[quote=@Ariamis]
Maria's voice turned pleasing and comforting as she spoke.

"Oh Eponine, I understand how you feel," she said, and with her magic, slowly rose into the the air from her wheelchair. She floated slowly towards Eponine and then around her like an angel without wings. " But I must take this drastic measure to preserve peace in Aurora. Alexandra is too vacuous to rule her. She simply twiddles her thumbs and acts like a figurehead while the neighboring cities and nations gain in warriors and land, ultimately bringing war and suffering to Aurora and its people too. Were I to become queen, I would bring order to Aurora and all of those lands, until the entire world is in eternal peace and rest.

She now stopped and caressed her cheek as she floated before her. "Don't you remember the dream we had, my dear Eponine?" She then whispered into her ear:

"[b]A world of absolute order.[/b] We can achieve that, you need only to believe in me and we will have it, together."
[/quote]

"I-I thought we would work within the system, that we would support the structure of Aurora until it was ready to expand..." Eponine said, clearly losing her composure.  But then the question struck her, [i]"When would Aurora be ready to expand? Hadn't things already stabilized enough to widen the city's ambitions?"[/i] At the rate the city was going, it would choke itself out in a slow death.

"But the world, Maria?" Eponine asked, addressing her without the usual title of 'lady', signifying a certain degree of intimacy as well as a temporary collapse of her emotional barrier.  "I had begun to lose hope.  I...I thought that it would never happen, given how slowly this city does anything.  I thought...that you were comfortable...so I thought that maybe...maybe you didn't want it anymore...and I would be fine with that...maybe I just had to protect you and Fantine...make sure that your lives were comfortable...maybe I would be satisfied with that."  Then she thought of Chloe, and realized that the fact such a person could exist was evidence enough that the world, not just Aurora, needed order. "Alexandra has truly failed us...hasn't she?" Eponine asked with a certain grim finality.