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[princess_of_ida]

Three for the gleam of a jewel or a smile.



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[unconscionable]

It does to me.

You've probably talked to a lot of other people about their worlds by now. Earth.

[princess_of_ida]

[Lies. To care about her childhood would requiring caring about the Nine Houses themselves, not just the idea of them our the backing of them. Did he even know or care that the Fifth was on the verge of annexing the Fourth at this point? Doubtful. What was his angle here?]

My closest associates don't call Earth home. But yes, I've talked to several about Pre-Res Earth. This is how I know the Third House was once called Neptune.

[unconscionable]

Yeah. Neptune was a mythical figure a bit like Gilia's Father-Sea.

Does it hold any appeal to you, that culture?

[princess_of_ida]

I am curious about it. But what does that have to do with my childhood?

[unconscionable]

I wanted stuff to be different. Less evil. I fixed a lot of big stuff - capitalism, rape culture, poverty, the fossil fuel industry. But maybe what replaced it was worse.

You're the only person here from the Houses, so you're the only data point I have.

[princess_of_ida]

Here's where I think those not from Earth are important. Those not touched by anything either you or I know. Ravka, the Continent, Gilia's world, the Imperium of Man. Rubilykskoye.

They all have the same problems. Seasoned differently, yes, but they all have the same base as the Empire. We're human. That's the common denominator. As powerful as you are, my Lord, you can't change human nature. Not without taking away our humanity. And if you do that, we become what Blodd of Eden says we are.

[unconscionable]

That's very wise, Ianthe. But also a little pessimistic. Is utopia impossible?

[princess_of_ida]

Have you met me?

Personally, I think utopia is boring. Nice but boring. It would only last a handful of generations. Maybe I'd think different if I'd had a happy childhood. I'm sorry I can't be of more help.

Are you sorry?

[unconscionable]

For?

The resurrection was selfish in so many ways — my only other option was an eternity alone.

[princess_of_ida]

For any of it.

[unconscionable]

I've never really seen the point in apologies. They don't change anything, they're just a desperate attempt to avoid consequences.

Do I have regrets? Sure, I'm too old not to. Do I think I did a good job? No.

[princess_of_ida]

Feeling sorry isn't the same as apologizing, my Lord. And an apology is an acknowledgement of impact. But what do I know; I hate apologizing too.

[unconscionable]

Then I suppose I do feel sorry.

[ Those regrets he just admitted he had. ]

But that might simply be the influence of — singularity. Undivinity. Whatever you want to call this.

[princess_of_ida]

Missing our dear Annabel Lee?

[unconscionable]

[ Don't say her name. Don't say her name. Don't —

There's a slight pause before he responds again. ]

It's not just her. I can't feel Dominicus. I can't feel all the sleeping souls in the River. I don't have the power to know every life even in this spit of land.

[princess_of_ida]

[Did this mean the exhaustion she noted on John from time to time wasn't just from overfucking himself? Interesting...]

Were you ever planning on telling me that she's a Resurrection Beast? Like, I understand not wanting to tell me, but every other lyctor you've had before me either died fighting for you or gave you the double-bird for lying to them.

I know you don't want me to be all you have, but since Harrow shat the bed regarding her lyctorhood, I am all you have.

[unconscionable]

You're right.

She isn't properly a res beast, and our bond isn't quite the same as lyctorhood. I took the soul of a planet, consumed as much as I could, and shaped the rest into a person using my own flesh. She has enough of me in her to pass as human. I hold enough of her to be divine. But she has the revenant madness in her - it used to scare the others and they never understood why.

Mercy and Augustine thought I kept the secrets of true lyctorhood from them because we have each other's eyes, but what I did isn't replicable. Lyctorhood was just the bandaid solution to their mortality we came up with.

[princess_of_ida]

How could they not figure it out? You Resurrected nine planets. Each had a soul. You all only ever talked about eight RBs. It always seemed off to me, but I didn't have enough information to go on and then Number Seven showed up and you all ignored Harrow and me. And then on New Rho, she was controlling Harrow's body. I didn't realize it until she fucking screamed at me and it made my real body, light years away, throw up.

I had all the pieces before me, and was putting them together but then we ended up here. And I had to hear about it from Danny. Please give me a good reason why you told him before me. House I'm willing to excuse, but Danny? No.

[unconscionable]

Fair enough.

It wasn't exactly a shared confidence of love and trust. I lost my mind in the castle for a while. He took the brunt of that, both during and after.

[ Opened his mouth like a baby bird and asked John to spit every vile thing he'd ever done in there. ]

I'm not sure what House knows — the dreams spanned a lot of time and a lot of information and I'm not sure he consciously remembers all of it, even if he's started practicing with a sword.

[princess_of_ida]

[That... actually felt like the truth. Or enough of the truth that Ianthe would accept it. After all, she skirted truth just as much as John did. It soothed her stung pride regarding Danny enough to accept it.]

House made the mistake of calling me Sister. I made it very clear to him that he is never to call me that again. I will slit his throat if he does. He has no right to that, John. I don't care if you actually love him or if he's still just filling the Augustine-shaped hole inside of you. That is a line I will not allow him to cross without retribution again.

[unconscionable]

He just like to push your buttons.

[ The kind of thing he said to Mercy about Augustine many, many times. ]

I'd really like it if you got along. I've never — he's not just a rebound. But I'll talk to him and make that doubly clear.

[princess_of_ida]

[And Ianthe liked to push House's. The two were too much alike to get along.]

You don't need to police us. I set a firm boundary. It's his choice whether to respect it or not. We have moments of being able to deal with each other, but that may be the best you're going to get.

[unconscionable]

I'm used to that.

Let me know if you need a hand with Cesare. Not that I think you incapable, but you have a good reputation here.

[princess_of_ida]

Danny and I have been talking. I'm more interested in reinforcing his fear of me, and I don't need to raise a hand against him for that. Which is for the best since I have my hands tied by Gilia regarding him. It's fucking annoying.

[unconscionable]

Precisely what I mean. If you need him out of your hair for a month in a way that doesn't implicate you, let me know, we'll figure something out.