Tired of Hypocrisy
There were reasons the Lucians felt the way they did. In their shoes, Aranea would probably feel the same way. What Niflheim had done was terrible. What Caligo had done in this very city was terrible and inexcusable.
Knowing that didn't make it any less aggravating to deal with their hypocrisy.
"We really appreciate everything you do for us," the Lucian she had just assisted said.
Aranea clearly remembered what had happened the day Niff refugees showed up. They had been met with nothing buy hostility from the majority of the Lucians here. Which was exactly why most of them were at Meldacio HQ. That hostility was understandable; it wasn't what bothered Aranea.
What bothered her was the fact that these same people would willfully ignore the fact that she was in fact a Niff. They placed her in a category all her own and while that may not bother her in some matters, this was not one of them.
The smile she gave the man was not a pleasant one.
"Really now? Despite the fact that I am a... how do your people put it? 'Dirty, good for nothing Niff'?"
Seeing him sputter and attempt to defend himself was less amusing than Aranea thought it would be. She crossed her arms and stared at him, unimpressed but not quite glaring.
"Listen. I appreciate that you don't have a problem with me or the way I do things. But I have had as much as I can stand of this blatant hypocrisy. I may be a mercenary first and right now, but I was the Commodore of Niflheim's Third Army Corps 87th Airborne Division."
Definitely not proud of what she did while holding that rank and title, but that wasn't the point.
"If you can respect me, you can grant Niflheim's civilians the respect they deserve as fellow humans. The military officials, I don't blame you for having a problem with. None of the others I've talked to blame you either. We know why you don't like us. Treating the civilians like shit, throwing insults at them, and acting like they personally wronged you by being born in Niflheim, is not okay. The worst the civilians did was live in fear of the government. So until you, and all the rest of you too," Aranea added as she looked around at everyone else in the area, "treat the innocent civilians like the human beings they are, I don't want to hear your praise. Niflheim is my homeland, and I will stand with my people."
Very few faces in the crowd looked as if her words had any affect on them. She'd just have to remind them who she was until they got it.
If the higher-ups in this survival operation could put aside their problems with Niffs, especially to take the advice of ex-military officials and trust them, the civilians could do the same.