shadowofpride | Empatheias IC Inbox

[....She was here, of course the gods would decide to bring her here after everything he had done. What cruel irony this was. ]

.... [He didn't want to say anything. There was no point in pretending to be something he wasn't. Everyone knew and she would have found out...or probably already has. Still, some small part of him felt a need to respond to his mother.] It's working.

[His tone was even, the coldness melting away and returning the link to something more neutral, even if there was this odd low rumbling sound in the background.]

[The coldness was unexpected, though to be fair, she hadn't been certain what to expect, with the stories. And yet the voice she heard after was like her son's, and at the same time, not at all.]

Selim ...

[She had not thought step two of this plan very far, now that contact had been accomplished.]

So it is. So it is. Oh heavens. [He was not supposed to hear all of that, but mental links didn't allow the best for discretion.]

I won't lie, I know what's happened here, and ... I know that you're not entirely who I thought you were. I still want to hear it from you.

[Nope. Not what he wanted to deal with.] If you know, then you should address me as Pride.

[Since she confirmed it herself, the child in him went into the background. This was now just a conversation with another troublesome human to him.]

From me, in hopes that it was all a mistake? That your son is actually a good little boy? I doubt anything I tell you will be different from what you've been told.

Is that what you prefer to be called?

[It made the fact that she often thought of him as her pride almost all too literal.]

In any case, that's for me to decide, isn't it? I don't know what your thoughts were going into this at all.

That is my real name. [So yes.]

I was looking for a way home, and I did whatever I had to in order to find that answer.

And how do you feel about that decision now?

[What do you mean how did he feel? Why does that matter?]

Considering that it was a success, I don't have any regrets from my decision.

Do you truly consider it as such? Lives have been taken in that cause, and you're right back here, aren't you?

Anyone can be brought here against their will, that is something out of my control.

[Shadows seem to linger within the edges of the link, followed by this empty coldness as he listened to this human try to reason with him. It's laughable really, how naive she was.] I could care less. They had a purpose to serve and if they died, it was because they were weak.

If you knew returning was out of your control, then why did you feel it necessary to force a way to leave in the first place?

[There is a slight feeling of nausea that comes from hearing him speak with such disregard to those who had suffered due to those actions. She's glad that she's seated, and that he can't see the way she's balled her hands up into the fabric of her shawl.]

I had some unfinished business back home. Time may work differently here, but everyday here was time wasted when I could be doing something more important back home.

[For a moment, it's hard to focus the words. There's a tightness in her chest, that grief from that Day reemerging, but she takes a breath, trying to keep herself focused and calm despite it all.]

And... just what was it that made what you were doing so important to you?

That information is not relevant to you. [Short and to the point. She would get nothing more out of him from that line of questioning.]

In fact, I think I've more than satisfied your curiosity. Whatever you were hoping to find from asking me what you already know, is a meaningless endeavor.

Oh, I hardly found it meaningless. I just wonder how well you understand your own motivations...

What a redundant inquiry. I always know exactly what I desire with every decision I make.

Oh, you've made it clear that you know what you want. That wasn't what I was wondering. It just ... must be very lonely, to live like that.

[There was silence and then came this unsettling laughter. The voice that answers back was inhuman and distorted, as if there were many voices answering as one.]

You are a fool. It is humans who desire the companionship of others, because you are all too weak on your own. [The shadows began to expand, giving off the feeling of being trapped. ] I have no need for something so pitiful and pointless.

Good heavens...

[Son, that is creepy. And rude. And a little telling, actually. Which is why she rapidly forces her own thoughts on light, warmth and open spaces, though she's leaning forward in her seat, the heels of her palms pressed just above her eyes, fingers curled in.]

The fact that you would respond in such a way... you are afraid of needing others, aren't you? Why else would you act like the bully in the school yard?

Afraid? Who do you take me for!? [Now she done it. How dare she challenge Pride, the first and the oldest. There was this feeling of the walls being pressed against the receiver.]

How dare you lecture me as if I follow your human standards. I don't need others, because homunculi has no need for anyone like your weak kind does! [There was bloodlust in his tone, a strong desire to kill and punish these ungrateful humans. It had been some time since he could do...well anything and he clearly snapped.] We're through here. Don't contact me again, you lowlife.

[And the pressure suddenly disappeared, the connection now broken.]

[Well, after that outburst, she's almost rather glad he chose to abruptly cut the link between them. He had clearly worked himself up to a point beyond reason, and there was no sense continuing down that line of thought at this time -- and was he, truly, beyond reason, as everyone had thought? Was this even enough evidence to make such a deduction on?

Her head was pounding with a lingering ache. That had been... something. There was no preparing for that last onslaught. So she was left alone to sit quietly with her thoughts, heart breaking yet again.]

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