The Ones We Burn

My strength is not owed to the wounds you gave me, but my willingness to let them scar.

You have to,” the boy said, his voice soft. “The only way out of this is to choose yourself, again and again, even when it’s hard. Even when it’s terrifying. Even when you feel like the most broken, unworthy, worthless person in the world.

See?” Percy said gently. “No different than before. Letting someone go doesn’t mean you stop loving them. It just means you’re giving yourself permission to keep living.

Sometimes,” Ranka said slowly, her words coming from far away. “The people we love aren’t worthy of it. They betray our history, take away hope for any future that might have been. But it doesn’t change what they gave us. Not if we don’t want it to. And the knowing—the truth of it, that they weren’t who you thought? That you didn’t know sooner? It doesn’t make it any more our fault.

No.” Percy shook his head. “No, that’s not the answer. That’s not how you heal. It’s time for you to be your own person, Ranka. We’re not responsible for the wounds we suffer—but we are responsible for healing them. So when the moment comes, and when that choice is in front of you—I’m begging you to choose yourself. That’s the only way you heal. It’s the only way you can be free.

Very dramatic" Percy said. "Maybe next time she'll consider theater instead of genocide

Oh, don't glare at me like that- I'm just stating the obvious. Seems like a weird move to leave your girlfriend here just because you have the communication skills of a dead fish.

I do not expect there to be an after for me.

You're strong enough," Aramis said. "Have always been strong enough. You are not the worst thing that's ever happened to you. You are the girl who survived it." Aramis stepped forward, her face suddenly urgent. "Promise me you won't just give up. You won't just quit. You'll fight. Even if it comes to that.

You are not done with her. Ongrum." Ranka began to shake her head, but Percy held up a hand. "You think you are - but trust me. This is how it works, with people who wield abuse like a knife and convince us they're cutting us with love. There will come a moment more dire than the one you faced last night. A moment you can't come back from, and everything in you, everything you've been conditioned for, every fear and hurt and hope and dream will scream for you to choose Ongrum again.

I have lived my life as a girl living lost.” Ranka swallowed. “But I didn’t feel lost with you. I ruined that. And I will never forgive myself.

And so Rank would be the shield, the knife, the thing in the shadows. Their secret weapon, and silent protector. "I am the monster." She would stain her soul to keep theirs clean. "I am the shield.

There are no heroes here, Aramis. No villains. There are only monsters- the ones we need, the ones we spare, and the ones we burn. Which of those do you think Ranka is? Which do you want her to become?

Look at you, my little girl all grown up, poised to end a kingdom or save it. With no clue what you should do.

I am not weak because I loved you," she whispered to Ongrum. "I am strong because I survived you. I am strong because after all the hurt, still I love. Still I trust. My strength is not owed to the wounds you gave me, but my willingness to let them scar.

You are not done with her. Ongrum.: Ranka began to shake her head, but Percy held up a hand. "You think you are - but trust me. This is how it works, with people who wield abuse like a knife and convince us they're cutting us with love. There will come a moment more dire than the one you faced last night. A moment you can't come back from, and everything in you, everything you've been conditioned for, every fear and hurt and hope and dream will scream for you to choose Ongrum again.

You think you are—but trust me. This is how it works, with people who wield abuse like a knife and convince us they’re cutting us with love.

that she was terrified and she had wanted to be better, that in another life she would still try to be better, if only they had the time. Percy was right- Ranka loved this girl. Would always love her. Maybe in the next life, she would make the right choice and be worthy of her.