[F13-PP] <Domarus & Hestia>

[Domarus 0]

Quest:  Cleansing the Corruption

Stats

Spoiler

Level:  41
Health:  860/860
Energy:  86/86
Mitigation:  66
Accuracy:  2-3
Damage:  15-19
Counter Damage:  2 Tier 2 Thorns:  24 dmg
Recovery:  +4 ENG on CD 6+

Survival Skill
Gatherer
Concentration
Rank 5 THBA
Rank 5 Charge
Rank HA
Rank 3 Fighter Familiar

Ferocity

 

 

Domarus sat on a bench on the thirteenth floor.  The place had made a complete turnover.  The last time they were here they had fought the fallen angel and the corrupted.  Or rather possessed priest.  The land began to heal itself post the evil's defeat.  Now however, life had exploded.  Where ruined buildings and cities were, nature overgrew into it.  The city itself was no longer dreary and dead.  It was beginning to show renewed life in the citizens.  Of course there were sections of the map that were still corrupted, but Domarus doubted anything but another event would help change that.  He was sitting there in his silver armor.  It wasn't a dark foreboding piece of equipment like his Hopebreaker set.  However it was a reminder of his arrogance.  He had been meaning to change his equipment entirely but...  He hadn't had the motivation to do anything as of late.  All he'd managed to do so far was get a vanity ax made of steel rather than dark iron.  No enhancements, but he was able to pull out a gold ring he once crafted for accuracy.  It wasn't a perfect item, so it only had two points of accuracy, but it was still something.  His helmet rested on the bench beside him while he waited for Hestia.  She wanted to see if he could help her with something and seeing as how he had nothing better to do...

He sighed as he rested his arms against his knees, supporting the rest of the body which leaned on his arms, staring down towards the ground.  A shadow over his eyes.

@Hestia

 

[Hestia 0]

I smile rather happily as i look upon the revitalized floor thirteen as i can't help but feel a bit better after everything that occurred on this floor even if said nature of events was me dying horribly by an angel. Though the upside is that nobody knows of it seemingly besides those on the actual frontlines and that Sunova and Dazia girl who had died beforehand during the T1 event boss. 'Ohh yeah i should ask Domarus how his side of things went for that.' I think to myself with a nod of my head as i look around for the axe wielding red headed man known as Domarus and eventually finds him looking rather down about something or the other from what can be gleamed from his posture. With a shrug of my shoulders i would walk towards him with a smile upon my face and tap his right shoulder to get his attention as i myself am wearing my combat gear already as well since this quest is a unknown from nobody having completed it and only being known from the fact that info brokers are talking about it. The only known details are that it is related to the event in some manner.  Hey Domarus. Thanks for coming on rather short notice. Turns out something involving the event that we did is now a quest we can do. Soooo i figured i would like your help doing it since the unknown is dangerous and i don't feel like dying. 'Again.' I think the last word to myself.

My stats:

Spoiler

 

HP: 1710/1710  Energy: 162/162 DMG:17   MIT:151  Thorns: 54  Eva: -1  BH: 80 Heavy Momentum: 2 (+6DMG) Rec: CD:6+ (+6 ENG)   Stonewall: 25% DoT reduction

 

#111369 LD:3=Famine

[Domarus 0]

Domarus sat there silently until he heard footsteps approach...  Or more accurately until someone tapped the shoulder piece of his armor.  He turned his head to see who it was and looked up to Hestia.  The first thing he noticed was that she had an incredibly positive posture.  She was almost radiating with light and happiness.  How she could be like that after the past few weeks he had no earthly idea.  He received the message about the Christmas event..  So perhaps that was it.  While everyone else was celebrating the holidays, Domarus...  Well he had another breakdown when isolated in another floor.  Thinking about his mother and how he wished he could meet her at least one.  Not as a ghost, not as a memory, but someone he could actually talk to.  While it was true he was able to remove most of his hate.  It left him vulnerable to the crushing loneliness he never realized he had.  Life had not been easy on the player lately...  And yet here Hestia was, shining brightly.  Something he personally doubted he'd ever be able to become.  Domarus stood up quietly and grabbed his helmet.
     "Of course @Hestia."  His words were soft.  Only loud enough to hear.  A part of him wished to call her Ember, but.  After the manner in which he had used her real name in the past, he refused to call her that until he felt he had earned the right to call her by her real name. 

[Hestia 0]

I look towards the man when he can only speak in what seems barely just above a whisper of a voice as i can't help but feel just a bit bad thinking that this is because of me and if such a state is better than perpetual anger towards something or the other that the man seemingly was in before. 'I can only try to help him improve. The least i can do to make it up to him.' With a nod of my head i would just smile towards the man to keep myself as positive as i can be to try and maybe rub a bit of that onto him. So what have you been up to since last we have been able to talk Domarus? It's been quite a bit since we had done that, and i can imagine that it has been at least as busy for you as it has been for me. Maybe busy in a different manner considering how you are right now, but at least dealing with something or the other. I say in a gentle tone of voice as i give a caring look towards the man to try and extend sympathy towards the individual. Willing to delay any amount of business time to try and help the man that does deserve a better life to try and help him achieve a better outlook and to help him maybe get a few friends. The lion that is my familiar walks forward and glances around as if trying to spot the usually aggressive and arrogant dragon that he had to battle during the little mini civil war.

[Domarus 0]

Domarus listened to her and he made an educated guess at what she was trying to do.  Despite him trying to change, he doubt his skills of deception and manipulation would ever truly go away.  However, he was tabling those skills for the moment.  There was no need to use them.  Especially when she'd see straight through them with ease at this point.
     "When Keres isn't yelling her anger at me for changing, I seek solitude somewhere.  Hoping to find some peace of some sort...  The past week has been especially difficult to find anything close to the concept."  He stopped talking at that moment.  There was no need to explain any further.  She asked him what he'd been up to.  And that truly was all.  Other than packing up his things in the hopes of moving his shop elsewhere, but that was less important.  Keres however...  Despite not being able to feel pain in SAO, she enjoyed it when Domarus threw her around and struck her regardless.  The problem was.  Now that she had been denied that as well, she has entered a long term stage of withdrawal.  Lashing out at him whether physical or verbally whenever she had the chance.  He didn't know how to help her.  And he doubted Hestia would have the tools to do so either.  So currently, even though he knew it wasn't the best solution, he was waiting it out.  After all:  Who besides Hestia would help bring a friend of the great deceiver and manipulator to a better mental state?

@Hestia

[Hestia 0]

Looking at he man before me i feel rather bad for him and i can't help but wonder what other things has changed for his life besides the fact that the only friend he could count on has left him because of the fact of him wanting to change for the better. 'Does he actually have nobody to even help him with this by keeping him company.' I wonder silently to myself as i look towards the red haired man trying to hide the sense of pity i feel for him since i know that showing pity won't help this situation only actions,words, and something or the other that i might not know will help from here. With a bit of a sad smile i just nod my head and gently pat his armored shoulder as i look into the man's eyes. I know it might be hard and you are going through a rough spot, but i can only say try to tough it out and if you ever need someone to spend time with and or talk to i am always here for you. Though yeah i did call you here about a quest thing supposedly nobody else has done it yet, or at the very least nobody has told other brokers about what the reward is if they did do it.

[Domarus 0]

He listened to what she had to say, but despite her trying to hide it.  He knew she pitied him.  Domarus was the expert on deception.  Hestia on the other hand.  Was terrible at it.  Still, he was at the point where he welcomed pity.  There was one person in existence who cared about him right about now.  Or if there was a God out there in the world, perhaps he cared about Domarus as well.  After all.  Why else would he let him have this second chance?  He thought about what she said.  About how if he needed someone to be with or talk to.  That she was there for him.  He nodded hesitantly.
     "I'll...  Keep that in mind..  Thank you."  Thinking about it.  Perhaps he should take her advice.  Spending time with people was logically more healthy for him.  It's just...  He didn't, feel like talking with anyone.  There was just...  He shook his head, trying to shake off that train of thought.  Hestia would notice that most of his depressive mood was shaken off, but there would be that lingering essence.  That weight on his shoulders, and in his eyes. 
     "Yeah, right..  Lead the way then.  I am your blade in this fight.  Direct me as you will."

@Domarus

[Hestia 0]

I shoot Domarus a quick glare at his words. Making sure to keep him level with him i would say in a matter of fact tone. You aren't a weapon Domarus and i don't care for tools when it comes to people teaming up with me. I care for people who can think and feel for themselves not just soldiers who do as simply as they are told. We aren't soldiers we are just normal people so no need to act like a soldier who is waiting for his next order from a superior officer. I say towards the red haired axe wielder before i would turn my head and begin to make my way towards the quest giver knowing at the very least who that is and knowing that it is the NPC that i find the most annoying from its simple existence and what it could possibly be standing for.  When i look upon the man that was the cause of almost two perma deaths in the T1/T2 fights i just give him a rather cold shoulder for the most part. We're here for whatever you need help with supposedly. I say towards the man while crossing my arms at my chest while staring down the form of Miraak the once possessed priest.

[Domarus 0]

Domarus said nothing as she spoke.  There was no reaction or change when she glared at him, and no change when she finished.  He simply nodded and put on his helmet, concealing his face under the silver armor.
     "Very well."  Domarus had no intention of saying this.  But he really didn't care at this point.  He used to feel nothing but hatred.  Consumed by the drive to rule over others, become invincible.  And keep himself occupied with his plans of world domination.  However, at this point in time all he felt was a void.  Nothing.  If he died he'd consider it a mercy to himself.  Preventing him from feeling the nothingness inside.  Therefore, at least right now, he could care less if he was used or not.  Perhaps that would change in the heat of battle, but he wasn't sure...  Soon enough they reached the Cathedral, with the priest waiting inside.  He looked at her face and her posture, seeing that she clearly hated this man.  He wondered if it was because he was a villain.  Or that he had nearly killed two players.  When she spoke up it wasn't the priest who replied first.  But surprisingly, even to himself, Domarus.
     "You would toss aside your anger towards me and give me a second chance, but not an NPC who's programmed to act a very specific way?"  His tone was calm, but there was a slight hint of a challenge in it.  Upon reflection, he wondered if it was from the fact that there was some doubt she truly forgave him.  That she was only acting a certain way around him to make him better for some ulterior motive.  The priest, who had planned on replying, hesitated as Domarus cut in.  He looked between the two, and would wait until the two stopped talking.

[Hestia 0]

I would glance towards the red haired man ignoring the priest who would go onto asking for forgiveness for what he had done as i shake my head as i look towards him. I do hate this NPC i just don't hate it for it being a NPC and for what it had done during the event. I hate what it is possibly representing within this world in my eyes. That the whole event had this weird narrative feel of Kayaba trying to tell us how he feels about this thing. Gesturing towards the priest who is starting to explain that the situation in question is that we need to head towards a location to head towards a powerful seal he had placed while he was being controlled by Artamiel for. A man that wanted to become something akin to god, and from what i heard his second form looked like that of Kayaba during his little announcement on the first day. Who than turns into a demons in the eyes of the people via the people he has killed in this game, like this man turned into a demon onto his way to act like a god and killed people during the process. After we beat this Miraak Though he starts asking for forgiveness for those he had killed. It...it just feels a bit to much like Kayaba trying to talk to us and i refuse to accept Kayaba trying to ask for forgiveness and i hate the man known as Kayaba as well thus i hate this NPC for being in my eyes some kind of stand in for Kayaba. I say explaining my thought process ignoring the NPC having stopped talking and that a accept window for the quest had even opened up for the duo of former enemies now allies.

[Domarus 0]

He listened to what she said and was silent for a moment.  He took a deep breath as he pushed his depression aside.  He'd be more aggressive than usual, but that would be because it's all he knew.  All he had from his past.
     "Hestia you are overanalyzing it.  The chances that Kayaba is attempting to speak to the players through this quest is absurdly low.  That you would even assume that makes me worry.  Even I, who think of every possible outcome and possibility, don't think that's the likely result.  More than anything he is simply another story of a mistake, redemption and forgiveness.  I also believe the primary point of the event was to show how bosses will be stronger going forward.  In addition to this, it also proved that events very well may give players the option to change entire floors with future events.  All three of these are the far more likely reason for this event.

"Furthermore, even if Kayaba wanted forgiveness.  Will you not ask him for his backstory?  His reason for doing this?  You would be willing to give me the benefit of the doubt?  I?  A monster who cared nothing of others?  Who used and abused, and wasn't afraid of letting anyone die?  Or killing them myself?  I who gave the order to slaughter children?  Regardless of the fact that they could have been imprisoned like Adrian was?"  He paused for a short moment.  "Has it occurred to you that you may have an issue with holding onto anger?  For the longest time you held onto hatred against me until you learned more about me.  And now you're telling me you refuse to forgive Kayaba.  No, you refuse to allow him to even ask for forgiveness?  Is that where you cross the line?  You don't think everyone is redeemable?  You don't have to forgive him, but if what anything you told me was true, then you can prove it by giving him the chance to find redemption for what he's done."  His voice was more aggressive, and he was at this point standing over her.  The priest was looking concerned, and as the dialogue had not yet started, the quest menu had not yet been pulled up.

[Hestia 0]

You said it is low. Not that it is impossible and you can say whatever you want Domarus i just find that such a storyline fitting way to well with Kayaba's own nature of having built this game with him as the god of it all just seems a bit to weirdly close for comfort. Besides Kayaba is the biggest monster yet he has trapped thousands of players within his little world. By having these people trapped he is having children who are stuck in this game grow up with a mentality of war and having to fight for survival, he has having people like in absolute depression, die by other peoples hands, allowing groups of serial killers and murderers work together to strike fear into people. Than to top it all off the suicides that occur that shatter other people's will to fight or just shatter a person's mentality to acting like a completely different individual from hearing or sometimes even seeing their friend die right in front of them. From what Kayaba said on the first day when we were trapped in this world he made sure that this game's design was intentional. he may have not drove people to commit the acts that have led to death of others, but any sane person could tell that being trapped in a world away from their friends and loved ones will drive a few into insanity or just some just denying the reality that people can't re-spawn again. Kayaba is not a person to forgive not for what he has done with this game. Family's are torn apart from each other because of his world that he built purposefully for trapping us all. Our families are being drained of their money possibly if hospitals are forcing them to pay bill after bill to keep us alive. All Kayaba has done with this game is kill people or slowly reduce people into a state of where they could be killed or ruined for the rest of their life via financially or with the nightmares that children and even everyone on the frontlines will have to deal with once we get out of here. The nightmares of what we did for self-defense, what we fought for, what friends we saw die before us, and those we let down because we couldn't do more to help them. I say right back as i keep my arms crossed at my chest while staring the red haired man not afraid to go into a rant to back up my own beliefs as i stand like a statue unmoving in resolve and personal conviction in my own beliefs.

[Domarus 0]

"You claim it fits his nature, but you know better than anyone that you don't know someone's nature until you GET TO KNOW THEM!!  You're accusing him of things you don't know as hard fact.  That's the first thing.  The second is that.  You think that makes him a monster?"  He glared at her though his helmet.  "It's child play from what I know.  And thirdly.  What if he isn't sane?  Have you considered that he's had more pain and torment than you or I could ever imagine?  That he's simply trying to escape it all by being in control for once?  And that's just it.  You want to hate someone for the pain you and others are going through, and thus you pin the blame on Kayaba.  Refusing to give him a second chance.  If I told everyone who I was and what I did to them, their friends, and children which some players will know.  You and I both know the majority of them would refuse to forgive me.  I'd have assassins after me day and night.  Everyone would hate me till eternity.  Yet you claim to see me as redeemable!"  he said raising his voice.  "If a monster like me can be allowed to be saved and become a good person, then why would you force someone who is asking for forgiveness for his sins to remain the villain?!  Who are you to play judge and executioner?!  You let your anger and stubbornness blind you just like I did!"  At this point, though she couldn't see it, he was crying under his helmet, his eyes wide with anger, frustration, pain and despair.  "IF YOU SEE THE WORLD THROUGH THAT LOGIC THEN THERE'S NO POINT IN REDEMPTION AND FORGIVENESS IF OTHERS CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO FIND IT AS WELL!!!"

[Hestia 0]

I look at Domarus and raise one thing after the other as i slowly start listing things off. First off, i list things i know as true when it comes to what other people are going through. Secondly lets go through the list. Children: we know of a girl named Fae who had a brief moment of insanity who is seemingly doing better now, then their is the insanity children you were forced to murder and imprison, the first floor thrives with people who are basically suffering from denial/depression and you know this as well as i, people being murdered we know this is fact since we've seen the monument of life and the fact that Pinball has done it recently as well meaning it is still occurring, groups of murderers? Laughing Coffin and whatever group hidden might make with Adrian, and people trying to support the release of Pinball even though all i wanted was to simply ask some questions they were acting as if i was going for execution, than finally suicides that can lead to people having to deal with their friends killing themselves. Eatos' suicide affecting Stryder, and Birdie's suicide affecting Itzal. Those are two facts that i know of and that isn't even getting into whatever happened with Itzal's guild that changed him entirely along with Morgenstern. I finish off as i look towards him and rests my hands once more at my chest as i continue staring at the armored form of Domarus with a look of calm confidence. This world is mimicking the real world down to having mini wars, political bulls**t, murders, crime, and whatever else. Why not add in people self-righteous idiots like myself who might be screw-ups but still do their best to help make things better.

I'll admit i don't know anything about Kayaba, but from what i know at this moment i don't have it in me to forgive him at all. Along with that i don't think we'll be getting any kind of apology in a long while, and if he actually wants to apologize he can try to do it in a personal manner rather than if this event was meant to serve as it. It was a terrible attempt at doing so. Besides you aren't as bad as Kayaba. You can try to claim you are but you aren't Domarus you aren't someone who was quite literally trying to kill everyone in this game, every second, of every day, while all the while making sure that they are depressed along with the family outside who is waiting for them to wake up. Also, i don't know why i've been hearing that comment more and more lately but i don't ever claim the seat of executioner since i will never kill somebody. I judge people because i am human. You are judging me like everyone else judge each other. Just like how everyone has an opinion, so is it true that everyone is their own judge of their reality. I say calmly all the while not seeming that disturbed at all by the things that i am saying since to myself i am just saying things that can be inferred or viewed as fact from my perception of reality. My familiar at my side just looking calm even with the intense and loud yelling that is happening from the armored figure. I offer everyone a second chance if i think they deserve it. Even with my prison system i know i will offer people a second chance even with me imprisoning them and allowing them time to think about what they did and how they can improve themselves to avoid this whole killing thing. Which will of course involve doing that redemption quest i heard about, but mass murderers like those who did 9/11, WW2 Hitler, Boston Bombing. People who kill so many people that it doesn't become a heart felt moment of mourning but instead a cold statistic that people won't care about. Why should i try to forgive those people. You can try to say that you could've reached those levels if i had allowed you enough time, but i would rather have the hope that you would've been stopped along the way just like you had done in this world. Though with the real world it also would've been accompanied with jail time or even a execution depending how far you got.

[Domarus 0]

He was beginning to come close to his wits end.  She talked about the deaths, and blamed Kayaba for that.  She talked about everyone becoming like the real world, and blamed Kayaba for that.  She spoke of how she didn't have it in her to forgive Kayaba.  She spoke of how she didn't know Kayaba but knew he wasn't as bad as Kayaba.  She spoke of how everyone was their own judge.  How she only offers a second chance if she thinks they deserve it.  Finally he had enough.
     "Not every death is his fault and you know it!  Each of us have choices to make!  We can choose whether to kill another.  We can choose whether to commit suicide or not!  We can choose whether we want to save someone's life, sacrifice ourselves for others, or any other d**n decision in this game!  The only reason people die is because he made this game real life!  He's forced players to face reality!  A cruel and unfair way but when you boil down to it THAT is what he did Hestia!  After he made that announcement, players died of their own choices!  All the players who died because they fought to escape this game?  That's on him.  Players who committed suicide chose to abandon all hope.  Players who committed to murder chose to cut off their emotions.  That was their choice.  Whether you want to accept it or not, blaming Kayaba is simply another form of blinding yourself to that truth.

"As for politics, Kayaba didn't make them that way.  It's all these people have ever known.  When the human mind is used to something to the point where it's natural, it seeks someone or something to replace it in order to make it familiar.  The unknown and the strange we fear and hate.  It was inevitable this happened.  The only way it would not happen in the real world is if people don't care, or if they were blinded from the truth.

"You say you don't have it in you.  That's stating that he can be redeemable, you simply refuse to redeem him.  You decided to pin all the blame, all your hate on him, and thus rather than seeing him as someone you can try and save, like you did with me.  You want to see him put away or killed off, so that the man to blame.  The man who made us all evil in your eyes will be gone for good.  In the hopes things are better.  When in reality he will only be replaced by someone else.

"And you think we are all our own judge?  You believe you get to decide what's right or wrong?  Then EVERYONE is right!  F**k the collective!  F**k the majority!  Because EVERYONE has a right to judge EVERYONE else however way they want!  If we go by that logic, then I would have the right to massacre everyone I deemed corrupted!  Cruel, evil.  Which would effectively wipe out over half the global population!"  Domarus took a step back.  His breathing heavy at this point.  "I know he needs to be punished for his crimes Hestia.  But coming from someone who has been in a dark place because of their past.  I know what it feels like.  To want redemption upon realizing what you've done.  You can say we're different all you like.  Kayaba and I...  We really aren't that different."  He closed his eyes, tears continuing to slip down as he allowed himself to shift downward to his knees.  "If you can't forgive a man like Kayaba, you can't forgive a man like me.  The only reason you offer to redeem me is because you pity me.  Everyone else be d**ned in your eyes.  You judge them before you know them.  And you could care less what others think..."

[Hestia 0]

I look towards the kneeled form of the man in front of me and i just sigh in irritation at what he has said and what he is doing as i just look down to him and wait a bit to process some thoughts before i would go forward with my words. You're an idiot aren't you? I just said that i let people get redeemed and i do choose and offer people the chance to explain their actions it is why i am not throwing Aereth under the bus for the murders that he is done just like Pinball had done. I view the actions of what they did and i am not pissed that Aereth murdered people since i understand he did it because he had no other choice in the matter from viewing that as his only method to protect those close to him. That is how i understood the reasons for what he did based on what he told me when i asked why he went orange accompanied by what Teion had told me. Though if Aereth does kill another killer after i had set up my prison Aereth is being sent to prison just like the other killers, like those that he kills. Since before he had no option but to kill them since there was no alternative. Now their is an alternative and it is in the form of a prison all i need now is a more long lasting prison. I know that those with orange crystals aren't all bad sometimes they made the wrong choice in a quest or something and that is why they became orange. I always ask them how and why they became orange before i am willing to throw them into a jail. Also regarding your comment. Yes you can say that you personally have the right to murder me, and anybody you deem as corrupt. However, what dictates the law and what is seen as morally good and evil is what the collective of people believe is good and what is evil. Murder of any kind falls under that umbrella.

Also, let me ask you something. If a parent mentally and emotionally did an action or isolated an individual therefore mentally and emotionally stunting the child or causing the child to become mentally ill like depression and the child killed himself. Who would you blame for the suicide of the child? The parent that neglected the kid, or the child who wanted to escape the torment and saw that as its only way out. The law dictates it is the parents fault from isolating and making the child feel hopeless from my understanding of how things would go in the eyes of child protective services and the police. I say in a rather matter of fact tone as i look towards the kneeling man still having not moved from my spot at all from the start of this argument. 

[Domarus 0]

Domarus said nothing.  Too overwhelmed with the wave of emotion.  He didn't comment on how Aereth had finally snapped.  He didn't comment on her calling him an idiot.  He didn't say anything about the fact that she openly admitted indirectly that morality was pointless as anyone had the right to judge and do as they would.  However...  For the final part.  She talked about how if a child went through depression and committed suicide because of it.  That the parent would be to blame according to the law.  He said nothing at first.  Simply kneeled there.
     "...Then I am guilty as well Hestia.  You only know of what I have done in this world.  But you don't know of the deaths I caused in the real worlds with only my voice."  He looked up to her, the tears finally slipping through the helmet.  Though his voice would have revealed his broken state as it was.  Revealing how overwhelmed he was with the sheer guilt of everything he had done.  Every person he manipulated into getting in trouble.  Into committing a crime.  Every person he lured into a trap.  Every person whom he befriended, only to use them and trick them into being beat within an inch of their life to the point of suicide.  Everyone in the game.  The children he mercilessly had slaughtered at the hands of both Hidden and Aereth.  The lives of people like Mossino, and Raven.  Individuals who were so pure and innocent, before Domarus turned them into his own personal minions.  So much death.  So many lives ruined by his hands.  His ruin count wasn't as high as Kayaba's...  But it was still dauntingly high. 
     "If you choose to live by such morals...  By such decisions...  Then I deserve the death penalty.  Or life in prison.  I DON'T deserve redemption.  I DON'T deserve forgiveness.  I deserve punishment..."

[Hestia 0]

A small sigh escapes my lips at seeing this broken shell of a man that is left before me as i stare at the figure with a rather passive look upon my face. 'Is that what it is like to stare at a broken individual devoid of purpose?' I move forward and get down onto one knee and lightly tap the top of the helmet as i try my best to look into the eye slits for the thing to stare at the man that was once someone i had to fear even if slightly from the fact he could've outnumbered me. well guess what you aren't running away from your chance at a second chance at life. You are a victim of the decisions of your parents that i do know. You don't deserve to be murdered from living life the way that you only knew how to live it up until this point. Now come on redemption isn't an easy road to walk on and you won't get anywhere on your knees. It is kinda the reason why the name redemption is linked to one of this game's hardest quests. I say in a slightly joking fashion to try and lighten the mood even if ever so slightly as i extend my hand towards the armored figure to help him to his feet if he wants the help since their is still a quest to complete and some monsters to kill, and sadly a NPC to protect.

[Domarus 0]

Domarus didn't move for a while.  Even after she spoke.  Only after a good two minutes did he look up and see her extended hand.  He steadied his breathing to the best of his abilities.  He was somewhat ashamed of himself.  Dropping from a strong individual to someone who broke down and cried in public so easily...  Then again, he wondered if this were better than when he had pride.  He took her hand and used her as a support to stand up again.  He still disagreed with her when it came to Kayaba.  As he believed the man may have had a horrid experience growing up as well.  Which Hestia said was why she wasn't blaming him.  Not only that but..  He just, didn't think he could continue the conversation.  He embraced Hestia in a hug, holding her tightly but not enough to deal any damage.
     "I.. I'm terrified Hestia... I'm terrified and that scares me even more.  For the first time in my life, I don't know what to do.  I don't know what to do with my life.  I don't know what to do if people find out.  I don't know what I'll do if...  I just.."  It was a new concept for him:  Fear.  All his life he bred fear in others to better control them.  Whether they were ally or enemy.  And now..  Now he was the scared one.

[Hestia 0]

I hug back the red haired player rather awkwardly mind you since the two are both people wearing heavily armored gear as i try to just pat the man's back as a clanging sound of metal meeting metal is greeted to that happening. I know that this might be scary for you Domarus, but it is something you must meet head on. Also, if you are scared of death don't be since i will make sure that you stay alive. Also, change is always frightening but that is why any true and worthwhile change takes effort and time to achieve it successfully. It might seem hopeless at times but you have to persevere, be willing to step into a uncomfortable zone that you might not like at points, but it is that willingness to step into a place you might not want to be at and do something you might not want to that gets you improvement. Afterall, you probably wouldn't want to make friends with the people i do, but making friends is a good first step to surround yourself with people who you can trust and depend on and be vulnerable with. I say in a gentle tone of voice towards the man to try and calm him down some and reassure him about the things that he is going through.