ACE OF BEASTS #2 page 6 WIP
Added 2020-08-13 08:01:40 +0000 UTCXerxes recalls how he was bullied throughout his childhood and adolescence while he grew up in the Sect of Strato. He was mainly attacked by Oraia, who had always been jealous of Xerxes' (accidental) alignment with all the attributes Strato favored, especially his naturally red hair. Oraia dyed his hair red and wore the most traditional-looking Sect clothes... even going so far as to mimic the Markings of Strato with paint on his skin even before he got them in adulthood, all to gain favor with their god.
While Xerxes could clearly defeat Oraia in one-on-one combat, he says that he never did strike him, because he didn't see the point in doing so. His only refuge was the books the Sect allowed them to read. Ironically, they contained romance as well as smut, the former of which Xerxes describes in this scene as forbidden and blasphemous to their tenets (as attachments form weakness in them).
He was intrigued by romance and rejected the future that was envisioned for him, but even he still internalized some of the values of the Sect long into his adulthood...
