"You're a real asshole, you know," Amadeus said as he stepped onto a rock beside the one Damian sat on. He remained standing on the boulder cooly with his hands in his pockets.

Damian turned to him with shock and then disgust. His eyes seemed to say, 'How dare you insult the one who recruited you?' or some bullshit like that.

It had been a day since the motherfucker went through Aurelius' diary and he had isolated himself like he was a victim or something. Amadeus had sensed Damian's decline from afar but hadn't thought it was his place to interfere. Now he was a part of the group. He was the key to putting that bastard Orpheus in the ground.

Aurelius seemed to keep Damian around since he had crucial information, but he still served a purpose. Amadeus would be damned if he let Damian ruin his chance at vengeance just because Damian had no motivation.

He may have been there just because Aurelius needed him and saying no wasn't an option. But he had a chance to do some good for once in his life. It was high time to get some sense into the pathetic bitch's head. And if Aurelius wasn't going to do it, Amadeus would.

Amadeus clicked his tongue. "You go through a person's most private belonging and get grumpy after he knocks some sense into your dumb ass. Fucking hell. And we're talking about Aurelius himself here."

"Where'd you get a tongue like that all of a sudden, huh?"

"You forget, I'm naturally ill-tempered. I'm just a fine actor."

"Tch... right," Damian turned back to look down at the path where their carriage lay next to a campfire that lit up the night.

The father and son who served as coachmen sat before it, but where was Aurelius?

Amadeus shifted his focus back to the matter at hand. "Nice deflection, by the way. Is that your social finesse trying to make an appearance? I thought it got cut along with your fingers," Amadeus provoked with a laugh.

Damian eyed him darkly. "Fuck you."

"And there it went again. I mean, seriously? Can't you come up with anything better than that? Maybe Aurelius is right. You really are useless."

Damian hostility turned into fear. He tried to hide it, but to Amadeus, it was all but obvious. The micro tension around his mouth and eyebrows told the story.

"Gah, look at yourself!" Amadeus burst out. "You're pathetic. Bird of Midnight what a fucking joke."

Damian seemed about to rush him but backed down. His body language suggested tension towards the campfire.

Amadeus laughed. It was genuinely comedic. Damian really thought that this was a test and that Aurelius was lurking somewhere, waiting for Damian to attack.

Eventually, Amadeus calmed down and relaxed his posture to ease Damian. It was pitiful looking at how tense he was. He really thought himself the victim. "You actually think Aurelius is some kind of monster holding you hostage like you're a princess?"

"He cut my fingers off, waltzed into my home, and told me I would help him. How the hell should I see it as something other than being a hostage?" Damian sneered. "You think you know him? We visited Hermeris on our way to you. Aurelius exploded his skull and didn't even flinch. Our whole fronts were painted. There were fucking brains, flowing down inside my shirt. I burned my clothes and got new ones. He just washed his. And while he did, he had this look on his face. Like he'd done it a thousand times before. Like 'here I am once again'. That's who he is."

"Right... and he had no reason to do that." Amadeus exuded sarcasm. "All quiet now are we? About your fingers, let me guess. You sold his location in the past, pretending to be his friend?" Damian turned to him with a questioning look. "I figure things out when I'm bored. And it was fairly obvious he did that to you," Amadeus said, nodding at Damian's hand.

"You and your body language."

"No. Me and your body language," Amadeus corrected playfully. "My point stands. You're a formal person who likes to act likeably." A bit of an opposite to Amadeus himself. "He believed your act, you stabbed him in the back. Thus... that." He gestured to Damian's hand. "Though, admittedly, it's not very wise to mutilate those you plan to work with."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"What's that? Did I hear you insult your hero?"

Amadeus curled his upper lip in annoyance. "You heard me admit the flaws of my hero."

"Hero." Damian scoffed at the word.

"That." Amadeus pointed a firm finger. "That is what I don't get about you."

"That I don't see him as a hero?" Damian gestured his confusion with his bandaged hand. "How is that surprising?"

Sure he had seen an ugly side to Aurelius. And in his insatiable curiosity, he tried to see more. Maybe he did. But those writings were Aurelius' escape. His expression of loathing towards the monstrous things he had done to combat all the evil he saw. But how did Damian not understand what he was fighting against?

"You're an orphan. Aren't you?" Amadeus read Damian's reaction and continued after the confirmation. "So you turned to crime in order to survive and even thrive. Oh, and because you feel apprehension towards violence you turned to the informant business." Amadeus connected the dots much to Damian's chagrin. But something was still missing. Why didn't he hate them? Those people? He couldn't understand, so he just asked Damian, "You've dealt with criminals all your life, so how do you not get it? What Aurelius is doing it all for."

"What do you mean? Are you asking me if I've been threatened before?" Damian genuinely laughed. "He's doing it to me himself!"

"No! He isn't doing it because he's being threatened. Can't you see his fight against evil started way before that."

Damian kept being amused. "Fight against evil. Reminds me of how young you are. Giving evil a name and thinking it can even be eradicated in the first place."

Amadeus' mouth opened. With that, the puzzle that was Damian was solved. "You think evil is natural. Just a thing that exists and nothing can be done about anything."

"And you don't? You worked with me helping criminals, remember? How do you justify that?"

Amadeus couldn't help but smile at all the bafflement. "I don't! I did it because it was easy, and I hated myself for it. Fucking hell. You just did it with no thought, telling yourself anything just so you wouldn't feel guilty."

Damian looked down likely realizing just how much of a piece of shit he really was. "So how is it that you're lecturing me?"

"Because you need it. You've entertained your fatalism for so long for your own sake that you've forgotten how much shittier the world is than it could be. You have no goals. You stand for nothing."

"And I should stand for Aurelius?"

"You should stand with him!" Amadeus threw his hands up. "Or are you so egoistic that you can't do even that? Fucking moron."

"How ab—"

"Shut the fuck up," Amadeus snapped at him. "Aurelius has fought the shit of this world more than anyone. That's why people love him. Not because they're deluded by his legend and revere his power. Still, the guy can't get a fucking break because he can't forgive himself for the things he's done in the process. The things that anyone would excuse in a heartbeat if they knew the full extent of his sacrifices." Amadeus looked down at Damian in disgust. "And you're here to make him feel more like shit when he needs your help. He's given you a chance to repent and you just whine about your fingers. Looking at you now, I kinda wish he would've ended your sorry existence. But he just won't. All because he still believes you can have a positive effect on the world. That's how great of a man he is."

Damian looked up with a defiant look, but it faded as he saw the graveness on Amadeus' face. He seemed about to say something but just gulped.

"The liveD is already a legend. If he manages to kill Orpheus, that legend will never die. You have a chance to be part of that. If I were you, I'd be licking Aurelius' feet."

"Aren't you already doing that?"

"Perhaps. I can tell you it's a lot better than sucking off fatalism."

"Right," Damian replied, trying to look cool. He knew he just got his ass verbally kicked. Amadeus was about to make his exit when Damian kept going. "One last thing. Do you suppose that once Orpheus disappears evil will just be wiped out?"

Amadeus didn't turn back. It was a simple question. "No. But the criminals of Arkeyk will shit themselves. Eventually, there will be a power struggle. But by then the people will have hopefully grown a backbone. One man can't change things. However, he can set the movement off."

"Very hopeful of you. I'm sure you're not just telling yourself whatever you need to know so that you can see Orpheus die."

Amadeus turned back halfway and smirked. "It's possible. But my point still stands."

"And that is?"

"Aurelius is a man worth a billion of you. Now you can stay here and tell yourself he's a big bad man and I'm deluded or you can swallow that mouthful of shit with some dignity and help change the world."

Damian offered no response. Amadeus didn't expect one. He made his way back to the camp and enjoyed a conversation with the old-timer and his respectful son. It took a while, but eventually, Damian showed himself. Amadeus smiled at him and gestured towards a seat. He then enhanced his senses as best he could and looked around. After a while, he managed to catch sight of Aurelius. He sat alone on top of a tree, shrouded in darkness. Even at that distance, he could probably hear them discuss. He probably hadn't heard his and Damian's discussion. Maybe that was a good thing. Still, it was best if he heard the next.

Amadeus looked back to Damian. "I take this to mean you found your resolve."

"You could say that."

Amadeus snorted amusedly. "Then we're one step closer to making this work. And I think it just might."