Arcanus {Alex} (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mywayofhelping) wrote2012-07-04 11:33 pm
mywayofhelping) wrote2012-07-04 11:33 pm
Entry tags:
Alex and Veriti
Another mystery that was raised in Dark Dawn that may or may not be important to Alex's character is what exactly was going on with Veriti. They haven't even actually said he's Amiti's father for Pete's sake.
I already have an entire babbly post up about why I don't believe Alex is aware that he has a son, and some of that ties in to my thoughts on this subject. One big point in that is that Alex seems to have a habit of running from close relationships, and he definitely ran from Ayuthay. The only reason I can think of for this is that Veriti was right and that he did, in fact, have feelings for her.
It's pretty hard to confirm when we know next to nothing about her. I have my headcanon, but that's all it is so I can't use it to base anything on here. Or I could, but I'd rather not discount everything else I've ever written about the guy. So I shall try to summarize this brief relationship he had with a woman we hardly know and the major-ish impact it may or may not have had on him.
Veriti obviously had some sort of personality, cause I don't see Alex as the sort to just sleep with someone because they're pretty. He's much too crafty to be that shallow. We don't even know what she looked like, either. It sounds like she was sticking to him pretty closely during his time there, so maybe they managed to make some kind of personal bond in that time. I know it's tough to believe for Alex, but obviously something was out of the ordinary here.
Of course, them having a relationship of some sort only matters if he truly did love her. I think his avoidance of her reflects his avoidance of Mia, who he still loves as family despite not wanting to. It's also possible that he left and just didn't care so he never came back. We won't know if Veriti just assumed he loved her so that was what she reported or if he actually said something to that effect to her. If it's the latter, I'll have a hard time believing he was lying because that's not something I've ever known Alex to do.
Regardless, while Amiti was definitely unplanned, I actually have a two possibilities for...just how likely the odds were of him happening. In Jupiter Lighthouse, he told Felix he could just toss people away once they were of no use to him while in the process of worrying about the only family he had left. He obviously just doesn't like getting close to people. And you can't get much closer than he did to Veriti. In one scenario, I think after the act he realized he had messed up (in his opinion). So, if the Alchemy Well wasn't fixed by that point, once it was, he hightailed it out of there.
There's another option I've also come to accept as a possibility recently. I still highly doubt Alex is the kind of guy to just sleep with whoever, but at the same time I think he could believe that he could do it without being too close to the other person. He may have thought he could get a little endorphin rush for kicks and just leave when he felt like it. This may have been what happened, since the timeline of everything he did in Ayuthay is shaky at best. I also wonder if perhaps Veriti asked him to stay and that was when he decided to get out of there as soon as he could be ensured the Alchemy Well would work when it needed to.
When it comes to the foggy timeline, I think everything was probably operational by the time that relationship reached itsclimax peak. Again, I doubt Alex would rush into a physical connection with anyone, as brief as the time they spent together was. If he was trying to get everything operational there and that took him some time, Veriti could have been stalking with him through all that, which would be enough time for a quick, but believable romance to bloom. Veriti was also likely his source to the legends of where the Luna Mask was kept, which was why few in Ayuthay know he ever existed.
I'm also not sure how much she really knew about him. Assuming he is hiding something behind that mask, he was probably wearing that too which added a level of mystery. Was Veriti shallow enough to fall for him just for the surface she thought she saw? ...Sadly it's possible, this is why I'm usually not fond of fictional females. But, because he was seemingly working for the sake of the people of Ayuthay, that could be something that attracted her without actually knowing much about him. Because really, if she knew everything about him, she'd have to be pretty twisted to love him.Shut up I know what I just implied about myself but I don't love him in that way.
But the whole "working for the sake of the people of Ayuthay" aspect is something that's caught my attention. When Alex went there, the only other Water Adepts that weren't being island hermits were Mia and Piers who he obviously couldn't point there. He apparently was aware of whatever he wanted the Apollo Lens to really be used for and knew he needed the Forge and the Well working. Only a Mercury Adept could start it.
...However, that's the only thing that only a Mercury Adept would be capable of. A Fire Adept had to be the one to learn Arid Heat to reach the Insight Glass, which was so mysterious the people in Ayuthay only knew its name. I really doubt Alex knew that only a native of Ayuthay could possess it. In fact, if he did somehow know, wouldn't it have been a good idea to tell someone? He wouldn't have had to risk his personal shield quite so much that way.
Additionally, I presume that Barai Temple was accessible before the Alchemy Well was functioning. One of the older citizens praises it for its beauty and I really doubt one tiny room would make him do that. Any group of Adepts could have grabbed the Luna Mask, and since he was positive another group was the one in the prophecy, he could have left it to them. He even left them a note about it. There was also no sign that there was a time limit on getting the Sol Mask, so I assume the same was true of the Luna Mask. The people of Passaj knew the legends of both Alchemy Machines. There was no reason for Alex to get the Alchemy Well fully functioning. The only reason I can come up with was that Veriti made it clear that was what she was hoping he would do, so he did everything within his power that he could have done.
Why would Alex do something like that? He's a manipulator who has otherwise only been seen doing work when there's truly no other option for him without compromising whatever his plan is. Perhaps something he couldn't place made him want to work to fulfill her vision for her country?
In short, it's not so much that I have evidence that flat-out tells me he did love her. It's more that all the pieces don't fit together in my head if he didn't care about Veriti at least a little bit. Alex is generally much more callous to others than what we see he accomplished in Ayuthay, after all. There's usually a reason for someone to soften like that, even if it was only for a little while. Still, the second he realized how "weak" it was making him, he cut her out of his life. You really can't keep a good megalomaniac down.
I already have an entire babbly post up about why I don't believe Alex is aware that he has a son, and some of that ties in to my thoughts on this subject. One big point in that is that Alex seems to have a habit of running from close relationships, and he definitely ran from Ayuthay. The only reason I can think of for this is that Veriti was right and that he did, in fact, have feelings for her.
It's pretty hard to confirm when we know next to nothing about her. I have my headcanon, but that's all it is so I can't use it to base anything on here. Or I could, but I'd rather not discount everything else I've ever written about the guy. So I shall try to summarize this brief relationship he had with a woman we hardly know and the major-ish impact it may or may not have had on him.
Veriti obviously had some sort of personality, cause I don't see Alex as the sort to just sleep with someone because they're pretty. He's much too crafty to be that shallow. We don't even know what she looked like, either. It sounds like she was sticking to him pretty closely during his time there, so maybe they managed to make some kind of personal bond in that time. I know it's tough to believe for Alex, but obviously something was out of the ordinary here.
Of course, them having a relationship of some sort only matters if he truly did love her. I think his avoidance of her reflects his avoidance of Mia, who he still loves as family despite not wanting to. It's also possible that he left and just didn't care so he never came back. We won't know if Veriti just assumed he loved her so that was what she reported or if he actually said something to that effect to her. If it's the latter, I'll have a hard time believing he was lying because that's not something I've ever known Alex to do.
Regardless, while Amiti was definitely unplanned, I actually have a two possibilities for...just how likely the odds were of him happening. In Jupiter Lighthouse, he told Felix he could just toss people away once they were of no use to him while in the process of worrying about the only family he had left. He obviously just doesn't like getting close to people. And you can't get much closer than he did to Veriti. In one scenario, I think after the act he realized he had messed up (in his opinion). So, if the Alchemy Well wasn't fixed by that point, once it was, he hightailed it out of there.
There's another option I've also come to accept as a possibility recently. I still highly doubt Alex is the kind of guy to just sleep with whoever, but at the same time I think he could believe that he could do it without being too close to the other person. He may have thought he could get a little endorphin rush for kicks and just leave when he felt like it. This may have been what happened, since the timeline of everything he did in Ayuthay is shaky at best. I also wonder if perhaps Veriti asked him to stay and that was when he decided to get out of there as soon as he could be ensured the Alchemy Well would work when it needed to.
When it comes to the foggy timeline, I think everything was probably operational by the time that relationship reached its
I'm also not sure how much she really knew about him. Assuming he is hiding something behind that mask, he was probably wearing that too which added a level of mystery. Was Veriti shallow enough to fall for him just for the surface she thought she saw? ...Sadly it's possible, this is why I'm usually not fond of fictional females. But, because he was seemingly working for the sake of the people of Ayuthay, that could be something that attracted her without actually knowing much about him. Because really, if she knew everything about him, she'd have to be pretty twisted to love him.
But the whole "working for the sake of the people of Ayuthay" aspect is something that's caught my attention. When Alex went there, the only other Water Adepts that weren't being island hermits were Mia and Piers who he obviously couldn't point there. He apparently was aware of whatever he wanted the Apollo Lens to really be used for and knew he needed the Forge and the Well working. Only a Mercury Adept could start it.
...However, that's the only thing that only a Mercury Adept would be capable of. A Fire Adept had to be the one to learn Arid Heat to reach the Insight Glass, which was so mysterious the people in Ayuthay only knew its name. I really doubt Alex knew that only a native of Ayuthay could possess it. In fact, if he did somehow know, wouldn't it have been a good idea to tell someone? He wouldn't have had to risk his personal shield quite so much that way.
Additionally, I presume that Barai Temple was accessible before the Alchemy Well was functioning. One of the older citizens praises it for its beauty and I really doubt one tiny room would make him do that. Any group of Adepts could have grabbed the Luna Mask, and since he was positive another group was the one in the prophecy, he could have left it to them. He even left them a note about it. There was also no sign that there was a time limit on getting the Sol Mask, so I assume the same was true of the Luna Mask. The people of Passaj knew the legends of both Alchemy Machines. There was no reason for Alex to get the Alchemy Well fully functioning. The only reason I can come up with was that Veriti made it clear that was what she was hoping he would do, so he did everything within his power that he could have done.
Why would Alex do something like that? He's a manipulator who has otherwise only been seen doing work when there's truly no other option for him without compromising whatever his plan is. Perhaps something he couldn't place made him want to work to fulfill her vision for her country?
In short, it's not so much that I have evidence that flat-out tells me he did love her. It's more that all the pieces don't fit together in my head if he didn't care about Veriti at least a little bit. Alex is generally much more callous to others than what we see he accomplished in Ayuthay, after all. There's usually a reason for someone to soften like that, even if it was only for a little while. Still, the second he realized how "weak" it was making him, he cut her out of his life. You really can't keep a good megalomaniac down.