ONLY WHEN THE SHADOW STEPS into the light does nâs attention turn away from the distant horizon. he turns, expression derived of emotion. for once, n himself is conflicted with how he feels. should he be happy to see an old ally? angry to see someone who aided ghetsis with his plans? indifferent, since they had no real relation in the first place? his own uncertainty is unnerving and still NEW. he wonders if itâs always supposed to feel like this or if the situation surrounding the emotion makes it feel that way.
   while n canât claim to be any good at detecting human emotion, he can see that moros isnât reacting to âŠÂ  positively  to being called out. he wonders how far heâd be followed if he simply moved on â or if moros might have initiated eventually. but thereâs no sense in dwelling on the different possibility. n wants to face whatâs directly in front of him. he doesnât flinch, his demeanor remaining calm. open.Â
   â ah â did i strike a nerve? my apologies ; i meant no negative connotation with my word choice. â he wonders if itâs the right thing to say. heâs still learning to understand people emotions, after all. as it stands, heâs mostly going off of intuition and assumptions and, as heâs come to learn, the chances of a misunderstanding are far greater when dealing with another person.Â
   this is especially true when the said person is shrouded in mystery.
   itâs weird, n reflects, that heâs known the shadow triad just as long as heâs known the other people he grew up around â and yet?? he knows relatively  nothing of them. perhaps itâs because they had never TRULY wanted to serve him in the first place. that was ghetsis. the shadow triad remains to be another remnant of his own manipulation. he doesnât RESENT or BLAME them, of course, rather he canât help wonder about their motivations in continuing to follow him after his true nature was revealed.Â
   thereâs still lots he has to figure out about humans, apparently.Â
â iâm not quite sure âsentimentalâ is the right word. maybe: nostalgia?  perhaps it is because our relationship was never more than our association with team plasma? â a casual hum follows the statement, oblivious to the shock thatâs captivated moros. heâs still near blissfully unaware of the effect his presence has on some people â especially those who closely followed ghetsis. he could probably be a bit more careful with his carefree and straightforward word choice too but, hey! heâs learning! ⊠trying to, at least. heâs trying.
   â regardless, the answer is simple : neither of us could hold a proper conversation among a crowd, so i decided to wait. i did not venture here sooner because i wanted to be sure i was more confident in my suspicion that you were really there, and it looks like i was correct. you do still marvel me, i must admit. you and your brothers possess abilities i could never imagine. â such a bird - walk of an explanation probably wasnât necessary. hopefully it wonât make things stranger than they are.
â and what of you, shadow? with your abilities, surely you could have found me sooner. and your brothers? quite frankly, i believe this is the first time iâve seen you separated. â
As soon as N started to talk, Moros remembered something heâd tried to forget. When N said he meant nothing by his phrasing, it was impossible not to believe him. He spoke honestlyâinnocently. It still astonished Moros that someone like Ghetsis played any role in raising someone as genuine as N. All of Morosâs bitterness rolled off him like it was nothing.
But still, despite knowing that N held no ill-intent toward him, it was hard not to take offense at his words. He wasnât wrongâthey had never had anything but Team Plasma connecting them together, it was true. But Team Plasma was... everything. His mission, his ideals, his allies, the institution run by his mentors and caretakers since his earliest memories, the culmination of his masterâs ambition and his one singular purpose. To hear it dismissed so casually was, was... Moros didnât have words for it.
Nâs explanation of his actions was perfectly logical, but for all his thoughtful analysis it seemed not to have occurred to him that Moros might pose a threat. Heâd willingly walked himself away from the crowds and to a place where they would be secluded enough to talk freely. Did he think there would be no resentment between them? N had upended his whole life. Moros still hadnât forgiven that.
âI wasnât looking for you,â he said. Neither was Ghetsis; he was in no position to care about such things. Did N even know what kind of state heâd left the man in? Did he even care? Asking about his brothers only compounded Morosâs pent up frustration.
He didnât know where they were. Heâd thought their loyalty to Ghetsis would stay strongâand it had, for a while. But eventually the day came when they decided to leave, confirming what Moros had always known. They were weak. Selfish. Theyâd run off just like the rest of Team Plasma. And Moros was the only one left.
âOur crossing paths was nothing more than coincidence, however unlikely. But if you think for a second Iâd let you walk away withoutââ He stopped, biting back the rush of emotion. Moros was silent in most situations, remaining deliberately detached from the world around him. But here he found words coming to him unbidden, unraveling his best efforts at control. Try again. Keep it together.
âI donât know where the others are,â he said, turning away and changing the subject to answer Nâs question. âFollowing in your footsteps, most likely. Itâs too bad you didnât encounter one of them. Iâm sure that would be a much more enjoyable conversation.â He began to move in a circle around N, not wanting to get too close but unable to contain his pacing. âUnlucky. You stumbled across the last person in all of Team Plasma who isnât a traitor.â
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