Accept the things you cannot change (Open)

[Markus Andres]

Markus listened to her tale, the introduction of her life in the welcome home. If it was not for the knowledge of the fire, Markus would have found her tale heart warming. But the omnious ending of the tale, loomed over her story. He sighed heavily when she named the unfortunate children who had perished in the fire. He was angry with her, very angry, that she was the cause of those children's death. But he did not act on it, for he understood how terrible she felt. How guilty. He also understood as she continued speaking, that she did not wish it had happened. Nor did she really carry the blame. She could not have known it would happen. When she revealed who she thought had attacked the orphanage, Markus could only stare at her. A large part of him wanted to dismiss her as a lunatic with no grasp of reality. But she spoke with such conviction. Still: A god ordering his champion to attack someone within Syliras? Markus brain short wired soon after that. For the woman earned extra points in lunacy when she explained what this ”Drainira” was. She called it a golem or supervisor. It quickly got very strange and far outside of Markus’ field of expertise. He sort of wished they could go back to talking about gods and faith, such things seemed straight forward compared to what she was trying to explain to him. Her attempt to compare it to Loren Dyres failed miserably. Him being a part of Stormhold castle, then not, yet still. But then becoming himself. He maintained a polite listening ear while his brain ran in circles attempting to make out what was the head and what was the tail of her story. So many things he did not understand. He felt he was incapable of understanding. He managed to understand some of it, Sagallius’ champion was artificial. A word he heard so rare that he had almost forgotten the meaning of it. But it had gained life. It was beyond his comprehension how that could have happened. But even amidst his confusion, he had picked up that she was from Sahova. For it explained why he had felt so uncomfortable around her. Being from Sahova, she was most likely a Nuit. When she said it was a weird question. Markus almost laughed out loud. Despite the dire situation she was explaining, her claiming that to be weird. He just shook his head slowly. The answer to her next question was obvious. ”The world belongs to the righteous gods, those with honour and integrity. Not those who manipulate or spread chaos.” Markus calmly explained. He was happy the conversation had turned to something he could have a say in. Something he could understand. Markus took a deep breath. For he felt a slow anger rise in him. A goddess had bestowed her one of the greatest honours one could achieve in life and she doubted, she were not loyal? ”If I understand this correctly... You are more concerned with your friendship to this Stitch, than you are with the dead children? You owe those children to carry on the battle. For we owe the gods everything in this world. Would you forsake one who bestows you with the great honour of a gnosis and friendship, for your friendship with a man?” He looked at the odd sparkling light in her hands and immediately understood that he was seeing the power of the gods channelled through this woman. It was amazing. But he looked back up at her face. His eyes fierce. ”I am not sure I understand your quest for a deeper meaning or the need for it. But if you want to prevent Sagallius in the name of your goddess, then you should not regret the sacrifices you have made and instead accept that they have been made. Children have died and that makes me despise the acts of Sagallius, but not as much as I would despise you should you forsake your cause. For that would have meant their deaths were for nothing.” Markus paused as his mind returned to the poor lad he had left to die when he had been in the forest with Rhuryc. There had been no deeper meaning with that. Just a foolish mistake on his part. His anger immediately dissipated with that memory and his voice became softer. ”Are you sure there even is a deeper meaning? You were targeted in a battle. Such things are to be expected. But you survived to continue fighting. And if I am to believe you, you were targeted by the strongest soldier your enemy had. They must consider you quite a threat to their cause…” Markus said. He trailed off. ”Can there ever be a deeper meaning with the death of innocent children…” He added with a sigh.