Author's note: I own nothing. Um... yay?

A soul shredder surely, as am I.
I see it in his eyes…
As bright as silver the glow within the iris,
And the mouth that so easily lies…
He does not feel the chill I think,
I see myself in a different light by his side,
I am muted, diluted, shadowed,
Found lacking from what I am lacking,
And that I despise…

I am ashamed to be so weak where he is so strong.
Am I not strong? I feel I am, but my will,
My esteem still so fragile, my spirit so often killed,
Is kneeling down in his shadow,
Quietly wrapping myself in his favor,
Cursing at the path that I can never cross to reach him,
To match him,
How I wish he stood where I now stand,
In command, and still stretched so thin,
Does he envy me as I envy him?

I am the leader, I move, they follow,
And despite my success I sometimes feel… hollow.
So pointless and wasted the battle I fight, I would rather wage war within,
And kill this blood that shouldn't stand in his light,
Kill the doubt, the weakness, and the fear.
I will never say it, but his support is so much of what has kept me here.
The pure submitting to my command, my power, my venoms touch…
And he, the jewel in my crown,
Who has unknowingly given so much.

But I see his weakness too, and it is as great as mine.

His blood would have promised better, but it was not in his design.
He was built to follow, and I to lead.
It is a humorless joke that nature has played, but it allowed me to succeed.
I cannot question that I know this, or if I do then how,
It is because he stands where he satnds, and not where I stand now.

Come my serpents,
Come my fools and favored,
Come my independent and my weak, my old and strong or fresh and young.

Come my lost. And with my war be found,

Come my hopeless. And seek comfort in the moment and the spell.

Peace is not the healer of the soul,
It is in the heat of war that we are finally made whole.
And ours is a hate that no water can dash, and no passivity quell.

And come my Lucius, my silver serpent,
Just for a little longer let me bask in your effortless glow.
…for in time I will destroy you, as I break all I admire.
You will be my greatest sacrifice.

And we all must sacrifice to grow.