Black Holes and Revelations

Epiphron wanted to hate Luce far more than she did. Sure, a deep anger had begun to flourish, bubbling over into her typically serene expression and tainting her lyrics with its ugly presence. She felt for Luce, she truly did -- he had deceived her as much as she had him. The woman had entrapped him, and the helpless boy had followed in suit, even to the point of mating with her and creating the whelps that grew inside Luce's belly. As she gazed at the woman's bulging stomach, she could only be thankful that they were not of Valhalla lineage. Tail once again lashed out behind her dangerously, but despite her harsh words, Epiphron was a respectful woman at the core, and she would continue to listen to this woman as they awaited Neo's inevitable arrival.

A laugh suddenly escaped he throat, a bitter hollow sound that erupted without warning. "You act as though we have imprisoned the boy since we found him, as though he is an innocent victim! If only you knew how Neo has deceived you into the lies that he, himself, has grown to believe!" He words were suddenly brimming with laughter, incredulous at the way she described Neo. "I grew up alongside Neo. He was never held against his will, and it is only as he faced adulthood that he begun to spin these twisted webs of lies in his head." Suddenly the girl's laughter faded, her voice painfully serious. "Neo was never a prisoner of Valhalla until he turned on the ones who effectively raised him. You act as though we have concocted this situation among our numbers, wanting to harm Neo -- I know not what you think of Valhalla, nor do I know what you think our aims are -- but I can convince you, as a child who was raised alongside Neo, as his sister, that he was never treated as you seem to imply. The Adravendi family loved him as one of their own, alongside his biological brother. His hatred sprung out of nowhere. I first caught sign of it when he was not given a position alongside me, and my sister. But Luce, he had not earned it; he had retreated into the darkness of his own mind and refused to come out." Nose wrinkled slightly in agitation. This woman would likely not believe her, would think Valhalla a pack of savages and torturers. If only she knew the depths of Neo's madness, which Epiphron herself was beginning to see -- her family had been unable to save him from himself. "I will grant that you have not manipulated Neo, so long as you take heed to the words I say, as well. We mourned the loss of our brother, and my father of a son, when Neo left -- but we would never have sought to claim him if it had not been for his blatant disregard for the very creatures who saved him, and nursed him to life. He is a selfish child. Do you not think he should be punished for betraying us, and possibly putting all of Valhalla into danger? Should such abhorrent actions not be punished? Would you not expect punishment yourself if you strove to destroy the very ones who opened their hearts to you?" Her voice had risen again, growing slowly more frustrated. She both hated and love Neo; hated him for betraying them, but memories of them as children sprung back painfully as she reflected on the boy, times when he had not been so easily angered, so conniving and destructive.

"The point of this?" Her gaze had cooled, despite the increase in volume of her tones. Something like pain shone in her eyes as she watched Luce, feeling for the unborn children that would go without a father. "Do you not believe in punishment, Luce? Do you think you can simply walk the earth without fear of consequences of your actions?" She was not speaking about Luce in particular, but rather a general statement. "Neo's betrayal, had Tortuga been stronger, may have very well cost us the lives of numerous members. And why? Simply because we loved him, but refused to hand him what he wanted on a silver platter, he thought it would be best to divulge our secrets to them. And for that, Luce, he deserves punishment. You can disagree all you want, claim that our hatred of him drives this, but justice has always been served in Valhalla, and Neo is no exception." Pain cracked in her voice as she spoke, finding it surprisingly painful to speak of Neo. Her mind drifted to Maverick, wondering how he might take her words, whether he would approve of how she spoke to Luce.