Between
>this< and
>that<.
Cayce
I hope you won't find fault with it - I've barely mentioned
Avis. Otherwise please ask for it to be edited, of course. Thank you !
Even though the place was so familiar to the Curator, he still couldn't relax. How could he ? Granted, he was standing in his Order's headquarters, but he was also waiting beside a Warlock Arrow whose beliefs were of great concern to him, and who had called more Awakened to her side to support her. Could he hope to turn them all to his side, convince them that Avis needed help ? He had to hope. Without hope, they might as well throw down their lives for all to take.
Since she had seemed to him both angry and afraid, Miach took great care to keep a safe distance from her, and even purposefully turned his back to the woman, so she could perhaps feel like he wasn't threatening her. Meanwhile, he was trying his best not to let his body language betray his agitation, the whirlwind in his mind. How would he explain that lives held infinite possibilities ahead of them, and were thus infinitely precious because of that ? that Death as the ultimate stopping process meant that hopes and possibilities became meaningless, nullified, futile ? that the Awakening was a promise meant for the living, and only the living ?
Death was perhaps - probably - another trapping of the Lie, but noone had escaped from it and come talking, to the best of what Miach had been able to find. Why choose it over life, then, and shut down all potential futures ? For Freedom ? Did Freedom really exist, when even your Fates could be manipulated ? It was likely that the kind of Freedom they were experiencing was the one of a puppet who could see some strings, and believe that all other motions it did were out of free will, whereas it was simply blind to many thinner, more subtles threads. It seemed futile then to throw a tantrum over what you can see and break the doll, instead of going on and on and on until the day when you're sure you've got it all sorted out at last.
How would he convince Star, Truce or Emrys ? What about Wayland or Crowley ? He was convinced, but could he be convincing ? And what if he failed ? Would Avis still think that lives mattered less than some tilting against windmills ? her life ? or others too ? This Consilium didn't need rash hotheads, it needed determined and coolheaded people. Such as he ? The Acanthus knew himself too well. He had shortcomings aplenty. But at least he respected lives, and was optimistic that with time and efforts, lives could be bettered, and perhaps someday the Lie shaked off entirely.
Such grand hopes... for now, he had to convince a couple of other Awakeneds that they were precious, and worth more than a couple of lost fights in passing... It promised to be no small task.
He had to hope.