#poor Eight tho… from what I’ve read in TYEE#he has complicated feelings over Arcann and I wonder how leaving affects him#obviously he adores his son and I’m sure is more relieved to be reunited#and no longer being in a gilded cage would be ideal#Arcann doesn’t deserve him but also… feelings aren’t logical#and I could be entirely off base with that of course
@understorysunflecks (sorry for tag OTL) You're actually right on the money! He's got a lot of conflicting emotions about being rescued...on one hand, if it's what Grail wants, if it's what makes him happy, he's willing to accept that. He's willing to put aside his own feelings for his son's wellbeing as he's done his whole life. On the other... Eight still loves Arcann. And that's not something even Grail might understand, that Eight feels he'll only exacerbate Arcann's own hatred and cruelty if he removes himself from the picture, that he still believes in the kinder facet of Arcann who showed him he was wanted. He knows he's been the only source of love for a man who's never had it. He's seen the other side of him, and to leave him now feels like a betrayal when he's come so far in rooting out Arcann's humanity. And others will tell him he doesn't deserve to be Arcann's keeper either or his lynchpin, he shouldn't be responsible for that, but Eight still despairs. How can he be happy when his son and his love are going to kill each other? Why does he have to choose between them?
Then there's the additional layer of absolutely no one understanding he does return Arcann's feelings. Most if not all of the Alliance including Grail have it in their head that Eight was forced into becoming consort whatnot with his unconventional circumstances, and so they assume the same of his relationship with Arcann. To admit he does love Arcann amongst a crowd calling for Arcann's death would immediately turn him suspect and call Grail's loyalty to the cause into question, so he just... stays silent. And there's the sheer agony of having no one to turn to again in all this, so it's almost like trading one cage for another.