Well. [He's quiet for a second. He doesn't know exactly the sense Leo means 'kill,' a word that can incorporate a lot of things, but it doesn't matter so much. He's so young, and he thinks he isn't. And that can be a recipe for disaster.]
[ though he is turning the phone over in his hands, flipping it around, tapping on the back of it - anxious movements - and he talks fast. ]
There's a prophecy back home, and one line of it is "To storm or fire the world must fall." And there's this goddess, Gaea, who's trying to make a comeback, right? She's the goddess of earth. The world, you know?
She didn't like that line. And because I'm the only demigod in centuries to show up with power over fire, she paid me a visit when I was eight. Locked my mom in the warehouse and tried to scare me off. She thought that by making me use my power and lose my mom, I'd stay out of the whole prophecy thing later.
But the way I see it? This prophecy is my chance to finally get back at her. I'm going to be the fire that makes the world fall.
[He's just listening to this trying to keep a neutral face over the revelation that not only did he kill his mom, he did it by burning his house down. He scratches a little at his arm, sighs.]
. . . I know from experience that it may be impossible to believe this, but I'll say it anyway. You are not responsible for what some powerful person did to hurt you. You were a child.
[He does know that might be taken badly, because he would take it badly, if someone said that about him. But it still seems important to say.]
[ he lets out a puff of breath, not quite a laugh, but almost. ]
Yeah, I have some good friends who've been trying to hammer that one into my skull. Doesn't change the fact that it happened, though. It was still my power.
[ still! with caleb's approval comes a relieved smile. ]
. . . I was about your age when it happened, a little older. And I spent a lot of time after thinking about how to, uhm, make things right, make up for it. A lot of ideas that were probably selfish.
Better to take pain and turn it into doing something good, I think. You are doing something that will help people, so it's a good plan.
[ there's still the matter of the other lines of the prophecy - of jason. ]
It's still - wishful thinking, right now. There's a lot to figure out before then, not to mention that I have to survive for that long first. But I was always better at moving forward than thinking so much on the past.
I don't know what would convince me I had. And I don't know that I believe in. . . balanced scales in the universe like that anymore. All anyone can do is try to carry their mistakes easier by adding good to the bad.
[ the entire Greek mythology would disagree with that. good thing leo has never paid much attention to it. ]
Nothing will ever bring them back, or change what happened after. I get that.
But you can't say that hitting someone who's got it out for you with the biggest fireball you can muster up wouldn't make you feel a little better. Especially if it means helping your friends out, too.
[ leo laughs, too, already far more at ease than he'd been before. ]
See, you get it! That's why I want to get my fire powers back, too - I'd love to see this place burn, for everyone who died. [ . . . ] After we get anyone who's not involved out, I mean.
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commandertoolbelt) wrote2021-06-13 06:48 pm
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I'm sorry, that you get it too.
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It was years ago. And I'm going to make up for it as soon as I can.
[ a beat. ]
I'm sorry, too. For you, I mean. It - it really sucks, when you care about them.
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[But something about the way Leo says he's going to make up for it tugs at his heartstrings.]
. . . What do you mean by that? If you don't mind my asking.
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[ though he is turning the phone over in his hands, flipping it around, tapping on the back of it - anxious movements - and he talks fast. ]
There's a prophecy back home, and one line of it is "To storm or fire the world must fall." And there's this goddess, Gaea, who's trying to make a comeback, right? She's the goddess of earth. The world, you know?
She didn't like that line. And because I'm the only demigod in centuries to show up with power over fire, she paid me a visit when I was eight. Locked my mom in the warehouse and tried to scare me off. She thought that by making me use my power and lose my mom, I'd stay out of the whole prophecy thing later.
But the way I see it? This prophecy is my chance to finally get back at her. I'm going to be the fire that makes the world fall.
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. . . I know from experience that it may be impossible to believe this, but I'll say it anyway. You are not responsible for what some powerful person did to hurt you. You were a child.
[He does know that might be taken badly, because he would take it badly, if someone said that about him. But it still seems important to say.]
I like your idea to make up for it, though.
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Yeah, I have some good friends who've been trying to hammer that one into my skull. Doesn't change the fact that it happened, though. It was still my power.
[ still! with caleb's approval comes a relieved smile. ]
It's poetic justice, right?
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. . . I was about your age when it happened, a little older. And I spent a lot of time after thinking about how to, uhm, make things right, make up for it. A lot of ideas that were probably selfish.
Better to take pain and turn it into doing something good, I think. You are doing something that will help people, so it's a good plan.
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[ there's still the matter of the other lines of the prophecy - of jason. ]
It's still - wishful thinking, right now. There's a lot to figure out before then, not to mention that I have to survive for that long first. But I was always better at moving forward than thinking so much on the past.
...Did you ever manage? Making up for it, I mean.
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I don't know what would convince me I had. And I don't know that I believe in. . . balanced scales in the universe like that anymore. All anyone can do is try to carry their mistakes easier by adding good to the bad.
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Nothing will ever bring them back, or change what happened after. I get that.
But you can't say that hitting someone who's got it out for you with the biggest fireball you can muster up wouldn't make you feel a little better. Especially if it means helping your friends out, too.
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You are correct in that. There's nothing I like more than a very big fireball and someone I won't mind hitting with it.
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See, you get it! That's why I want to get my fire powers back, too - I'd love to see this place burn, for everyone who died. [ . . . ] After we get anyone who's not involved out, I mean.
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[Just a nod of understanding sometimes you killed your parents with fire but you're still a huge pyro.]
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