[b][i]Ken[/i][/b]

"You hurt more than I do," Ken said. "Your brother loved you enough to make the ultimate sacrifice, but you feel unworthy of it, because from a certain point of view, an unbearably cynical and utilitarian one, he should have survived. [i]That is not my point of view.[/i] My point of view is that people can change and do better, it just takes an uphill battle sometimes. He gave you this chance - You can live in a way that honors his memory, his sacrifice."

The words were wrenched out of his heart, of his psyche. Ken didn't know he had those words in him, Ken didn't know that he can express such sentiments. But more words kept on flowing as he said, "Rev, or if I can call you that in private, Mar, I bared what I thought was my heart and soul to Nightman; I told him what I thought were my issues, but were in fact only the very beginning of them."

Looking at both Reverio/Marlan and Chinami, his gaze lingering at the latter's face to see if she was skeptical as the boy continued, "I told Nightman I was afraid of my own arrogance, my own ego, my screwing myself over by acting like a 'Protagonist'. And this was true; I wanted my own throne so badly I lost sight of why. But when Nightman put me to sleep, I remembered my childhood, how my parents endured poverty due to having hidden their identities and the Ame-no-Murakumo to keep it away from the Emperor of that time, and how they went without so that they can feed me.

"I remember my parents finally finding jobs and a measure of money and security, and me growing old enough to see that Rhea is a city where the right to smile, the right to strive and work for one's own and others' happiness, was taken for granted. I remembered the haggard faces and hunger and slaughter present in my home country. But I was afraid of making the necessary sacrifices to make that dream come true - No, Mar, I wanted [i]someone else[/i] to make the sacrifices for me; that's how warped I was."

He then finished his little speech, "I wanted to sate my ego and my pride and my desire to be important but lost sight of what I originally envisioned: An Izumo which is more like Rhea, but remains itself. An Izumo where people can smile without fear."

[@Dezuel][@Lewascan2]