The already irritated Lightning Kirin glowered at Circe, not only was her grooming interrupted, a sacred ritual to Archimedes who made sure her does were always spotless and vibrant, but her endless failures and deep shame were about to be rubbed in her face instead.
Circe face changed when she noticed the literal storm cloud beginning to grow over Archimedes and pushed both her hands forward in a placating gesture, dismissing the storm that if left unchecked would tear this cave apart and quickly speaking before things got worse,
"Don't take it the wrong way Archie, I have just learned that your racial talent does not only mean resurrection, but also the increase of your talents and power base every time you resurrect, and I wondered…" Circe stopped talking when she noticed the expression on the face of Archimedes began to change, from one of anger to grief and finally helplessness.
It was rare to see this exuberant Lightning Kirin wearing such an expression. Always one that was ready to cheer Circe when she was down and was always joking even through the many trials and difficulties they had gone through, Circe's heart ached at the pain she could see inside the eyes of Archimedes, and she lowered her voice,
"Archie, I understand if you don't want to talk about it. Rowan only needs to check your body, I'm sure whatever is wrong with it, he might be able to help, you can see how easily he upgraded my runes…" Circe slowly went silent, as Archimedes shook her head from side to side.
There was a spark of hope that lit up in the eyes of Archimedes, but that hope was slowly swallowed by a thick coat of despair.
The Lightning Kirin opened her mouth as if to speak before closing it again, and with the familiar stubbornness that Circe had come to know and admire, she visibly gathered herself, and her breathing that had become uneven settled.
Circe saw that the Lightning Kirin was about to reveal a part of herself that she had kept inside her for so long, due to the pain those memories brought.
Archimedes bravely began to speak, nevertheless, her voice was so soft that it took the enhanced perception of Circe to understand her, and she did not interrupt until her tale was complete.
"The truth of our resurrection is a secret that is known by just a few. I told you that I have died eight times, and that is the truth. I have been beheaded, skinned alive to slowly bleed out for decades, crucified, burnt… The Gods of Trion are responsible for all those deaths. The memories of those deaths do not haunt me… I had thought that perhaps… no let me say it from the start so that I can get it off my chest. You deserve at least to know the truth from me—" The lightning Kirin looked up to Circe with tears in her eyes, "—After all, I'm your partner."
"I was born with a defect. Unlike most of my brood mates, I was the largest, and the most beautiful, my fur was the color of darkness mixed with starlight, and my claws were like chips of ice, and my fangs were…"
The Lightning Kirin paused when she saw the critical look on the face of Circe and she snapped, "What! Do you think that I was small? That I was not the most beautiful?"
Circe hurriedly waves her hand, "No no… Archie, you are certainly quite a specimen among other Kirins. I have looked through the records of Kirin that I could find, and there were certainly none among them that had your… flair"
The Lightning Kirin who resembled a small black cat with eagle wings and bright blue eyes, looked at Circe with a deep look of suspicion, and when she was satisfied that the Dominator was being truthful, nodded in satisfaction and continued with her story.
"I was the biggest among all my brood mates, and my Aether Channel was quite wide with no single impurities, that it was almost equal to a Kirin that was a million years old. I was hailed as a genius and was to be perhaps the first Kirin that could reach the Throne of Lightning, an honor that had never graced a Kirin before, because this throne is held firmly by the fucking dragons.
"My life turned around when our talents were collectively tested, and it was discovered that some flaw inside of me meant my potential was fixed to that of a mortal. I was a being of power and light that was condemned to be nothing but dust in the end.
"the greatest height I would reach was to become an Earth god. My soul would never transform to those of an Immortal. It did not take long before I was discarded by the coven."
The Lightning Kirin stopped here, the slight attempt to inject levity into her story was no more as she delved deeper into the hurt… into the pain that made her who she was. Her voice became even lower and she seemed to curl into herself. Circe wanted to reach for her, but she felt that this gesture might be the opposite of what the Kirin required at this moment.
"I returned again and again to beg for leniency because I believed I would be able to overcome this setback, but I was shunned and driven away. I was mocked and shamed, for in all of our history there had never been a Kirin like me. Can you imagine such a shame? To be the sinner of your entire race.
"The last time I tried going back, I was beaten to the edge of death by my own mother. I believe the only reason I was not killed was because she chipped her claw against my skull."
"I had resigned myself to die when Ohrox found me, broken, holding on with only a single breath, and he took me in and made me his companion. He made me forget my coven, and for a million years that felt like a single day, I battled with him all over the universe. It was the best moment of my life.
"When I became an Earth god and tried to break into the realm of the gods, I could not do so, no matter how much I sacrificed or prepared. There was a wall that I could not cross. My coven was correct, I was unfit to live.
