Mothers tell children of a creature that can see through lies and punishes those that hide such from both themselves and others. All it takes is but one gaze--one moment of direct eye contact, and your soul opens the door to it. Some tales speak of some which change the hearts of others--snapping out the cruelty of others with a singular stare. Others suggest it feeds off of the sincerity and earnestness of kind souls, and thus propagates the cruelty that come with lies and obfuscation.

What would it mean if such a being were to exist? One that could pierce the heart of a man and pass through what should be a sanctuary. One that could merely tilt its head and cause the fragile connections holding free will together to snap. One that could expose the darkest parts of someone's soul and force them to face it.

If such a creature were able to see the truth of all things, the ugliness in any person's heart, would they resent and detest those around them? How could they ever show kindness when they can see what lurks beneath? How could they ever grant grace to those they know would stab them in the back?

And, in turn, who could ever trust--let alone love--such a creature?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ferro Allistair. A man with the gift and curse of being able to see into the truth of any person he makes eye-contact with. He once thought he used his talents for 'good'--to stop 'evil' people from doing terrible things. Who needs interrogation when you can pick apart someone's deepest secrets and find them out yourself? They're bad people, after all. Surely this was the right way of using such a power?

Not that he would ever use it on his wife--some boundaries were such that he would never cross them. She was the only person that trusted him intimately, after all--and he trusted her just as deeply, if not moreso.

Which made the pain all the worse when she betrayed him. When it became clear he was beginning to have doubts and loss of conviction in the mission he swore to, he went from being the most reliable of assets to the most dangerous of threats. Such things needed to be eliminated immediately. Some tools to be thrown in the trash.

The attempt on his life, however, had failed. By chance or circumstance, he fought back and survived. But with no one to turn to--and no one that would dare spare him a glance, who can he trust and trust him in turn? In a world where all he can see is the ugliness of others, is there any chance for him to find any glimmer of beauty?

Part of an unannounced project of mine. Hopefully some more to come.

Art by   AsterionBlazing