Owner	Pose
Donna Troy	For the last few days, the journey from anywhere to the Tower's main common room has been an unpredictable one. The determined visitor may find the elevator arriving at floors it has no business arriving at rather than those it claims to be going to. Any corridors traversed seem prone to taking you in the wrong direction entirely. It's entirely possible for a north-south corridor to take you due west of where you started, or even end on an entirely different floor of the building than where you started. On the other hand, some bleary-eyed voyager seeking an early morning cup of coffee before their brain has fully engaged generally gets straight to where they were going without detour. Nobody has quite figured out a pattern to it.     Except perhaps for one thing that seems consistent. Attempts to find the Tower's main room seem to randomly put you either in the room itself or the strange echo of the Titans' main room that is apparently the throne room of a place called 'New Kronos' in some far-distant star system, not home of the superhero team the Titans but rather the ancient pre-Olympian deities of the same name. On the other hand, attempts to find that alternative room, and more specifically its regular occupant, this Troia-Who-Is-Not-Donna do seem to get you to that strange place quite reliably. If you want to find Troia, you can.     Where else would she be? Sitting -- lounging even -- on the strange arced row of thrones that has replaced the sofa. At this moment occupied with what looks like a bundle of glowing strings tangled together in a roughly spherical shape, floating in the air in front of her, which she has been studying with intense concentration for some hours now. Not far from where she is sitting is a rent in reality, summoned by her that first day she appeared, a 'juncture' as she calls it, that leads to Wonderland. It is at the moment not traversable by anything other than light; on the other side of the portal is a path through a forest of tall trees, the forest floor bedecked with a dazzling rainbow of flowers.
Sarah Rainmaker	Wonderland. All these sorts of things are confusing to Sarah Rainmaker. She really should be paying more attention.. But she has her own personal demons to deal with at the moment. So she's wandering around, forgetting the exact circumstances of the main area.. Then she realizes she's wandered where she shouldn't. She would look up and over, shaking her head, murmuring..     "Curiouser and curiouser." Then going to see Donna and.. No, Troia. She would take a breath and then go to fold her hands together and call out, "Forgive me for intruding. May I approach? I.. Need the thoughts of someone more experienced than my own and wiser." That little tidbit added. She didn't know much about Troia; beyond the brief conversation where the woman had seemed to her so..     Old.
Donna Troy	Troia quirks an odd half-smile at Sarah, and gives her a nod of the head. She waves a hand through the glowing ball in front of her, dismissing it, and half-turns in her seat to face her visitor. "It seems that until I figure out how to untangle this mess, I will be having regular visitors," she says. "There is no need for you to ask my forgiveness for that, it is not your fault. I can see that you are all as surprised by it as I am."     She gestures at the floor in front of her, and a curved sofa appears, directly opposite and facing the curve of thrones, a duplicate of the curved sofa that would normally be found in this room. "Please, sit down and make yourself comfortable," she says. "And tell me your name. It's awkward talking to someone if I don't know their name, and it feels kind of intrusive to pluck it out of the air. "     "There is something weighing on your mind. If you wish to share it, I will offer my thoughts. But I cannot promise the profundity you seem to hope for. The Titans are the oldest and most experienced of the gods, but I am the youngest and least experienced of the Titans. It is entirely possible you are wiser than I."
Sarah Rainmaker	There would be a small smile from Sarah, "Thank you. Forgive me, the proper etiquette for this scenario is.. Beyond my ken." she would still give a more formal bow, arms crossed about her chest softly while going to head along over to take the seat. "I am Sarah Rainmaker. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Troia. I.. Hope that your situation here can be resolved."     As Troia would go on about weighing on her mind, and give permission to go on, she would exhale. "Yes, I.." She would close her eyes.     "Family. I was made.." She would hold up her wrist, the bracer upon it that was used for grounding her. "To have powers. To be a weapon. For most of my life, I lived normally." Starting on a story.
Donna Troy	Troia nods her head. "You were manipulated into being something rather than given the choice to develop into what you wanted to be then," she says. "Yet... I am not sure that the same can't be said of everyone, to a greater or lesser degree. We are shaped by the circumstances we are born into, and if we choose to be something different, the only option is to escape the fate of our births."     "Some will find escaping that fate easy. Others, fate is too tightly wound around them to ever escape. You do not strike me as a weapon. Yet... I do not think you would be bringing this up to me and asking my thoughts if you felt you had wholly escaped the bonds of that fate. Go on..."
Sarah Rainmaker	Sarah would smile, "You speak truth. And.. I was lucky. I was able to get away with help. My.." She would try to consider how to express this. "Half brother and sister did not. They were.. Kept by those who pursued us. And they were both broken. I.. We fought with some others. They're targeting those that were.. Escaped from the fate they had."     Realizing she was babbling, she would try to compose herself. "They're monsters. But in them I see what would have been me if I hadn't been rescued. So I can only imagine the torture and conditioning they were put through to make them monsters.. But now there's nothing left but the monster."
Donna Troy	"So you are faced with a dilemma?" Troia asks. "You believe they are monsters, so you should treat them as monsters. Yet you also see yourself in them, and them in yourself. Can you justify treating them as monsters if the difference between you and they is that they were unable to escape a trap that you were able to escape?"     She clasps her hands together, leaning forwards with her elbows on her knees. "They are victims. To fight them would be to victimize them further. But also they are monsters. Monsters cause harm, and if you do not fight them they will cause harm. This is the dilemma that faces you?"
Sarah Rainmaker	Sarah would slowly nod, "They are monsters. I found at least two men my sister tortured to death by starting and stopping their hearts for fun. My brother.. Helps with the brainwashing to other people that Ivana catches. I know they weren't this way. They were both broken into it. But they don't have the capacity anymore to have regrets or cares. Or a conscience."     She would bury her face in her hands, "And they have no qualms on enslaving, torturing, or killing others. But it's what they were conditioned to do.." She would nod at Troia. "And they would help capture more to do the same that was done to them. They.. Are doing that."
Donna Troy	Troia sits up straight again, looking thoughtfully at Sarah. "Tell me. If these were people you had never met before, who you had nothing in common with, would you be coming here to ask my advice about them? Or would you know what to do?"     "Your memories are of the people they were, not the people they are. Some complete strangers to you who never had a chance to show that once, years ago, they had the potential to become someone other than the person they became would make for an easier decision, would they not? You would see the people they were now and be blind to the people they might once have been. You would see monsters, and treat them as you would treat monsters."     "Would it be wrong to treat these people as monsters because of who they used to be, or should you consider the people they might once have become as dead, and the people they are now to be simply monsters, separate from those dead people you once knew? Perhaps you should reframe the question. Does your knowledge of these monsters perhaps indicate that all monsters should be considered not just as monsters, but also as the people they once were before they became monsters, who once had the potential to become people who were not monsters?"
Sarah Rainmaker	Sarah Rainmaker would listen to Troia, her head cocked to the side, nodding. "I.. I don't know. You're. . You're right. But don't they like everyone deserve mercy for.." Is she protesting to herself now or to Troia? She would move to tug her legs up and underneath her, arms clinging over to her knees. "If I saw them as anyone else I would treat them like they were monsters and to be sotpped. And not think of anything else for them. Knowing they were victims or not." That's hard to admit. And painful.     And truthful.     "Do they have the capacity to not be monsters? Perhaps. But if Ivana hasn't left them even that.. But I know she's hurt so many and twisted them.. And I know that she's hurt the two of them the worst. I don't know if they can be fixed.. But they're slaves in this as just as much as Ivana wants to make the rest of us."
Donna Troy	"Perhaps it is no bad thing to let your compassion for the people they used to be guide you, so long as you remember that they are not those people any longer," Donna says, tilting her head to one side. "I would think that any mortal, at the point they are born, has the potential to be anything. Even the worst monsters must at some point in their lives have been known by people who knew them as innocents, and who remember them as innocents. Yet if you meet them for the first time when they have already become monsters, you see only the monster. It takes wisdom to recognize the innocent that once must have lived where now you can only see a monster."     "These two siblings, because you have compassion for the people they once were -- the ideal solution is surely to stop them from acting as monsters act, but without killing them. Without ending the possibility that they might be healed of the damage that makes them monsters. It would be easier to kill them. Safer. If you have the opportunity to stop them by killing them and instead spare them because of what might be, you risk them hurting other people. But if you do kill them, there is no hope for their redemption."     "That's not a judgement that you can make scientifically. It depends on the circumstances you find yourself in. Surely you must look for a way to stop them acting as monsters while sparing their lives, in the hope they can be healed. But if you cannot be sure of stopping them, you must consider your compassion for their future victims as well."
Sarah Rainmaker	Sarah would listen and nod softly, "I didn't really know them at all.. I'm not sure I knew they existed before Ivana took them." What happened with her father and her mother had been.. Difficult, years later, still to understand. "I know that we're going to have to fight again. Soon. And they're going to come after me and others. And they're not going to hold back. And I'm not sure if I should either. but if I don't.."     She looks pained. "Then I could cripple them. Or they could me. Or everyone in the area." Her tone is quiet. "But I don't know how to stop them. And more and more people keep on getting caught up in this. It's escalating.. And I don't know where it will go. Just worse."     As Troia would go on, Sarahw ould listen. "I can try. I owe.. them that much. I owe them and the ones I've failed that much to try."
Donna Troy	Troia shakes her head. "Do you owe them something simply because you once knew them? Because of the accidents of fate that brought you together? I don't think so."     "If you are a person who chooses to fight monsters, do you owe any of the monsters you have never met before any less than you owe these two monsters simply because of the chance of circumstance? I do not think so. If you are going to let compassion guide you, then surely it is better to apply it wider than simply to those you have prior knowledge of. Surely the same thing applies to any monster who /may/ have the chance to be redeemed? That in all such cases, the best option is to stop them from acting as monsters while still allowing them the opportunity to be redeemed if that is possible?"     "Perhaps then the answer to this is to tell yourself that these people are simply not the people you once knew. Would you have had such compassion for them had they been monsters when you first met them? I do not think so. They are no longer the people that you have compassion for, so you do not need to feel a debt to them."     "And yet, you should still feel compassion for them, and try to find a way to stop them and at the same time give them another chance, because compassion and wisdom would lead you to that conclusion for a monster you never met before, as well."     Troia shifts sideways in her seat, resting an arm back on the armrest of the chair. "This would be less of a problem for you, I suspect, if you had greater confidence in being able to stop them without simply killing them. In this, there is a simple calculus. If you are fighting for your life, you are forced to kill to survive. If you are in no danger, there is no reason to kill. Between these two points is a spectrum of possibility. The more overwhelming your strength, the easier it is to /not/ kill them. Killing is a necessity for the weak, compassion an obligation of the strong. You have allies. Together you may treat monsters with compassion, where alone you might be forced to kill."
Sarah Rainmaker	Sarah Rainmaker would nod, distantly over as she would listen to Troia's words. Thoughtful. Emotions echoing over across her face in a rapid spectrum of shifting. Her sniffling over and then going to pull her legs tightly to her body as she would try to breathe and focus. "Thank.. Thank you."     She would wipe a tear off her face. "This helps. A lot. Just to have some perspective.." She woulds niffle a bit over and look over at Troia appreciatvely. "Thank you. You've given me some things to ponder. And a.. You've given me advise. Which I needed." She looks thoughtful now. She's had a chance to process things and talk them over. Gotten feedback. And also had her own worries and fears come out finally and admitted to them. And been told it's not all wrong. And reminded that she has allies.     "Thank you."
Donna Troy	Troia smiles a little. It's a smaller smile than Sarah is used to seeing on that face -- Donna always seemed to have the biggest smiles. "There's something else I would suggest you think about. Words... the words you choose to describe things that can be described in different ways can be telling."     "You said that you were made to be a weapon, yet your siblings, who did not escape, became monsters. I suggest that what you escaped and what they became is the same thing, and therefore they are not monsters, they are weapons. You believe they once had the potential to not be what they became. The potential to be like you."     "A monster and a weapon both cause harm, but they do so for different reasons. A monster causes harm because it is their nature to do so, but your siblings have been shaped into something they were not born to be. If they act as monsters, it is because someone who perhaps really is a monster has turned them into weapons."     She pauses, looking sympathetically at Sarah, then gives a small shrug of her shoulders. "And yet... who can tell. Perhaps that person, perhaps that Ivana once upon a time had the potential to be something better. Perhaps she too is a weapon, created by some older monster. Or perhaps that monster is a weapon created by an even older monster."     "That is the true cost of evil. Cruelty engenders cruelty. War engenders war. Perhaps only the first being to have lived can truly be blamed for the evils of the universe, and everyone else is a victim of circumstances. As thoughts go it does not offer any solutions, but it does remind us that our actions can have far-reaching consequences, and that reason alone is why compassion is always the better guide."
Sarah Rainmaker	Sarah would listen, legs pulled up against her body, arms pulled tightly across them. "We were engineered. Just.." She would look over her bracers slowly. "The same wtih them. And the same wtih many others." The small smile gets a tentative one in return. Donna's smiles were big and bright. Flashy. Troia's.. Is faint. But ti's also there and sincere and present. So in her own, different way, the woman is still Donna. There are bits of Donna in Troia. So no matter the differences.. There's still a bridge between the gap.     "I don't want to imagine what they've been through. I've.. Seen what it was. I didn't have to suffer it.. Ivana.. Has done so much to hurt people. And.. Will keep on doing it. She's the one that doesn't deserve any mercy. And won't get any from me. I don't know her.. I just know that she's tkaen lives away purely for her own power and amusement. She makes people weapons.. She breaks them. She's evil."     There's something sort of sharpening in her. If there was merely a willingness to stand aside if someone went after ivana with intent to end her.. Now there would be a willingness to take part in it herself.     "I just odn't know if I see them going to kil lme, to kill someone else, and I know if I can't do anything without killing them.." On who's end is mercy owed?
Donna Troy	"If you make that determination in advance, if you choose to kill rather than being forced to because you are simply unable to find a better alternative," Troia says warningly, "Then you have made yourself into the weapon you fought so hard not to become, and you have undone your own triumph."     "If on the other hand you kill because you are forced to, because there is simply no other way you can stop them from causing far greater pain, then your actions are lead by compassion, and in that case such actions are not the actions of a weapon. Or indeed a monster."     "But remember what I said -- in strength there is greater opportunity for compassion. Be strong enough that they do not have the power to force your hand. Face them on your terms, not theirs, and make your terms such that your allies can add their strength to your own. That will give you the strength you need."
Sarah Rainmaker	Sarah Rainmaker would nod over and close her eyes, "Thank you, I.. I have much thinking to do." Her eyes are streaked with tears and her cheeks flushed. But she's had ag ood bit to think over then and the otehr woman has given her a great deal of wisdom and advise. W hich she needed.     "Thank you so much, Don.. Troia. I appreciate it a lot. It's.. Helped me. I twill help me." She would glance over and then go to slowly take her hand up to her own cheek, channeling the tears off it to help herself calm. "May I.." Her asking permission first before going in for a hug!
Donna Troy	If it were Donna, Sarah wouldn't have to ask. Donna's always up for hugging people, and generally laughs happily when she's doing it. Troia does not refuse the hug, but she accepts it a little awkwardly, as if it is an unfamiliar thing to her.     "I... I am glad I could help you, Sarah Rainmaker." She smiles, another small but genuine smile. "In truth, I think... I think you have helped me too. Long ago, before the first Titanomachy, before Zeus took the throne, there was a time when mortals would seek the advice of the Titans. That was long before I was born. Now... now there's nothing left of the Titans. Maybe it was just the end of a long twilight, but..." she looks away, blinking rapidly. "It feels right. That Titans should help people. So... so thank you for coming to me and giving me the opportunity to try to help you."
Sarah Rainmaker	Sarah would smile, "Thank you, Troia. It's been.. Helpful to me. A great deal. I.. Needed someone to talk wtih on it. That would.. Be honest with me." She would pull her arms up against her. "For right or wrong. So thank you very much, Troia." Her trying to recall her Greek mythology. When Zeus took the throne and.. Usurped his father Cronos? Something for another time.     "I appreciate it. It's given me.. Perspective. Which I needed. And are you all right, Troia? Talking goes both ways. I can listen. I can't promise wisdom.. But I can listen."
Donna Troy	Troia smiles again, but this time it's a sad smile. "No Sarah, I'm not alright. I'm the last of the Titans, and they died because of me. I thank you for your concern, but nothing I can say will change the way things are. Lachesis has allotted her yarn, and the sheers of Atropos cannot be stayed. There is a pattern already woven on the loom of fate for me."     She leans back in her chair again, shaking her head. "It is kind of you to offer, but you cannot help me. But perhaps this strange circumstance that has caused my home and yours to become so oddly linked is an opportunity for me to be what a Titan should be, and help you."
Sarah Rainmaker	There's a soft smile from Sarah Rainmaker, "You're still a.. May I have the privilege of calling you friend? I understand if that would be inapprporiate." She would bow her head over. "And you've done me a great service. I feel that in turn I owe you. You gave advise to me when I was troubled and you had no reason to. You welcomed me, listened to my troubles, and told me of your thoguhts. I feel that I owe you a boon."
Donna Troy	This time the smile is lighter; amused, at least. "I'm not sure what my mother would say about it, I have to admit. She might consider it blasphemy. It's a very long time since any of the Titans had anything to do with Mortals though, so I'm not sure. Things have changed. On the other hand, there's nobody around to disapprove of my actions, so..."     She grins a little and gives a half-shrug, and this time the gesture is distinctly reminiscent of Donna. "I see no reason why not. I've never had a friend before, after all. But I feel you repaid me already. You gave me some purpose."     "I don't know how long it will take me to fix this problem, this entangling of your world and mine. It's something I'm very inexperienced in, and there is a lot about this infolding I simply don't understand. But until then, I suppose we are stuck with each other, and I suppose in that situation it is better to be friends than not."     "I have to admit, I... It's not... wholly unwelcome."
Sarah Rainmaker	Sarah would smile back at Donna, "You're a good.. Titan, Troia. And even here in this strange place you're lending your aid and your support. You.." She would smile, "Find some level of amusement from the fact that you've found a purpose and there's no one here to nag you over it about how you're breaking traditions."     Her hand would go up and over to if permitted squeeze at Donna's wrist. "Then let people here be your friend's, Troia. Everyone would.. Enjoy it. You're staying here. You're welcome to be part of the community. Part of the.. Family. Join under the.." HEr searching her mind for the right term to apply. "Aegis."