A Phone Conversation

[Elyse]

Elyse sighed. It wasn't just that. "It's not that simple, mom."


"Why not? He's not worth losing your family is he?"

Elyse paused. She loved her family and that's why this was so hard. "It's more than that, mom. It's..."
She paused again, formulating her thoughts - her doubts. "Mom, what if the Atharim are wrong. I've thought about this since I've changed. How can we judge someone just based on what they are."


Elyse didn't know how to explain this, but she had to try. An idea came to her. She knew her parents house well. As an only child, there were a lot of pictures of her from infancy to her more recent graduations. Pictures of her with her parents and by herself.

"Mom - look at the pictures. Tell me the truth. Am I a monster?"



Edited by Elyse, Jan 13 2017, 02:52 PM.

[Nox]

Elsa looked at the pictures sitting on her desk. Her daughter could be right - the Atharim could be wrong, but they were not the ones to make these decisions. The Regus lead from a place of knowledge - everyone knew the legends. "Elyse. You are my daughter. But you are not right either. Can you be 100% certain you won't end up like the hundreds of others who have come before you? All it takes is once, Elyse. Once to lose control. There is no checks and balances for instinct. Humanity can be lost - even a mundane human loses their humanity. Should be put a Oni on trial for murder? Should we let the rougarou eat the judge who is presiding over him? Or the wolfkin tear out the ballif's throat? We do what we do to protect humanity. "

Elsa sighed. "Come home, Elyse. No one has to know. We will hide this - together."

[Elyse]

Elyse shook her head. Her mother didn't understand. She couldn't. She didn't know what it felt like.

"I can't do that, Mom,"
she said after a pregnant pause. "We can't hide this forever. And pretending it doesn't exist doesn't change what I am."


Elyse felt sadness, but also anger that her mother wasn't trying to understand this. She kept her anger at bay, however. "You don't know, mom. You don't know how it feels to wake up in the morning and know that any second your own parents would come and kill you. You don't know what it's like to know that your brothers and sisters would turn on you at a moments notice."
She sighed. "This brotherhood is breaking, Mom. I don't know if you can see it in Denmark yet, but it's happening. War is coming and it's a civil war. I have to choose my side mom. And I have to believe that I'm and others like me are good people."


She paused, feeling a pain like a knife in her chest. She knew this would hurt her mother just as much, but she had to stand true to what she believed. "I love you and Dad very much, but I can't live like that anymore, Mom. If you and Dad can't accept me for what I am, then I can't come home."



Edited by Elyse, Jan 18 2017, 09:05 AM.

[Nox]

Elsa didn't know what to say. There were always factions with in the Atharim - as with any organization as wide spread as they were. But war? That was not something she saw in the organizations future. But then no one had ever burned down their headquarters before.

"Elyse. I love you. You are my daughter. But if there is a war coming, what makes you think that others like you will win? You are forsaking everything. What are you going to do? Hunting monsters doesn't pay you outside the Atharim? What skills do you have darling? Don't tell me this boyfriend of yours has promised to take care of you... We were born to hunt monsters - it is the only thing we know how to do. What kinda of life are you going to have - always on the run. Come home. We will shelter you. Love you. Keep you safe. No one has to know."

[Elyse]

Elyse started to cry again. Mom was making this harder. Elyse knew why. Elsa didn't want to lose her daughter. Elyse didn't want that either, but why couldn't she understand why it wasn't that simple? Why couldn't she understand why she couldn't come home? Why couldn't she understand everything?

Elyse didn't answer for awhile. The only sound heard was the sound of her crying. "I can't, Mom. I can't live in fear anymore."
It was something Elyse hadn't spoken of to anyone. It was such a subtle difference, but since she had become more open about her nature, she hadn't felt the primal force inside of her build up as much. She had never been close to losing control, but since she had truly accepted it, it hadn't been there.

"Mom - someone will always know. I will and you will. It will only be a matter of time before Dad finds out too. I don't hide this anymore Mom. The contacts are gone. Since then, it has been easier. I literally can't hide this."


She stopped, his breaths shallow and fast. Elyse could feel her heart pounding and the intense pain in her chest wouldn't go away. "Mom...I can't do it."

[Nox]

Elsa listened to her daughter crying and wished she could fix t his, but there was only one way to fix it and she couldn't bear it. With a heavy heart Elsa waited for Elyse to finish crying and then her pleas and fears. Elsa sighed. "I'm sorry darling. Know that I love you. If you feel this way, then it's best if you don't come home. I won't tell your father. Send me a message every so often so I know you are well. I will always love you."

Elsa hung up the phone with nothing more to say. Her daughter was a monster and now she had to live with that secret - a traitor to her own kind. But she couldn't tell anyone - she was still her baby girl. It was better this way. Or so that's what she kept telling herself.

[Elyse]

Continued here