Paimon props her elbow on her knee, her chin in her palm and watches Hakuei intently. Sheโs so spirited, so quick to defend and desperate to understand. Maybe if she had seen everything Aladdin had shown them instead of getting the recaps from that Kouen of hers sheโd understand better.ย
โDid we? Hmm, I wonder.โ she hums thoughtfully, pursing her lips.ย โItโs the role of a leader to take responsibility of their people. We djinn, we the seventy-two species of Alma Toran failed that role. When our people were ravaged by Elder David and his magicians, we were saved by Lord Solomon and his resistance. And afterwards, we didnโt take responsibility for what had happened. Many of us were scared. So we hid behind the humans, let them fight in our stead. We pushed Solomon to become King and he pushed further to become god, all for our sake. And when he was gone, we fell to ruin. We failed to stand on our own, forgot ourselves and our own power. And thatโs what tore the world apart, long before the magicians did.โ Paimon smiles sourly, more serious than sheโs ever appeared.ย
โMy years? How ancient I must seem when I certainly donโt feel it~ I hope I donโt look it either.โ she tries to joke again but it falls a bit flat. Especially when sheโs felt every hundred years sheโs been alive.ย โWell, that was our decision; to live like this. If we were unable to save our world, we could at least help to nurture yours. And someone had to stay behind, if only to remember those we had lost. We were to ensure the tragedy of Alma Toran never happens again. True, there are some days, some years when this choice hurts, when I long to rejoin my people, where their souls ride the wind. But I have never regretted it. And besides, I got to meet you, after all and have seen many wonderful things through your eyes.โ
Paimon sits up straight then. She unfolds her legs, lets her feet touch the ground.ย โBut I suppose our meetingย wasnโt entirely truthful. At least not my introduction, glorious as it was. So let me remedy that.โย
Paimon closes her eyes and the wind swirls around her briefly. She changes forms one last time. The last remaining vestiges of her djinn form disappear; the exaggerated features, the colors, the outfit. Everything falls from her and is replaced by an older image, one she remembers well. She stands before Hakuei, long black hair topped with a golden headpiece, adorned with red jewels, matched by her broad necklace and arm and ankle bands. She wears a golden bodice, a flowing skirt, decorated at the belt with feathers and charms. And holds a feathered staff, identical in all but color to one Hakueiโs equip wields.
By the end of it, she smiles.ย
โI am Paimon, ninth djinn created by Solomon, the avatar of maniacal love and chaos, daughter of Rambha, and Matriarch of the Apsara tribe. Ask me anything, and you will be answered.โย
Hakuei sucks in a deep breath, obviously aware of that fact... that it was up to the leaders to guide and protect their people, organize themselves in a way that would benefit them.ย However, her time at the Northern Plains made it abundantly clear that sometimes misfortunes happen and a people can grow weaker and weaker even from the strongest nation in the world.ย In some ways the people of Tenzen were like Paimonโs tribe and the others... withered away by constant attack before they were brought under protection of a stronger ally: Kou or in their case, the magicians.ย ย
The comparison ate at her and made it so that she couldnโt accept such words of guilt and blame.ย ย โYour people had been lead to believe before that point that humans were superior... even if King Solomon pushed for equality, that never comes as quickly as we would like, and the mental scars of feeling inferior would remain.ย If indeed you meant it when you said that itโs our leaders job to take care of their people, then surly it falls to the King as well?ย Of course he too couldnโt be to blame for the traitors actions.โ
Still the serious way Paimon spoke was unlike anything Hakuei had ever heard from her before, normally so spirited and light-hearted, teasing her and making her feel at ease.ย Though she sought to give her djinn peace of mind, at the end of the day she knew she would always lack the same understanding since she wasnโt there, nor had she even attended the summit.ย She was blind to the tragedies of the past.
The brilliance of her djinn does not escape her, taking her breath away the moment she transformed into her former self, something sheโd only ever been allowed short glimpses of over the span of the years theyโd been together.ย Despite knowing she had never been a human, she looks more like it now than ever, majestic in splendor shining with a rich culture and history that was lost to time, with the being in front of her being itโs last memory.
Even though Paimon spoke kindly of her as she always had, making her feel worthy of the gift sheโd been given, the dungeon sheโd conquered, the new perspective on her was jarring.ย She felt great shame in being unable to relate but the idea of something beyond the single-handed purpose Paimon had now, an entire life and tribe gone now leaving only her... and her solemn duty was to choose someone like Hakuei and grant her power to change the world in the generalโs own favor.ย ย
โIโm not sure I feel worthy of the power of the Apsara tribe.... your people... Surly the magiโs guidance would have been enough rather than your eternal existence watching life grow and fade in a never-ending cycle.ย It feels far too cruel, Paimon, your existence to try to repent of your sins.ย Especially when all this time weโve been seeing the rise of too many metal vessels as irregularities that are bringing chaos to the world... Iโve been fighting to stop that without even knowing how djinn came to be,โ