"Oh, all of the above. Most myth has a basis in truth, I think. And if you don't know that, the reason you don't know that is they protect us from it." Mik prodded gently at the question of what she was; why she was on the Atharim's list. Nox had guessed, and he had been the one to tell the only others who knew. Asha suddenly realised she didn't know how to say it, or whether she really wanted to. Not because she lacked trust, exactly, but because she was not sure what they would do with the information. Three people was hardly a crowd, but to someone with her particular uniqueness it might as well have been. Well. That and her mind was muddling, even with Mik suddenly vanished from her senses.
"They hunt you because they believe you'll destroy the world. Or one of you will, anyway. And let's be fair, it would only take one." Her eyes bounced to Mik's flaming disc, though it was to Rowan she spoke. There was no fear in her voice, nor accusation. Indignation coloured the woman's voice and feel, such a powerful sense of both confidence and entitlement that Asha was almost dizzy with it.
"I told you not all of them are bad. Some of them helped me when I got stuck here." She shrugged. It had been some time since she had seen either Nox or Aria, and she was unwilling to break either's confidence given the knife-edge they toed. Though maybe she could message them about Rowan and her cafe.
The guilt welled up suddenly.
Her gaze snapped up, surprised by the abrupt voracity of the emotion belied by Rowan's sweet smile. She leaned into Tobias quite unintentionally, grasping for his hand like she sought an anchor in a storm. "What did you do?"
"They hunt you because they believe you'll destroy the world. Or one of you will, anyway. And let's be fair, it would only take one." Her eyes bounced to Mik's flaming disc, though it was to Rowan she spoke. There was no fear in her voice, nor accusation. Indignation coloured the woman's voice and feel, such a powerful sense of both confidence and entitlement that Asha was almost dizzy with it.
"I told you not all of them are bad. Some of them helped me when I got stuck here." She shrugged. It had been some time since she had seen either Nox or Aria, and she was unwilling to break either's confidence given the knife-edge they toed. Though maybe she could message them about Rowan and her cafe.
The guilt welled up suddenly.
Her gaze snapped up, surprised by the abrupt voracity of the emotion belied by Rowan's sweet smile. She leaned into Tobias quite unintentionally, grasping for his hand like she sought an anchor in a storm. "What did you do?"