He gave her a little smile - one meant to comfort like before, but also almost bittersweet, like he was only doing it for her and not because he genuinely felt happy. "You're not the only one who has done terrible things," he whispered. "I was forced to do things even you would be disgusted by."
"I don't know if there's anything I'd be surprised at anymore," she answers, voice wavering.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
He gave her hand another tight squeeze, looking her right in the eye as he did so. "Remember how I said I was summoned by someone named Ra? He was a horrible, horrible person, from a race of evil beings called the Goa'uld. And the way that summoning works is that I have to follow whatever charge I'm given. Ra had no problem with giving me cruel charges."
He tried to keep his voice low, but it was hard to when he was talking about something so personal. "Ra ruled over countless planets. He used me to intimidate the people he enslaved and commanded. I slaughtered more villages than I can count. I threatened. I executed. I became so notorious that all of the other Goa'uld and the people they enslaved were convinced that I was one of them."
The smile he had earlier had faded, and he had adopted a much more serious expression. "So trust me when I say I'm here for you," Maahes said. "The two of us are more similar than you would have thought."
She looks up at him, conflicted and torn and unsure. She wants to trust him but she's honestly afraid to. It was the first thing she learned in this work - trust no one, because they will inevitably hurt you, and if they don't, they'll only be a liability.
She wants to tell him the truth. She wants to tell him that it's her fault that she lost her freewill, that it was her own hand that signed her name on the papyrus so long ago. She wants to tell him that she hates it, that she hates herself, but that she can't help but smile when the target gazes up at her with pure, primal terror and blood begins to flow.
Because, she's sure no matter what he's done, he's glad not to keep doing it, and that's what really makes her a monster.
Trust me. Are you so foolish as to listen to that? The moment he learns the truth, you will be abandoned, the serpent murmurs.
She swallows and tries to push the voice away, looking down. "No, I. . .I. . ." she struggles to make herself say the words and she hesitates. She can't bring herself to reject him for whatever reason. "Than- agh!" she jerks back and collapses, grabbing her head as the thing utters an infernal shriek that echoes deafeningly through her mind, angered.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
Raiden heard a thunk. He turned to see what the sound was, only to find Auryon on the ground. He walked over to her. "Are you...are you good, my dude?"
I'm cool as a cucumber Even if I'm in a pickle
Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.
Keep the secret, assassin, the voice bids. Don't get attached, or someone will die. I mean it. We have work to do.
"Fine," she grunts. "I'm fine."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
"Yes," she snaps, pushing herself back to her feet.
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
"Auryon, please don't pretend you're okay when you're not," Maahes whispered. Maybe not loud enough for the others to hear, but loud enough for her to. He went to give her some sort of reassuring touch - maybe gripping her hand or even a hug - but hesitated when he recalled her reaction to Raiden asking how she was feeling.
It was like she was an animal that had been backed into a corner, terrified of what the one who forced them there would do and ready to lash out at even the slightest movement. He didn't want to ruin things between him and her. He let his hands hang down at his side and instead gave her a concerned look.
"I get that you don't want other people to see what you're really like," he said. "I've put up a lot of masks, too. Sometimes it's necessary if you want to do what you have to do. But right here, you don't need to do that. We just need to figure out what's going on, and there's no need for you to pretend to be tougher than you are."
She looks up at him, tears in her eyes. She wants an ally. She wants someone so badly, she yearns for that thing that every human needs. If she could just have one person, one person to trust, one person that could understand her.
But she can't, because Apophis revels in her pain, and because she won't let her. "I'm a lot of things," she answers softly, "And free isn't one of them."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
Raiden sighed and held up his hands. "Alright, I'm not helping, I get it. I'll leave now," he said, walking back to the table. He glanced at her as he sat down, a worried expression stuck to his face as he took a bite of a banana.
I'm cool as a cucumber Even if I'm in a pickle
Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.
Larrel stayed back, watching with worry on her face. It had to be that snake again. However that worked, it shared a body with Auryon, and they weren't the same person. But she didn't know what to say, or how to help, so she simply stood there, watching as Maahes tried to comfort her. She gave a brief glance back at her brother.
She wasn't sure what James thought. He looked alert, as usual. Maybe a little concerned, but she couldn't be sure.
Sure, he was her brother. But they hadn't seen each other in... years. He was an entirely different person now, and on top of her not knowing him at all he was incredibly hard to read. She frowned. Everything about this situation was confusing and she didn't understand any of it. As she looked down at the book in her hands, she kind of hoped it was all a dream. Then maybe her real brother could still live on in her memory, instead of being replaced by this one.
He had been so set on not disturbing her personal space, but it was hard to stick to that rule when she was starting to cry. He couldn't cry - not in the way humans did, anyways. But the few times where he had managed to get across how sad he was, especially when he was with Annie, were made by better by a warm, comforting hug. It was a reminder that he wasn't really alone, even if he had felt like that for so long.
So he hesitantly went over to Auryon and awkwardly pulled her into an embrace. "I understand," he said. "I've spent my whole life being told what to do. My childhood might have been 'free' in a sense, but even then I was forced to study when all I wanted to do was explore."
He looked into her eyes. "But you'll be free someday. I promise. It's take me tens of thousands of years to get that point, but I'm here now, as free as all of the humans I've envied for countless years. You just have to hold on until then." He gave her a smile. "And it always helps to have someone by your side until then."
"I can't," she murmurs, not resisting the hug. Her voice wavers a little. "I can't. I'm living on borrowed time, Leo. The moment I'm free, I will die."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
Surround yourself with people who are serious about being writers, and who will tell you, ‘Hey—you can do better than this.’ Who will be critical of your work, but also supportive. And who will not be competitive in a negative way. — Isabel Quintero
Gender:
Points: 1234
Reviews: 590