Of Monsters and Men [Calypso/Yaksha]

Calypso had stared at the hollow yearningly, possessing the glimmering eyes of a child as she awaited his response. However, such a response caused this gaze to revert, her eyes lowering as she heard his words. It wasn't quite a response she was hoping to hear, but she took it regardless. Her body stirred with sensation, her feet shuffling, hands weaving with and without each other, her gaze to the finite grassy terrain as she sat there, like a youth being set back in her place and gently chided for her foolishness.

Her eyes softened and shut as the hollow before her continued his speech. She heard his words, felt his intent on her; it was like several weights had set themselves on her, formed from the man's gaze as every word of his only deepened this sensation. Even with such weight, she did not collapse, she did not fall. She remained listening, taking a deep breath in as she would raise her head, opening her eyes and staring back at him.

"Even if I am inhuman, I do not lack humanity."

Her voice was soft, but full of emotion, as she would go on, reaching feebly for lost memories as she spoke, "..I was born here, on Earth. Though even if I am a being borne of a hopeless god's mind, I did not begin in the world of such a being."

As if in realization, her gaze lowered, eyes flickering various pale colors as they widened, "..I've lived in this world, even if I was so afraid of it at first. The plants, the creatures.. I had held a deep regard for them. I wanted to protect them, nurture them..."

A flash of fear and sickness hit her gaze as a resurgence of memory struck her, "..My mother.. My sister... The war..."

Various sensations, images, and thoughts sprang to life in her mind, such things that tainted her lens of life, before closing her eyes and shaking them all away,

"..I don't believe you understand; I see.. So many things. I hear so many things.. Things beyond one's typical grasp, of humans, of other beings at all."

Slowly, she pointed at him, "For instance, your intent. Your raw emotion.. You pity me. Why? Is it because you believe I am some alien creature, something incapable of connecting due to a difference in my roots?"

The demon would shake her head, "Though I may not connect in ways you can perceive, my roots stretch all the way back to you, all of you - If humans did not exist, I likely wouldn't exist how I am. If no other being existed, I too would not..."

Her gaze scanned the area, a sad look on her face as she looked at all the beings, the remnants of will who resided in a space unseen to the hollow - and likely any other being alive,

"..Even now, I gaze into a space of memories, likely to remain lost forever, roaming the light and shadow of a realm beneath all."

She was silent for a moment, as if in thought for a moment, before parting her lips once more,

"..Obligation. I sought to aid them.. Out of a sense of obligation. I just thought, even if I am nobody, even scum, to them, I felt I should reach out and try to make their lives better.."

She covered her face, and despite the silence in her body language, golden tears ran down her face, "..Would those of this place even forgive my sinful existence? Is that a debt I can even repay? I already have so many I go through life with, I feel. Penances. Maybe I was destined to suffer the moment I was born, as being a child of Mana... Is a life of suffering."

She rubbed her face, revealing that she was smiling underneath her covered face, her eyebrows knit together as her eyes were tightly shut, "..Even with so much suffering, I still find the will to smile, and hope for a better day. Even if i'm cursed and turned away for continuing to breathe, for my heart still beating in my chest, as I am.."