"Effierath, why did you kill Martissa?"
I'm reading her mind; I want to see her choices.
Like I did with Unlo.
I don't see any flickering memories. Though, I must say; her mind is strangely dysfunctional. Maybe it's good she wasn't looking directly at me when my Origin evolved. I have no idea what that'd have done to her fragile mind. Given what I know about eldritch gods...
She doesn't move.
"You're no longer frozen."
Her flames turn yellow.
Ehrm. Do I not need to use my talent?
"I killed her because she tried to stop me."
"Stop you from doing what, exactly?"
Her flames turn orange.
"From destroying the Chaos Fissures."
She's telling the truth. That makes sense from one formerly called Truth, but—
"Why do you want to destroy them? How were you planning on doing that?"
Her flames turn yellow.
"I figured your tentacle thing might be able to damage them since you ate so many sins and virtues. And look, it worked! They didn't expand at all! It's incredible!"
She's right, it seems. I'll have to look into that.
"Was this your attempt to escape?"
Her flames turn white.
"Nooooo."
BAAANT! Wrong answer! I don't need mind-reading to see such a transparent lie. She's a terrible liar, plus her whole body changes colors. She's like a traffic light for lies.
Though. Why did she turn white-ish when I said she was responsible for a hundred eighty billion murders?
"Care to explain why you're out here and not at my temple, then? I told you—"
Her flames turn green.
"I DID go."
True.
Her flames turn white.
"But then Martissa attacked me, and none of the others did anything—"
That's a lie!
I cut her off.
"Lie again and I'll execute you. I'm not joking."
Her flames turn blue.
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"Can't you read my memories?"
"I can, but the point of free Will is the ability to act with righteousness on your own. If you can't manage that after murdering one of my beloved dragons, then what use are you to anyone?"
Her flames turn a deeper blue color.
"It's not right to treat someone as a tool."
"You're not someone; you're a murderer. Many, many times over. And now? Now you've disobeyed my orders and slain my kin. I keep giving you chances, and you keep squandering them. How can someone once named 'Truth' be so dishonest?"
Her flames turn green.
"Why not kill me right now?"
"I don't kill anyone who's worth saving. The loss of all the people who have ever died, immensely regrettable and painful though it is, doesn't outweigh the worth of a single living being. We cannot repeat past mistakes and carry them into the future, Effierath! That's why I execute those who choose to repeat their mistakes. Only them."
Her flames turn dark green.
"Aha. Please kill me."
"Hrah? Why?"
Her flames flicker colors wildly.
"Deception, Truth. Do you not get it? I was— Deception's owner was my wife. I killed my beloved wife. Horribly."
Effierath points to Martissa's dead body.
Her flames turn black.
"Now I've killed her, too. The truth is, I tried so damn hard to stop lying to myself that I BECAME Truth. But I STILL couldn't stop killing. So, kill me! End my suffering. I can't go on. My beloved wife... And, now...? Now my poor dog... What's wrong with me? Why? WHY??!?!!"
I'm stunned silent.
Truth is a serial killer? Is this a bad joke?
I look at Effierath's memories.
She was tortured as a fledgling flame elemental. Her parents poured lukewarm water onto her many times daily. That's nothing much for an ant, never mind a human. A bucket of water doesn't even register to a dragon.
But for a flame elemental?
YEESH!!!
I get shivers thinking about it.
Why the heck did they do that?
I look through her memories.
There's no way to explain her parents' insane behavior. No other elementals did what they did.
She killed them, and then... Kept killing.
Effierath's flames turn red.
"I was so happy when my wife summoned me. So, so happy. I finally felt at peace. We fell in love, which was forbidden for elves. But we got married anyway. Some of the elves were willing to support our matrimony."
Her flames turn black and blaze FIERCELY.
Roh no.
"Thethe elf god ffff-f-fffound out. That BITCH decreed my wife had to— throw. Had to! Had. To— A bucket of water. HAD TO. On me! ON. MEEEE."
Her flames turn red; they flicker chaotically.
"She wouldn't do it. I told her to do it! I implored her to do it?! My beloved wouldn't do it??!!"
Her flames turn WILD colors.
"So, so. The elf god said I had to— drown her. To DROWN. Her! Or she would torture MY WIFE. ENDLESSLY! FOREVER. So, so—"
Her flames turn black.
They're freakishly calm.
"My wife asked me to do it."
Her flames stop moving entirely.
"I did."
...
A long silence.
...
...
...
What. In the EVERLIVING HELL?!
What is WRONG with that elf god?! I've heard some screwed up things; I've seen some screwed up things. Yet somehow, the elf god STILL manages to have the whole screwed up cake and EAT IT TOO!
RAUGH!
"Are you sure you want me to kill you?"
Her flames turn gray. They vibrate oddly.
Is that fear? Or...
"I know— I can't stop. I can kill one last time, can't I?"
Nope, it was lies mixed with self-hate.
Her flames turn aquamarine.
"But don't make me kill myself. Don't let me be a murderer until the end."
I shake my dragon head.
At least she's honest with herself.
"I'll tell you one thing, then."
She looks up at me.
"I'm going to END that elf god."
Her flames turn red and billowy.
"Thank you, my god. I'm not a dragon, but thank you. You're truly a kind god."
"I'm not kind; I'm fair. There's a big difference. But, you knew that, didn't you?"
Her flames turn purple and flow softly.
"No, my humble god. Fairness is a form of kindness. The difference is merely how these actions appear to others; whether you tried to be kind or strictly fair. But regardless of whether you tried to be kind— a fair person is always a kind person. You, Chronovoid? You're kind."
She's... Right? I think? Hruh. Truth, indeed.
"It's a real shame you can't help yourself."
Her flames turn green with a hint of blue.
"I know. I've tried so hard. Some wounds never heal after they're reopened so viciously."
I slowly nod my dragon head.
"Any last words?"
Her flames turn ultraviolet.
"Marisa. Martissa. I'm... I'm coming."
I end her life instantly.
Painlessly.
