Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 5

[Oldmansour]

>"I asked if you had any family. Parents, siblings, that sort of thing."

>"Nobody's... asked about my family since... Ever." he concedes after some thought. "Probably too afraid to." The biker rests his hand against the window. "My old man's dead." he says, and you can hear a hint of old anger through his listless tone. "Should've killed him myself, but I never had the chance. Bastard ran out on my mother when I was... Real young, I remember that much. Old enough to remember. Not old enough to do anything about it. Not strong enough yet. Should've been, but he told me to be patient. Patience, patience, time yields power, it told me..."

[DracoOmega]

>"And your mother?"

[Oldmansour]

>"And your mother?"

>"Last time I saw her, she was being institutionalized."
>What's that word mean? Rin asks.

[DracoOmega]

>Placed in a mental hospital, most likely.
>"How long ago was this?"

[Oldmansour]

>Placed in a mental hospital, most likely.
>"How long ago was this?"

>A crazy house?
>"Years. Lotta years." Motormaster falls silent for a moment, then continues, "I wasn't old enough to drive, I remember. Didn't stop me, but I got arrested for it." A quiet sigh escapes the biker's lips. "More than once. Cops hated me. I hated them. Hated my mother, her voices made her weak. Mine made me strong. But I'm weak now, too... Like her..."

[DracoOmega]

>That's a rather... unkind way to put it, but I guess you're on the right track.
>"A person's worth is not measured by their ability to enforce their will upon the world."

[Oldmansour]

>That's a rather... unkind way to put it, but I guess you're on the right track.
>"A person's worth is not measured by their ability to enforce their will upon the world."

>Now I remember, folks call those things asylums too, right?
>"That's easy for you to say." Motormaster snaps, glaring at you, finally finding his anger. "You two are the ones with the power now."

[DracoOmega]

>That's a bit of a dated term, too, but yes.
>"A power that is as much a responsibility as it is a privilege and one I would relinquish in an instant if that would safeguard the people of this city better than me having it."
>"It's true that the destructive potential you wielded was enormous, but I have known those with far less strength of body than you have right now who've nonetheless done more to make the world a better place than those with 10 times their power - teachers, doctors, quiet souls who've nonetheless stood up for their friends and their convictions.  That is strength and it is not diminished an inch because you or anyone else could overpower them by force. Force for its own sake has never made anyone better than anyone else, nor has a lack of it made them worse and force is the only kind of strength you've lost."
>Smile tentatively
>"I bet you can still race a mean bike."

[Oldmansour]

>That's a bit of a dated term, too, but yes.
>"A power that is as much a responsibility as it is a privilege and one I would relinquish in an instant if that would safeguard the people of this city better than me having it."
>"It's true that the destructive potential you wielded was enormous, but I have known those with far less strength of body than you have right now who've nonetheless done more to make the world a better place than those with 10 times their power - teachers, doctors, quiet souls who've nonetheless stood up for their friends and their convictions.  That is strength and it is not diminished an inch because you or anyone else could overpower them by force. Force for its own sake has never made anyone better than anyone else, nor has a lack of it made them worse and force is the only kind of strength you've lost."
>Smile tentatively
>"I bet you can still race a mean bike."

>"We'll never know." Motormaster says acidly. "You took my bike from me, too."

[DracoOmega]

>"I have no intention of keeping it from you. It would be wasted on me anyway."

[Oldmansour]

>"I have no intention of keeping it from you. It would be wasted on me anyway."

>"Be wasted here, too." Motormaster replies, the energy leaving his voice. "Don't even know if I can drive anymore..."

[DracoOmega]

>"I don't see why you couldn't. It's not something you need magic for and your skills are still your own."

[Oldmansour]

>"I don't see why you couldn't. It's not something you need magic for and your skills are still your own."

>"Are they? I'm not even half what I was."

[DracoOmega]

>"You still have all those years of experience and that's how anyone gets good at anything in the first place. If it feels different at first, I'm sure it's only a matter of finding your stride again."

[Oldmansour]

>"You still have all those years of experience and that's how anyone gets good at anything in the first place. If it feels different at first, I'm sure it's only a matter of finding your stride again."

>"What does it matter? I'll never be whole again. Never feel like I did. I never knew how empty people really were..."

[DracoOmega]

>"In time, you may find the rest of you grows to fill the gap inside you. I have never felt empty within my own mind, nor do I imagine have most people. And before you say we cannot know because we have not experienced what you have, there is another person who was bonded to a being much like the one that was inside you and she is more than grateful to be free of it now. I know it seems different to you. If that being has been inside you since you were born, some part of your sense of self may have been... stunted by it. But that doesn't mean that it cannot heal, now that it is gone. You might surprise yourself."

[Oldmansour]

>"In time, you may find the rest of you grows to fill the gap inside you. I have never felt empty within my own mind, nor do I imagine have most people. And before you say we cannot know because we have not experienced what you have, there is another person who was bonded to a being much like the one that was inside you and she is more than grateful to be free of it now. I know it seems different to you. If that being has been inside you since you were born, some part of your sense of self may have been... stunted by it. But that doesn't mean that it cannot heal, now that it is gone. You might surprise yourself."

>"This other person... What happened to her?"

[DracoOmega]

>"After we drove the entity out of her?"

[Oldmansour]

>"After we drove the entity out of her?"

>"And the entity itself. Where did it go?"

[DracoOmega]

>"She was shaken and disoriented at first, and then greatly disturbed by the memory of all the things she'd done under the being's influence. But she's feeling quite a bit better now and greatly relieved that her mind is fully her own once more - and this is after living with it for decades."
>"As for the entity itself... I hope it is well and truly destroyed."

[Oldmansour]

>"She was shaken and disoriented at first, and then greatly disturbed by the memory of all the things she'd done under the being's influence. But she's feeling quite a bit better now and greatly relieved that her mind is fully her own once more - and this is after living with it for decades."
>"As for the entity itself... I hope it is well and truly destroyed."

>"I should have known. You destroyed mine, no reason to think you didn't do the same to hers."

[DracoOmega]

>"Others would be dead if we had not. And the victim of this being would still be trapped in a mind that was no longer entirely hers."

[Oldmansour]

>"Others would be dead if we had not. And the victim of this being would still be trapped in a mind that was no longer entirely hers."

>Motormaster's head slowly twists around. "There's a difference between her and me. You said she'd lived with her other half for decades. But that's not her whole life, right? She wasn't born with it like I was?"

[DracoOmega]

>"She wasn't, it's true. But this means that she had lived life both ways and still chose this one. I know it might be hard for you to fathom why, right now, but if some part of your independent self was never allowed to grow while that thing was inside you, you may be no better equipped to judge what this life could be like than someone whose legs were crippled from birth could judge what it's like to walk, just from their first weak and trembling steps. Time heals many wounds."

[Oldmansour]

>"She wasn't, it's true. But this means that she had lived life both ways and still chose this one. I know it might be hard for you to fathom why, right now, but if some part of your independent self was never allowed to grow while that thing was inside you, you may be no better equipped to judge what this life could be like than someone whose legs were crippled from birth could judge what it's like to walk, just from their first weak and trembling steps. Time heals many wounds."

>"So I guess I should get used to this view. Since I won't be going anywhere."

[DracoOmega]

>"That isn't necessarily true, either."
>"If we let you go now, what do you suppose you'd do?"

[Oldmansour]

>"That isn't necessarily true, either."
>"If we let you go now, what do you suppose you'd do?"

>"Find my bike."

[DracoOmega]

>"And after that?"

[Oldmansour]

>"And after that?"

>"See if I can still ride."

[DracoOmega]

>"Perhaps I should have clarified that I meant longer-term. How much allure does your prior lifestyle still hold for you - riding aside?"