It was decided in a moment, with such ease that Cain almost doubted her own dedication to this. That whispered world had been heard, and the lip service Seigi had paid afterwards was all but meaningless, from her fake ‘congratulations’ to her bombastic declaration of not giving up afterwards. Teaching her how to become stronger, was it? That wasn’t a bad idea, after all, but Cain Darlite was a Flagbearer of Miracles, not a Nurturer of one, and as a hero of justice, the willingness to bow one’s head down before one that was stronger simply didn’t… It didn’t mesh, and with one hand, he pushed her foot off the table, dark eyes smouldering with passion and aggression. Raking his fingers through his hair, the midnight haired muse adjusted his hat and slammed his elbow down onto the table again, hand open for another gander. “Not enough,” he spat, his gaze boring into Seigi’s eyes, “Not nearly enough, Seigi! With resolve as lacking as that, how on earth do you plan on becoming strong? The titles you hand out are flimsy at best, your tales of glory nothing but hot air! Strongest? Don’t make me laugh! There are a dozen others greater than I, and I spend every day knowing that I’m a mere maggot compared to them!” He bared his fangs, grasped her hand, and slammed it down onto the table again, displaying an invigorating violence. Before she could sink into another of her edgy, boring, weak moods, Cain offered another challenge, another, another ANOTHER, each ending up in her defeat, as her knuckles became chaffed, bruised, bloodied, her fingers purple from the tightness of his grasp. “Once you’re prepared? Once you’ve learned? Once you’re a hero? Don’t give up so easily, you brat! Again and again and again! If this is the path you’ve chosen, never, ever turn to someone else for help. Don’t acknowledge anyone as your superior, see them only as challenges. Fight until your bones have been ground to dust and then some. Because a hero is alone even when together with their comrades, a singular entity capable of bringing victory through their own efforts alone.” A final, brutal thump, and he could feel something crack as he slammed her hand down the umpteenth time, grimacing at the clammy sweat that had built between them. The flashes of pity he felt was tossed to the flame, and he knew that around him, it just looked like he was bullying a little girl who simply had delusions of grandeur. In reality, this was definitely not something Cain would have done. As Danielle, he would have smiled instead, encouraged her, pushed her on with steadfast optimism. But perhaps this was why the words flowed so easily. “I will not teach you a thing, for the path you walk is singularly unique,” the Flagbearer of Miracles spoke, tone measured, calming, “But I will push you to the brink and lead you to a nigh limitless amount of walls for you to break down, for you to surpass. So ready yourself, Seigi Ling Ling. Prepare to be shattered a dozen times against the reality of your weakness, and to reforge yourself thirteen times over.” He had still not been defeated. He still gripped onto her bleeding hand tightly, as if to crush it. “Now, Budding Incarnation of RIghteousness, show me the shine of victory after innumerable defeat!”
Cain's words hurt. A lot. It was painful but... also the truth, no? The Truth was always the right thing. Part of what the muse had said the girl was already aware of. Part of her knew. But other things... they made sense, yet, Seigi had been blind. This fun challenge she had set-up had made her even blinder? Or maybe it was exactly why she had made this. Subconsciously aware of that she couldn't just continue like that. That part of her was lost. In that way, the verbal abuse Cain delivered was a good thing. The male avatar rekindled the justice girl. She spent a few moments in silence as he offered another match. "I will not be out-done." She whispered and lost on the first rematch. "I won't lose." A second rematch, lost. "I WILL win." Third time's the charm? No. "I'll stand up. Again, and again." Was it even possible? Another loss. "No matter how often I have to try..." Probably not? One couldn't just become stronger from now to in a second. The lose stood to prove that. "I will overcome you..." With the sixth one, her hand slowly started to hurt. "...and everybody else." The hero girl continued to whisper to herself on the seventh lose. "That's right." Yes. It was possible. Even if she had lost eight times. "It doesn't matter..." If Seigi lost nine times... "How often I try." ... or ten times. "As long as I keep trying..." Eleven. "I WILL DO THE IMPOSSIBLE!" Seigi cried out as supposed-to-be-miracle turned out to be the twelfth plus one lose in a row. True Miracles happened only in fiction, no? But that was exactly what made a hero a hero...? No matter how often Seigi tried though. No matter how beaten up her hand became that even her health bar started to slowly dwindle. She lost. She lost. Again and again. Lose. Lose. Lose. Loseloseloseloseloseloselose.... Nonetheless, even as the girl's hand went numb, she kept going. Pain was temporary. "I...will... defeat you." Seigi murmured, her head was through this challenge temporarily cleared from the alcoholic cloud she had gotten earlier. "I WILL OVERCOME THE IMPOSSIBLE." She cried out at yet another attempt and... Seigi Won. She... actually did it. A Miracle. It was a small one, but a Miracle nonetheless. Seigi couldn't believe it at first. Did he just lose on p-? No, he wasn't that kind of person. But... how... no... of course! "Ha...." Her childish, innocent and warm smile appeared again. "Hahaha....!" The kung-fu girl simply started to laugh happily. "Hahahahahahahaha!" For all the soul-crushing she had gone through, this was totally worth it!
She did it. Slowly, Cain retracted his hand from the table, clenching and unclenching to get some feeling back into it. Damn, that had hurt. Beneath where his hand had been slammed was a crack, one that ran all the way down the heavily abused table. His arm was dead tired at this point, weak and clammy from all that effort expended, but if that was the only price he had to pay to make someone’s day…well, it was well worth it. Rising from his seat, the midnight haired muse stretched out his back, rotated his sore shoulder a couple of times, and, as Seigi laughed and laughed and laughed from the elation of a hard won fight, Cain took a quick screenshot. It was moments like this that he wanted to capture as a photographer, wasn’t it? The brightness that could only be seen in a world full of so few consequences and so many consequences. This was the brilliance that he wanted to see, that strange sparkle he never had himself, that he lost while tenaciously grinding through walls with no true plan outside of hedonistic pleasure. Eldhi had it once, the radiance of justice. Magi had it once, the effervescence of kindness. So did Seigi. Would she lose it as well, becoming a bitter, cruel puppet to a greater power that promised the ability to change the world? A cold, cold breath, and then, a decision. “Allow me to reintroduce myself, Seigi Ling Ling,” Cain spoke, “I am Cain Darlite, Flagbearer of Miracles, Tunnel Delver and Wyrm Slayer, the Double Blessed Champion of Idna and Iedi, He Who Stands at the Boundary, the Pale Witness. I have seen nations rise and fall, have slain countless fiends, have watched so many fall into the darkness of death and corruption. In you, I see both the potential for greatness and for decadence. And so, I shall offer you one word of advice, Challenger of the Strongest. Do not forget this joy that bursts like a supernova within your chest.” A sigh, before he turned, disappearing into the crowds that had gathered since then. “It is not enough to merely take on a challenge. You should enjoy it too, no matter what the outcome. You’re immortal, after all. Loss can only make you stronger, for there is nothing that can kill you.” He'll support her. As the one that apparently took her first kiss, as the one who wanted to see her rise up into prominence properly, as one who had too many friends slip through his fingers before... He'll definitely support her.
