"You were disrupted in the middle of a war," he translates. "I can relate."

He drinks his tea, and considers. He can see why Pyrrha's taken a liking to this kid: he's scrappy, interesting, and not afraid to tell off something a lot bigger than himself. He's trying in a way that is painfully apparent. John's not blind.

He knows to hear every He as also We, both self and separate. Not many people have a good frame of reference for that. Lyctorhood is subsumption, not homogeneity; but he is not exactly a lyctor.

"Darkness and rage incarnate," he agrees. "I don't imagine she would be."