[ He's quiet as Lacus retells her story. It's tragic, but Xiao is not unfamiliar with losing loved ones in such a horrific manner. Paying the price in blood...it's something he understands. Still, it doesn't make it any easier to grasp.
There would be no greater betrayal of his sacrifice than to regret. That in particular sticks out to him. Xiao cannot claim responsibility for what happened to the family he'd lost – the other yakshas – but he's always been tied to the past, living in their memory and in the shadow of who he used to be. Maybe the way he's going about it is doing them more of a disservice than he'd like to admit.
A brighter future is what he's always been fighting for, anyway, even if it's not immediately obvious. ]
...I see.
[ Her story seems to resonate with him, perhaps more than either of them were anticipating. ]
You've been through more than what I expected. It takes courage to move forward from tragedy in the way that you have. [ Perhaps she thinks otherwise, but like he's told her before, he can only speak for himself and his own thoughts. ] I am the sole surviving yaksha – I protect the world from monsters that have manifested from the hatred of the fallen gods. I have spent centuries believing that I only knew bloodshed, that I was not a hero, but a slaughterer. I had only started to change that perspective before arriving here, but even so, the memories of the past continue to torment me.
[ And that's all tied to his Karmic Debt, but he won't go into that right now. ]
Yet, when you mentioned your desire to move forward in pursuit of a brighter future, I could not help but realize that, perhaps, I am the same. I would not be so focused on preserving life if that were untrue. And I will not claim that my actions here have been perfect, but I have always kept the way forward in mind.
Hearing that this way of thinking is not a mistake...it makes me feel less foolish for being cautiously optimistic, in that way.
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i am ALSO sorry for the late!
There would be no greater betrayal of his sacrifice than to regret. That in particular sticks out to him. Xiao cannot claim responsibility for what happened to the family he'd lost – the other yakshas – but he's always been tied to the past, living in their memory and in the shadow of who he used to be. Maybe the way he's going about it is doing them more of a disservice than he'd like to admit.
A brighter future is what he's always been fighting for, anyway, even if it's not immediately obvious. ]
...I see.
[ Her story seems to resonate with him, perhaps more than either of them were anticipating. ]
You've been through more than what I expected. It takes courage to move forward from tragedy in the way that you have. [ Perhaps she thinks otherwise, but like he's told her before, he can only speak for himself and his own thoughts. ] I am the sole surviving yaksha – I protect the world from monsters that have manifested from the hatred of the fallen gods. I have spent centuries believing that I only knew bloodshed, that I was not a hero, but a slaughterer. I had only started to change that perspective before arriving here, but even so, the memories of the past continue to torment me.
[ And that's all tied to his Karmic Debt, but he won't go into that right now. ]
Yet, when you mentioned your desire to move forward in pursuit of a brighter future, I could not help but realize that, perhaps, I am the same. I would not be so focused on preserving life if that were untrue. And I will not claim that my actions here have been perfect, but I have always kept the way forward in mind.
Hearing that this way of thinking is not a mistake...it makes me feel less foolish for being cautiously optimistic, in that way.