Re: Where now, Prince? (Grave;Cross)
Grave sighed, rolling his eyes at Roy's response. This coming from the person who suggested that she be put to use somehow? Then again, maybe she already had an image of Envy being a lazy nuisance. Or there was something else at play here. Roy did seem to become rather agitated at times when Cynder was concerned. The prince said nothing though, focusing on Valencia and her request. He mulled over it, recalling every detail he considered important, his shoulders slumping a little as he wondered what the woman's reaction to the whole tale would be. "Alright then, I suppose this is as good a time as any... It's a bit of a long story, but I'll try to keep it brief."
"The whole mess started around 20 years ago, after I was born. Envy is my younger sister, the two of us were born as children of an echidna and... Well, I've no idea who my father might be. My mother, however, wasn't just some random monster. That ruin where we've met?" Grave asked, refering to the old palace. "That was my home and place of birth. Mom was pretty much the queen of it, genuine royalty. Just not human royalty. I am not familiar with the situation here..." He glanced at Envy. "But apparently I had more echidna blood in me that my sister and became the favorite child as a result, if I understood the few details I've managed to catch correctly. Since I was too young to walk or talk, I can't remember anything from that period myself."
"Anyway, I was supposed to be the successor to mom's little empire, which hilariously enough makes me a prince, if only in title. Things went on normally until Cynthia got involved. Apparently she made some kind of prophecy, and while mom was initially reluctant, the two of them started to work together. You see, the ones who destroyed my home were demons. Knowing that the place would get trashed, mom and Cynthia decided that I need to be sent away to a safe place. Mother couldn't let something like that happen without a stain on her honor, apparently, so she had a duel to the death with Cynthia. I think you can guess how that ended, considering she's a disembodied spirit inhabiting my skull now." Cynder sighed. "After killing mom she took me and fled the island for a while, and I think I need to seriously question her on why she didn't see fit to take a second child with her when I get the chance." The half-blood's tone darkened slightly at that remark. He missed out on a chance to ask that question earlier, and it had been nagging him ever since.
"That aside, after reaching the continent she dropped me off in a remote village in the middle of nowhere. I lived there with an old scholar, apparently an acquaintance of hers. The old man was pretty damn great, the same thing could not be said about the rest of the villagers. I'll be honest with you - if I saw even one of them here, I'd stab him without question." Grave growled, fists tightening at the unpleasant memories. "After fifteen years of enduring those lousy pieces of shit and being taught and trained by the old man, I had to leave. He..." Cynder paused again, this time with a somber expression. "He was old, and his health just kept getting worse with each year after I hit ten. Around my fifteenth birthday, it finally got so bad he couldn't even get up anymore... Died soon after that. I only had enough time for a quick burial in the night before I had to run. I can tell when people are gathering for a lynch mob, Hell, they probably believed I killed him myself. Always a monster in their eyes."
Pausing for a while to collect himself, Grave moved on to finish the final part of the story. "Anyway, the next five years are pretty much just me wandering around like a vagabond. There were some incidents here and there, and I am really glad the old man taught me how to survive on my own, finding helpful people was hard. Eventually, I stumbled upon an expedition in a port town - a ship set to sail to this very place. They were taking anybody they could get their hands on, back on the continent they say every ship that sailed here never returned. I figured this might be my chance to get away from all those stares and whispers wherever I passed, so I signed up. After getting shipwrecked by a bunch of squid women, I managed to stumble into a ransacked town and met Club there. She directed me to Cynthia, who told me parts of this story and send me on my way to the ruins. There I met you and mom, who after telling me what kind of a disappointment I am told me the rest."
"I think you know what happened after that well enough." Cynder sighed again, wrapping his story up. "Envy, who got captured by demons during the raid twenty years ago, somehow got wind of my return and tried to kill me. Cynthia stopped her, not before I offended her by stabbing her to death in some kind of illusion, so she was actually fine. Don't ask me how that works, I have no idea myself." He declared flatly. "Then there was the whole mess with Luna and, well. Here we are now. Trying to get mom out of my head before my body breaks down or she starts slapping me around with my own hands again. Also I'm apparently a part of some big plan Cynthia made, but not even mom knows what kind of role I have in it, and I'm trying to suck less because those last couple weeks made me realize how lousy I can be sometimes. If you have any questions, ask them now."