#rivervale_lodge

"SOMETIMES, Destiny won't let you bend things, pockets of 'must be'." Vali says "Does that make more sense?"

Scowling. "Destiny is a real dick if they decide all these people 'must be' killed so other people don't."

"It's not fair."

"People should try to be fair, Destiny and Da'an? Mahybe not so much"

"So maybe people should fight both of them."

Vali watches "As a rule? the more you flat out deny your destiny? the more likely it is to happen"

"I don't care. You should fight to do the right thing, even if there's some stupid prophecy. You should stop harm, even if it's "for the greater good."

The Beaumayn looks at her, "Do I strike you as an evil man?" A tilt of his head

"No. So I don't understand why you're disagreeing! I mean, fine, whatever, maybe I wouldn't be here, and Dagmar, if Sam hadn't been through everything... but that's not.. that's not good enough! Did you see any of that? Did somebody see what was happening, and decide it was better to sit back and weep because it was destiny, or part of the plan?"

"Did somebody decide it was better for me to be like this, than step in and save me when I couldn't save myself?"

"Oh" he says then "You're assuming that... " A breath "Dagmar, I can only work with what I see... but I don't think what happened to you HAD to happen, if that's what your'e asking. And there's not a person at Rivervale that doesn't wish they couldn't go back and undo some of the harm done to you."

"So maybe nothing has to happen. Or maybe.. It... maybe... maybe that doesn't excuse us from being responsible. For acting, when we see something wrong."

"Unless interfering will make it worse. Look, a guy gets hit with a car, he's badly hurt...but so far alive. Someone, meaning well, feeling they must help..picks him up...and he dies. Sometimes, you can't move too soon or you end up doing harm when you mean to help."

"But leaving him there won't help him either!"

"Sure it will... it buys him time for the right doctor to come along. You wait, you shield him from other interfering..."

"I don't think that's the same, though."

"Look, I'm still a wilder. TRUST Me I know the urge to save the day... but House Beaumayn sometimes saves the day, but other times we have to let the day be lousy in order to save a hundred tomorrows. SOMETIMES... not everything is written in stone"

"most of the time I grab a weapon and hit the bad guy right next to the Gwyds, the Fiona and the Liam"

"Pretty sure we have a duty to fight the bad guy."

"Oh I hope you go to college and take a philosphy course, that's gonna be fun to hear the fall out of" a soft smile

"Hunh? Why?"

"Because you have some firmly held opinions that will not go gently into that good night" He says

"Not saying they should , but your rants should be epic"

"Well, if somebody is gonna try to tell me there's no such thing as right or wrong and I shouldn't judge evil people for being evil... well, they deserve a fight."

"Yup. Epic" He says "Though I am not saying I disagree with you"

"I'm a knight, aren't I? And a troll, and a Gwydion, so... so I have a duty, don't I?"

"You do... but one day, you're going to have to make some hard choices on just what that duty requires. Mind you, Gwydion is Easy mode compared to Beaumayn Hard mode" A bit of humor despite the somber topic. "But you might find things aren't always simple. Good news is you're a knight, not a Baron or up. The higher the noble title, the more you have to decidde not just to risk yourself, but others"

"..I don't think this is very easy..."

"It's all relative" He says "But the fact you take the effort to make it hard is good. Means you care about your actions. A title can be like strength. How you use it determines if you're a bully or a protector"

"I don't want to be a bully."

"I know." He says "You're a good kid...a great troll, and you will be a fine Knight. "

She chews on a hangnail, frowning. "Not sure about that."

"I know, if you were sure of it, I'd be less sure of it" He says

That elicits a brief smile. "Weirdo."

"Guilty" Vali says "Now, next year, you taking French?"

"Maybe?" Shrug.

"Well, I hope one of you girls does. My ego took a bruising with all of you ducking it"

"I don't have any foreign languages this year." A pause. "You be hurt if I took Spanish?"

"Nah, not really. Do you want to learn Spanish more than you want to learn French?"

"Well, Lupe speaks Spanish..."

"And you think it would be cool to have a lingo for the two. I get it"

"Well... yeah. Sorry."

"I don't think I could handle learning both at once."

"Nothing to apologize about" he says "I tease lightly, but the truth is I get it. Spanish is spoken a lot in the United States of America now adays. French, less so. Add to that a friend...and it makes sense. "

"If you taught something else I'd take your class..."

"Don't joke, they're trying to expand my workload at the school."

"Win!"

"No, not win.. I have writing to do... I have younger wilder wrangling to do. And my girlfriend is already Growling , litterally, on how little I visit at times"

"Maybe you could teach writing?"

"And increase my rivals?" Wry