Taiga Buff 4

"Salvas...could be a human... or a demon."

Taiga's world had been thrown into chaos by Esso's reveal. The truth behind it all, the fact that he was under the roof of a monster that was feeding on his mothers blood. But the reality was... that monster was still his father. That monster had still taken him in. Had still, somehow, despite it all, been a better father than his real one. It was almost impossible for Taiga to reason it all out at once.

But this is what his gut reaction was, in this moment. The admiration he held for the man was obviously immense. ...Or perhaps it was just a sense of loyalty. Either way. Tearing down the image of Salvas built in his mind was impossible, to Taiga.

"It is still... my duty to serve him. For he is my master, and my father. As his retainer and son... I have no place to question him."
(Taiga Megumi)

Esso closes his eyes for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose while Taiga reasons out his thoughts. When he finishes, Esso opens his eyes, raising his head to meet Taiga's gaze.

"Look lad. There's a LOT of prejudice against vampires, and much of it is WELL EARNED.

That being said, Salvas is easily among the better ones, and while he's hurt Crafthold in the past, he's repaid his debt several times over. He's far closer to a human than a demon, and he doesn't prey on the weak.

He likely draws on Shizuko's blood specifically because she'd prefer that to him withering away and dying. She loves him dearly, and a sacrifice like that is a small one to keep him in her life. She clearly means a lot to him as well, and if he could just not drink blood and leave her untouched, I'm fairly certain he would.

Theirs is an enviable love; they compromise and sacrifice for each other, and that's part of what sharing your life with someone that intimately means. Learning what you did shouldn't make you think any less of Salvas or Shizuko. If there is a monster inside either of them, they've curbed it to become upstanding members of Crafthold, and credits to Agartha as a whole. They're worth looking up to."
(Esso Naam)

You have 43 minutes left until your next check. You currently do not qualify for an RPP reward in the upcoming check.

Taiga continues glaring dead ahead as Esso preaches to him, telling him how hard Salvas had tried to tame his beast. Restraint after restraint, locking himself away from the rest of his kin in Crafthold so that he could live out his eternity with Shizuko in peace. Breaking the very nature of his being so that he might live in love.

Shizuko's own sacrifice of her blood, likely taking an untold number of bites from those fangs of his to sate the hunger that threatened to boil over inside of him. Everything was beginning to make sense to him finally. Everything... except himself.

...Why was he here? A cold feeling sweeps over him. It had long become clear that Salvas had never needed a bodyguard to begin with, and now the mystery only deepened. Though his heart told him it was impossible, a part of him couldn't help but think of himself as another bloodbag now.

"...As I said. My duty remains. I will defend them with my lives. Regardless of what type of vampire my father is. Defending him.. and my family... it is the purpose of my life. That is something I accepted long ago, when I was first trained to become a Samurai.

...That is all."
(Taiga Megumi)