Three hundred years. Much changed in those years. Cassius was one of many things that had. The world he’d lived in before was chaotic and filled with turmoil, holding more downs then ups. Near death every day, constantly seeking the final strike. There was no care for if he lived or died, there had been nothing beyond the play. He was consumed then, lost in the sea of emotions around him. He indulged in those emotions, those thoughts and desires no matter how dark, how twisted. But as the years mounted he began to realize how he’d lost himself somewhere amongst all of it.
He did not know who he was. When your mind was others, where did you begin and where did they end? It became a tangle, nothing more then a ball of paths all confused within each other. He knew that if he did not get out that he’d lose himself completely. That he’d die in that mess that he’d let become created.
A mess that he knew he’d thrown her into. But she had not reached the point he had…she wanted it all, every thought, every emotion. She wanted what he had wanted….
And she wanted him to stay in it. Time and time again he’d stayed, lingered, her own link to him drowning him again. He had to leave, had to tear himself completely away. Slowly he managed to peel away from the chaos, pushing himself up to find the surface again.
She saw it as abandonment. He saw it as a need to keep himself alive…
Compared to how he had been his life now was far different, a stark contrast to the man he’d once been. He sought control now, grasped onto to it tightly and was far from pleased when another sought to tear it away. The demon had done just that. Forcing him into a chaos he’d fought himself out of before. But how many times could he do so? It was a phantom in his mind, constantly seeking to overshadow all other thoughts.
Time had passed, more then enough, yet still Cassius was careful. He drew himself away, he kept that link with Selene closed after all that had come to pass. It was never so easy to shake away shadows such as those. They clung, sticking to the mind….
With the walls built up so tightly around his mind Cassius was unaware, at first, of her presence. He entered the bar without hesitation; he gave a regular nod to the owner before heading back to the booth. A drink before a drink. It wasn’t uncommon for him, even if he denied the need often. But never so often anymore…pushing himself in that would do nothing but hinder him in keeping control and centered.
But he felt her before that drink even arrived. Felt that push against his senses that made eyes narrow ever so slightly. So many years apart…but he could still feel the burn of her against his mind. It sparked something inside of him that he sought to keep denied.
“We’ve had no reason to meet.” Cassius responded, watching her as she neared. A sway of a body he remembered well. Eyes that he knew how to make light up and how to make go so dark… “Caught…” he spoke the word with a hint of disdain. She hadn’t caught, she’d watched. She’d waited. He wasn’t naïve enough to think that his home wasn’t watched. That she wasn’t sent here to keep an eye on him. To push. Valeria always had someone. She had before she’d met him; he knew she would after he left her.
He did not approve her request, but the appearance of two drinks instead of one upon the table was hint enough. Though her mere presence pushed him…he could not just cast her away without thought. She was still his child….