Being a leader

[a magical taco]

Richard wasn't surprised by the question but didn't except her to ask it so abruptly. He thought about her question, the thing was that his stories mostly ended with him, drunk, sleeping with some girl that would most likely get him into trouble if he was caught. "My childhood was fun most of the time. Simon and I always had lots of friends, we never had any problems fitting in. You know Simon also use to pay soccer. I never much cared for sports, playing or otherwise. To be honest, until I was awoken my life was pretty normal. I mean I was always popular but one I got my powers I was king of the school. I partied a lot, fooled around a lot. It got me into trouble more times than I can count. I actually slept with the mayor's daughter shortly after I awoke. He didn't like that, had the cops harassing me all through high school because of it. Have me plenty of opportunity to practice my magic. Eventually when I got sick if that I decided to do some digging and found it that he had stolen money from the city and he had to resign." Richard smiled he missed those times. Back when he didn't really have to care about consequences.

[Akirapryde]

Rebecca sit there and listened to how he explained his own childhood. One word hung in her mind as he spoke, normal. What was normal to one might never be considered normal for another. She remembered the year that she was studying US History. She and her brothers along with their teachers took a nine month tour of key historical sites around the United States. Along with personal guided tours it was one of the happier times of her life. They had a tour bus and drove between famous sites and battlefields. She wondered how many different kids had the same opportunities. For her, this was normal. For others, was that considered normal? She didn’t know.

He had also talked about having friends and being popular. He spoke of going to parties and fooling around. For her, this was hardly normal. During her childhood, she wasn’t all that popular with other kids her age. Then again, it wasn’t like she had to put up with them. After all, she and her brothers were focused on other things. They each were being groomed for something bigger then trivial things like popularity. Though that never stopped her brothers. Despite having their activities carefully planned, her brothers were all very popular. ‘I guess I never really put that much effort in to being popular’ she thought to herself.

“It sounds like a fun filled childhood” she said softly. She really didn’t want to focus on their differences. Instead she thought it best to accept him for the person he is today. She laughed, “Getting in to trouble was never accepted for us. But then again, when your father is a mage it was hard to get away with anything. After seeing my brothers push the limits and get caught, I guess I never really bothered to try.” She moved and got a bit more comfortable. “I know how I act most of the time. There are times where my anger gets the best of me. More often than I ever want to admit. But I don’t want to do bad.” She said looking back at her cross. “As of late, my anger has been more out of control. I want to change this.”

She paused a moment before continuing, “When I saw that bone tower, it really bothered me deeply. I don’t want to be a destroyer. When I saw that Tornado in the spirit realm, it felt like it was coming after me.” There was that tremble in her voice once more, but this time there was more control in her voice. “Why was the place that we went to a Tower of Death? It was in my dream also. My dream was so powerful. I just don’t know what to make of it, Richard.” She turned to him and waited till she had eye contact before she continued, “I know I could just agree to show you what I saw. And I know you could just order me to do it.” She held up a hand so he would allow her to finish, “I am grateful you are respecting me on this. But I am scared. The secrets of my life are most dear to me. Just as yours are to you.”

She looked down, “I trust Kira with my life and my secrets. But I knew her for years. She was there for me through the worst times of my life. And while I see how noble you can be, trusting you is just so….” She paused again for a bit longer this time as she struggled over her next words. “Hard” she finally worked out. She took in a deep breath, “I want to… but your powers are just so……” she trailed off unsure what to say. She wanted to show him everything. She wanted to open up to him. But she feared what might happen. What he might see. She wore her concern for all to see. If she couldn’t allow him access to her mind, she would not deny him, her emotions. She believed he was owed that much truth.

[a magical taco]

This was beginning to get tedious for Richard though he made sure to keep any evidence of that out of his voice. "You seem to think of me as this memory eating monster ready to gobble up all of your little secrets. I'm not. Truth is, we much bigger fish to fry right now." He stood up and dusted himself off, straightened his tie. "Things are about to get a lot more intense from here on. Our lives are on the line now. We just declared war on a cabal we know nothing about, which in hindsight was probably a really stupid idea." Richard pinched the bridge of his nose and under his breath, "I've got to stop listening to Simon about things like that". He walked To the the door and put his hand on the frame before turning around to face her, "Rebecca you have no shortage of determination. You definitely work harder on self improvement than the rest of us, and if you would get out of your own way, holy shit. But your anger, your unwillingness to let others help you are going to get your killed and then it's going to do the same to the rest of us." He didn't sound angry or judgemental. His voice did reflect that of an accusation. No, it almost sounded sad. His foot started up the first stair.

[Akirapryde]

Rebecca set there and listened to what he had to say. ‘Memory eating monster’ she thought with a frown. He didn’t understand why she was so worried about sharing details of her life with someone that she had only known for a few weeks. She could argue the issue, but she really didn’t have the energy for or the desire to argue anymore. Instead she just listened to what else he had to say. He had hit the nail on the head about her anger and unwillingness to let anyone help her. She listened without counter statement as she just set there. She didn’t want to be the cause of anyone being hurt. She did have a lot to think about as she let out a soft sigh. “Thank you, Richard” she said in a low voice as he started to leave.

[a magical taco]

*Richard exits