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[thisisalie]

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Kleken

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[alienation]

Perhaps. Or this rehabilitation is not for us.

[thisisalie]

For the monsters?

[alienation]

[ Leaning onto a palm, thinking. ]

I would believe that over ourselves, but I'm yet to be certain.

[thisisalie]

I would have expected to be more in control then, rather than reversed.

[alienation]

[ Exhales. ]

We will see.

[ . . . well, he's on a mission here, he might as well start. ]

Baring myself emotionally, you said. And physically, but... I've thought of something that could work better, rather than standing up and exposing myself to you.

[thisisalie]

Oh? I'm rather interested in seeing what you've come up with then.

[alienation]

[ He's quiet for a long moment, almost like he's considering not speaking after all, and then: ]

Do you have parents?

[thisisalie]

[ Well this is not where he was expecting the conversation to go and there's a moment where he does look taken off guard. ]

... Well, theoretically, I was born.

[alienation]

Theoretically.

[ Incredible. ]

[thisisalie]

Practically, I've never known them.

[alienation]

You may have to creatively use your imagination, then.

[ He's... he's not jealous, because he wanted to know his mother and her people so badly as he grew up, but there's a strange feeling that is similar. He just wishes he had a different experience than what he did, in the end. ]

I never knew my mother [ In his mind this is true, as she is dead to him, ] and my father cared not for me from the moment I was born. No matter what I did, I was a disappointment. A failure. Weakness is something that cannot stand within the Galra society, and even more so from the Emperor's own son.

[ He IS going somewhere with this. ]

[thisisalie]

[ Rather than saying something, for now Kleken sets his glass down and makes a small gesture for Lotor to continue. ]

[alienation]

I did want to impress him. I did want him to care for me. But he was a tyrant—the Galra have always been conquerors, but Zarkon was excessive. He destroyed entire planets, millions of people, just as a show of strength.

And if he did not outright kill them, he would take them prisoner and force them to submit to the empire.

When I was young and received my first outpost, I worked alongside the people of the planet; I had found out the identity of my mother, and wished to try her people's methods. They were peaceful, but I attempted to appeal to my father through the fact that they were efficient. He'd have the quintessence he desired, more so than any of his own colonies would supply.

[ ... ]

He killed them all in front of me to prove a point, and then exiled me. [ ..... ] And yet, this is only context. I have yet to get to the heartfelt admission.

[thisisalie]

[ Giving a nod, his expression still attentive. ]

[alienation]

[ Tapping his claws against the stone, thoughtful. ]

From that moment on, I could only hate him and his empire. And why not? They all hated me just for existing. So, I spent thousands of years cultivating plans to upset the empire, to end my father's tyrannical rule.

And that day did come. [ Here's the heartfelt part. ] But afterwards, it wasn't as simple as I had thought it would be. I had thought I'd celebrate his death at my hands, but there was none of that to be found within me. I did not regret it, but there was no rejoicing, either.

[thisisalie]

What did you find yourself doing, following that day?

[alienation]

[ ... ]

I... contemplated it. His passing. My life. I sat upon the bridge of his enemy's ship and pondered every interaction I'd had with him.

And then I moved on to the next step, leaving those thoughts behind.

[thisisalie]

What was the next step?

[alienation]

The empire's succession ceremony. I could not allow it to fall into yet another tyrant's claws.

[thisisalie]

Did you take the throne then?

[alienation]

I did. It was not because I was his heir, however. Bloodlines are not favoured over respect and combat expertise. I had to participate against another and light the flame.

[thisisalie]

Was your legitimacy to the throne questioned after that point?

[alienation]

Immensely. I was not well liked to begin with.

[thisisalie]

That must have been quite the lively time.

[alienation]

I suppose it was.

However, that was my heartfelt admission, within a moment of bathing with you. While the fact that I have killed my father—and that I despised him so badly—is quite public, that particular anecdote about after his passing is something I kept to myself.