halcyon_houses

When: Night
Where: Head of Halcyon; Their room
Who: Selene and Cassius

The days after his meeting with Valeria were…turbulent at first. Her mere presence reminded him of a past that he sought to keep behind him. A life that was no longer the one he craved. The chaos that had once sucked him down he did not want to allow to take hold again. But always it had been a struggle for him, a fight for that balance between extremes. He could blame the difficulty on the minds of t hose around him. Feeling what others felt was it any wonder that so often he was pulled one way or another? But as easy as it was to cast blame on that, it wasn’t fully the reason. It had its part to play of course, but Cassius had struggled even before his abilities became so heightened.

A man in control before, one that was leaned on and depended on by his family in a time where men were to lead and take charge. He had done his best for his sisters, he tried to ensure that life was well for them despite all the obstacles that stood against them. He had done much…and when they picked their sire over him…it cut something lose inside of him. Anger already built up over the years exploded….and then was slammed with agony when suddenly not only were they gone..but they were dead. Sire. Family. All lost in one swoop of fate.

It was all too easy to spiral. As funerals filled the city for all lost on that boat fire the emotions seeped in and took over. Remorse, regret, anger at the world, rage for their loss. It was everything and it was nothing and Cassius did little to stop it. He let it take him. It didn’t stop taking him for years. Centuries of life lost to a flurry of emotions. He swept Valeria up in it. But the difference between them was…he pulled himself out of it. He had to.

But she was reminder now of the freedom found in letting go. When control was thrown to the wayside and mattered not at all. When responsibility was a foreign thing and only want and need ruled. She was a physical manifestation of everything that he sought to not allow himself to become again. Yes he treated her as the enemy…and he could not deny that part of his reasons were indeed, very personal. But her attempts to act as though that were all, were a poor display at best.

She knew why he doubted her. She knew well. All here on the island did and few would question his reasons to be weary of her. They were weary of all new arrivals to the island but even more so those that wished to become teachers. They could not deny everyone place in the school, they needed the numbers. But all sought to be careful, to pick apart the pasts of those that did apply. Already deaths had been caused by supposed teachers and “protectors” of the school. Lives lost that did not have to be.

He knew that Valeria was not to be trusted. That her sweet smiles and words of innocence were false. She never truly had been innocent in all the time he knew her. She did not seek power for herself like some…but she did not have regard to the well being of others. She did not stop when one rolled over others to reach their greater goal. He didn’t trust himself back then…so how was he to trust her? She who looked to not have changed at all? She who already had complaints about her running around the school. Cassius wasn’t a final say when it came to those hired and fired. But he would make his concerns known.

Such thoughts had occupied his thoughts for days now, Cassius kept himself distant because of them…distracted without even fully being aware that he was such. Still he’d managed to see to his classes, he’d completed work…and tonight he actually lingered to the school once the day hours had begun to slip away. Selene’s post to him was, of course, the reason for such. He’d returned to the room, forcing himself to attempt to relax. Classical music poured through the speakers around the room, the lights were nearly off. It would seem Cassius was a sleep for anyone that looked at him but he wasn’t. His eyes were closed but his mind was all too active.