"It's not easy to explain what I was. It's even more difficult to explain what I am."
This is a thin avoidance. Countless beings have their own term for Great Old One; the concept is widespread, older than entire worlds. Before he was John, he was something eternal.
"But..." He hesitates, and then looks from the sea to Serph, searching his face. His gaze lingers on the sigil stamped there, just as the Yellow Sign curls down from his own eye. It's jarring to reconcile Serph's ever-mild expression with the demon's teeth, and there's some relief in that: John can only hope that he seems so distanced from his own worst self. "Perhaps you do understand. Better than most. Because I... I was much the same."
He lifts his hands, his-and-Arthur's hands, and frowns down at their harmless human fingertips. Flexes his fingers slowly, recalling claws.
"It was more than violence, more than mindless hunger. All I knew was cruelty. And I don't want to be that way anymore."
no subject
This is a thin avoidance. Countless beings have their own term for Great Old One; the concept is widespread, older than entire worlds. Before he was John, he was something eternal.
"But..." He hesitates, and then looks from the sea to Serph, searching his face. His gaze lingers on the sigil stamped there, just as the Yellow Sign curls down from his own eye. It's jarring to reconcile Serph's ever-mild expression with the demon's teeth, and there's some relief in that: John can only hope that he seems so distanced from his own worst self. "Perhaps you do understand. Better than most. Because I... I was much the same."
He lifts his hands, his-and-Arthur's hands, and frowns down at their harmless human fingertips. Flexes his fingers slowly, recalling claws.
"It was more than violence, more than mindless hunger. All I knew was cruelty. And I don't want to be that way anymore."