[ToxicShadow]

A nod. As usual, that was how she confirmed things. She sat back on her haunches, two of her three tails wrapping around one side, the last one wrapping around the other. If anything, she owed it to him to know. Though, she'd always kept matters to herself. She'd become one of secrecy. "I'm not from this world, first off. My homeland is one different then this; it is more based on magics and myths. It is ruled by two kingdoms, in fact. One kingdom hailing over powers of the light and day. The kingdom opposite of it hailed over darkness and the night." She explained. This was where things became more important, and far more difficult to say. It made her heart ache, her whole body ache. "Being the princess, the next in line to the throne, of the kingdom of light, I'd fallen in love with the prince from the other kingdom. The Kings and Queens, my parents and his, arranged for us a marriage. He, however, refused it and the throne. He fled here. My love for him, I couldn't let him go. I followed him. No matter what happened, I loved him. I was to remain loyal to him, and pure for him. It was no question that I wanted him to love me. No matter how long it took, I'd stay by him." She paused. "However, I faltered in my loyalties, ruined myself. My fascination of darkness blinded me and I allowed myself to be captivated. For a time, I believed that I'd loved someone else. I have three children now, because of that mistake. I love them dearly...However, their father was rather promiscuous. And he ended with someone else."

"As for that who I loved, I can not allow myself to return to him either. I ruined myself in what I have done. I let the light be lost. At that point, I'm far from worthy enough for him. I'm even getting old now. A great grandmother. So fast. I'm pleased my child found love, though... My hole family, everything that I have done, no one is allowed to know. We've kept everything of us secret. The prince, my few friends that had come with me to try to return him to our home. No one knows..."

[Kittyms]

Severino nodded solemnly. "I swear that I shall not repeat your story to anyone else," he said. "But if I may say, you do not look like a great grandmother. You are far too beautiful." The Fellox smiled. Her story had not discouraged him in the least. He still loved her, no matter what she had done. After all, listening to her story, he believed that she had committed a less grievous crime than he. For he had murdered and tortured dozens of innocents during his time as a necromancer, yet all she had done was love. "Love is no crime," he said softly. "No matter how fickle love may be."

[Severino: 17]

[ToxicShadow]

She smiled bleakly. His attempts and words that tried to cheer her some, it was hard to tell if they helped or made it worse. She wasn't sure if she wanted to hear that what she'd done wasn't so severe. In her world, it was. She couldn't explain what it was like to betray the one she so loved and then forced to live outside of everyone else, living in the darkness of her secrets. It had been horrible to her family. Her family was quite a messed up one, one of her sons was a killer, addicted to blood. But she couldn't stop him. She loved him. What he wanted, she'd give it to him. "Betraying it is. Doing what I did, is." In doing what she did, she'd even failed her parents and her kingdom. She couldn't ever return home. It was too shameful. She wouldn't even be accepted.

[Kittyms]

The Imperial Fellox sighed, and decided not to argue with her. Instead, he moved closer, and sat down next to her. He began licking her shoulders gently. "No matter what you have done, or will do, I will always love you," he said. "For who you are, not for what you've done." He continued grooming her with soothing tongue swipes, hoping to make her feel better. Sev was somewhat surprised that he had so easily expressed his feelings to her. But then, he hadn't had a feeling like this in so long, not since Amarynth.

[Severino: 18]

[ToxicShadow]

Akaona held still. She didn't move away from the Fellox as he came beside her. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do. Why he was doing what he was. She'd just spilled her story to him and he had spilled his to her just before. Still. What did that mean? His tongue felt good against her pelt. She would admit that. But it felt horrible at the same time. It made her...sick. The words, that was enough. She flinched away from him, then went far enough to jump away, tears pooling into her eyes, spilling over and trickling down her face. "No." She said between them, getting worked up and feeling disgusted with herself. The idea was repulsive to her. She couldn't try love again, even if she wanted to. Even if she wanted her broken heart to be mended, she just couldn't. "No. No one can love me. I can't love anyone."

[Kittyms]

Severino froze, startled by Akaona's reaction. Then, he lowered his head, and said quietly, "I believe I was called here for a reason. One way or another, I was meant to find and help you. Even if you don't love me..." Here his voice broke a little, but he continued on, "as much as I love you, I still have to find some way to help." He looked up, his eyes full of emotion. "You have to learn to love. Life is not worth living if you don't love. You may have been hurt before by love, but it is not an evil thing. It should be embraced again, and no matter how many times your heart breaks, you just have to keep searching until you find the one. The one you want to spend the rest of your life with, however long that may be. I thought I found mine once, but she was killed, and as much as it hurt me, I knew that I couldn't stop loving just because she had died. Now I thought I found someone again... you. But if you do not love me, I will not force you." The Fellox watched her face closely, hoping that she wouldn't be upset with him.

[Severino: 19]

[ToxicShadow]

The Lucain glared at him through tears, relentless, even if she was hurting him. "How can you say that you love me so quickly? It's not natural! You think I'll make the mistake of being carried away again? No. I won't. I can't." She couldn't. Akaona, she wasn't stable. She hurt from lost love, and the betrayal she made against her love which made her loose him. She'd already lost twice. She'd been hurt twice. You just couldn't expect someone like that to love so quickly again. Her emotions weren't that of a little girl with a schoolgirl crush, no. They had always been far, far deeper then that. Getting that back, she couldn't. "You just don't understand. The idea...it makes me sick." She'd ruined herself. Anyone to love her would be ruined too. As she spoke, her body shook, particularly her legs. She, however, ignored it.

[Kittyms]

He let out a deep sigh, and tried not to show how much her words had hurt him. Putting on an expressionless mask, he sat down. "Calm down," he said in a flat, toneless voice. "You're only distressing yourself further. Let's think about this calmly and rationally." He inclined his head, wordlessly inviting her to sit down. The only thing that showed how much pain Sev was in was the grim set of his face, and the tautness of his muscles.

[Severino: 20 -- level up]

[ToxicShadow]

"I'm sorry...But discussing it...It really isn't going to help." Her voice was a combination of contained and hysteric, the hysterics breaking through toward the end. She didn't sit down, she couldn't afford it. She was upset, in herself and in everything. Anxious, the distressing sort, she couldn't sit still. She started pacing back and forth. She wanted to run out of here. Where else would be be able to visit to wallow by herself? I've in this dark, broken place, she couldn't avoid it. She couldn't avoid having matters of the heart come back to smack her in the face. Some would take that as a sign to go ahead and open up, but not her. She had herself, the other person, and everyone else to deal with. She only stopped long enough to stare back at the now...somewhat broken Fellox. "You see?" She asked, her voice more careful this time. He couldn't hide it, the pain, but she couldn't act to comfort him. "I'm not fit for it any longer. I'll just up and hurt those who try to love me. It's not a task that can be done."

[Kittyms]

Sev shook his head silently, denying her words. "Don't believe that," he said. "No matter how many times you break my heart, I will always love you." He looked at her, sadness in his eyes, unable to hide behind his mask of no emotion any longer. His heart gave a broken throb, and he felt a knot in his throat, but he managed to keep calm. "If you don't love me, I don't hold it against you. It doesn't matter who you love, so long as you love. Love someone, something, anything! I can't bear to see you so broken and hopeless. I was drawn here to help, and I can't leave until I have."

[Severino: 21]

[ToxicShadow]

"You have only proved my very point."Akaona was back to speaking fairly calmly, since her messages weren't be received when she spoke in the other tone. "I either end up hurt right away, or I end up hurting the other person, which comes back at me, hating to harm others. Look your self now. Look what I have done..."She paused for a time to swallow down the upset words that could come, which would bring more distress. "And I do love...I love my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. I still have that love."She loved her family. Yes. Most of the time, she put on a brave face for them but, that wouldn't make the pain always go away. Her family had to be such in secret, which hurt them; her own instability could very well end up hurting them. Watching her children love, she was happy for them, but secretly stabbed by it.

[Kittyms]

Horror struck, Severino leaped to his feet. "Why did I not think of that before? I am so stupid! Of course you love.. loving your family is enough. Why am I even still here?" A touch of bitterness entered his voice, but he no longer cared about hiding the pain. Akaona could see right through him anyway. "I must go. I can no longer torture myself with being near you." A grim smile touched his face. "I love you Akaona, and if you ever change your mind... if you realize that you could not possibly hurt me more than you are now by your refusal... I will always be nearby, waiting." He turned as if to go, but waited, hoping that she would say something to make him stay.

[Severino: 22]

[ToxicShadow]

How? How could she explain to him things weren't just that easy? That his words just then cut like thousands of daggers to her already raw heart? Trust was wasted, both ways. And they'd turned each other into victims over it, neither of them seeming to mean to. But...that was how it seemed to happen.
Her ears fell back against her head, as if glued there, her eyes narrowing into a glare. "Just go, Severino. Go!" An angry tone to hide behind. An angry exterior to match, tails lashing. Pretending this was better then breaking into tears again. "I'm torturing you, and you are torturing me! If you're waiting for me to stop you, I...can't." 'Your love is better elsewhere. I'd only continue hurting you.'

[Kittyms]

Sev's head sagged, and he slowly began to drag his feet along. It hurt so much for him to just walk away. But did it hurt more than it would for him to stay? Either way, they were both already wounded, and it would only get worse. He squeezed his eyes shut, and tried not to pay attention to where his feet were taking him. Away from Akaona.. the only other creature he had ever loved since Amarynth. A few tears dripped down his snout, and he paused to impatiently brush them away. Opening his eyes, he saw that he had hardly gotten anywhere. Why was this so hard? He was simply walking away, and yet, it cost him more and more the further he got from her, he felt. "Please... I can love no one but you," he whispered, not caring if she hurt him anymore. The damage was already done. In time he would recover, but doubted that he would ever be able to love anyone else. His heart would always be trapped with her.

[Severino: 23]

[ToxicShadow]

All she could do was watch. Watch as he moved and made it nowhere, till she couldn't bear watching any longer. The Lucain forced her eyes away, turning her back to him and eyes coming to the stone wall and soon, the floor, a chip of loose gravel suddenly becoming interesting, the point she focused on. Wasn't this the harsh point she wanted to avoid? Stupid Severino. What else could she do? She was a victim of what she'd just inflicted on him. She loved with all her heart and had it rejected. Sickly ironic that she'd done what had been done to her. No escape. Avoiding the feelings it brought was impossible. "And...Where has that gotten you? Why...Why do you decide to love me when I cannot love...?"In that, it was his own mistake. She felt responsible for suddenly trampling on him. Would she manage to think otherwise? This brought more grief. "Sorry...If you can't leave, then I will. There is no other choice. Just forget. For the both of us."Wheeling around toward him, she started pushing herself forward on her feet. Someone had to go, for both of their benefit. Right now...she must have been the stronger willed, or the one more willing to run away. Perhaps both. Of course, that path led her to have to walk directly past the Fellox. With great effort, her eyes were forced to look away from him.