It did seem a bit counterproductive to the rest of the evening, didn't it?
"I don't even know how to begin to answer that," Liliana said, chuckling. "Even interpreting your question strictly to the years between leaving Strixhaven and stepping foot on this island, that's still an impossible question."
Since he hadn't quite begun the next task yet, she slid off the counter to take his hands, pressing herself against him as she shifted into a waltz form. "I learned to dance a waltz while the floor itself crumbled beneath my feet," she said, seeing if he'd let her dance him around her kitchen as she spoke. "I learned to use ghosts and spirits as spies to watch the movements of my enemies. I learned to cultivate moonglove flowers and created an entire garden that turned the air to poison once night fell. I learned to steal thoughts and secrets and memories. I learned fleshcraft and statecraft and failed to learn most handicrafts. I learned to hate angels. I learned the history of hundreds of planes and changed the futures of hundreds more. I learned what victory tasted like and I learned defeat." Over and over, she learned defeat. "I learned what it meant to be immortal and nigh-omnipotent, I learned how to put the endless ranks of the dead firmly under my command. I learned how to exert my will, my whims, on worlds that were powerless to resist me, and I learned that nothing burns so deeply is having power beyond comprehension and still being unable to undo what one has done. I learned how it felt to lose it all. I learned what I'd do to gain it back."
Around and around they whirled, until they ended up back at their starting place and she gently let go of his hand. "I learned I will never stop learning, not if I can ever help it. And that is sometimes a wonder and sometimes a misery and that it often leads to pain. But I cannot, will not stop. Because there's always something more to learn and that is a siren song."
no subject
"I don't even know how to begin to answer that," Liliana said, chuckling. "Even interpreting your question strictly to the years between leaving Strixhaven and stepping foot on this island, that's still an impossible question."
Since he hadn't quite begun the next task yet, she slid off the counter to take his hands, pressing herself against him as she shifted into a waltz form. "I learned to dance a waltz while the floor itself crumbled beneath my feet," she said, seeing if he'd let her dance him around her kitchen as she spoke. "I learned to use ghosts and spirits as spies to watch the movements of my enemies. I learned to cultivate moonglove flowers and created an entire garden that turned the air to poison once night fell. I learned to steal thoughts and secrets and memories. I learned fleshcraft and statecraft and failed to learn most handicrafts. I learned to hate angels. I learned the history of hundreds of planes and changed the futures of hundreds more. I learned what victory tasted like and I learned defeat." Over and over, she learned defeat. "I learned what it meant to be immortal and nigh-omnipotent, I learned how to put the endless ranks of the dead firmly under my command. I learned how to exert my will, my whims, on worlds that were powerless to resist me, and I learned that nothing burns so deeply is having power beyond comprehension and still being unable to undo what one has done. I learned how it felt to lose it all. I learned what I'd do to gain it back."
Around and around they whirled, until they ended up back at their starting place and she gently let go of his hand. "I learned I will never stop learning, not if I can ever help it. And that is sometimes a wonder and sometimes a misery and that it often leads to pain. But I cannot, will not stop. Because there's always something more to learn and that is a siren song."