Chapter 96: Chapter 92: Much to Think About

“So…Chrys, tell me a little about yourself.” Izumi said. “How old are you? I can’t seem to put my finger on an age, and you seem too old for the Queen to have had you the normal way, but she and Rose are very clearly your parents, I can see it in your facial features.”

“That is a loaded question.” Chrys replied tersely.

Izumi frowned. “Did something happen with the Queen when she was younger or something?”

Chrys sighed. “What part of “it’s a loaded question” do you not understand?”

“Well, I just figured that we would be traveling with each other for a while, and we had to talk about something. You’re a bit of an enigma for me, and I figured that if I wanted to really know more about the swarm, you would be a good place to start.”

Chrys gave Izumi a look that clearly meant that she didn’t believe her, but began to speak anyway. “Look, it’s complicated. Really complicated. The point of it is that Lia isn’t my mom. I was the daughter of Rose in her previous life.”

“But–”

“Like I said, complicated. I’m like this because Lia did it on accident. She wanted to make sure I didn’t feel lesser because I wasn’t her biological child, and…well, apparently, she fixed that aspect of the problem.”

“And she just did it without your permission?” Izumi asked. “You don’t sound too happy about it.”

“She did it without her own permission. It was entirely on accident.”

“Then…why haven’t you tried to fix it? I’m sure Amelia could do it.”

“Who says we haven’t?” Chrys asked grumpily. “You’re making a lot of assumptions.”

“So, it’s impossible, then?”

“See?” Chrys said. “Like that. You think you’ve figured out what’s going on and are just acting like it’s the truth. No, Lia wanted to fix it, but I said no. Just like Mom, I want to distance myself from my old life and my old mother, and this is just another way to do it. My appearance and species is in constant flux anyway, so who cares if I have fox parts now? I mean, I was a rat kobold before and I’m a plant now, so this is comparatively minor.”

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Izumi was silent for a long while. “Was your old life really that bad?” She asked. “If both you and Rose are trying to get as far away from it as possible, then it sounds like some bad stuff happened.”

Chrys rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure someone like you would really understand how bad it was.” She said. “You grew up with a silver spoon in your mouth, and seem utterly oblivious to how things really are.”

“Excuse me?” Izumi said, taken aback. “You grew up as the princess of an empire. I don’t think you can get more “silver spoon’ than that, so you’re not one to talk.”

Chrys stopped, giving Izumi a flat look. “Have you read a history book?”

“I haven’t had the time, no.”

“I killed her, Izumi.”

Izumi frowned. “Who?”

“Rose. I stabbed her, and then I sat there in the bathroom, watching her bleed out in front of me, all the while she was smiling and telling me that she loved me and forgave me. Then I had to sit and watch as the world devolved into chaos and violence, knowing that it was my fault. Do you have any idea what that does to a person? I do, and it drove me to suicide. So no, I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth, I grew up with distant parents and a horde of people whispering poison into my ear and manipulating me for their own gain.”

Izumi didn’t have a response to that, but Chrys seemed more than happy to carry the conversation. “You denied our goals before you were converted, but you don’t understand. We had a true golden age, an era of peace and prosperity the likes of which the world had never known, and it was ended by the greed of a few people and the folly of one girl. There will never be true, lasting peace unless we do this. Someone, somewhere, will always be unscrupulous enough to do something stupid and plunge the world into chaos again.

“And do you know what the worst part of this all is? Even now, Mom believes that the whole situation is her fault, that if she was just better none of this would ever have happened. Never mind that she was physically incapable of doing better, she thinks if she had just somehow tried harder then everything would have worked out. The world is a cruel, unforgiving place, Izumi, and we’re going to do everything in our power to make sure it gets better.”

Chrys’s face grew cold as she continued. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions, Izumi, and naïve idealists like you and like the old me will gleefully walk that road, convinced the whole way that they are in the right.”

“How was I supposed to know?” Izumi protested. “The gods chose me and told me to act as I saw fit. Never once was I told that what I was doing was wrong, so I just assumed that I was still in the clear!”

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