All those mornings spent training alongside each other, the thrill Finn felt when he executed a maneuver that seemed to impress him, all of the admiration he'd heaped upon Jun's leadership in their journey here on the roads... as sick as it made Finn to look back on now, the thought that all of it was an elaborate charade felt impossible. Looking past the broad grin and into the man's eyes, Finn could still recognize the hero he'd looked up to. The hero everyone seemed to look up to, here in Aldyhion.
Or, almost everyone. Felix's crumpled body on the floor and the bodies from stories the other Songbirds told over the past month didn't hold much esteem for the man.
"What about Ellia, huh? She was your friend and you completely hung her out to dry." Finn counters, frustration still coloring his voice as his knuckles go white over Vending Machine Sword's hilt. "Or any of the other people you had to hurt to hold onto your new 'partner'? They had families too, man! How many more times is that orb going to make you pay for the price of using it? It's like... it's like you can't even..."
Rather than building to a crescendo, Finn's anger seems to recede from his expression. Hurt and exhaustion takes its place as his sword sags in his grip. Felix's final request (order) was still ringing in Finn's ears; a tinny resonance skating underneath his every thought. He still had a job to do. Don't let Jun get away. Finn had a pretty good idea what that meant to Felix, even if he was equally sure the orb would toast his bread before he could do much of anything to attack.
Besides... orb or no orb, Finn knew he wouldn't be able to bring himself to do this Felix's way. He takes a step closer, all threat gone from his posture. Maybe Jun had played him for an idiot this whole time, maybe he was an idiot, but he was also the idiot that never missed a chance to be in the man's presence. And there's one thing you pick up fast hanging out with Jun Shortaxe; he loved to talk about himself.
"If everything you say you did this for is real, then it was in you before whatever pact you made with that thing." Finn takes another step, testing the moment. It felt as if his heart might beat out of his chest. "The orb wasn't what made me look up to you, okay? You're kind, and you care about people, and you want to do the right thing. I know you do."
Sword now sheathed, Finn takes one more step towards him.
"You didn't need some orb to make you that way. You've wanted to do this since you were a kid." He holds out his hand in silent request, willing it to not shake and not quite succeeding. "You can be a hero without it. Save the world from that thing, before it eats you up too."
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Or, almost everyone. Felix's crumpled body on the floor and the bodies from stories the other Songbirds told over the past month didn't hold much esteem for the man.
"What about Ellia, huh? She was your friend and you completely hung her out to dry." Finn counters, frustration still coloring his voice as his knuckles go white over Vending Machine Sword's hilt. "Or any of the other people you had to hurt to hold onto your new 'partner'? They had families too, man! How many more times is that orb going to make you pay for the price of using it? It's like... it's like you can't even..."
Rather than building to a crescendo, Finn's anger seems to recede from his expression. Hurt and exhaustion takes its place as his sword sags in his grip. Felix's final request (order) was still ringing in Finn's ears; a tinny resonance skating underneath his every thought. He still had a job to do. Don't let Jun get away. Finn had a pretty good idea what that meant to Felix, even if he was equally sure the orb would toast his bread before he could do much of anything to attack.
Besides... orb or no orb, Finn knew he wouldn't be able to bring himself to do this Felix's way. He takes a step closer, all threat gone from his posture. Maybe Jun had played him for an idiot this whole time, maybe he was an idiot, but he was also the idiot that never missed a chance to be in the man's presence. And there's one thing you pick up fast hanging out with Jun Shortaxe; he loved to talk about himself.
"If everything you say you did this for is real, then it was in you before whatever pact you made with that thing." Finn takes another step, testing the moment. It felt as if his heart might beat out of his chest. "The orb wasn't what made me look up to you, okay? You're kind, and you care about people, and you want to do the right thing. I know you do."
Sword now sheathed, Finn takes one more step towards him.
"You didn't need some orb to make you that way. You've wanted to do this since you were a kid." He holds out his hand in silent request, willing it to not shake and not quite succeeding. "You can be a hero without it. Save the world from that thing, before it eats you up too."