[ She asked. She does not sound angry, but she is -- sad. Pained. Years of guilt have eaten away at her. Years of knowing what she could never have. Of finding Catherine weedling her way into her heart, and finding the weak spots that she should not have, and Catherine excised them, and brought them into the light. She had spent months -- nearly a year -- in the empty dark that was the mantle of woe, only brought out when she was useful, and even then, she somehow held onto her sanity.
Barely, but she had. Her fist does not tighten, but it reaches up to touch her shard, obvious from her low-cut dress. ]
My father was killed for my hubris that day. They cut off his ears, and murdered him.
[ That gets a rise out of her, a quavering of tone. Her father had loved her, despite everything. He cared for her when he should not have, and taught her everything she knew about magic. Dumisai had been not a kind man, but a brilliant mind, and he had always been kinder to her, than anyone else had been. ]
In the aftermath, my mother poisoned herself, and died.
A woman I grew to love stabbed me, and killed me. She trapped me for years for my crime. It is a crime I am still paying for today. It is what keeps me here in Meridian, despite everything.
Despite the fact that Zenith would resonate with a villain like me, I am here, because I am still paying for my crime. I found life again in a new body, and I gave it up, to become what I am meant to be -- to keep other villains from murdering the Hundreds of Thousands of souls that I once did.
That is my price. To watch over others who would take the same path, and make the same mistakes. I would not wish that penance on you, Hayame. Defeating him should be in battle, not like squashing a flea.
no subject
[ She asked. She does not sound angry, but she is -- sad. Pained. Years of guilt have eaten away at her. Years of knowing what she could never have. Of finding Catherine weedling her way into her heart, and finding the weak spots that she should not have, and Catherine excised them, and brought them into the light. She had spent months -- nearly a year -- in the empty dark that was the mantle of woe, only brought out when she was useful, and even then, she somehow held onto her sanity.
Barely, but she had. Her fist does not tighten, but it reaches up to touch her shard, obvious from her low-cut dress. ]
My father was killed for my hubris that day. They cut off his ears, and murdered him.
[ That gets a rise out of her, a quavering of tone. Her father had loved her, despite everything. He cared for her when he should not have, and taught her everything she knew about magic. Dumisai had been not a kind man, but a brilliant mind, and he had always been kinder to her, than anyone else had been. ]
In the aftermath, my mother poisoned herself, and died.
A woman I grew to love stabbed me, and killed me. She trapped me for years for my crime. It is a crime I am still paying for today. It is what keeps me here in Meridian, despite everything.
Despite the fact that Zenith would resonate with a villain like me, I am here, because I am still paying for my crime. I found life again in a new body, and I gave it up, to become what I am meant to be -- to keep other villains from murdering the Hundreds of Thousands of souls that I once did.
That is my price. To watch over others who would take the same path, and make the same mistakes. I would not wish that penance on you, Hayame. Defeating him should be in battle, not like squashing a flea.