The Theorem of Awkward Amends; [Maia - Closed]

Maia's outlook of life was rather bleak. It was also rather weird, a whole island for herself? "Surely you jest, madam. Island can be enormous, and living in one all by yourself might cause you to lose your marbles. And when you are alone, you won't be able to ask for help if you lose them." His tone of voice wasn't exactly sanctimonious, but it did carry a bit of worry. If she held such a desire as true, it's a wonder how she was able to function well in society. Unless she was good at deceiving.

And yet the merriment she was displaying over their talk didn't seem fake, which only made the enkidu more confused. Maia was a rather peculiar girl, it's a wonder Liseran took interest in her. Then again, Liseran is also a rather peculiar girl.

But the heavy topics were not done yet, as Maia asked him how he was able to deal with the anti-enkidu prejudice. "Funny you mention that. Despite being an enkidu myself, I'm afraid I can't tell you with complete fidelity, as I spent all of my life in Stahlmin. The general consensus there is that, the value of one's work seems to be more important than their origin, and because my dad opened a blacksmith business many years ago, my family was rather well received. Or at least locally. I haven't received that much prejudice in my life, and I believe it's probably because of that. I am given weird looks from time to time, especially when I signed up to the Expiate, and a couple of times I was at the receiving end of rather unfounded comments, but I usually counter them with a good ol' smile, after all, fighting hate with more hate will lead us nowhere." He explained, taking another spoonful of his soup.

"Then again, it could also be because they know my father is built like a mountain. I know I don't let him fight my battles for me, but I guess some people don't wish to chance it? Haha!"

"It may seemed farfetched to you, but I've lived in isolation for a few years now. Heh, it's funny actually. Isolé means isolated in my language, of course somehow I managed to go beyond the name. I live in a cabin on the outskirts." She rarely spent anytime at home, just enough to get payed and feed Elderberry. Maia wondered why Pascal even bothered in keeping her horse at his home. Maybe for blackmail one day.

Maia nodded. "Must be nice, being able to do that. For me, I try to ignore people, but once attention is drawn to you and everyone knows what you are, the eyes burn into your soul." She paused for a minute. Then looked up at Goibniu. "People only see a monster. A possible murderess, they don't even care who I am, they just see the seal..." Maia wished the seal was placed in a less noticeable place, like her thigh or chest. Something that is always covered, she couldn't wear a scarf all the time after all.

"My father was strong too, I thought he was invincible. Despite the problems we faced because we were Walpurgis, he never lost his smile." A sad smile formed on her face, she missed the man dearly. "He somehow managed to get me into a Carta Academy, and while the people acted the same as the villagers, I thought I could become a famous scholar, and use my skills to move my dad and I to Aldmerrow, his homeland. Never got the chance though..."

This was the moment where their points of view clashed. There was simply no way Goibniu would fathom living in isolation in the way Maia was could. If there was a trait that enkidus shared with humans was that they were social creatures, interactions with others was something intrinsic to them, and to just throw it all away was just inconcebible. Then again, it was also clear that Maia did have a rough upbringing, which could definitely factor into her, admittedly, skewere outlook. It didn't help the fact that she explained how her situation wasn't the same as his either, how she was in a more complicated situation than him, as how people were scared of her. His race might have essencially moved to Esterelf unannounced thanks to their own squabbles, but she was tangentally part of a race with a pretty bad history of seeking destruction.

"I still am not able to completely comprehend the idea you have presented, but then again, at this point it is because we have lived completely different lives, and with completely different hardships." If he could call losing his hand a 'hardship', in comparison to Maia's magical bounding. He looked sternly at the soup, trying to find the right words to use, before looking back to her. "But what I do understand is that, you don't seem like a monster. You have demostrated diligence and care without a vested interest, and that's something people can notice, even if it's just a few. Madam Liseran and Sir Aleph noticed it, and I certainly notice it as well." That might have sounded rather sappy, but he wanted to at least help Maia feel better.

Or perhaps he needed to convince himself that she wasn't bad?

"'Tis a shame that apparently fate didn't agree with that plan. Was that the reason why you changed your occupation to being a courier?"

"I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable." Maia replied, her face flushed red for a moment. "I was never great at being social, my years living alone certainly have not improved it either." The looked away for a moment, towards the window, she saw the dim lights of the town. What she wouldn't give to love in a peace filled life. "Though, I do hope that you never have to experience the things I have, Monsieur."

She wasn't ready for Goibniu to tell her that he didn't think that she wasn't a monster, or that she was diligent and caring. A small smile formed on her lips. Who would've thought that an Expiate would actually compliment a Walpurgis? She then came back to reality when he swith ed the subject to her career. "Ah, well it's not that exciting of a story.." Maia said. "After returning home from school after my father's death, I realized that I was unemployed. I couldn't leave the village because I would never trust anyone to not desecrate my parents' gravesites. And most places would never hire me, so I went to see Pascal. He's a rotten old dastard, he wouldn't hire me unless I agreed to have lower pay than the other couriers. Of course, he isn't completely cruel, he gave me some leather for armour and a pair of enchanted daggers like everyone else. That's really it, nothing too exciting like I said."

When Maia recognized that she was being rather offputing, Goibniu merely flashed her a smile. A smile that, it was a bit unsure, but it was there to make sure she didn't feel so bad. "Oh do not worry madam, you are still trying to be sociable, and that's still a good thing. At least do exhibit good manners, haha." He said, taking a sip from his drink. That was another thing he feared about Maia completely isolating herself, if she one day tried to contact someone, it'd be rather awkward and complicated, due to her communication skills degrading overtime.

And then she began explaining the origin of her courier work. "Goodness, that's very rude of him. At least he provided you with arms and protection for your trips, but a lower income will definitely harm you in the long run." He said, his brow furrowing at the thought of Pascal. "It is a shame that, due to your predicament, that seemed like a golden opportunity. At least it allows you to be productive in our current climate."

"Unfortunately, my job requires me to speak with people, so I need to maintain the skills to do so." Maia replied. It was hard to remember to say the right things sometimes. She had an awkward encounter with an older gentleman in Saadedge once after she stuttered her words. He confused her for a thief in some gang for whatever reason. Things got sorted out though, and she didn't go to prison, so that was a plus.

Maia smiled. "It's funny, people think I'm a Cantus user sometimes, or I support the rebe groups. I don't, as you know, and if I'm being truly honest..." She replied softly. "I have thought about becoming atoned and moving somewhere far away. Know one would even know what I was born as."

"Aye, at least your silver blade isn't a replacement for a silver tongue. I dread to imagine what someone might do in your position while lacking your consideration." In a way, his words became slower as he finished his sentence, as he came to realize that his last word was going to be 'restrain' instead, something that Maia might not appreciate. Thus, 'consideration' was used as the more sensible word.

As he took another spoonful of soup, she mentioned how she was pondering the thought of being completely atoned and moving away from society, going back to her objective of being isolated. He would have pointed that out again, if it wasn't for the fact something struck out from her words. "Wait, 'rebel' group? What do you mean the rebel group?" He asked, his face showing confusion at the remark.

She raised an eyebrow at Goibniu, but noted that any sort of outbursts would not be a good idea. "I would hardly call it a silver tongue. Closer to manners, actually." She replied. Maia may have been feared by most of the population of Esterelf, but at least she could have the decency to be polite to others. The so-called elite in the country failed to do that on a regular basis.

Maia realized that mentioning rebel groups probably wasn't a good topic to discuss with an Expiate member. She rubbed her neck sheepishly. "There's some rumours that there's a rebel group in the capital of Saoirse, they're mainly Walpurgis from what I heard."

Goibniu's moustache moved slightly at Maia's answer, a gesture that noted Goibniu's amusement at the girl's stark honesty. He briefly wondered if that ever got her in trouble, as sometimes it could earn someone a broken nose, but if they were talking about manners, then perhaps she understood when to be polite and when not. It was relfecting this train of thought that caused Goibniu to wonder whether he was talking about Maia or a feral girl, which was definitely not in lined with good manners.

Doing a small snicker, he took another spoonful of the soup, as she talked about this strange rebel group Maia alluded to. "Saoirse? Surely you jest, the Expiate has a very tight grip on the kingdom. Mayhaps they seek to disrupt it? I dread to ponder of the chaos that may befall Saoirse if that were to happen." He said, his words practically on automatic, as his mind began making up scenarios of the aftermath of the kingdom if that were to happen. They were certainly not good.

Maia shrugged in reply. "They're just rumours. I wouldn't think too much about it." She replied. Most of her didn't believe it, but there were suspicions she had that Liseran was in fact a aper of one of these rebel groups. She also felt it was probably wise that she drifted attention away from the subject. She didn't need to rile up the man.

"I'm sorry to cut this short, Goibniu." Maia said. "But it is getting late. I have things to do tomorrow, and I'll probably be returning to Saoirse." She got up and began heading for the door. She knew that Goibniu would probably offer to walk back to her inn, but Maia decided it would be best if she went alone. She needed to think.

"Thank you for the meal. I-I hope to see you soon." She said with a blush, and with that she hurried out of the room.