[Totally not doing video because Elincia doesn't need to worry about him more than she already is. Not that he's worth worrying about, but...well. He's known Elincia long enough to know that she's got a huge heart.]
Sooo...you're a queen.
[Nico winces. Yeah, that's totally the best way to start this conversation.]
Um...I'm doing alright, by the way. Mostly safe. I've got my dog with me. Along with everything else.
I'm more of a danger to other people still right now.
[The woes of being a child of the Big Three. Elincia can't see it, but Nico has a soft smile on his face when she asks that.]
Honestly, it doesn't. I'm just afraid I went and said something that was...impolite. It's hard to be bothered by that when you have a god for a parent.
[He hesitates and plows on.]
And...I was more worried that you would be bothered by me.
[Elincia knew of the basics of Nico's abilities but she wasn't really sure how it worked or what would be dangerous about it.
Elincia laughs gently]
Oh Nico, you are far more polite and kind than the dukes and senators I've had to deal with in my short time as queen. If I wanted people to treat me they would a Queen, I would have introduced myself that way.
[That was right. Technically, if Nico lived in her world, he would be of a higher ranking than she, being a demigod and all.]
For a lot of demigods, their emotions can fuel their abilities. Sometimes, it makes them...unpredictable. The worst ones are those demigods who are rare or have rare abilities. Children of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, or their Roman counterparts Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto respectively, can be especially dangerous because they're the three most powerful gods. It gets worse when one or more of those children get into arguments and such. Natural disasters tend to happen.
[He hesitates and then sighs. He might as well come clean about his.]
My power comes from my father's domain over death. Hades is the Lord of the Dead and all the riches under the earth. His main sphere of influence is death, though, while Pluto had more of an emphasis on the riches. I've been known to cause things I touch wither and die, make the dead restless. It's why animals tend to hate or be scared of me.
[With exception to Clifford the Big Hellhound. He's almost too ashamed to keep going, but....]
Other than that...I thought maybe...after you found out I liked a...guy.
[Nico about chokes on the word, but he manages to force it out. It's a step in the right direction, at least, though it's still a struggle.]
I see. I knew a goddess like that...so you left because you were worried about hurting people.
[Elincia knew Nico was powerful but now she was beginning to truly understand what a difficult burden it must be to carry, having those powers.]
Why would that be an issue? If you love someone, you love them. My feelings about you haven't changed.
[She still considers Nico to be a good friend.
And the pieces slowly fall together for Elincia. While she had never heard of any issues in her own world, in Nico's world, a man loving another man must have had some sort of taboo, like the stigma that hung over the children of a beorc and laguz union]
It's a big reason. Even other demigods have feared me, if not hated me, for them. Like I somehow chose to be born that way. The other is...how people would react to seeing that memory.
[It's hard being a demigod of death in a culture like his.]
There's...stigma against it. A lot of it. Especially during the 1940's. My home country tried to criminalize it, but that failed. So...if anyone had been open about that sort of thing...either they got sent to a death camp in another country or you'd be publicly humiliated. Even in the modern time, people...like me...got murdered for it.
[He doesn't know when it happened, but Elincia has become a big part of his heart. Having her disapproval or rejection for something like this...it would cut deeply.]
[The same way they had all been fools for believing Yune was a dark god.
She listens, and righteous anger grows within her. She sucks in a sharp, angry breath]
That is awful. And the rulers of the country just allow this to happen? Without doing anything to protect people? To do that to people just because they've fallen in love with someone of the same gender--
[What kind of rulers allowed that to happen to their people? The very idea was abhorrent. She thinks of Heather, the wily thief who had come to her aid during the rebellion and her heart sinks to think of what a different person she might have been had she grown up in a country where this stigma was commonplace.
It definitely sounded like how the laguz were treated in the beorc countries.
[He's...honestly? He's taken aback by her reaction. Nico doesn't expect her being angry on his behalf. Jason had been mostly sympathetic rather than angry, but...then...the son of Jupiter didn't have anyone to be truly angry toward. Well, other than Cupid.]
Actually...the leaders of the two countries I spoke of allowed it to happen. Even encouraged it in some cases, especially the one where they were sent to those camps I mentioned. Though, the bigger casualties had been those who worshiped differently than them.
[Aaaaand he's related to that leader on the godly side. They don't talk about that one, though.]
Of all people who should apologize, Elincia, you're not one of them. It's not your fault, but...I appreciate the sentiment.
[Elincia doesn't get angry often but when she does, it usually comes down to injustices leaders deal to their people. A good ruler had to be kind and just to all their subjects and knowing there were many out there who allowed such injustices to happen frustrated her]
I've known of rulers who allowed such things to happen--though the targets of their hatred were the laguz--but to know there are many more like that, in many different worlds...
[It pained her a little. She wasn't so naive to believe that people could exist without fighting - something like that was natural when people with different beliefs came into conflict - but she had hoped, perhaps, other worlds were more sensible than her own]
It's why I prefer talking to the dead. They don't generally judge, but even if they did, it might invite the wrath of Hades on their souls, so they don't try.
Oh--yes. In my world, all people evolved from the Zunanma but we evolved in different ways. Some became beorc, like myself and Lord Ike. Others evolved into Laguz, people who can shift into animal like forms. Discrimination and hatred against the laguz was prevalent all over the continent.
[But she wasn't here to talk about the troubles of her homeland.]
I see. It must be simpler, that way...People are complicated, to say the least.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
[Voice]
Date: 2014-07-19 10:27 pm (UTC)Sooo...you're a queen.
[Nico winces. Yeah, that's totally the best way to start this conversation.]
Um...I'm doing alright, by the way. Mostly safe. I've got my dog with me. Along with everything else.
[Voice]
Date: 2014-07-19 10:44 pm (UTC)I'm glad to hear that. Though the 'mostly' about the safe part troubles me still.
[A beat, oh yes, Nico didn't know that]
Yes, I am the queen of Crimea. [It's subtle, but there's a very small note of anxiousness to her voice with her next words] Does it...bother you?
[Voice]
Date: 2014-07-19 11:22 pm (UTC)[The woes of being a child of the Big Three. Elincia can't see it, but Nico has a soft smile on his face when she asks that.]
Honestly, it doesn't. I'm just afraid I went and said something that was...impolite. It's hard to be bothered by that when you have a god for a parent.
[He hesitates and plows on.]
And...I was more worried that you would be bothered by me.
[Voice]
Date: 2014-07-19 11:41 pm (UTC)[Elincia knew of the basics of Nico's abilities but she wasn't really sure how it worked or what would be dangerous about it.
Elincia laughs gently]
Oh Nico, you are far more polite and kind than the dukes and senators I've had to deal with in my short time as queen. If I wanted people to treat me they would a Queen, I would have introduced myself that way.
[That was right. Technically, if Nico lived in her world, he would be of a higher ranking than she, being a demigod and all.]
Why on earth would I ever be bothered by you?
[The puzzlement in her voice is clear as day]
[Voice]
Date: 2014-07-20 12:29 am (UTC)[He hesitates and then sighs. He might as well come clean about his.]
My power comes from my father's domain over death. Hades is the Lord of the Dead and all the riches under the earth. His main sphere of influence is death, though, while Pluto had more of an emphasis on the riches. I've been known to cause things I touch wither and die, make the dead restless. It's why animals tend to hate or be scared of me.
[With exception to Clifford the Big Hellhound. He's almost too ashamed to keep going, but....]
Other than that...I thought maybe...after you found out I liked a...guy.
[Nico about chokes on the word, but he manages to force it out. It's a step in the right direction, at least, though it's still a struggle.]
[Voice]
Date: 2014-07-20 12:47 am (UTC)[Elincia knew Nico was powerful but now she was beginning to truly understand what a difficult burden it must be to carry, having those powers.]
Why would that be an issue? If you love someone, you love them. My feelings about you haven't changed.
[She still considers Nico to be a good friend.
And the pieces slowly fall together for Elincia. While she had never heard of any issues in her own world, in Nico's world, a man loving another man must have had some sort of taboo, like the stigma that hung over the children of a beorc and laguz union]
[Voice]
Date: 2014-07-20 01:15 am (UTC)[It's hard being a demigod of death in a culture like his.]
There's...stigma against it. A lot of it. Especially during the 1940's. My home country tried to criminalize it, but that failed. So...if anyone had been open about that sort of thing...either they got sent to a death camp in another country or you'd be publicly humiliated. Even in the modern time, people...like me...got murdered for it.
[He doesn't know when it happened, but Elincia has become a big part of his heart. Having her disapproval or rejection for something like this...it would cut deeply.]
[Voice]
Date: 2014-07-20 02:02 am (UTC)[The same way they had all been fools for believing Yune was a dark god.
She listens, and righteous anger grows within her. She sucks in a sharp, angry breath]
That is awful. And the rulers of the country just allow this to happen? Without doing anything to protect people? To do that to people just because they've fallen in love with someone of the same gender--
[What kind of rulers allowed that to happen to their people? The very idea was abhorrent. She thinks of Heather, the wily thief who had come to her aid during the rebellion and her heart sinks to think of what a different person she might have been had she grown up in a country where this stigma was commonplace.
It definitely sounded like how the laguz were treated in the beorc countries.
And with this fear hanging over Nico's head...]
And the lockets....oh, Nico. I'm so sorry...
[Voice]
Date: 2014-07-20 02:21 am (UTC)Actually...the leaders of the two countries I spoke of allowed it to happen. Even encouraged it in some cases, especially the one where they were sent to those camps I mentioned. Though, the bigger casualties had been those who worshiped differently than them.
[Aaaaand he's related to that leader on the godly side. They don't talk about that one, though.]
Of all people who should apologize, Elincia, you're not one of them. It's not your fault, but...I appreciate the sentiment.
[Voice]
Date: 2014-07-20 05:38 am (UTC)I've known of rulers who allowed such things to happen--though the targets of their hatred were the laguz--but to know there are many more like that, in many different worlds...
[It pained her a little. She wasn't so naive to believe that people could exist without fighting - something like that was natural when people with different beliefs came into conflict - but she had hoped, perhaps, other worlds were more sensible than her own]
Still, it wasn't right for this world to do that.
[Voice]
Date: 2014-07-20 01:29 pm (UTC)[Nico agrees with her on all counts.]
It's why I prefer talking to the dead. They don't generally judge, but even if they did, it might invite the wrath of Hades on their souls, so they don't try.
[Voice]
Date: 2014-07-21 11:43 am (UTC)[But she wasn't here to talk about the troubles of her homeland.]
I see. It must be simpler, that way...People are complicated, to say the least.