Araba: (While Interu is away, I have been training on my own.
I may never catch up to her might, but I still enjoy the process of making progress with my prowess.
I suddenly sensed something in our base in the woods with [Spatial Perception].
And a moment later, she arrived via teleportation as expected.
However, I am surprised to find that she is much larger than before, with the upper half of a Human situated on top of her spider head.
It would appear that she had gained enough Experience to reach LV50 and evolve into Arachne.
But she was nowhere near that when she left, to gain that much would suggest...)
<You took part in their war, did you not?>
Interu: <Yeah, yeah, not supposed to get involved in Human affairs and all that junk.
And things went south when your boss sent the Demon Lord to kill me okay? Don't judge me.>
Araba: <The Maker did!?>
Interu: <Yes, probably because he hates me.
And the worst part is that I can't find it in me to blame him.>
Araba: <You need to behave from now on!>
Interu: <He said that too.>
Araba: <This is serious, Interu.>
Interu: <I know!
Nai wa, so how's the->
Araba: (She turned to look at the town, which is on fire.)
Interu: <...What the fuck?! Araba?!
You are supposed to protect the town in my absence!>
Araba: <I never agreed to it.>
Interu: <You stayed silent instead of talking about how we aren't supposed to interfere again!
I thought you reluctantly agreed or something!>
Araba: <I did not care enough to argue then.
It was foolish for you to make such assumptions in the first place.
Let this be a lesson to confirm things where possible.
And do not think about getting involved again, you are in enough trouble as it is with the Maker.
We should leave and continue our way to Lost Neon.>
Interu: <...To do what exactly?>
Araba: <For you to grow beyond everyone in the System, and perhaps surpass it all together.>
Interu: <And what does that accomplish?>
Araba: <Your glory.>
Interu: <...Yours you mean.>
Araba: <Pardon?>
Interu: <You can't reach the same heights as me, you don't have the potential.
But you still want it, so you push your dreams onto me instead.
And when I shine like a star or whatever, you get to pat yourself on the back for a job well done for being there for me or whatever.
You don't care about what I want, it's like you said, you are just manipulating me for your own benefit.
You want me to want what you want, forcing your beliefs and way of life onto me.
So pray tell, how is that any better than us Humans that you look down on for being selfish in their ways and hurting everyone else for them?>
Araba: <I am a Dragon, I->
Interu: <So what?!
Oh look at me, I am a descendent of Gods.
I am automatically better and more deserving of a life well lived than mere Mortals that came about by complete chance.
I am always right because I am born superior.
That's you, that's what you sound like!
You are just a racist asshole, not different from the Humans you hate for dividing themselves up arbitrarily over gender, sexuality, race and whatever excuse they can think of to hate each other over so they can be terrible to them without feeling guilty!
Including turning a blind eye to their suffering!>
Araba: <I am nothing like them!>
Interu: <If you are truly better than us, you would dedicate yourself to achieving peace and prosperity for all sentient beings!
As a truly good person should, to not just rise above the nonsense, but to help others do so too!
But you don't even bother, we can all die miserable deaths for all you care!
How is that being morally superior, huh?!
Tell me!>
Araba: <...>
Interu: <...You can't, can you?
Stroking your ego is all you really care about.
And...and...to think that I actually wanted to look up to you as someone better than all this bullshit.
But I kept turning a blind eye to who you really are because I desperately wanted a proper parental figure in my life.
A glimmer of you caring for me and I latched on like a lost puppy.
I learned my lesson alright, I can confirm that there is no turning to you for affection or inspiration of a hero, just expectation and disappointment of the average Human.
...Fuck! Why am I wasting my time here!?>
Araba: (Then she dashed off into town.
...)
Author's Notes:
So basically, Araba's arc is about learning to get along with Humans as equals, initially out of pride, but then genuinely caring about them, mirroring what Guliedstodiez went through.
As for Interu, being parentless made her see Araba in rose-tinted glass when he won her over with his help against the Demon Lord and defiant attitude against D.
But the reality is that for many of us, the parents we love and look up to are not good people.
Also, articulating what I am trying to get across is so hard, like I know what I am trying to say but I don't know if my words are conveying my points well enough from the perspective of someone else.
Which I guess is a common cause for misunderstandings in the real world.
It's honestly unrealistic for characters in stories to get their points across so perfectly, as real conversations are clumsy and spontaneous, and my style of writing is just that, clumsy and spontaneous, which just frustrates me to no end when I look back on it.
I honestly just rather rely on people getting what I am trying to say and filling in the blanks, as I struggle to find the motivation to explain things in detail, kind of like Shiro in canon with how she only speaks key words to get her point across.
And I just realise why this character resonates so much with me.
There is a lot more I want to say and do, but then I fail to see why I should when the effort needed to do so is just too much, which is how I interpret Shiro's character in my story in a nutshell, I think?
Lots of ambition, but only enough motivation to do the bare minimum, so you just can't be bothered to try, but then your ego criticises you for being lazy and pathetic, a catch-22.
There is more but I really need to stop, well, want to stop but not really-stop!