Logic Among Chaos [Liar]

[Aldiror Stonewall]

"You go ahead, I'm not done here." He said to the boy. After the boy was no longer in earshot, he spoke. "I have already proven my loyalty, twice!" He stated. "I have killed for you and saved for you, now you turn around and demand the life you deemed precious?" Aldiror's voice grew louder with every word as he continued on. "You say that blood sustains you. That means you will need it more once and that I will have to get it for you, am I right? To deceive someone into believing they are precious and special, and then to use them as food, is... Evil..." He paused for several moments as he looked toward the ground, deep in thought. He began talking again but in a very slow and meaningful voice. "You took me when I was so desperate for someone to answer, for someone to tell me they cared. You bent my logic and all better judgement so that I would trust you to the tragic, horrible end of my life! You have not only lost an ally, you have created a powerful enemy!" And throws the Rock Crusher as far as he could into the Aperture. Aldiror sprinted after the boy in hopes he found the way out. 'I won't lose myself to this place. Or to Her.'

[Liar]

A moment of hesitation stilled in the entity, and the connection it had forged between them showed him her honest surprise, even as it was slowly stained by mounting rage. But just as he could know its thoughts, so it could read his. The hammer disappeared the instant it left his hand, ever a figment of shadow play. The young Nykan, on the other hand, was real as ever. He stopped in the distance to listen to the man’s cries, hesitant to come any closer. He could not hear the entity’s argument, which bit with measured anger at Aldiror’s ears. It is easier to say evil than to know it, my love. I have seen the world, and I know that there is no such thing. Every man who lives must die; every man who shines a light must cast a shadow. Every man is more than good and evil, and to say any less is an insult to humanity and the divine. It emitted a sigh, a thousand voices bouncing around in the black cavern. The boy seemed to hear it, so he took one step toward the isur. His whisper echoed loudly. “What’s going on?” The city is protected, is it not? I make Hunger a stranger to my people, and Disease a fleeting pest. I appease the beasts, so that they do not run in the streets—with the exception of today, this terrible day. I am Nyka’s protector, their mother, and their child. They need me to keep them strong, as I need them. Their life gives me life, and so we are sustained. It began to slip away from him then, leaving his senses to revel in stifling heat and the stench of ashes. It was only discomfort, until he realized that it was pulling away at whatever bound them, and the brief empathy they shared was escaping him. Just before it detached itself, he felt the weight of some knowledge behind the entity’s angry desperation, like water behind a dam. But the city is broken. I need the strength of her people to mend it.

[Aldiror Stonewall]

The reaction the entity had to his actions was very surprising. He believed the entity to be using him and when he finally figured out her plot he expected a reaction similar to the feeling you get when you just barely missed a rabbit you've been hunting. Aldiror braced for whatever she would throw at him, be it words or another champion she had enslaved. It is easier to say evil than to know it, my love. I have seen the world, and I know that there is no such thing. Every man who lives must die; every man who shines a light must cast a shadow. Every man is more than good and evil, and to say any less is an insult to humanity and the divine. He shook his head throughout her speech, obviously disapproving of what she was saying. When the boy spoke, he threw his hand up signaling him to stop. She went on and Aldiror listened. "Your anger at my decision to no longer do your work surprises me." Aldiror spoke. "I would not call protection evil, or I would consider myself evil. You must look at it from my perspective before we act rash. I will stay and hear your defense but first listen to perspective." Aldiror continued. "I met you in this Aperture; not exactly a place one would normally meet someone with such good intentions. You led me through the Aperture to a man and asked me to kill him, hardly something anyone would do in their right mind. That is a lot to ask of one person when you've only just met him, despite this I did kill the man in cold blood and in a name I still do not know! You laughed at the sight of your dead enemy and that frightened me, but you protected me through the Aperture once more to help save that boy." He points aggressively towards the young man before continuing. "Someone like me would gladly lay down his life for another, so I risked my life and saved the boy. Then... Then the strangest of requests. You ask me to take the life which I had saved? Evil may be a strong word but this nonetheless cruelty in my eyes. I have no proof as to who you are, let alone the protector of Nyka. Obviously they are not doing so well right now and whatever is happening is not really my business for that matter, but it is bringing Nyka to its knees and that is hard for me to see." He took a breathe before moving on to a new point. "If killing a man I did not know for someone I do not know is not enough proof of my loyalty, I don't know what is. I was not forced to kill that man or to save that boy, I chose to. I embraced your presence. I have proven my loyalty, twice, and now I need your proof. Tell me your name, and complete the challenge you promised you would complete and I will not only finish my third task but will pledge my loyalty to you. Till the bitter end. In the name of my family." Aldiror thought about what he just said and wasn't even sure if he had ever promised anything in his family's name before. But knew it was deepest promise that he could give and would become what he thought to be evil before ever going back on that.

[Liar]

There was a long pause, like consideration. And just as it may have seemed that they had been left alone to rot in this darkness, it spoke again. I have no name. Some call me the shadow, some call me the stomach. Give me a name, and perhaps I will answer to it. Unable to hear her reply, the boy spoke over her. “What... who are you talking to?” He had heard the words from Aldiror’s mouth well enough. There was a tremor in his hands, though he seemed keen on stifling it. His voice did not crack, at least. Tell me, my love, would you rather kill a stranger? Would you rather shed the blood of someone named enemy, because you have never seen them weep, or smile? I have no enemies. If that man had killed you, he would be my champion in your stead. Neither of us is worth any more than the other. We are but a part of the greater whole. She appeared to him then, that woman, that image which the unnamed entity seemed to think he preferred. The boy jumped when he saw her, but so did he keep his jaw tight, his arms stiff and ready. Because the connection had been lost, and emotion could not show internally any longer, the face that manifested gave him adoration, pity, and supplication, wrought with a hesitant smile and a tilted head. “Your heart is strong, and your strength is beautiful. For its sake, I will try to grant your wish. What would you ask of me, my love?”