Priest felt a proud blush steal across the back of his neck, hidden under matted, dirty fur, and grinned down at Jasmine, eye twinkling. "I am blessed the Mother has picked me for her Chosen, yes - but the Seer was like you, my child," the numbat assured. "Dovefeather was her name; she was a kind, strong cat, very wise. She even predicted my future, when she was a child... all through the use of her abilities: plant magic." He clapped his hands together, cane resting between his knees. "Why, even the True Guardian's magic was attuned to the non-fungal growths of Eridanus! Your gift is just as valuable as my own, Jasmine."
He hummed thoughtfully, scratching at his cheek, feeling nothing in the destroyed fingertips of his paw. "The Pillar had control of fire itself - something I'm not exactly skilled at, as you can see," Priest joked, spreading both paws palm-out to show off their multitude of scars, rendering them almost incapable of movement, aside from slight stretching and twitches. "We are, all of us, the same and different - each worth the same amount when we are born, each with our own strength. It is through our deeds that we become... separate," he advised, brow furrowing. "Perhaps a story..? Yes, a story would do nicely."
Clover - Belladonna - whatever the monstrosity called herself; she had told them stories, once. Diot had loved it. Vicktor had, too, back when he was a cub who let them ride on his back instead of trying to electrocute them to death.
"I was born on the shores of the Polaris river - it was a beautiful place, once, filled with crystalline light and plenty of food. All of its walls were riddled with secret passageways used by rats and small prey, that I could use to hide." He smiled as a flash of playing with Khloros came to his mind, cut short by the continuance of his speech. "My egg was too close to the water - almost under it, in fact. I barely made it out, couldn't open my eye to see, couldn't move. I likely would have become someone's meal... if not for the arrival of two Gembounds."
His cane traced shapes in the air, its bioluminescence forming fleeting images. "A white dog, completely blind, soft-spoken and gentle. Magdalena." Next to the already disappearing image, he drew a long, serpentine figure. "And a furred dragon, serpentine and with every look of a predator, but the nature of the kindest child." Priest's maw twitched into a tiny smile. "They both found me within minutes of each-other; I honestly couldn't tell you who came across my unlucky state first. Regardless, Baratheon picked me up, helped me to see with my gift. Magdalena left soon after, talking of her own family."
The smile twitched into a frown. "You see, I loved them both dearly - my brother and sister, I assumed. Baratheon raised me, though he mustn't have been more than a cycle older; we were inseparable, through everything. In all that time, I did not see Magdalena." A whistling sigh escaped his nose. "Perhaps that was my folly - but this is, after all, a cautionary tale." Priest's clouded gaze grew sharp, a fragment of what he used to be. "Baratheon made mistakes - he was ill, incurably. I was only a child, wooed by the promise of being important and strong; of someone finding me... precious, in all of the caves. Of being special."
Oddly, no bitterness colored his tone - only amusement.
"He began to murder innocent people left and right, with no mercy or true remorse, blaming it all on his disease." The words were blunt, monotone. "Eventually, he turned on me - and then, one day, someone deigned to capture him... using myself as bait. This, my child, is where Magdalena returns to our tale." A grimace pulled at his lips. "Monoceros is, I imagine, a harmless place in and of itself - but Magdalena had grown cold and cruel, and took pleasure in my torture and debasement."
"We escaped, eventually, with the help of a friend - but Baratheon never did seem to forgive me for finding fault in his actions, and he died alone and regretful." Finally, a tiny, melancholic grin graced his face, and he looked down from the sky to Jasmine herself, humming softly. "I tell you this not to frighten you, my child, but to warn you: take care, in this world. There are many who would try to manipulate you, use you for their own devices.
He nodded to himself, eye slipping closed, coughing out a joyous laugh. "Find those few who truly love you, who would do anything to protect you, and you them - then stick with them, and never let go. True love is so rare, so precious and wonderful - the kind of love that's never possessive or cruel. That is the true gift of this life."