Hatred

"So...you decided to put them on."

 "Yes mom."

 Rivera looked at her daughter in front of her and the human wearing Waur's old Intellect Coronet and covered her face in her hands.

 "If it makes you feel any better you can blame it all on me." Roko offered.

 "Roko...why are you wearing that? We already know what that does."

 "Ask the people I supposedly call my friends." Roko growled, "This was against my will too."

 "And the dark elves are in on this too?" Rivera's voice sounded like it was on the verge of crying.

 "W-W-We'll leave now!" Brook grabbed Roko and began rushing him out the room.

 "Stop!"

 Rivera's voice echoed strongly through the throne room as she took a deep breath...and a very large sigh...a deeply concerning sigh...before she looked up, her stoic queenly majesty unwaveringly clear on her face.

 "Continue. How, pray tell, did these dark elves managed to escape the city without suspicion?"

 "Reaumur said she was worried about the blink dogs back in their village and wanted to go back to check up on them." Roko shrugged, "Drift and Ohm were coming along to keep her safe. That's all really. Romer's still here though. We haven't told him the truth yet. Probably best not to."

 "Well at least there's some good news." Rivera sighed.

 "Umm...mom..." Brook spoke up timidly, "You aren't mad at me are you?"

 "We'll talk later." Rivera said, her even tone revealing no hints as to how she felt, "But first. Roko."

 "Yeah?" Roko said another bad feeling creeping into his mind.

 "Have you considered using the Mystic Transcriber?" Rivera smiled with a smile that felt more threatening than it was in any way pleasant, "It's a truly wonderful invention. You won't have another chance like this to take it."

 "...Are you going to keep the pain threshold low?"

 "Oh, there's no controlling how much pain you feel during the process. But I assure you, I'll try and keep the pain to a minimum."

 "...I'll think about it."

 "Please do. You may leave."

 "Wow, we're really getting on her nerves aren't we?" Helena chuckled.

 "Well I can't say we're entirely innocent." Roko sighed, "We do end up asking for forgiveness more than permission."

 "Who needs permission anyway?"

 "That is a frightening thing to hear from a princess."

 "Hey, we arguably haven't done anything wrong."

 "I think the 'arguably' is what's getting us in trouble."

 "It's also what's keeping us out of trouble." Helena snickered as she continued to read her book, "Besides, it's not our fault you're so decisive."

 "...So you're saying it's my fault?"

 "I didn't say that."

 "Uh huh." Roko sighed, "What are you reading by the way? Is that the book Corissa and Vine are making you read?"

 "Huh? Oh, I finished that weeks ago."

 "What about the book report?"

 "Finished it. One draft."

 "What was the book about?"

 "Oh boy let me tell you." Helena excited put down her book, "It's a book about human romance written by elves. How does that sound?"

 "From a group as insular as the elves? Very wild."

 "Oh, so wild." Helena grinned as she put down her book, "Imagine such a long lived species looking at our short lived species and deciding 'Because our lives are so short, every day of our lives must be packed full of excitement!'"

 "Oh god."

 "Seriously, Lance and Lucia got married and divorced like three times in a single 'week'. And there's like five other love interests at any point. With like five more waiting IN ROTATION! For BOTH of them. I swear, a human with ADHD hyped up on a pack of energy drinks and some top quality drugs can't multitask as many characters as this elf does. I'm genuinely concerned for this person's mental health."

 "Are they still alive?"

 "Not from what I can tell." Helena shrugged, "Maybe they've gone into hiding. Maybe they made a Lucillion dollars and moved to some posh new city that's even bigger than this one. Which is something that actually happens IN this story! Lucia literally just wins a lottery and moves to a new upper state city and just sort of retires there while Lance becomes an undercover boxer to expose an underground cock fighting ring, and by that I mean actual chickens, run by the most powerful men in the world. And that's only one small arc in this story. And by small arc, I mean in the same day, Lance destroys this ring, saves the mother chicken of Lucia's newly adopted chick and the two decide to get married so the parent and child can be together!"

 "Can't he just give Lucia the mom?"

 "That's what I said!" Helena grinned, "Oh boy and let me tell you about the sex scenes!"

 "Let's not talk about the sex scenes."

 "But they're so awkward! I spent an entire page writing about them and it's not because they're just so...quality...but because it was hilarious to see Corissa's face grow redder and redder as she read about them!"

 "You made her read the whole thing?"

 "I mean, Vine stopped her halfway through and Corissa had to take a walk to calm down."

 "Was Varis with her?"

 "I made sure Varis was with her."

 "Good."

 "Oh, you want to know the real kicker to this story?"

 "What?"

 "Lucia and Lance don't even stay together at the end of the story."

 "...Do I want to know why?"

 "That depends. How much time do you have? An hour? A day? Three weeks?"

 "Look, just tell me about what you're reading now then." Roko sighed.

 "Oh this is just some elf history."

 "Still keeping up that act then?"

 "Oh, I've actually found what my trip thesis is going to be."

 "Something more specific than elven culture then?"

 "Yep! I'm going to try and find out why elves turn into dark elves!"

 Roko stared at Helena blankly, "Huh. I guess that really hasn't been explored that much."

 "Right? The two races seem to have hated each other for so long that they've forgotten the reason. But if we want to start some coexistence between them then we've got to figure out the reason right? So that's what I've been doing."

 "What if there's no reason to be found?"

 "Well then it'll just be a historical essay then I guess." Helena shrugged.

 "Do you need help with that?"

 "Thanks Roko, but I got this." Helena grinned, "Though if you can get me access to those restricted archives that will probably help a lot."

 "Have you asked Rivera?"

 "You think I'll be able to complete the Hero's Trial on my own?"

 "You know what, I'll just tell Vine to let you in."

 "Cool. Thanks Roko! You're the best."

 "Where's Roland by the way?"

 "Training."

 "With the weighted sword?"

 "Yep. Following the whole syllabus and everything."

 "I'm...actually kind of shocked."

 "I'm not. Roland can be surprisingly hard working and earnest when he gets serious."

 …

 "Have you fired any ice spells at him yet?"

 "Oh shoot, I forgot to do that for today!"

 For a few days Roko spent most of his time going around to his friends and checking up on the results of their training, gathering new information and adjusting plans as necessary. Compared to the preceding month of absolute maddening research, this little bit of aftercare was almost relaxing for him. With nothing else to do in between check ups Roko found a lot more quiet moments that he allowed himself to enjoy for a bit before he would return to his research. It was the dusk of one of these days that Roko found himself returning to the lodge, having been invited to dinner with his friends for a third straight night in a row. Not that he particularly minded, it saved him from having to come up with dinner for himself but this evening the lodge was empty save for Treesa who was silently sweeping the floors.

 "Oh! Roko. Dinner will be prepared in a few minutes. Please feel free to take a seat."

 "Right. Thanks Treesa."

 As Roko sat down at one of the many tables in the dining area, he began to realize how little he's actually spoke to Treesa since Romer's arrival. For the most part, she seemed to have recovered from her traumatic reaction. Looking at her now, she certainly didn't seem bothered with the exception of her missing cheery smile. Even now she seemed more distracted than discomforted. But Roko still couldn't put the sight of her disastrous state out of his mind. He thought about talking to her about it but he really hasn't had much interaction with her all things given. He visited from time to time but he mostly lived apart from everyone else so he really hadn't had a lot of personal interactions with her. At this rate would it be overstepping if he tried to address problems as personal as this? What would he even say? Did he really think he could just solve racism with just a simple cha-

 "Ummm...are you still there?"

 "What?" Roko jolted as he suddenly realized Treesa was standing right next to him, looking at him curiously, "Oh, sorry. I was just...thinking about stuff."

 "Well you certainly have a lot of things to think about from what I understand." Treesa offered a small smile, "Mind if I sit down with you?"

 "Sure."

 Roko quickly straightened himself as Treesa sat down across from him. And from how straight her posture was and the oddly determined look on her face, Roko could tell something was on her mind. And she was about to share it.

 "We need to talk." Treesa said firmly.

 "About what?"

 "...I'm not certain about your little...dark elf friends."

 Roko raised an eyebrow. A lot of words jumped out from his mind but the only one he let out of his lips was, "Continue."

 "You cannot trust dark elves. They're evil and violent and will sooner betray you than risk their lives for you."

 "I'm not asking them to die for me. I'm just trying to get people to get along."

 "Ghh, you know what I mean!" Treesa cried, "They only know how to destroy! They will lie and cheat their way to that end!"

 "Why do you think so?"

 "They've been hunting the poor animals of Arbrea for years! Sometimes it's not even for food or clothing! If you were more acquainted with the nature of this forest, you'd see how many corpses are just left behind! Just laying there! Killed for no reason!"

 "What's wrong with that?"

 "What's wr-it's senseless slaughter!" Treesa cried incredulously, "These animals had lives that they were just trying to live until the dark elves killed them for no reason!"

 "Just because the dark elves don't use them doesn't mean their deaths will be wasted. Hungry animals will eat their kills if they come across it. Even if no one eats them, the corpses decompose and feed the trees. All things return to nature, it's quite hard to waste something."

 "That's not the point! What about the lives of the animals?!"

 "I was getting to that. Senseless slaughter would be inexcusable if it was only truly senseless."

 "What else would you call it then?!"

 "Well from what I understand from the dark elves, their hunting is in counter to invasive species. The owlbear population, while protected by normal elf standards is invasive in the eyes of the dark elves due to no true factor limiting their population by natural means."

 "Invasive?! The owlbears have been residents of this forest for centuries! If there truly was nothing to hunt them then we would have observed that happening!"

 "You very well might have if the dark elves didn't take it upon themselves to cull the population."

 "Even if that was the case, the owlbears are endangered now so their hunting has no excuse any longer!"

 "Just because they're endangered doesn't mean they no longer need a limiting factor. And honestly, the dark elves could've pulled back on their hunting in response to this but to be honest, I'm not an expert on elven politics. This one issue doesn't speak for the entirety of dark elf/elven relationship either so let's narrow down on what exactly you distrust about the dark elves."

 "What do you mean?"

 "Why do you hate dark elves?"

 "What do you mean why? You know why!"

 "Because they killed your husband?"

 "Yes!"

 "Did the entirety of the dark elf race come to kill your husband?"

 "Wh...no?"

 "Do you blame the entirety of the dark elf race for the murder of your husband?"

 "...No..."

 "This is good. I appreciate you being reasonable about this."

 "I..." Treesa sighed, "I..."

 "So tell me. If you don't hate the dark elves for the murder of your husband, why do you hate them?"

 "You..." Treesa looked away, "You wouldn't understand..."

 "That's what this exercise is for isn't it? I'm trying to understand you. Forget everything you know about me and the events since I returned. What is the core reason that you hate dark elves?"

 "They...they're evil..." Treesa said a bit quietly, "There's all I need."

 "But the dark elves that have been here for over a month now have done nothing but help. How do you reconcile this with your hatred?"

 "F-Forget it." Treesa said as she picked up her broom and moved to stand up, "It's not my business who you keep as a friend."

 "I do believe you, Treesa." Roko stated, stalling her in shock, "Your reaction when Romer arrived was not an act nor is it a reaction that anyone who's simply discriminatory to dark elves have. There's something deeper to your feelings. You hate dark elves. That's fine. But what do you see in your mind when you think about dark elves? What monster do you think you are fighting?"

 "...It's..." Treesa blinked multiple times, taken aback by Roko's sudden support, "It's not real, I know that. I get it, I'll try to get over my hatred okay? So-"

 "That is not what I'm trying to do." Roko said, "I'm not here to make you like dark elves or even give them a chance. I just want to make sure you know what it is you're feeling. Because it is unmistakably hatred. Tell me. What happened to your husband?"

 Treesa stood there for a moment, biting her lip as she considered Roko's words. Slowly she sat back down and took a deep breath,

 "My husband and I were happily married for nearly 700 years. On every anniversary of our wedding, we would go out to the forest and search for our favorite flower, the Moonbloom. The Moonbloom is a beautiful flower but its been declining in population in the wild. Every year it becomes harder and harder to find one but they're impossible to breed in captivity for reasons we still don't quite understand. We always managed to find one every year but this year, about 78 years ago, we were having trouble finding one. The day of our anniversary was about to end and I was trying to convince my husband that we should just go home. But he insisted on finding that flower for me. He always was stubborn like that but he was also kinder than anyone else. We kept searching until we came across a group of dark elves hunting an owlbear. We were outraged but we had no intention of fighting them. Neither of us knew how to fight anyway. But when we saw that the owlbear was trying to protect her hidden cubs...my husband immediately ran off to try and break up the fighting but it didn't end well. The owlbear began to fight back and in the melee everyone was hurt. My husband got a few bites and scratches but the dark elves got the full brunt of the owlbear's attacks. One of the dark elves was bitten close to their neck and that seemed to really make the dark elves mad. One of the dark elves shot an arrow right into my husband's chest as the owlbear began to run off. Instead of helping my husband, the dark elves ran off after the owlbear to continue hunting it. I wanted to rescue my husband but another group of dark elves showed up. They surrounded my husband before turning around and killing each of the owlbear's cubs one by one. Then they picked up my husband's body and carried him off."

 Roko listened to Treesa's story with a silent calm that hid any reaction he had to the story. Treesa on the other hand was silently weeping as she recounted her story.

 "Do you understand now?" Treesa said bitterly, "Dark elves only know how to hunt and kill. They don't care about killing a mother and her children. They wouldn't hesitate in killing a man simply trying to protect the innocent. There's no excuse for their actions."

 "...I understand." Roko nodded, "But that doesn't explain your reaction."

 "What do you mean?!" Treesa cried, "They're absolute monsters!"

 "No, not your hate for them. That's all well and good but to be left shuddering and quaking when a group of them began occupying your lodge for a short moment? That's more than just simple hatred. You weren't shaking in fear, you were restraining yourself from attacking them yourself. Not verbally either, you weren't anxious to release some pent up feelings. You wanted to enact violence on them. To be clear, I don't care if doing so would be justified or not. But you're a reasonable and smart woman. You knew better to attack them but that didn't stop you from your feeling consuming your thoughts. Do you know why?"

 "...I just hate dark elves. That's it."

 "Do you not understand? Neither you nor your husband were fighters. Yet you were restraining yourself from attacking them. That's an extreme reaction."

 "Well how do you explain it then?!" Treesa snapped.

 "You just watched all this happen didn't you?" Roko said, "You could only stand to the side in safety as your husband threw himself into danger and lost his life for it. You hate the dark elves for doing what they did but most of all you hate the fact that you weren't able to do anything for anybody. You clearly loved your husband. I can't imagine how you would feel about not having a body to even bring back home. Both you and I know you weren't the fighting type. I'm not blaming you for not doing anything. But your husband wasn't a fighter either and he ran in there despite that. Why couldn't you do that? Why couldn't you support him like the wife you were? Maybe you decided you wouldn't let that happen again. Maybe you decided that in memory for your late husband you could never accept dark elves. Maybe both. But your hate for dark elves isn't one of bigotry. I think you can get along with dark elves if you try. But you just won't let yourself do that. Your regrets hold you for what you are but what you are holds you from what your regrets wants you to become. You don't hate dark elves. You hate yourself."

 Treesa sat there, mouth agape as she tried to process Roko's words. She stuttered as she tried to conjure a response but her mind clearly wasn't up to the task of forming one quite yet. She couldn't even bring up an excuse to leave as she simply stood up, grabbed her broom and walked away, still trying to force some response out of her mouth. Roko sat there, left to his own thoughts but only for a moment as the door to the lodge very quickly burst open and Helena arrived with everyone else.

 "Hey Roko! What did we miss?!"