He could not mean them.
This is his unrelenting ambition talking.
Roen told herself these things, even as his promise of violence and the death of innocents hammered into her head like a metal spike chipping away at a stone statue. She felt as if he was relentlessly, purposefully, trying to cause her to crack and crumble, shattering her principals until there was nothing left but rubble and dust.
Nero’s ice-blue gaze seemed to bore into her as he continued. "The reason, Roen, the reason that I cut off our alliance is not because I found your idealism annoying. It was because I did not want to see it broken by following me down this path. Our conversation over that meal made me certain. You are stuck in the twilight, yes, but you have the good judgment not to leap headfirst into the darkness. I am glad that such people like you still exist."
Roen flicked her gaze at him, surprised.
"Your experiences have brought you to the edge but they have not pushed you off. Disassociate yourself with me. Pursue the path you feel is best. And if the time comes where we cross blades as enemies...well. I pray your sense of justice is still intact when that day comes."
So bent is he on this course, so ingrained is he in who he believes he should be, he has already accepted his fate. He has accepted that he is already lost. Roen frowned, but said nothing.
"You will never betray your virtues or your principles. And I admire that." The smuggler still smiled; it was smug, perhaps, but earnest. "Keep it close. Guard it well. In this world of blood and shadows, that virtue may be the only thing left worth defending."
Roen shook her head. "Is there no room for maneuver in this plan of yours? Must it be so rigid in the deaths that it demands?"
Nero nodded. "It must be. It must be swift, without remorse, without concern for welfare."
Roen narrowed her eyes. "And do you expect me to just sit idly by and watch innocents get caught in the crossfire? Is it not the very welfare of those you wish to save that drives you so? And now you are just pushing that aside?"
“Indeed I am. I wanted to--I still want to--hold on to it. But there is no place for compassion, not where I am going. There is no place for humanity. As of right now, I am the same thing I seek to destroy." His jaw set, he regarded her with squinted eyes, before drawing his sword that hung from his hip and jabbing it into the dock between them.
"I am going to kill many, many people. There will be many innocents dead. Many more will starve and suffer. I will be responsible for countless deaths. The people will revile me, as they should, as the one who ruined their lives." His gaze didn't waver. "Blood and war will fill the streets. And if you want to prevent all of that from happening…if you want to save Ul'dah. Take that blade," he made a thrusting motion to himself. "And eliminate me now."
Roen stiffened, her eyes darting between the man and the blade. He had pleaded with her the same two suns ago when he offered her his knife. She had refused it then.
Nero continued to hammer at her. "I am a threat. I will tear down everything you hold dear about that wretched hive of a city. I will demolish it to the ground. The bones of the people will be ground beneath the rubble. It's within your power to stop all of this now, because I will not turn away from my path. Not ever."
Her breaths were coming heavy, she felt a viselike grip of dread around her chest. She glanced to the sword again, its hilt just ilms away from her hand. She did not take it. "And why...why are you offering me this chance?"
"Because I am helping you choose, Roen Deneith. Even now, the pirates under my command attack innocent merchant ships, those unfortunate enough to work for the Monetarists. People simply trying to feed their families. They are being sunk and sent to the bottom of the ocean."
Roen’s eyes shot back to the pirate, widening with horror.
"Even now, bandits plan to take to the streets, for they have tired of living in the squalor of Pearl Lane. They will clash with the Brass Blades in open warfare." Nero continued, his voice sharp and cutting. "Even now, the other city states begin to contemplate cutting off trade, waiting for the 'Ul'dah Situation' to resolve itself before endangering their citizens. The Jewel will be locked into a whirlpool of blood and death." He leveled his gaze with hers, holding it intently. "But it need not be so. The head of the monster is here. None know of my plans other than myself."
Roen stepped around the sword, her own eyes searching his, for some measure of truth. "Stop this. It is not too late. Stop this. I beg of you." Her voice shook. "You are offering me this chance, because somewhere under there, there is a part of you that does not want to carry out this plan. There is a part of you that do not want to see innocents die. Families suffer. Fathers drowned."
Nero slowly shook his head. "No, I do not want to carry out this plan. I never wanted any of this."
He smiled softly, without regret, without a sense of forlornness. "But I will not stop. Take up the blade. If you care about Ul'dah as you claim, then prevent these ravages from happening. Do not do what is lawful, not what is justice, but what is right."
The paladin stared hard at him, her breaths now coming quick. She glanced to the blade again.
"What will you do when there is an evil you cannot defeat by just means? What will you do when there is an evil that will not negotiate, that will not hesitate, that cannot be persuaded or convinced? Shall you commit evil to destroy the greater evil? Or will you remain steadfast and righteous...even if that means surrendering to evil?"
Roen stared down at the blade, her brow furrowing with deep dread. She close her fingers to quell the trembling there.
“...What if I prove you wrong?â€
The paladin curled her hand around the hilt of the sword and yanked it free from the wood. Her swing was quick as she brought the edge of the blade next to his neck. "If you are planning violence and bloodshed, and drowning innocent men...I cannot let you walk." Her voice was that of forced calm. "But your death is not for me to deliver."
Her next words pained her, but it did not falter. "You are under arrest, Mister Lazarov. For piracy against innocent merchants. For conspiracy of violence against the City-State." She stepped back, out of arm's length, the sword's reach lengthening.
Nero did not flinch. "And if I resist arrest?"
Roen turned her wrist just slightly, the blade catching the fading light of the sunset. "I pray you will not." She said quietly. Her muscles coiled, her eyes watching him carefully.
The smuggler only grinned. He pressed the flat of the blade with a finger, slowly moving the edge towards his neck. "Under whose authority do you arrest me, Miss Deneith? You are not a Blade. You are not a Sultansworn. This is an act of vigilantism. You are above the law, are you? You are above the justice of the system?"
Roen inhaled sharply, her nostrils flaring. She held her sword steady. "I am a Free Paladin, trained and authorized by the Captain Jenlyns Straightblade. I am going to to bring you in, the Flames can question you."
Nero’s grin did not waver. His left arm made a quick motion--not for the sword, but underneath his tabard. A knife was flicked out, but it was not pointed towards the paladin. It was aimed directly at his neck. Steel met flesh met steel again, as he sandwiched his own neck between two blades. "And if I am not in a state to be questioned?" His tone clearly signalled his intent. "Hard to talk with a severed jugular, after all."
"Why are you doing this." Roen rasped, instinctively pulling her sword away from the edge of his neck. "What do you want?â€
The pirate continued to hold the dagger against his neck. "I have discarded the notion that I can pursue a fulfilling life. All I want now...is a meaningful death. And the redemption of Ul'dah is plenty meaningful enough for me. I am not Ul'dah's saviour. I am not its messiah. I am simply another victim, one of thousands." There was a twinkle in his eye, but it was not a mask. It was a dare, a challenge, and an acceptance.
Roen stared at him in disbelief. She lowered her sword, outrage filling her chest. So determined was he in this path. So willing to throw away his life and the life of countless people for a chance…a fleeting chance of a future he would leave others to rebuild. He would immolate himself in the process of trying to raze Ul’dah to the ground, and was asking her to wield the executioner’s scythe in delivering his end. It was not enough that he confessed to her his dark brutal intent, but he would leave it to her to end his life. It angered her--this indifference to his own life and everyone else’s.
"You are no martyr.†She said bitterly. “You are just another misguided thug who knew nothing else but to lash out the only way he knew how. You can end your own life, but do not think Ul'dah will be better for it. And do not expect me to stand here and watch you bleed yourself out, thinking you redeemed yourself with your sacrifice." Her words were filled with fury and indignation.
Roen lowered her sword, stepping forward, searching his eyes. She would plead, this one last time. "It takes more courage to put out the fire and save who you can, than to set things ablaze, yourself included. Do not do this. Please.â€
Nero responded to her advance with one of his own. "It is not about courage. It is about results." He brought his face within a few ilms of hers.
"Countless deaths are not results to judge yourself by! Nor the fear you bring upon your enemies!"
The smuggler’s eyes darted between hers, as if to search for something. "Then what would you suggest? Let us say I put my plans on hold. Let us say I will adhere to your bloodless path of justice.†The smirk returned to his face.
“Persuade me to stay the course."
This is his unrelenting ambition talking.
Roen told herself these things, even as his promise of violence and the death of innocents hammered into her head like a metal spike chipping away at a stone statue. She felt as if he was relentlessly, purposefully, trying to cause her to crack and crumble, shattering her principals until there was nothing left but rubble and dust.
Nero’s ice-blue gaze seemed to bore into her as he continued. "The reason, Roen, the reason that I cut off our alliance is not because I found your idealism annoying. It was because I did not want to see it broken by following me down this path. Our conversation over that meal made me certain. You are stuck in the twilight, yes, but you have the good judgment not to leap headfirst into the darkness. I am glad that such people like you still exist."
Roen flicked her gaze at him, surprised.
"Your experiences have brought you to the edge but they have not pushed you off. Disassociate yourself with me. Pursue the path you feel is best. And if the time comes where we cross blades as enemies...well. I pray your sense of justice is still intact when that day comes."
So bent is he on this course, so ingrained is he in who he believes he should be, he has already accepted his fate. He has accepted that he is already lost. Roen frowned, but said nothing.
"You will never betray your virtues or your principles. And I admire that." The smuggler still smiled; it was smug, perhaps, but earnest. "Keep it close. Guard it well. In this world of blood and shadows, that virtue may be the only thing left worth defending."
Roen shook her head. "Is there no room for maneuver in this plan of yours? Must it be so rigid in the deaths that it demands?"
Nero nodded. "It must be. It must be swift, without remorse, without concern for welfare."
Roen narrowed her eyes. "And do you expect me to just sit idly by and watch innocents get caught in the crossfire? Is it not the very welfare of those you wish to save that drives you so? And now you are just pushing that aside?"
“Indeed I am. I wanted to--I still want to--hold on to it. But there is no place for compassion, not where I am going. There is no place for humanity. As of right now, I am the same thing I seek to destroy." His jaw set, he regarded her with squinted eyes, before drawing his sword that hung from his hip and jabbing it into the dock between them.
"I am going to kill many, many people. There will be many innocents dead. Many more will starve and suffer. I will be responsible for countless deaths. The people will revile me, as they should, as the one who ruined their lives." His gaze didn't waver. "Blood and war will fill the streets. And if you want to prevent all of that from happening…if you want to save Ul'dah. Take that blade," he made a thrusting motion to himself. "And eliminate me now."
Roen stiffened, her eyes darting between the man and the blade. He had pleaded with her the same two suns ago when he offered her his knife. She had refused it then.
Nero continued to hammer at her. "I am a threat. I will tear down everything you hold dear about that wretched hive of a city. I will demolish it to the ground. The bones of the people will be ground beneath the rubble. It's within your power to stop all of this now, because I will not turn away from my path. Not ever."
Her breaths were coming heavy, she felt a viselike grip of dread around her chest. She glanced to the sword again, its hilt just ilms away from her hand. She did not take it. "And why...why are you offering me this chance?"
"Because I am helping you choose, Roen Deneith. Even now, the pirates under my command attack innocent merchant ships, those unfortunate enough to work for the Monetarists. People simply trying to feed their families. They are being sunk and sent to the bottom of the ocean."
Roen’s eyes shot back to the pirate, widening with horror.
"Even now, bandits plan to take to the streets, for they have tired of living in the squalor of Pearl Lane. They will clash with the Brass Blades in open warfare." Nero continued, his voice sharp and cutting. "Even now, the other city states begin to contemplate cutting off trade, waiting for the 'Ul'dah Situation' to resolve itself before endangering their citizens. The Jewel will be locked into a whirlpool of blood and death." He leveled his gaze with hers, holding it intently. "But it need not be so. The head of the monster is here. None know of my plans other than myself."
Roen stepped around the sword, her own eyes searching his, for some measure of truth. "Stop this. It is not too late. Stop this. I beg of you." Her voice shook. "You are offering me this chance, because somewhere under there, there is a part of you that does not want to carry out this plan. There is a part of you that do not want to see innocents die. Families suffer. Fathers drowned."
Nero slowly shook his head. "No, I do not want to carry out this plan. I never wanted any of this."
He smiled softly, without regret, without a sense of forlornness. "But I will not stop. Take up the blade. If you care about Ul'dah as you claim, then prevent these ravages from happening. Do not do what is lawful, not what is justice, but what is right."
The paladin stared hard at him, her breaths now coming quick. She glanced to the blade again.
"What will you do when there is an evil you cannot defeat by just means? What will you do when there is an evil that will not negotiate, that will not hesitate, that cannot be persuaded or convinced? Shall you commit evil to destroy the greater evil? Or will you remain steadfast and righteous...even if that means surrendering to evil?"
Roen stared down at the blade, her brow furrowing with deep dread. She close her fingers to quell the trembling there.
“...What if I prove you wrong?â€
The paladin curled her hand around the hilt of the sword and yanked it free from the wood. Her swing was quick as she brought the edge of the blade next to his neck. "If you are planning violence and bloodshed, and drowning innocent men...I cannot let you walk." Her voice was that of forced calm. "But your death is not for me to deliver."
Her next words pained her, but it did not falter. "You are under arrest, Mister Lazarov. For piracy against innocent merchants. For conspiracy of violence against the City-State." She stepped back, out of arm's length, the sword's reach lengthening.
Nero did not flinch. "And if I resist arrest?"
Roen turned her wrist just slightly, the blade catching the fading light of the sunset. "I pray you will not." She said quietly. Her muscles coiled, her eyes watching him carefully.
The smuggler only grinned. He pressed the flat of the blade with a finger, slowly moving the edge towards his neck. "Under whose authority do you arrest me, Miss Deneith? You are not a Blade. You are not a Sultansworn. This is an act of vigilantism. You are above the law, are you? You are above the justice of the system?"
Roen inhaled sharply, her nostrils flaring. She held her sword steady. "I am a Free Paladin, trained and authorized by the Captain Jenlyns Straightblade. I am going to to bring you in, the Flames can question you."
Nero’s grin did not waver. His left arm made a quick motion--not for the sword, but underneath his tabard. A knife was flicked out, but it was not pointed towards the paladin. It was aimed directly at his neck. Steel met flesh met steel again, as he sandwiched his own neck between two blades. "And if I am not in a state to be questioned?" His tone clearly signalled his intent. "Hard to talk with a severed jugular, after all."
"Why are you doing this." Roen rasped, instinctively pulling her sword away from the edge of his neck. "What do you want?â€
The pirate continued to hold the dagger against his neck. "I have discarded the notion that I can pursue a fulfilling life. All I want now...is a meaningful death. And the redemption of Ul'dah is plenty meaningful enough for me. I am not Ul'dah's saviour. I am not its messiah. I am simply another victim, one of thousands." There was a twinkle in his eye, but it was not a mask. It was a dare, a challenge, and an acceptance.
Roen stared at him in disbelief. She lowered her sword, outrage filling her chest. So determined was he in this path. So willing to throw away his life and the life of countless people for a chance…a fleeting chance of a future he would leave others to rebuild. He would immolate himself in the process of trying to raze Ul’dah to the ground, and was asking her to wield the executioner’s scythe in delivering his end. It was not enough that he confessed to her his dark brutal intent, but he would leave it to her to end his life. It angered her--this indifference to his own life and everyone else’s.
"You are no martyr.†She said bitterly. “You are just another misguided thug who knew nothing else but to lash out the only way he knew how. You can end your own life, but do not think Ul'dah will be better for it. And do not expect me to stand here and watch you bleed yourself out, thinking you redeemed yourself with your sacrifice." Her words were filled with fury and indignation.
Roen lowered her sword, stepping forward, searching his eyes. She would plead, this one last time. "It takes more courage to put out the fire and save who you can, than to set things ablaze, yourself included. Do not do this. Please.â€
Nero responded to her advance with one of his own. "It is not about courage. It is about results." He brought his face within a few ilms of hers.
"Countless deaths are not results to judge yourself by! Nor the fear you bring upon your enemies!"
The smuggler’s eyes darted between hers, as if to search for something. "Then what would you suggest? Let us say I put my plans on hold. Let us say I will adhere to your bloodless path of justice.†The smirk returned to his face.
“Persuade me to stay the course."
