Fic: Conversation
May. 11th, 2005 03:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalNovalis has a little chat with Christopher. PG, no warnings.
Novalis found the young Malakite as he was directing several of his servitors, who were busy singing up the new addition to his Cottage.
“Spare a manifestation for an old friend?” she asked.
“Eh? Oh, of course,” Christopher said distractedly, as he willed another piece of himself apart to walk with her away from the Cottage, along the shores of his lake.
“You’re busy,” she noted. “Adding a new wing for the Blessed Souls?”
“Mmm, no,” Christopher replied, “Training areas for my servitors. The number lacking defensive and combat Songs, at least among my non-Malakim, was a bit disturbing to me.” He still looked abstracted. She could recognize the aura of a Superior who was stretching himself thin, trying to maintain as many manifestations as he could juggle.
“If now is genuinely a bad time…”
“Eh? No, no!” Christopher paused, and grew visibly more focused. “Sorry, I was trying something a bit new. I’ve been attempting to manifest myself to meet with multiple servitors at the same time. I mean, we can do that already, but what I was doing was trying to coordinate all of them together.”
“A sort of Celestial conference call?” Novalis ventured.
“Exactly!” Christopher nodded. “I thought it might be helpful in strengthening my servitors’ efforts on the Earth. My organization has never been all that large, so if I want it to accomplish what I want to do, it’ll have to be faster on it’s feet.”
Novalis pondered the idea for a moment. “I wonder if you could persuade Jean to make a sort of Celestial-Earth cell phone, with conferencing capability?”
“Well, it certainly would make summoning one’s superior easier!” Christopher looked like he might laugh, but the moment passed, and his expression dropped to something more… dutiful.
“Christopher…” she began, paused for a moment, then started again. “Christopher, are you… happy?”
“Happy?” Christopher looked genuinely confused. “I’ve accomplished much in the past few months. Dominic is easing his stand on the Grigori. I no longer have Lust to contend with. Fleurity is on the defensive. The War is finally starting to truly tip in our favor...”
Novalis shook her head. “I’m not talking about the War, or the Grigori, or anything related to that. Are you, yourself, Christopher, happy?”
He looked at her, and a faint smile finally passed over his lips. “Do the black chains I wear now frighten you so much, Mother?”
She took his hand. One of his oath chains slid across her wrist, cold and hard. “Oh, Christopher, you don’t laugh anymore, you barely even smile. Everyone has seen it, even Laurence, though he’s hardly one to talk.”
“Mother,” his hand gripped hers. It was larger, and more callused than she remembered it, almost as hard as his chains, “I am not what I was. I can’t be that Cherub again, even if I wished to.”
“You don’t? I do,” Novalis said, allowing a little bitterroot to enter her voice. “Damn Andre, he should not have been allowed to do what he did to you. You didn’t deserve it. You were an innocent…”
“I was a fool, Novalis,” Christopher interrupted, his voice growing cold. “I allowed myself to fall into Andrealphus and Druiel’s trap, despite the obvious dangers. Worse, I was ignorant, of my enemies, and worse still, of my supposed friends.”
She closed her eyes briefly. “I’m sorry, Christopher. I thought, we all did, that keeping knowledge of First Children from you was for the best. Our error, and you were the one that paid the price for it.”
His expression softened. “I’m not angry at you, Novalis. In retrospect, there was some logic to it. Poor logic, but then, even Yves makes mistakes from time to time. And I can’t say I did a great deal to engender trust among the Host.”
She didn’t have an answer for that, so she had to content herself with walking side by side with Christopher on the lakeshore. After they had traveled perhaps half a mile, he spoke again.
“I saw Eli in Calcutta a few days ago,” he said casually. Quite casually, really.
“And?”
“I told him my intent towards the Grigori. He was not pleased.”
“I can’t imagine he would be,” Novalis said.
“He told me that First Children called to him, just before she died. Called to him, and was ignored.”
“I’d heard rumors… to that effect… a very long time ago,” she admitted.
Christopher’s voice grew harsh. “He let it happen, and worse, turned a blind eye towards his servitors when they hunted down the other Girgori, and murdered their families!”
“Christopher, I wouldn’t judge Eli too harshly on this. You don’t understand how outraged, how frightened he was by the near death of humanity. If he was angry enough to let his servitors loose on the Grigori, it was an anger that wasn’t without justification.”
The young Malakite stared at her, but she refused to wither against his gaze. “How can you possibly defend him? What he did violated my Word.”
“Yes,” Novalis agreed. “I won’t deny what he did hurt you Word, but what the Grigori did, some of them, hurt his. There are two sides to this story, Christopher.”
“Three, but apparently nobody cares about what the Grigori think,” Christopher snapped. He drew in a breath to calm himself. “Almost nobody. I apologize, Novalis.”
“Accepted,” she said readily. “For what it’s worth, I’m very glad that your push to have the Grigori’s sentence reviewed is finding traction in the Council. This has gone on too long.”
“Yes!”
She laid a hand on his elbow. “But I must ask you, be careful in following your Heart on this matter.”
“Why should I be afraid to follow my Heart, Mother?” Christopher demanded. “I know I’m right about this.”
Now is was Novalis’ turn to stare. “Uriel thought he was right too, and would brook no compromise to his Crusade. Clarity of vision is a fine thing. Narrow-mindedness isn’t.”
“I’m…” Christopher blinked, and shook his head. “I’m not Uriel, Mother. I’m not the one who slaughtered the innocent.”
“And if you suddenly found yourself confronting a servitor of Creation, in service to you, who you suddenly knew had participated in Grigori Hunts, what would you do then?”
“They’d hardly be innocent then, would they?”
“That’s for Dominic to Judge, not you, Christopher,” Novalis said firmly. “Keep that in mind.”
He turned his face away from her. “I’ll try. I can’t promise more than that.”
“I don’t ask for more.”
The End
Novalis found the young Malakite as he was directing several of his servitors, who were busy singing up the new addition to his Cottage.
“Spare a manifestation for an old friend?” she asked.
“Eh? Oh, of course,” Christopher said distractedly, as he willed another piece of himself apart to walk with her away from the Cottage, along the shores of his lake.
“You’re busy,” she noted. “Adding a new wing for the Blessed Souls?”
“Mmm, no,” Christopher replied, “Training areas for my servitors. The number lacking defensive and combat Songs, at least among my non-Malakim, was a bit disturbing to me.” He still looked abstracted. She could recognize the aura of a Superior who was stretching himself thin, trying to maintain as many manifestations as he could juggle.
“If now is genuinely a bad time…”
“Eh? No, no!” Christopher paused, and grew visibly more focused. “Sorry, I was trying something a bit new. I’ve been attempting to manifest myself to meet with multiple servitors at the same time. I mean, we can do that already, but what I was doing was trying to coordinate all of them together.”
“A sort of Celestial conference call?” Novalis ventured.
“Exactly!” Christopher nodded. “I thought it might be helpful in strengthening my servitors’ efforts on the Earth. My organization has never been all that large, so if I want it to accomplish what I want to do, it’ll have to be faster on it’s feet.”
Novalis pondered the idea for a moment. “I wonder if you could persuade Jean to make a sort of Celestial-Earth cell phone, with conferencing capability?”
“Well, it certainly would make summoning one’s superior easier!” Christopher looked like he might laugh, but the moment passed, and his expression dropped to something more… dutiful.
“Christopher…” she began, paused for a moment, then started again. “Christopher, are you… happy?”
“Happy?” Christopher looked genuinely confused. “I’ve accomplished much in the past few months. Dominic is easing his stand on the Grigori. I no longer have Lust to contend with. Fleurity is on the defensive. The War is finally starting to truly tip in our favor...”
Novalis shook her head. “I’m not talking about the War, or the Grigori, or anything related to that. Are you, yourself, Christopher, happy?”
He looked at her, and a faint smile finally passed over his lips. “Do the black chains I wear now frighten you so much, Mother?”
She took his hand. One of his oath chains slid across her wrist, cold and hard. “Oh, Christopher, you don’t laugh anymore, you barely even smile. Everyone has seen it, even Laurence, though he’s hardly one to talk.”
“Mother,” his hand gripped hers. It was larger, and more callused than she remembered it, almost as hard as his chains, “I am not what I was. I can’t be that Cherub again, even if I wished to.”
“You don’t? I do,” Novalis said, allowing a little bitterroot to enter her voice. “Damn Andre, he should not have been allowed to do what he did to you. You didn’t deserve it. You were an innocent…”
“I was a fool, Novalis,” Christopher interrupted, his voice growing cold. “I allowed myself to fall into Andrealphus and Druiel’s trap, despite the obvious dangers. Worse, I was ignorant, of my enemies, and worse still, of my supposed friends.”
She closed her eyes briefly. “I’m sorry, Christopher. I thought, we all did, that keeping knowledge of First Children from you was for the best. Our error, and you were the one that paid the price for it.”
His expression softened. “I’m not angry at you, Novalis. In retrospect, there was some logic to it. Poor logic, but then, even Yves makes mistakes from time to time. And I can’t say I did a great deal to engender trust among the Host.”
She didn’t have an answer for that, so she had to content herself with walking side by side with Christopher on the lakeshore. After they had traveled perhaps half a mile, he spoke again.
“I saw Eli in Calcutta a few days ago,” he said casually. Quite casually, really.
“And?”
“I told him my intent towards the Grigori. He was not pleased.”
“I can’t imagine he would be,” Novalis said.
“He told me that First Children called to him, just before she died. Called to him, and was ignored.”
“I’d heard rumors… to that effect… a very long time ago,” she admitted.
Christopher’s voice grew harsh. “He let it happen, and worse, turned a blind eye towards his servitors when they hunted down the other Girgori, and murdered their families!”
“Christopher, I wouldn’t judge Eli too harshly on this. You don’t understand how outraged, how frightened he was by the near death of humanity. If he was angry enough to let his servitors loose on the Grigori, it was an anger that wasn’t without justification.”
The young Malakite stared at her, but she refused to wither against his gaze. “How can you possibly defend him? What he did violated my Word.”
“Yes,” Novalis agreed. “I won’t deny what he did hurt you Word, but what the Grigori did, some of them, hurt his. There are two sides to this story, Christopher.”
“Three, but apparently nobody cares about what the Grigori think,” Christopher snapped. He drew in a breath to calm himself. “Almost nobody. I apologize, Novalis.”
“Accepted,” she said readily. “For what it’s worth, I’m very glad that your push to have the Grigori’s sentence reviewed is finding traction in the Council. This has gone on too long.”
“Yes!”
She laid a hand on his elbow. “But I must ask you, be careful in following your Heart on this matter.”
“Why should I be afraid to follow my Heart, Mother?” Christopher demanded. “I know I’m right about this.”
Now is was Novalis’ turn to stare. “Uriel thought he was right too, and would brook no compromise to his Crusade. Clarity of vision is a fine thing. Narrow-mindedness isn’t.”
“I’m…” Christopher blinked, and shook his head. “I’m not Uriel, Mother. I’m not the one who slaughtered the innocent.”
“And if you suddenly found yourself confronting a servitor of Creation, in service to you, who you suddenly knew had participated in Grigori Hunts, what would you do then?”
“They’d hardly be innocent then, would they?”
“That’s for Dominic to Judge, not you, Christopher,” Novalis said firmly. “Keep that in mind.”
He turned his face away from her. “I’ll try. I can’t promise more than that.”
“I don’t ask for more.”
The End
