Happy Early New Year!
Try not to get spoiled with all the extra chapters..j/k
Poison is an art.
It is for the bold. It takes a certain commitment to achieve your desired result in this manner. There is an poise to it all. An elegance. A certain air to the act of poison. It is not for cowards. Anyone can put a sword through someone or plan a coup d'etat. But this is a deception from start to finish. A ploy. An act to let someone trust you enough to get close and then betray them. Whether it is long or short, as the life slowly drains from your target it is a reflection. You can choose to let them know that it was you or play your part and walk away into the night never offering that last peace of mind. A secret to the grave. Whether the betrayal be for safety, country or purely just for spite. Poison is an act full of choices at every turn.
Though its practice and reputation may have been sullied through time, it is something you shape with your very hands. Patience, effort and a heart full of the darkest of impulses are all requirements. In its very roots, it combines the very basic principles of mage craft. After all, is it not simply a potion while albeit extremely deadly at its core. Ever witch, mage, warlock and wizard was taught how to craft a potion. Some just explored it more. Reveling in the beauty of its simplicity and its danger.
It did not take someone who magically inclined to learn it but in her humble opinion it helped. Rin was a child who was born to magic. It was in her blood. Semiramis could practically feel Rin's excitement and contentment as she taught the young child. Like a bee to a flower. Her work practically sang to the child. Whilst she was unsure if it just appealed to the child's darker side (which if you asked her needed some nurturing). Rin may have been magically disposed to learning but it was quite a welcome surprise that the child had a true understanding of it. Rin could see the logic, reasoning, the purpose of it all. She didn't give up. She kept pushing for greater and better. To be better and greater.
Semiramis had not disagreed when Rin had stated poison bordered on the darker side. She simply responded- did not all magic have its darker side? Was the girl's own family history not full of it? Or at least touching the very reaches? The whispers of what greatness awaited if you could only choose the path. A fine line of hate and love. And Semiramis had not doubt that it already whispered to Rin. Still so very young, it wasn't hard to see that this child had the potential, the drive and most of all the hatred she harbored so close to her heart. A child of two worlds. It was intoxicating, all that excess magic that the child attracted. It wasn't surprising to see so many heroes flock to the child. Whether conscious or unconscious- Rin's presence spoke of a magic lost somewhere from her time to Chaldea. And she did not question what secrets Rin kept to her heart. Every woman kept some. While she could have raised an eyebrow at some of the books Rin asked to borrow(for "research" of course), Semiramis did not push. If Rin wanted her help, she would ask. Some lessons had to be learned the hard way. Trail by fire if you would.
Semiramis let a smile grace her flawless face as Rin packed up her stuff for the day. A impressively hefty tome of plants and their uses tucked under her small arm. Rin was quite an ideal student. She was focused and diligent. Rin did not fear poison. It was such a joy so teach someone who actually appreciated her and her art. Someone who could take it to its limits; if she so chose too. She was sure that Rin could bring all her enemies to their feet- with the right guidance.
Perhaps in the future, Rin could would even be someone who could grow be worthy to walk aside her.
Not that I don't love a coup d'etat as the next person.
Omake(Extra Random Scene)- NYE- I didnt write a NY chapter but if I had it'd prb have this in it.
Rin's cheerful laughter rang through the air just like the colorful streamers that drifted in the air. Her arms were up, eye lit up with glee as Atalanta lifted her in the air. In turn, Atalanta placed a soft kiss on Rin's temple as the time counted down. Rin's blue eyes were soft as she wrapped her arms around Atlanta's neck.