She waves a hand dismissively. "When Itachi killed my family, and again when we met five or so years later, she put me under a torture illusion for a few days. Helped me grow strong."

That is concerning on so many levels. (Uncharitably, hopefully Hisame is now no longer the most powerful of their type, because Mora is very, very extremely concerned about all of her life choices.)

"Right. I - think I should talk to Eliana? To get - how to translate all this into... Ways to not have relationship problems. And possibly you should talk to Glint about - all of this."

Hopefully Madness covers therapy.

She snorts. "You think I'm insane. For one of us, at least."

"Honestly I think your world's massively fucked up, and that it's probably impossible to not come out of there at least a little fucked up too."

"Fair. I'll talk to our Mad God, then. See you around, Mora."

"See you."

And Mora's going to go find Eliana.

Eliana is eminently findable. And conveniently already alone.

"I expect by your look of concern the talk did not go exceptionally well."

"Hisame is. Just. Massively concerning as a person. I think she and the Keres are stable for now, but if we want to be immortal, Hisame is massively concerning."

She relays the conversation.

"Ah. Yes. That sort of attitude is... rather nonconducive to long term stability."

"I'm honestly mostly hoping Glint can - do something. Or at least explain anything better than I can."

"I hope so as well. Death is... it means we've failed, lost. I can imagine situations in which I'd spit in someone's face as they killed me rather than back down, but- that's not something to be resigned to. That's motivation to become more powerful before that happens."

"...There's - a bit of a thrill, a rush, when you know something's a bad idea and you're doing it anyways, when you're - dancing on the edge of a wire - and the bigger the thing you're risking the bigger the rush..."

"I'd expect most instances of me to always be a bit reckless with our lives, now and again. Maybe we're just gambling sorts."

"I think - for one, I don't think Hisame sees the Pure Land as - being dead. They reincarnate, supposedly. So to her, death's a vacation, and a chance to see everyone she misses, before a chance to try again. And if she becomes more powerful - it means she can take bigger risks and get away with it, but it also means that it's going to be harder for her to get that thrill, and I think uninterrupted that leads to her picking fights no one could win."

"Death - if it's something she gambled, that just means she got unlucky, but she was the one digging her grave - and I think her autonomy is extremely important to Hisame, more so than it is to me - and on the way out she hopefully - did something grand and memorable. I'd say for us failure is anything that results in us being alone. Maybe anything that leads to us doing what we're supposed to."

"This all - isn't inherent to who we are, and it's why I think Hisame's really fucked up. Glint's now literally a god, and - she's explicitly dedicating her energy to doing right by her people. I'd honestly probably do something similar with that power. There's - only so much of being an asshole that's entertaining, and past that we might as well give everyone the sort of things we want for ourselves."

"I have been talking more with Ellayania, and I have come to the conclusion that she is something like my ideal end state. She has enough power that no one local can challenge her, and everyone at her level feels no need to. She has a space where she can be safe, and she has no demands on her time beyond what she herself imposes. She has the ability, but not the necessity, to do anything she might wish."

"Huh. I think - of the ones we've met, Glint's the closest to ours? She's free. I spoke to her some, about our pasts, and - she had shittier parents than the rest of us, but... That balances her society being less the kind to suffocate us. And now she can set things up so anyone around her actively wants to be next to her right then, even given full knowledge of everything she is, and she can set things up so she - doesn't have to choose between doing what she wants and having interesting people around. She can create a world according to her own ideals, and she has enough mental freedom to - not get trapped in one path. She can behave when she feels like it, and not feel like she's being suffocated, and she can misbehave if she feels like it too, and - she isn't stuck trying to be the antithesis to her society."

"Hm. Freedom versus security."

"Pretty much, I think."

"Those states aren't necessarily incompatible, which is a hopeful sign, I think."

"Yeah. I think - Hisame has a lot of freedom, power-wise. And I think Glint can help her with mental freedom."

"I don't think the Keres is very eager to settle down in the same way Ellayania is settled. She... brings her security with her. If Hisame's suicidal tendancies can be mitigated."

"Yeah. I - it sounded like Hisame considers herself more attached to her sister, but... I think she's making more compromises for the Keres than she would for her sister. If we're lucky time and fondness will be enough, to get Hisame to reorient and consider the consequences of her actions, but... It's something to help along."

"Right. And the Keres will probably be more protective than usual for the next while."

"Which'll hopefully help it sink in and not lead to Hisame feeling stifled."

"I think she'll just be quicker on the defense, and fending extra attention off."

She nods. "Hisame might find it flattering for a time, anyways."

"That's something, at least."