And suddenly, the world came back into focus. Liratrix Sunlancer, General of the Phoenix Battalion, stares at that large pillar of light with strained, glossy eyes; to her, it had felt like ages since she had opened them, and the spectacle before her was both exhilarating and enlightening. The paladin wasn't sure how she got here, but she felt overwhelming sensation that was causing her body to feel rejuvenated. Such warmth, and radiance- it was as if the very sun itself with dancing in the air before her, and illuminating a peaceful and gentle world. A sigh flows from those soft lips, the tanned elf rising from the stony floor to stand upright upon the terrace.
It feels as if I've been asleep forever...
Why am I here?
This armor feels so strange...
Where am I going...?
Where is everyone?
The pathway down into the lower city was a jagged one. Whereas a lot of the Outland had crumbled, this city had endured. Merchants, peddlers, refugees; this was a home for those who had none. And just as well, a home for the youth who no longer had families. There was a place the paladin recognized: the orphanage, where she had once delivered someone hat she herself could not care for. The wayward knight stumbles along the road, her dark, crimson armor shining as she steps into the light. It barely covered her form, but this seemed to be the least of her worries. Long, platinum strands of hair cover the elf's petite body; it was messy, frayed. She looks as if she had just crawled out of a ditch. Plate boots thump along the cobblestone until, finally, Liratrix parts the curtains draping across the entrance of one of the small corridors. There were children within of all races: orcs, Sin'dorei, Draenei, humans. They were laughing together, playing together. Some were asleep, and some wandered about, trying to find ways to entertain their inquisitive minds. Eventually, the paladin sets her verdant gaze upon a small human girl, who looked no older than nine or ten years of age.
In the paladin's arms, the girl wept, and wept. The sky was dark, the air thick with the smell of ash, and death. "Why!? Why isn't my daddy coming back!? Please, tell me why! Please! I don't-..., I don't understand! Why did the monsters have to kill him!? Why can't they just stay dead? Why-...." Liratrix held to the child then, her eyes shut tightly as tears slid down her cheeks and glistened upon her skin. Men of the Crusade surrounded them, their hearts heavy and full of lamentation.
"Hey, you're-..." The human girl approaches Liratrix, looking up to the elf with a calm smile. "You're the one who brought me here, aren't you? What happened to you? You look like somebody beat you up! Were you fighting monsters?" The paladin shakes her head at the youth, taking to a knee and lowering herself down to the girl's level.
"Did they give you a name, child? Something I might call you by?"
"The matron calls me Arabel."
"Can I ask you a question, Arabel?" Liratrix looks to the girl with large, sincere eyes. Though, there was a hint of sadness in the way that she smiled. "You see..., I found out that someone who was once very close to me is a bad, bad person. And I kept trying to find some way to prove to myself that..., the things she did were for a good reason. But I..., I can't. I can't justify the things that she did." The elf sets a hand on the human's blonde hair, ruffling it gently near the scalp. "I've spent so much time trying to find the -good- in others, but-..., do you think there are some people who have no good in them at all? Is that possible?"
"There are good people, and then there are bad people. Bad people, like the monsters who killed my daddy. You're a hero, like my daddy was! It's your job to get rid of all the bad people, so people stop dying. One day, I'll be big and strong too, so I can fight the bad people and the monsters. If we don't fight them, then who will?" The paladin's smile widens considerably, the elf shifting her weight back onto her feet as she stands upright.
"I think..., I should have asked you a long time ago. Perhaps I forgot what it means to truly be a paladin. I thought that..., even if someone was evil that-..., through love, and patience, I could change them, or find reason behind the things that they did. And while I was not wrong for doing so, I..., I think I finally understand."
You were evil..., but I am not. I am the Light that shines in the darkness! I am the hope that shines in the brink of defeat! I will continue to change the world with love, and compassion-..., but I must respect the need for justice! Evil must be vanquished, at any cost!
"Are you okay? You look really sleepy." Liratrix sways to and fro, a sharp pain causing her plated form to tremble and her eyes to water.
I don't understand-..., why do I keep losing myself? What's wrong with me? I feel like I'm slipping away-...
The paladin staggers back outside, parting those indigo and purple curtains with a sweep of a gauntlet-clad arm.
You really are slipping away, aren't you? Do you know who you are, Liratrix?
I-..., I am a paladin of the holy Light!
Are you arguing with yourself, now? Are you crazy?
I don't understand...! Who are you? Are you me?
I am not you, I am me. But neither are you yourself, any longer. You are me.
I don't understand-...! Is this...., evil?
It's time to go to sleep. You don't have to wake up ever again.
But I-..., I want to fight...
In a world of pain, you will only suffer. Your strength is admirable! However..., I am stronger.
Mother...
Hush, my dearest child. Become a part of me, and I shall hold you within my heart, forever...
...Mommy, I'm scared...
There is no fear, any longer..., there is nothing left, for you...
Nothing...
You are nothing...
I am...
The young, blonde human youth stands beside the paladin, reaching up to the elf's arm and pulling on it. "Are you okay? Are you hungry? Do you need a bed? The matron can-"
Red.
Blood pools from the girl's midsection, the human letting forth a quivering, panicked sob as her youthful eyes snap to a state of shock and despair. With a sudden tug, a sharpened blade lurches from Arabel's stomach, crimson splattering across that steely metal and gushing to the floor in thick globs. The girl topples over, the paladin tracing a single finger along the blunt side of the blade and scooping up some of that thick, scarlet blood. A plate covered finger pushes itself between those plush lips, the knight's moist tongue swirling around the digit as a soft, almost eerie sounding laugh flows that blood stained mouth.
"How pathetic, the fragility of youth! It's all so meaningless!" A plate boot pushes down upon the slain girl's back, pushing that lithe corpse down against the cobblestone with a bone-cracking crunch. "Oh, what despair! Do we truly wish to live in a world like this, where the weak can so easily be slain? No, no. Not at all, not at all! I will not allow this word to be peaceful, no-..., that'd be too boring!" With a hard kick, the girl rolls down that jagged, stone hill like a rag doll.
I am evil..., but you were not! I am the darkness that uses the Light as my bitch! I am the discord that shines in the very brink of an orderly world! I will continue to change the world with chaos, and darkness-..., but I must respect the need for justice, of course! Those who oppose my world will be vanquished, at any cost! I am Viletta Dawnslayer, paladin of the holy Light! Let me show them my compassion.
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