Everything gets more serious again, and part of Mizu regrets that one small turn of phrase. He wants words she's never had to find before, an explanation that she does not readily have. It's like being asked to explain why the ocean is blue. Water is clear in thin enough quantities, but the ocean is blue. Everyone whose seen it knows that. Explaining it is another matter. They all live with things they know but do not explain or know how to explain. This is one of those. It's one of the reasons she's never given an explanation.
She's only spoken of being a demon with swordfather, and Master Eiji's words travel with her. However, in none of that did Mizu have to explain why she was a demon or what kind of demon she is. She hates the idea of talking about it further, of laying out exactly how she's the demon everyone's always thought her to be. Flashes of memory pass before her, each one a scene embodying her demonhood.
It feels like the direct opposite of the times Vergil calls her human. Instead of cutting out the demon inside her, it carves away the rest until the demon is all that remains. The conversation itself could invite the demon to take two chairs. Mizu squeezes his hand and controls her breathing. It centers her. It's worth the time to clear her mind.
"White men are demons," Mizu says, "They came to Japan with guns and drugs and their god. They dealt in misery and death, spitting out ruin in their wake. Japan has flesh traders. They continue their filthy practice to this day, but white men took it further. They took daughters and treated them like animals. Abijah Fowler had his way with as many women as he pleased, and when they had children, he killed them mother and child alike."
He was so proud of it too, of cleaning up his mess. Mizu can only assume him smart enough to realize one might come after him some day, and the problem is easier handled when they cannot defend themselves. They all must think that. Why else try to kill her? Why else keep the bounty on her head?
"They are demons, and as the child of a white man, I am made of that violence and horror, and I am as capable of it. I've done it. Not guns or drugs or their god, but misery and death. I've sold my services with my blade for both coin and information. I kill whoever I must to have my revenge, even should it only be their misfortune, not their evil deeds, that condemns them."
Mizu waves a hand and growls. "That does not adequately explain it, not even close."
"But no human has destroyed a whole city in Japan. Only an onryō could do that."
CW: references to imperialism, colonialism, sexual exploitation, child murder, internalized racism
She's only spoken of being a demon with swordfather, and Master Eiji's words travel with her. However, in none of that did Mizu have to explain why she was a demon or what kind of demon she is. She hates the idea of talking about it further, of laying out exactly how she's the demon everyone's always thought her to be. Flashes of memory pass before her, each one a scene embodying her demonhood.
It feels like the direct opposite of the times Vergil calls her human. Instead of cutting out the demon inside her, it carves away the rest until the demon is all that remains. The conversation itself could invite the demon to take two chairs. Mizu squeezes his hand and controls her breathing. It centers her. It's worth the time to clear her mind.
"White men are demons," Mizu says, "They came to Japan with guns and drugs and their god. They dealt in misery and death, spitting out ruin in their wake. Japan has flesh traders. They continue their filthy practice to this day, but white men took it further. They took daughters and treated them like animals. Abijah Fowler had his way with as many women as he pleased, and when they had children, he killed them mother and child alike."
He was so proud of it too, of cleaning up his mess. Mizu can only assume him smart enough to realize one might come after him some day, and the problem is easier handled when they cannot defend themselves. They all must think that. Why else try to kill her? Why else keep the bounty on her head?
"They are demons, and as the child of a white man, I am made of that violence and horror, and I am as capable of it. I've done it. Not guns or drugs or their god, but misery and death. I've sold my services with my blade for both coin and information. I kill whoever I must to have my revenge, even should it only be their misfortune, not their evil deeds, that condemns them."
Mizu waves a hand and growls. "That does not adequately explain it, not even close."
"But no human has destroyed a whole city in Japan. Only an onryō could do that."