Matteo

It's tough to be a god

There was an easy to delight to the child who sat before him. A youthful innocence so personified with a genuine good nature and pleasant disposition. A rarity in so many children these days. Especially those whom had lived a life with some measure of upheaval. The girl, Maeve, is quick to smile and yet even despite his relative 'strangeness' to her she is neither shy with her words nor under confident in their delivery. She was, Matteo had decided, an overall pleasant girl. Mature for her age and yet perhaps such was not unanticipated. Only children so often tending to take more after the adults in their lives then then those whom had siblings to contend with. Her ready efforts to identify his accent are met with a gentle nod of confirmation. The girl evidently rather bright and yet the Frenchman made little comment upon her skills in that moment. Rather, the near ancient Fae so chose to comment instead upon her friend Tobias. The little Fae girl so clearly having formed a relationship of sorts with the spotted companion of his own son. Such a thing perhaps not terribly surprising given Tobias' own nature. Maeve's ready declaration that Tobias and Tetra had saved her saw one eye lift slightly upward in inquisitiveness. After all, for all his power, he so hardly saw all that those under his watch so did with their time. Indeed, unless the life of one of those beings was at stake Matteo so tended to chose just when and where he looked into their futures. This incident, he suspected, never having been of true threat to either Tetradore or Tobias in the least and yet he saw little need to dissuade the girl from that tale. The elder Fae ever patient and so eternally good natured when it came to children.

"Oh? Would you care to tell me about it, Mon Petit? I enjoy those tales of adventure. It has been some time since I have heard a truly interesting story."

That warm simper so found his lips in that moment. Matteo entirely sincere in his request to hear that tale. Children, after all, so often made the very best of storytellers. Even if those tales might become rather embellished along the way. Was that not what made them all the more interesting? Maeve's soft admittance that he did not seem boring however, readily coaxed that soft chuckle from within. Those accented words tainting the air once more.
"Ah, I am Fae! We are never boring, no matter how old we get, no?"

He could so hardly remember the last time he had spent any time with a Fae child. Their species rather....lacking upon that front and yet he had long since made his veritable peace with the world over just that matter. He had given the world two sons, one Fae like himself, surely he had done his part for their species no? The desire to raise any further children long since having left the man. His life far too....complicated for such things any longer. The world would have to accept his offering of Dorian. Hmmm. Perhaps he near pitied the world. That very thought prompting the corners of his lips to tug upward before his silver gaze so returned the fullest of his attention to Maeve- and her small friend. That look of surprise at his knowledge of the little chipmunk seemed to find the girl readily then, in between those bites of cupcake. Matteo quick to assure her that Pip was surely a secret he could keep. That conversation shifted then to far more important things perhaps. The Frenchman, after all, had seen what Maeve had not. What her own visions were, perhaps, far to under-developed to see. The very reason as to why she was here today. Matteo having already seen her place in that future that persisted before her- at least to an extent.

How quickly that anxious fear of sorts seems to find her. Matteo's own hand reached forward in a gesture near instinctive, that touch feather-light and yet designed to merely steal her mind away from her inner thoughts and back to himself alone with that insistence that she had nothing to fear from her affinity in the least. He so hardly anticipated her fingers to grip at his own, that moment fleeting and yet appreciated all at once. Another simper finding his features as she insisted she was willing to listen and that she had no desire to hurt anyone. Ah, how very young and innocent she was! The world so surely needed more such as she. Yet how long would such innocence last? Especially with that power for the past so lingering within her. The pasts of others, after all, were so often what made who they are. To be exposed to so many things, far to soon, would do Maeve no kindness, he was sure. To teach her to stop those visions surely the greatest gift he could give here and now in this brief crossing of their own paths.

It is easy to summon that doll and too, that piece of yarn, both so designed to provide the young girl with a visual of sorts. To think of past, future and present as a string. Something tangible and touchable. To teach a child, much less have her understand the very working of concepts so vast and varied and deep as future and fate and destiny and past was a task far to grand for any one being, he was sure. He had lived near two thousand years and still there was much he questioned himself! Yet, for now, to establish at least some understanding and too- some respect for her own gifts was surely critical. Maeve nodded in understanding, the child pointing then to the 'past' end of the thread with that insistence she often saw her friends as children. How very curious yet- perhaps such a thing was not so unusual.

"This is probably because you are very young yourself, Mon Cher. You see those parts of themselves you relate most strongly to. That is, you see the child within them, because you too are a child."

He paused once more, allowing her to consider those very thoughts before so continuing with that assurance that to peer into people's pasts was....deeply personal. That same may not wish for her to see those things she did and that if she saw them it was her duty, of sorts, to keep them a secret. Some would surely take delight in being told those tales of their pasts where others would only find disdain in it. After all, so many in this world held memories that were hardly....treasured. By that same token the future was equally precarious- if not more so. To tell someone their future, after all, could set in motion a series of events with....catastrophic outcomes. The world was made of checks and balances, after all. People like himself, like Maeve.....so went agianst that very law. Some debt always to be paid so often at their own expense and yet, for now, he saw little need to terrify the lovely child with such took. The young Fae nodded sincerely to his words then, insisting she would be the best of secret keepers. Her seriousness prompting another warm grin from himself.

"I believe you. People's secrets are very precious to them. You must guard them very well, treat everything you see as a secret until you know otherwise."

Those questions she asked then were not unanticipated. Little, after all, was unanticipated when it came to Matteo and yet how best to answer them was a decidedly difficult question in itself. For several moments the Frenchman pondered those very thoughts before those gentle, accented lyrics parted his lips.

"I think, Young One, that very much depends upon the vision and the person. If the vision you see is frightening or upsetting then it might upset them or even embarrass them, even as an adult, to be told you know about it. Others may be happy to share these memories with you. You must judge these things carefully and for yourself I fear. As you grow and as you learn you will become better at judging those visions and the people around you. Learning is a difficult thing, but it will come. Remember though, people's pasts must be treated very respectfully and never shared as I said before. If you chose to tell someone what you have seen you must be prepared for a variety of responses. All people are different."

How very hard it was to explain such concepts to a child and yet too, to prepare her for what was to come. If she chose to bring up the past of someone who wished to forget it she was surely to be met with disdain, even if her intentions had been pure. After all, their were people in this world, perhaps like both of his own sons, whom took little pleasure in the past. Yet too, there were others whose best memories were surely within those glory days. Her very query of the future however was perhaps far harder to answer. Matteo sighing softly then and yet his simper hardly faltered. The Fae speaking to that child with the honesty she surely deserved.

"The future is so difficult. More difficult then the past. The future is never set, it always changes, for the future is based on the choices of a being and the choices of those around them. The choice one person makes will affect the choice of another and so on. Even the smallest of them. To change the future may also change the course of history itself, let alone anger Fate. Telling someone their future might stop them getting hurt but too, it might see them try to avoid that future and in doing so- bring about a worse one. Do you understand? You cannot control your visions, nor do I suspect you can see....terribly far into the future which means you may only be able to, for now, see a part of the picture. You must be careful, Maeve. So careful. I think perhaps, unless you truly, truly believe someone will be terribly hurt- that it is best you do not tell people the things you know."

With her powers so...immature, with no ability to 'watch' certain events she would be incapable of seeing those changes, so to speak, that had occurred further along that line or might so change a person's fate after she had spoken of it. Perhaps, as she grew, so too would her powers and yet there was every chance she might, like others, eternally hold a stronger grip upon the past and see only snapshots of the future. Time and practice would be a far better teacher then himself.

"As for stopping your visions, that, i am pleased to say is easy. When you start having a vision the very best thing to do is picture a wall. Close your eyes and picture that wall surrounding you like a boc, shuting everything and anything out. A wall no visions can get through. In time, if you practice, you will be able to stop visions near as soon as they start."