The Devil You Still Know [Alastair, Eliane]

"Then for that, you will both have my thanks. What Ms Arlette can accomplish by rejoining them in captivity I do not know, but I imagine I might do the same for my own sisters, were our positions much inverted."

It was not often Alastair ever made mention of his family, they were so removed from all of this business, and he often found himself glad for that fact. Families made matters complicated, coloured decisions and choices in ways that were not always conducive to making the right ones. The same could be said of any relationship though, his own with Arlette an example where he had shown leniency when none was truly warranted.

"The branches may bear some fruit, but the roots are still the same. I will not settle for simply rehousing everything that the Duvalier Group encompassed, for that will not rectify anything. The good people who are inconvenienced by these actions will find work again elsewhere, and likely the means to support their efforts, whilst the blackened heart is dragged to the surface and laid bare for all to see. We cannot afford to concern ourselves with callousness when attempting to change the world."

"I don't think she's trying to get anything accomplished apart from sending the message that this matters to her. You know how practical she is. She wouldn't do something so symbolic unless it really mattered to her."

Really, Eliane was surprised he had any trouble understanding that. Maybe he'd been run more ragged than she thought. Or... Well, she wasn't going to make that particular assumption yet. She'd keep it in the back of her mind, though. She trusted him, yes, but trust was very relative in the mind of a woman like Eliane.

"Well, even with all of our intel, and our direct help, you're going to have to hope the world stabilizes a little bit before you can accomplish something that major. The Duvalier Group's not small by any stretch, and I'm sure there's plenty of failsafes in place for any events like this."

Even in death, Eliane had no doubt that woman's will was still firmly in place with what she'd left behind.

A flash of confusion darted across Alastair's eyes, prompting him to withdraw his gaze from Eliane and cast it wayward. If Arlette had wished to convey their importance to her then sealing herself in captivity with them was not the course of action he would have thought of. But perhaps he did not know her as well as he had thought. He had not expected her to be so inefficiently indirect.

"This is certainly not a feat that I expect to accomplish with a single wave of my hand, but if I were to simply wait for the world to stabilise itself before I act then I would be waiting for the rest of my life. What is important right now is to make clear my intentions and mark out the path before us. Whatever fail-safes Lady Duvalier had in place, I will not let that stop us."

With that said, he had regained all of his previous composure. There was an intensity to the words he spoke, making it seem like he did not carry a single doubt about their success. It was not foolishness or optimism that lay beneath his words though, but a dogged determination to honour Claudia's final wish and turn the Duvalier Group into something that was going to change the world for the better.

Alastair's surprise spoke volumes to Eliane, and none of it was particularly pleasing for her to think about. She knew her sister better than she might have been inclined to vocalize, but she didn't think that Arlette's care for their sisters should have come as such a surprise, given everything she had already done. Sure, taking an action like this was unusual for her, but it shouldn't have been that surprising, right?

"Just be careful you don't walk too confidently into a trap. She might've been fond of you, but I don't think all her spiderwebs would have that same outlook."

Eliane wasn't a pessimist, but she understood her creator better than anyone else. She knew that very well, and while she wasn't the sort to feel particularly "haunted" by anything, it didn't sit well in her mind.

"If I did not know you better, I might have mistaken that for an interest in my well-being."

The idle remark slipped out quite smoothly, despite the tension in the room. Alastair's cold gaze did not shift, which made it harder to gauge if he was joking or making a passing observation, but his lips eventually curled into the closest they had been to a smile. With all things considered, this had been quite a productive conversation. He did not quite understand the inner workings of Eliane, much like her sisters, but he could sense her genuine want to aid him even if her motives might not be so transparent.

"This was never going to be a straightforward undertaking, even when Lady Duvalier was still with us, but I will not be turned from this path without a better reason than some danger to myself. I doubt anyone else alive knows the depths of her machinations, but the path of adversity is one that must be walked."