[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/yxK9VOX.png[/img][/center]
[sub]Location: Walking about Town[/sub]
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Céline snorted as she burst out in laughter, the seriousness in Orion’s face and the deadpan tone of his voice somehow delivering a punchline more thoroughly than any jester could. She turned away in an attempt to stifle herself down to a chortle, [color=60cf11]“Very well…Orion, I believe I can oblige,”[/color] she spoke in between breaths. As he began to move on she quickly calmed herself down, catching up with him and matching his speed as once again they were side by side.

She listened to him as he spoke again and the smile on her face began to slowly fade into something more serious. At the mention of there being deaths, Céline’s eyes flared open wide. Her mind returned to the previous evening, how the alarm had been sounded, how Ranni had been retrieved from the temple and a guard posted just for insurance. She knew last night had to have been dangerous, but for someone to have actually died due to the danger… She thought, bringing a knuckle to her mouth as she absentmindedly chewed on it. He was being careful with his wording, but there was a story in between the lines. A noblewoman was attacked and somebody died, and without saying that the culprit was jailed or killed it implied they were still at large. While it wasn’t expressly stated, she could only assume it was a blightborn that had attacked. Was he warning her that this wasn’t the best time for her to move in or was it a challenge to defy the standard norm?

Orion’s voice brought her back from her thoughts as she continued to listen, her brows furrowing slightly as he painted her a picture that was as bleak as it was doused in truths. Truths that she was far more familiar with than he or anyone realized. Burned into her very being, the little girl whose neck was caged in iron resonated with the words he used.

Condition?

[indent][i]Cursed[/i][/indent]

Politics?

[indent][i]Religious Fervor[/i][/indent]

Disappear into the snow?

[indent][i]Died in the sands[/i][/indent]

Her eyes closed as she lived through those memories again, a cursed child subject to the whims of nefarious beings, all for having existed. It was ironic how becoming a blightborn nothing had truly changed for her. Céline’s eyes opened once again ready to answer him, however she paused, noticing his gaze extending to somewhere beyond her. She turned to see what he was staring at, only to realize the subtle fluctuations within him were emoting something. It was so faint she barely registered it; even when he was feeling something, Orion seemed to have a careful hold over his emotions. At best she felt some sorrow, perhaps even pangs of regret, but nothing felt conclusive. 

His attention soon returned as his eyes fell on her once again, awaiting her response, [color=60cf11]“I won’t lie, the whole prospect of moving here has me terrified.”[/color] She paused, folding her arms around her body, a way to protect herself, [color=60cf11]“I’ve been the subject of unspeakable human cruelty,”[/color] her hands clenched tightly around her sides, [color=60cf11]“but I’ve also borne witness to unfathomable levels of human kindness as well.”[/color] She slackened her grip a little, a soft smile growing on her lips. [color=60cf11]“By all means I should have died a long time ago, but a man saved me and when I asked him why he told me…”[/color]

[i]“It doesn’t matter if you’re a saint or a sinner, when you’re under my care I’ll treat you all the same; a life that is worth saving so that you can have a life to go on living in.”[/i]

She had wandered away from the alleway into more open ground, the snow gently falling around her. She lifted her hand to catch a flake, its existence tethered to the cold, now withered from the heat of her hand alone. Her hand clenched into a fist as she turned back towards Orion, a glint of determination in her eyes. [color=60cf11]“I studied under that man so that I could save lives. Even if I’m hated for what I am, even if people don’t trust in what I can do, I have to try. I have to, because what I do goes beyond oaths or life itself; it’s just the right thing to do…”[/color] Her shoulders slumped, apparently having let off more steam than she had intended. [color=60cf11]“Besides…”[/color] she didn’t want to end her rant on such a drastic note, [color=60cf11]“I’ve already died once…can’t hurt to die again right?”[/color]
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[sub]Interacting with Orion [@Qia][/sub]