Page 73 - The Grotesque Children's Book

“It's not your intention which will cause you fail, it's your lack of ability.
You haven't any skill to turn anything into gold.”

“Oh, but I have.”

“Mmmm...I don't think so.”

“Let me show you.”

“Young girl. Tsk, tsk. You silly optimistic unrealistic humans. Just
because you want to do something does not mean you are able to do it. Many
a life has been ruined by those who do not accept this; many a kingdom has
collapsed upon believing this falsehood. You haven't as much influence over
your own circumstances as you would like. A bitter lesson, a terrible lesson.
Perhaps the most difficult one to accept, and I'm sorry that you are only just
now about to learn it. I wish for your sake that someone kinder than I had
lead you to believe just how powerless and small you are. You might believe
that you are precious and beautiful. But, honestly, you are as but a single
golden fleck of sand in an infinite universe which will carry on exactly as it
always has done, with or without you, from Alpha to Omega, world without --”

“You're afraid,” interrupted Citia. “You're afraid I'll defeat you!”

“Nice try. But I'm not afraid of you, or anyone.”

Citia's tears started to flow (a trick she'd learned at an early age: you
need some ammunition when you're the youngest child of nine.) “Oh, Signore,”
she said, “I have lost all of my beloved brothers and sisters due to my own
follies and failings. They are to me more precious than gold. They are all I live
for. I'll do anything to save their lives! For what is the value of my own life if
my entire family were to have died? Please give me a chance to save them.”

“V-very well,” said Diavolo, slowly, suddenly suspicious, for he felt
somehow that he had heard this child's words before and she were mocking

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