Rowan watched the play of emotion flit through the face of the mortal and he waited for his words to sink in. He thought he was about to get through to her but the next words she said made him sigh,
"Why should I believe anything you say, you are the enemy."
Rowan nodded, "Yes, I am your enemy, I am the one responsible for your death, and countless more, and in time perhaps the death of every mortal and Explorer in this realm, yet at this moment that means nothing to your questions about my nature and the reality around you."
Nyla chuckled, a disbelieving smirk on her face, "You expect me to believe the word of my enemy? Why would I ever want to do such a thing?"
"You won't be doing it because of me," Rowan smiled at her expression, "the thought of doing something that goes against your nature... Can you resist? You do not have much time left in the endless rat race this realm has placed on you, helpless mortals. What would you like your end to be like?"
Nyla went silent, and she remained like that for another hour, her life kept fading away and when she spoke, her voice was so low, that only a supernatural being like Rowan could have heard her,
"I was wrong, I thought you were different from the others, because you had two natures inside your body, but you are all the same... Ascendants, Calamities, we are all the ants beneath your feet. You claim I want to do this because of my curiosity as if your design was not part of it."
Rowan watched the mortal laughing in silence, and soon her laughter transformed into weeping and then wailing. Rowan had once experienced helplessness, but even at his lowest he had always known that he might come out triumphant, and even if he could not do so, the journey for him was a reward all on its own, but he knew that it was not everyone who had his mindset.
This mortal had been born into a world of misery, and sacrificed her entire life in the service of a cause, Rowan should know, because he had all her memories from the day of her birth, and with a wave of his hand the surrounding transformed and Nyla felt the change, and the sound of a baby's cry, this strange yet familiar sound drew her attention, and she was held in place by the sight before her.
"Even as a child, your voice is particularly loud," Rowan's voice broke her from the reverie, this scene before her was so lifelike, it was almost as if she had been transported back in time.
The scene was one of beauty, but also horror; a woman held a crying baby to her breast, and above her was a man with his back turned to them holding a weapon, his face was filled with anger, fear, and desperation because he was the last defense standing between his wife and newly born child.
Nyla stood up and stopped in front of the man, tears in her eyes, "It was said that he was only a Heroic Explorer but he fought against three Glorious Calamities before he fell. He held his ground for days, and not a single harm befell me or my mother. I have never seen my father's face before, I thought it was lost to the past."
She grimaced and turned towards Rowan, "Why are you showing me this memory? To torture me, or perhaps to appease a sick desire of yours?"
"I show it to you because I understand what it is like to feel loss. There are parts of my actions you cannot understand, for it would seem like the ravings of a lunatic. You might think I have taken countless mortal lives, yes I have, but in my eyes, I have taken none. I have only changed their state of being, for their origin is intact."
Fury suddenly colored Rowan's gaze and he looked at the heavens, "There were many moments where I could have easily taken another path, mined the origin for its strength, but I do nothing of such, but my enemies do not share my mercy, they have killed my children, and this is the only way I know how to mourn... by honoring a mortal."
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