Emberwood cicero smiled

The boy was quick to point out the flaws in her words, to which all Basilie could do was scowl. The barest hint of an expression slid across her face, her eyes narrowing minutely while Scipio seethed before her. There were many points of contention between his spilled words and her own idealized view, but she wasn't eager to combat his speech with her own - even if it did rile her spirits. The more he spoke, the more Basilie felt her views confirmed: Scipio was weak, and not only that, but he was a sore loser. Ranting about the evils of their father and in effect, exposing the toxic view which would have made even the halfbreed drive the bastard away, given the chance. Nobody who fought against Aku could be welcome within Noctem Vagus; it didn't matter what Scipio said, she was a warrior, she was a Roman, and Aku would praise the day she returned.

Of course Aku gave you permission to leave, a bastard daughter, he didn't need you. And of course their was no reason to chase you out, why would he need to chase a bastard female when he could just use you for his own pleasures, for you to do woman work? Scipio stabbed at her with his words, and as he leaned in close, she felt the betrayal of her own body: she involuntarily lifted her lip and flashed him with the tips of her fangs. But he was pulling away soon enough. No matter what you do, little sister, the blood of the greeks will always run in our veins.

That didn't hold true for her - she refused to believe that even the blood of a Roman could be so easily overpowered, tainted. Aku's will was a true force to be feared; offshoots of his desires sprang up like weeds within Noctem Vagus, and each of them was privy to the same chance at life - they need only to take it. To rise out of the squalor as she had, by sheer force of will. The very nature of her existence proved that she was connected to Aku in a way Scipio could never be (or so she believed, in that fouled mind of her's).

-Father will be damned to Tartarus when he dies, and there he will receive what he deserves, that is, if he didn't get it from my brothers when they rebel. Oh, enough. A snort fluttered out of her at this mention of the brothers. Scipio had been driven out, and Basilie wouldn't be surprised if the others were as well. I doubt that any of you learned enough from him in order to best him in battle, even at his worst. Basilie quipped, but held her tongue as soon as another name was uttered by her brother.

Hadrian. So he had survived as well? The strength of Aku's bloodline was quite obvious now. Hadrian didn't leave willingly. You can go try and restore father's long forgotten honor, but I shall go and find my brother who is a much better wolf that father ever was, Such brotherly love from the little bastard child. It was almost cute. But oh, the best was yet to come. -and now, a true Imperator of his own pack.

Imperator? You want me to believe that father chased out one of his own, but the poor fool still clings to the Roman ways? It was important information, and she would squirrel it away in her mind for later, but the thought of Hadrian leading anything - aside from Aku's armies, as was intended - made her want to laugh aloud. Instead, she began side-stepping around the bastard's hulking figure, treading carefully beside him as if they were truly allies. He is not even fully yours, but you would follow him? This was the truly incredulous fact that Scipio had shared - by merely voicing the news of Hadrian's survival and subsequent rise to power, Basilie saw this as political support from Scipio. But why would he ever choose to follow a half-brother, instead of a sister?

And what of me, brother? Are you so filled with rage that you would choose him over me? The thought alone caused ire to rise within her breast. A line of fur along her dark spine prickled, although it was difficult at this point to tell animosity from curiosity.