Vampire District

[SINIB]

Roman

It was hard to listen to, not because of the severity of it, but because it hit so close to home.  Even so, he couldn't stop listening.  This sort of traumatic backstory, it wasn't something he was a stranger to.  Quite frankly, the citizens of the nexus were no strangers to some form of trauma.  It was the fact that it came from a person like Sakura, so powerful, someone who seemed to have at least most of it figured out.

Roman's eyes widened and he spoke with a soft voice.  "Slow down.... You.... I want to know, but you don't have to tell me anymore if you don't want to."

He didn't understand all of it yet.  It was too incoherent.  Her sister Rin leaving for the airport?  Her weak parents?  Was it the pain of being abandoned that set her off or the sister...?  Yeah it was the abandonment wasn't it?  She was hurt by the people closest to her.

"But... I do want to know...."

Sakura

Sakura gracefully wiped away the tears from her eyes and shook her head—no, if she stopped here, she wouldn't want to come back and talk about all this again. "What do you want to know-my entire life story? Heh. It's not all that rosy, but it's not all that bad, either..."


Sakura went on to talk about her early days in Finland. The bitter cold which nipped at her the moment she stepped outside, the long, endless days and nights, and the completely alien language she couldn't even begin to hope to learn how to comprehend. Despite that, she also talked about the beauty of her new homeland. The serenity of the arctic, the lights which flashed across the sky and lit up the long nights, as well as her love of metal which had been forced upon her by her newly adopted sister.

For her, it had been a long childhood, and at this point, she paused. Discussing the details of her family's crest would reduce the weight of its mystery, slowly yet inexorably weakening her should she decide to divulge its details. At least, in her world, that was how it had worked. She had no idea if she'd find similar restrictions within the Nexus-perhaps the weight of its mystery would be increased by the lack of her sort of mages, in fact. She was the only soul in the universe who really understood the intricacies of her magic.

So she talked about her crest-not in details which would simply bore Roman, not in the long-winded lectures she'd recieved at the clocktower regarding the nature of magic, but in how it had felt. How she'd felt powerless, how much it had hurt to have a foreign object engraved upon her central nervous system, to live symbiotically alongside her and forcing the combined knowledge of her family into her psyche. But also of the euphoria of finally, truly, gaining the ability to use the powers of her family. Of the ability to grow in power and try to make something of herself despite all of the challenges which she knew that she would face.

"If you want-I can give you a taste of this with hypnosis magic-to see and feel things as I did, Roman."

At some point, she'd started to smile-probably around when she discussed how kindly Luvia had treated her, how she'd protected her from bullies, and fought for her rights as a real member of the Edelfeldt family.

[yinsukin]

Roman

At last Roman understood why she said what she did.  The idea of getting something engraved into your body to be a "real mage," was relatable.  In a way, thats ultimately why he took the vampirism so quickly.  He got to move from a human with nothing to a vampire of the night, a monster who treated humans like cattle.  The only true way to be someone was to step over another's body.  Leaning forward, he nodded.

"Yeah.  I want to feel what your feeling too.  Truth be told, I'd still rather be you.  I'd rather go through all of that trauma, just to exist as someone.  You can whine and whine about how hard you worked all day, but the fact of the matter is someone with true talent like you could never work as hard as someone like me.  A person who walks through life will never work as hard as someone who crawls."

Roman's eys scanned the room, wondering for the first time what these other vampire's lives were like.  Maybe they all had similar stories.  One thing had been made clear.  "We have a lot more in common than I thought," he said, sighing.  "....If you want you can look inside my mind too....  I don't mind.  I just would stay away from the hornier parts of my brain if you can."

Frowning, he said, "I think the strongest people in the world are those with talent who get through truama, the rest of us.... are losers."

He said that but he didn't really believe it.  Thats why he left his home to become strong after all, because he wanted to prove that "reality" wrong.

[SINIB]

Roman

At last Roman understood why she said what she did.  The idea of getting something engraved into your body to be a "real mage," was relatable.  In a way, thats ultimately why he took the vampirism so quickly.  He got to move from a human with nothing to a vampire of the night, a monster who treated humans like cattle.  The only true way to be someone was to step over another's body.  Leaning forward, he nodded.

"Yeah.  I want to feel what your feeling too.  Truth be told, I'd still rather be you.  I'd rather go through all of that trauma, just to exist as someone.  You can whine and whine about how hard you worked all day, but the fact of the matter is someone with true talent like you could never work as hard as someone like me.  A person who walks through life will never work as hard as someone who crawls."

Roman's eys scanned the room, wondering for the first time what these other vampire's lives were like.  Maybe they all had similar stories.  One thing had been made clear.  "We have a lot more in common than I thought," he said, sighing.  "....If you want you can look inside my mind too....  I don't mind.  I just would stay away from the hornier parts of my brain if you can."

Frowning, he said, "I think the strongest people in the world are those with talent who get through truama, the rest of us.... are losers."

He said that but he didn't really believe it.  Thats why he left his home to become strong after all, because he wanted to prove that "reality" wrong.

Sakura

"Hehe..." Sakura chuckled, shaking her head at him. "A girl comes and spills her guts out to you, talking about trauma she hasn't talked with anyone about ever, and you still managed to loop it back around to your inferiority complex. Incredible. A belief like that will get you killed one day-those with power are no less capable of hard work than those without. Whether or not you think I work as hard as you, you'll find one day that talent isn't anathematic to genuine effort."

She flipped her hair with a thin smile. "I finally think I'm beginning to understand you, Roman. If you'd stop being such an asshole to me, I think we could be friends. At the very least, your honesty about your feelings is refreshing."

[yinsukin]

Roman

"No.  I won't stop being an asshole."

Roman's stare was intense.  He did not laugh along with her, instead just frowning at her.  "Whatever you want to call me, I won't ever stop being me.  "If being an asshole" is too much for you, then we don't have to be friends.  Your not a bad person, but your a fool if you think you can make real friends by pretending to be something your not.  I respected you from the day I met you, and I still do now.  You spilling your guts like this only makes me appreciate you more."

Roman sighed, folding his arms over his muscular chest.  "I don't think i've worked as hard as anyone worth anything, especially not you.  I only just started my journey the other day.  Every other attempt i've made to be strong has been half assed.  Effort is nice and all, and its a cute sentiment to have, makes everyone feel real nice, but at the end of the day results are what matter.  Power is power.  How you get it isn't important."

The young man thought back to his conversation with Yusho, thinking maybe how he used it was important.  Maybe it was about time he considered another possibility about the nature of strength, something far more important.  "Do... you think if you had more power it would help?  More influence, more strength, more love from the people around you?  More ability to achive whatever you wanted in life?  Do you think that getting more power would honestly make you happy?"

He wanted to know before he saw more.