"Oi, get yourself together." I told her with a frown.
Unfortunately, she was a little more delirious than I had originally thought. Veya didn't exactly laugh, as she did madly cackle, as if she had been told the greatest joke in the whole world and had only just understood the punchline.
In a sense, she had been.
I wasn't sure what the noble cause she spoke off was. But I didn't need to know to understand. If someone tried to explain their actions as righteous, nine times out of ten, it never truly was.
In my original life, when I had been kidnapped and brought to the ship, my captors hadn't shied away from telling me of their delusions. Supposedly, my organs being harvested was done for a righteous reason, and it was something that I should have been grateful to be a part of.
Wrap it up however you like—righteous reason or noble cause—the fact remained the same. It was all a lie, dressed in some pretty words to make those in power lose any feelings of guilt they might possess. It was done to make them view it all as a necessary sacrifice, a necessary evil.
'In a way, Veya and I are two victims of the same people.' It sparked a feeling of something within me. Not exactly pity, but...something resembling compassion.
We were born three hundred years apart, and yet, in those three centuries, humanity had never changed. They remained the same, cruel, creatures as they always had been.
I sighed, feeling my shoulders sag with an invisible weight. For the first time since my reincarnation, I began to feel my true age.
Because...I was just as much a part of the problem, as those around me. Veya wasn't exempt, of course, she was just as proudful and cruel as everyone else, but there was a difference.
Veya was made into the cruel person I had met, moulded and shaped by a world that expected it of her. Her tears were proof of it. They rolled freely down her cheeks, her crazed laughter gradually turning into choking sobs.
It was proof of a person who had broken under the pressure placed upon them.
As for myself...well, I didn't have an excuse. I was born with that innate instinct.
My first life had taught me how to wield my cruelty through various lessons. My second life was sharpening those lessons, and my own experience, into a deadly blade. Already, I had used my powers to harm and kill twice.
I know I didn't have much of a choice in either of the fights I had gotten myself into, I wasn't blind to that fact. But the truth remained, and the truth didn't change.
'What was that saying...power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely? That sounds about right.' It was fitting too, I thought. Because I hadn't used my powers to help, but to inflict harm and bring about death.
When you have as much power as I do at the tips of my fingers, it reveals a person's true nature. My nature, my instinct, was that of a twisted...corrupted beast wearing the skin of a human. And I, I didn't want to be like this anymore.
Really, what I was trying to say, was that I wished to be better, to do better.
'There's no better time to start than now, I guess.'
It was awkward, and I wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea in my head, but I still went through with it. I did it as more of a way to prove to myself that I still had a chance to change.
Veya laid on the ground; her head pressed to the dirt path and her arms wrapped around her body as she sobbed and cried. It was the reason why she flinched and lurched back so suddenly, when she felt two larger arms, cautiously move to surround her.
"What are you doing?" She asked, sniffling and moving to desperately wipe away at her tears.
My throat constricted, feeling awkward, before [Omphalos Mind] banished the emotion away.
I shrugged lightly in response, and said, "It's a hug...it's meant to make you feel better."
"Oh...you're um, you're not very good at giving hugs, are you?" She asked lightly, shifting in my arms to look at me with watery eyes.
I felt my cheeks burn slightly. "I'm not as experienced as I should be, no."
"It's okay, its um, it's nice, thank you." She gave me a ghost of a smile, the edges of her lips tugging up and pushing the raw burn mark on her cheek higher with the motion.
All whilst more of her tears fell. Without saying another word, she cautiously, and slowly laid her head on my shoulder.
I remained as still as a statue, my body wound tight and tense as I wondered what I was meant to actually do in this position.
All of my experience with hugs came from my childhood, when my mother would hold me and...rub my back....
'Yeah, that isn't going to happen. This is already awkward enough; I am not about to rub her back and make it worse.' I thought, beginning to regret ever going through with this idea.
At the very least, after a few minutes had passed, Veya's tears had stopped flowing, and her sobs had quieted. So, I guess it was a job well done for me?
"I'm going to move now." I awkwardly muttered, slowly moving my arms off her body.
"Right."
We both moved to stand, taking a few steps from each other.
"Are you...Did that help at all?" I asked, clearing my throat and looking away.
"I-Yes, thank you." She stuttered, her own cheeks gaining a rosy hue of red.
'At least I'm not the only one finding this embarrassing. Why the hell did I think that was a good idea?' Let it be known that my social skills were inept at best, and missing at worst.
"Right, so, um, we should probably talk." I began, voice steady even as I mentally berated myself. "I still don't know as much as I probably should."
Veya nodded her head quickly, as if she wanted nothing more than to forget about the last few minutes. Luckily, I was of a similar mind. From trying to kill each other to hugging, I think this might have been one of the most awkward human interactions I had ever experienced.
"So, why do you keep referring to me as a high born? Actually, what does being a high born even mean?" I asked, watching Veya with some caution as she limped to sit against the trunk of a tree.
I slowly followed after her, putting myself against a large, twisted root as she began to speak.