A village? Convince Remi? Of what - that he should have killed her after all, before anyone could made a fuss about the past and a foolish girl's foolish decisions?
She held her hands up to stave off the tide, make him slow down.
"Darkeye... by your logic, my devotion to Ludo would demand me to die again. I can almost guarantee that you will receive that same answer from Remi. It doesn't matter why I decided to come back, not to them; my place was to remain among the dead. At peace and resting. There's not even a guarantee that my dying would see me back in Mort's realm - The Voice has a claim on the souls she touches, too." She chewed on the inside of her lip, troubled and worried that this might go horribly wrong.
"While it's true that I don't care much for my own safety... that just can't be how I act anymore. I need to stay alive, for my brother's sake, if nothing else. For all the things he's done for me, now and in the past - I owe him too much to give up and hand myself over."
Even though it hurt. Even though she would have loved to see Ludo again. It was simply too much of a risk.
And somewhere in the midst of speaking, Maea was beginning to realize that perhaps she already had found her middle ground. That, maybe, she already did the best she could in her situation.
Could it be? It felt so... insufficient.
She held her hands up to stave off the tide, make him slow down.
"Darkeye... by your logic, my devotion to Ludo would demand me to die again. I can almost guarantee that you will receive that same answer from Remi. It doesn't matter why I decided to come back, not to them; my place was to remain among the dead. At peace and resting. There's not even a guarantee that my dying would see me back in Mort's realm - The Voice has a claim on the souls she touches, too." She chewed on the inside of her lip, troubled and worried that this might go horribly wrong.
"While it's true that I don't care much for my own safety... that just can't be how I act anymore. I need to stay alive, for my brother's sake, if nothing else. For all the things he's done for me, now and in the past - I owe him too much to give up and hand myself over."
Even though it hurt. Even though she would have loved to see Ludo again. It was simply too much of a risk.
And somewhere in the midst of speaking, Maea was beginning to realize that perhaps she already had found her middle ground. That, maybe, she already did the best she could in her situation.
Could it be? It felt so... insufficient.
Maea
