"Ah," Raine said, and, "I see." There was little more she could say to that. Necessary evils had a way of stifling conversation, and this particular one reminded her of unnecessary evils as well. Power too often came at the price of suffering.

She was silent for some time, listening, watching Anton with a thoughtful eye. He sounded, if not neutral, then certainly calm. It was impressive, that control, for surely this was not something impersonal to him. If he had not been involved in that war directly then someone he cared for had been lost to it; centuries were not devoted to a single effort on a mere whim.

Many things might differ between worlds, but evidently war remained the same: foolish and wasteful, even in the aftermath.

"It's a noble idea," she said finally. Her thoughts were wandering in directions she usually kept them from, drawing unbidden now the similarity to Exire. "There's a place in my world-- not so different from this in spirit, now that I think of it. A sanctuary, created in the wake of a war. It's... thousands of years old, now, but still a place of peace."

It was perhaps the most peaceful place she'd ever been. In that, at least, Mithos had not gone astray.