Nez almost felt like he was being judged in a trial.

Delilah, Bortheus, and Phisena were looking at him like hell itself opened in front of them.

Phisena seemed more in shock than the rest. She stayed a few steps behind.

“So... Let's hear it” Nez told them. “You traveled with a vicious murderer. I'm sure you want to give me a piece of your mind”.

“You look like a completely different person” Delilah said. She spoke softly, as if she was afraid to wake something up.

“Maybe I am a different person... I thought I could leave everything behind, but apparently three years is all I can hope for”. Nez covered his face with both hands. All of a sudden, he felt tired.

“Do you want to... explain?”. Fort the first time, Delilah was uncertain on what to say.

“Explain?” Bortheus asked, scandalized. “What is there to explain? You heard the stories”. The knight pointed a finger on Nez. “This... thing... killed countless people. The victims were always found ripped to shreds! And any eye witness that got a look of his face was met with the same fate!”.

Every word was like a gut punch to Nez. But he took it in silence.

“He would draw out his targets by terrorizing them from the shadows, sometimes for entire days. Over a dozen people chose to kill themselves when they realized they were in his sight”. Bortheus was starting to heat up. “There is nothing that could explain this”.

Delilah looked pained. “I know, but...”.

“No!” Bortheus shouted. “He's a beast... He's worse than that. The only thing he can do is slaughter people. You saw the look he has on his face, sometimes. He's a murderer by nature”.

Nez couldn't take it anymore.

“What was I supposed to do?” he snapped.

Bortheus and Delilah jumped.

“Let me ask you: can you guess what my first memory is?”. Nez's eyes went sharp. “Laying on the sidewalk, as I'm being kicked in the stomach by a bunch of passerbies” he answered himself. Deep down he didn't want to talk about that, because even just remembering hurt. But the words came out by themselves.

“Do you know what it means to be abandoned in an alley as an infant, because your parents are so repulsed at the sight of the thing they conceived that they'd rather get rid of it?”. Now that Nez had started to speak, he couldn't stop. If he tried, he would have gone mad.

“Usually Devil Touched are kept secret, until they are old enough to fend for themselves... But I was left to die on a dirty pavement”. He couldn't even tell what his parents looked like. He was only days old when they threw him away, too young to remember.

“It's a miracle I survived. I would have starved if a group of beggars hadn't found me. They decided to raise me, planning on using me as a tool for their interest... A Devil Touched can be very handy, if you know how to use them”.

Those old, smelly geezers found the chance to improve their lives with a long term investment. Nez didn't blame them, but that didn't mean he liked that plan.

“When I was six years old, I got away from them. But then I was alone...”. Nez had to take a few moments of silence, his voice was starting to break. “I had to survive, and the only way for me was to be ruthless”.

Nobody should feel like wanting to live is a crime.

“I had to make clear to everyone I was someone not to be messed with. If somebody hurt me, I would hurt them back ten folds. If somebody took something from me, I would take everything from them”.

Living in the streets was tough, and it was even tougher for him. As a little kid, and as a Devil Touched, everybody and everything was against him. If he hadn't become a small monster, he would have been crushed.

“After two years, the beggars who raised me found me. They wanted to punish me and take me back... I didn't want to, so I tried to chase them off. But it didn't work”. Nez still remember the words they spoke to him with unerring accuracy. They weren't much worse than what he was told on a daily basis, and yet they sounded so personal...

'You're just a mistake'.

'You were tossed aside like a dirty rug'.

'Not even your parents loved you, what do you hope to do?'.

'We are the only ones who give two shits about you, boy'.

'You're not even worthy to be our slave, and still we showed you so much benevolence'.

“That was... That was the first time I killed” Nez said with a grave voice.

The moment everything changed.

“I butchered all eleven of them, and the worst part is that I felt better afterwards” Nez admitted, disgusted with himself. Taking a life managed to dull the anger that was eating him inside since he could remember. The violent instincts brought by his hellish heritage craved for it.

Nez crossed a line he couldn't come back from.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Bloodshed was the only thing I was good at... And I kept going. It made life easier. At that point, nobody dared to bother me”.

He had become the only thing he was allowed to be.

“It was then that I met Cloriana”. A sad smile came on Nez's face. “She was a troubled kid, around my age, also living on the streets. And she was the only one brave... or stupid enough to approach me”.

Cloriana... She was stubborn and tough as nails.

“Since she didn't mind me being a Devil Touched, we banded together. Watching each other's back made it easier for both of us. Maybe I could have considered her a friend... No, she was more like a sister”. Not that Nez knew how to define any kind of bond. He never experienced friendship nor familial ties.

“Eventually, we attracted enough attention to get into the more obscure side of Cardinal Citadel. We began taking contracts. After that I got the nickname The Hollow and... Well, you know the rest. Bortheus summed it up pretty well”.

Everybody knew about The Hollow. He was worst than the boogeyman, the most feared individual of the Three Nations.

There was a long silence after Nez finished talking. It was almost surreal.

“What happened the day you... the day The Hollow died?”. Delilah somehow managed to appear levelheaded.

Nez put his hands hon his scar. “After taking care of a few senators' problems, they decided I was a loose end. They set me up with a fake request, and hired four of the best assassins in town to silence me. I should have seen it coming...”.

It wasn't even a job he wanted to take in the first place. He only did it because Cloriana thought it would bring them renown, and it would be the start of their own organization. Not that Nez would have ever took part in her dream. The fewer people he had around, the better. He only wanted her to stop nagging him.

“They got me good. I really thought I was going to die”. Nez shivered at the thought of his old wound. “But I managed to escape, leaving only a trail of blood that led outside the city. I fainted near a farm”. His expression became softer.

“When I woke up, I was inside a house I've never seen before. This old man found me and took me in”. Nez made a sour laugh. “Despite of what I was, and clearly being involved in some shady business, he took it upon himself to nurse me back to health”.

Nez never understood why that man did it. It made no sense. “He treated me like a grandson, even if I looked and acted like I wanted to bite his head off. And yet... As the days passed, I began to feel different”.

There were no words to describe it. He couldn't even comprehend it himself.

“Maybe it was his unconditional kindness. Maybe it was the time spent not worrying about survival or my cursed blood. I started to realize I might had the chance to reach for a different life, one not so drenched in blood and cruelty”.

With a sad expression, Nez looked up at the ceiling. “In the end, when I had recovered, I couldn't bring myself to go back. To the world, The Hollow was gone. I decided he would be for myself as well”.

That moment was both liberating and terrifying to Nez. His Devil Touched nature would never leave him, all he could do was doing his best to not let himself be consumed by it.

“So I left the Salisgor Republic and found a place as a fixer in Yronsburg. Until you three came along”.

It was the first time Nez had told his entire story to anyone. Some knew him before, and some after his change. But none ever heard the whole thing before.

Nez felt drained. “So, I ask you again. What do you want to do with me?”.

Bortheus approached him and hit him with a powerful punch. “If you think we'll take pity on you because of your sad story, you're dead wrong”.

Nez didn't react. He licked his busted lip. “I didn't say it to make you empathize. I only wanted to take a weight off my chest”. He was expecting to be hit again, and was fine with it.

“You act like leaving your fate in our hands is your only option”. Delilah gently pulled Bortheus back. “We aren't exactly defenseless, but I'm sure you could kill us and escape”.

“I'm not gonna hurt you”. Nez made a somber face. “And we both know you're not the type of person who lets a dangerous criminal loose. I'll accept whatever you decide”.

But Delilah surprised him. “I don't see a dangerous criminal in front of me”.

Nez's eyes immediately met hers. “Did you hear a word of what I said?”.

“The Hollow would have already dealt with us. You, on the other hand, are asking for punishment”.

He shook his head in disbelief. “Don't say things like that...”. He refused to hear it.

Delilah looked very serious. “There is no denying that you did terrible things in the past... But you chose to abandon that life. You chose to be different, when you finally had a chance”.

“Stop it”. That kind of talk pissed Nez off. “Cut the self righteous crap. I don't deserve your kindness”.

Delilah slapped him.

“You hate yourself so much that you would accept death on the spot. You punished yourself all this time, I don't intend to add to that”.

Somehow, Nez felt that slap way more than Bortheus' punch.

“Don't take this away from me” he begged her under his breath. “I should face the consequences for my actions”.

“What would that accomplish?”.

What is she talking about?

“If you died here, or were sent you to rot in prison, it would mean that you went through all that suffering for nothing. These last three years of your life would be meaningless”.

A little flame flickered in Nez's chest.

“You made the choice to be better than who you were, and in these days I could see you truly are a good person... even if you are devious. I ask that you make that choice matter”.

Nez felt like he couldn't move. Maybe he was dreaming.

“I, Delilah Enerya, daughter of king Tiberius Enerya, have decided on your punishment” Delilah declared in a solemn tone, the voice of a ruler. “You have to stand tall and make amends. Walk with me, and help me save my kingdom. Show me that The Hollow is no more”.

“I can't...”. Nez's breath was shaky. “I'm a Devil Touched. We are not heroes. We don't save people”.

Delilah reached for him, raising his chin. “You are not any Devil Touched. You are the Devil Touched that buried The Hollow. You alone put an end to that monster”.

Nez couldn't hold his tears. “I should have never created him”.

“It's true. But now you can show us who Nez really is. Who you chose to be”.

Finally, Phisena walked towards him. Delilah stood aside.

Nez wasn't ready for it, no matter what Phisena was about to say.

She put her hands on Nez's cheeks. There was hesitation and fear in her, but it wasn't enough to stop her. “You are not evil” she said, looking in his eyes. It was almost as if she could see his soul. “I don't want you to hate yourself”. Phisena barely managed to smile. “Thinking about your past is scary, I won't lie... But you were never given the opportunity to be different”.

It was too much.

Nez broke down.

He fell to his knees, crying his lungs out.

Why are they doing this?

Phisena hugged his head against her abdomen, stroking his hair. “It's going to be alright”.

“Humph”. Bortheus crossed his arms. “After all, a vicious murderer wouldn't have lasted a minute with us” he begrudgingly said. “I'll trust my lady's judgment on this. But I'll keep my eyes on you”.

Nez wasn't used to be comforted. Nobody ever thought about what it meant to be a Devil Touched, and what the world forced upon those like him. In that moment, something fell into its place inside him.

“I swear to all of you” he managed to say through the tears. “I will atone for my mistakes!”.

Maybe he wasn't a hero, but he was good enough to help the friends who put their faith in him.