As Apolo struggled with his blindness, he felt the sounds around him change, as if he had gone from being in the middle of a collapsing house to hearing the water crashing against the rocks of the familiar cliff he always found in his dreams.
The passage of time allowed the young nobleman to gradually regain his vision, allowing him to see the blurry image of the black-barked trees around him. It became clear to Apolo that he was no longer in the mansion but seemed to have been sent to the middle of the Black Forest. To be precise, Apolo had not been sent to just any part of the Black Forest; for some mysterious reason, the masked man had placed him right on the edge of the infamous cliff.
Although Apolo still couldn't see normally, he sensed that besides the trees on the cliff's edge, two children were fighting right in front of him; or at least, that's what Apolo deduced when he saw two vague shadows seeming to be brawling a few meters away. The reason why the young nobleman knew that these two shadows were not wild animals was that he could distinguish the confused shouts of what seemed to be two children. Unfortunately, the dazed Apolo couldn't quite make out what these children were yelling at each other as they fought. So, he focused on regaining his vision, hoping to understand why the masked man had sent him to this place.
Finally, after a few more seconds, the two shadows stopped shouting and exchanging blows. It appeared that one of the children had won and left the other unconscious. It was precisely at that moment that Apolo rubbed his eyes one last time and realized that his vision had fully returned. In front of Apolo stood a boy with black hair and black eyes, and by his aquiline nose and the gold ring on his hand, Apolo could unmistakably recognize him as his childhood self. On the other hand, the boy was staring intently at the disfigured girl's hands, whose face was completely unrecognizable and appeared to have been melted by flames. This girl must have been the other shadow with whom the boy had been fighting while Apolo regained his vision, and judging by the state of her body, it seemed she had just been killed by the boy.
Apolo realized that the boy was too focused on the girl's corpse to notice his presence. Therefore, the startled killer continued to ignore him while gasping for breath, contemplating the result of his vile deeds. Before he could say anything to the stunned boy, Apolo, with a strange sense of familiarity, witnessed as the boy tried to reach for the disfigured girl's hands on the ground, and the victim's body slowly raised its head to stare directly at her murderer. The frightened boy looked into the melted eyes on the girl's face and saw her lips, now unrecognizable, utter the following four words:
—I... Give... It... To you... Apolo.
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After saying those four words, the girl's body lost its strength and fell abruptly onto the forest floor, causing the sobbing boy to watch as the small, skeletal body of what was once his friend was soaked with his tears.
—I've been through this before...—Apolo recalled aloud, looking at the crying boy. This made the sobbing child immediately turn around, alarmed, to gaze at Apolo in fear. Upon noticing the presence of the stranger, the trembling boy stepped in front of the girl's corpse, extending his hands, trying to prevent Apolo from seeing the dead body.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed about remembering that he had once tried to hide a corpse in the same foolish way the boy was doing now, Apolo unconsciously raised his hand to his forehead. But when the young nobleman touched his flushed face, he suddenly discovered that the familiar silver mask had appeared out of nowhere. Apolo could swear that while he was rubbing his eyes to regain his vision, he had never felt it before. Nonetheless, he knew that his sense of touch was not deceiving him, and his fingers were currently feeling the cold metal of the mask.
—Who are you?—the frightened boy asked, noticing Apolo's silence.
—Mmm...—Apolo carefully pondered as he observed the suspicious eyes of the boy. He understood that he was on a mission, and given the recent events, he believed he knew what he needed to do next to fulfill that mission. However, he also understood that given the critical situation, it was of utmost importance not to fail when communicating with this child.
—I didn't mean to do this, I swear!—the boy cried out in desperation, unable to bear the incriminating silence of the man who was lurking in the distance, while searching for the bronze ring on the girl's hand. But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find it anywhere. Still, the boy continued his explanation as he searched even more desperately—It's the ring's fault! It's all its fault! I would never do this to Helena! I swear, I...!
When Apolo felt the boy was about to speak again, he calmly reached into his pocket, putting the boy on edge and causing him to abandon his idea of continuing to search for the ring. Despite the suspicious look from the killer, Apolo focused on what his fingers were feeling right now. In his pocket, he still had the bronze ring that the masked man had taken from the sleeping magician.
Slowly, Apolo took the ring out of his pocket and presented it to the boy while asking at the same deliberate pace he had been moving:
—Did you mean to find this, Apolo?
—Yes, it's all the ring's fault!—the boy shouted immediately, looking at Apolo with astonishment. He couldn't comprehend how this strange man had taken Helena's ring out of his pocket. However, the tension of the situation prevented him from thinking clearly—You have to believe me, I didn't mean to kill Helena!
—I believe you...—Apolo murmured, looking at the girl's lifeless body. While this scene would evoke great pity in anyone, the truth was that beneath the silver mask, there were two eyes filled with hatred at this moment. The nobleman knew that all the suffering the boy was going through right now was part of the grand plan of a magician who, by the whims of fate, had placed him in her toy box to shape his life according to her ego-centric plans.