I, Who Would Be Better

[Titania]

---

"Ysayl."

"Ysayl."

"Ysayl."

"Kill them, Ysayl. You're the only match for the one who took my friend. Please."

"Ysayl, they're digging their claws deeper in. You know what she's done. Avenge him. Please."

"Ysayl, they tried to make you a liar. Are you going to take that sitting down? Please."

"I am not a woman of infinite patience. I am kind. Understanding of the woes of circumstance. I offer empathy to those who others might declare undeserving, and reap the rewards therewithin-- doors opened for better paths, to learn things and earn victories a blind hand of justice may not."

"I am running out of patience. But I am not like the rest, am I? I grieve, but grief does not stop me. I feel pain, but pain does not slow me down. All there is to know of the hearts' most fundamental flavors, I am in tune with-- and none of them can affect me in a way I do not want to."

"No betrayal will stop me. No loss will break me. No tragedy will make me cease the path I walk. I am hardened-- capable. My flock requires someone who can keep them safe, and there is nothing in this world I cannot endure to do so."

"Ysayl. Ysayl. Ysayl. Do you hear that? Another in need of help. Another seeking to bend my ear, to ask what I intend for the demons, or the covens, or the chaos cults. Ysayl. Ysayl. Ysayl. Maimed warriors begging for the materiel to return to a shade of their former selves. Ysayl. Ysayl. Ysayl. Dwellers in the dark coming to me to ask for a chance at a better life."

"Ysayl. Ysayl. Ysayl."

"...and so I answer. For while others mourn, I am inured. The only thing slowing me down, is..."

"Is..."

"Is..."

[An unrelenting feeling of all-consuming fatigue]

---

"I do not need to ask if He is proud. Not anymore. Not when He has given me the power to serve as His righteous hand. No-- Athelios is not to blame. Athelios, beloved Athelios, has done all He can to intervene. The rest is up to us. Up to mankind. For as grand as He is, who would I be if I gazed upon the gifts He has furnished unto me and dared ask for more?"

"My father, this cup is mine. And from it, I shall drink deep. Mired in suffering, I shall endure-- a beacon of Your love, my father. A light in the darkness, burning eternally. And I shall work your will without need for thanks or reward, for I know Your path and mine are one and the same."

"Ad astra per aspera."