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> A little bit of kindness cannot hurt anyone, but being too kind can lead you to your demise if you’re not careful enough. And forgiving someone doesn’t mean that you forget what they did, but it would lessen the heavy feeling in your chest that you kept with you for so long…
- Taro Naoko
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Last night felt like it was a long night. With all of what happened, an ambush, that strange creature, seeing Endellion again, I hardly believed all of that happened in just a single night. I thought it was never going to end... but it did. Though a part of me wished it didn't... The red and green Avians had escaped that night, but Garett was sent to the dungeon until further notice. Along with the other survivors, the clerics, and Lady Lucerne, they were in the infirmary, treating the wounded, while Lady Guinevere went to her chambers to rest. However, King Taro and I, however, found ourselves somewhere watching the sunrise from the horizon, being thankful for another day of peace.
The events of that night were still fresh in my head. I still can’t believe it. There were still things I wanted to tell her, questions that I wanted answered, and even if I stopped or turned back time, I shouldn’t use it for my own selfish reasons, not even if it’s something personal.
"Hey, Al?" Taro began, without looking at me. "Are you still worried about her?"
"... How could I not be?" I responded with my eyes closed. "You heard it yourself, didn’t you? Her life is obviously in someone else’s control. She said she wasn’t allowed to tell us everything she knew. And even if it’s for my sake. Even if it’s only brief, I wish our reunion wouldn’t be so bittersweet."
"Yeah… you know, it’s obvious that your siblings. You’re both selfless." Taro said in a joking tone, but frowned soon after. "I just wish I could do the same for you and my people…" he muttered the last bit with regret.
When the sun finally rose, Taro stretched his arms.
"Last night was truly something, huh..." he yawned, but he looked at me seriously. "But now I’m curious... Even though you know about the ambush, how come you don’t even know about your sister being alive or Garett becoming what he was last night?"
I exhaled a long sigh. "I didn't use my stone to discover the ambush. It was already obvious that it would happen. Having new recruits without knowledge tells me that. As for Garett, that was something I should have seen coming— After what Lady Lucerne told us, it should have been obvious, but I still turned a blind eye to it, unfortunately. And as for El…" I paused, remembering her when I opened my eyes and stared up at the ceiling of the room. "... I was only lost for words."
"Hmm. I see, I see. But you said before as well that you sometimes get headaches from sudden memories flashing in your mind, did you not?... Did nothing show up to you before the ambush happened last night? Anything at all?..."
He then suddenly paused after a realization hit him. "N-Nevermind about that, I just realized that if that happened, then you would have lost your focus and been at a much greater disadvantage for battle last night."
I rubbed my face gently a bit before my red gaze looked at him.
"You sure are chatty today... Not something unusual coming from you, but I envy your optimism in certain situations. How come you don’t feel exhausted, especially after all that? You’re still as active as ever."
"I— I don’t know actually. Maybe I'm not the one who just had a bittersweet family reunion?" he said in a sarcastic tone and with a huge smile on his face.
"Do you know why I keep on smiling?" I can see Taro’s wide grin as he beamed, looking at the distance. "It’s because even if conflict arises, one should still see the positive things in life."
"I may be a coward, but I was able to cast offensive spells— the thought that I can now fight alongside my people. I have trusted allies like you that I can casually joke around with. You even called me by my first name! How could I not be happy?!"
Ah, it’s because of that… His words were right, but I don’t know whether to be happy about that or be more concerned about him in the future. Is he really that happy to hear me call him by his first name? I thought before clearing my throat, "... Your amazement at such little things, and even for petty people like me, is truly... a bit concerning." and soon stood slowly off the floor.
"Regardless, I would suggest you take a rest or eat something soon. Unlike me, who’s already used to this, I don’t think you’ll last long later on if you choose to stay here any longer doing nothing."
"Hmm? Where are you going?" he asked. "Are you… planning to visit him now?"
I nodded. "I was already planning to visit him soon for some personal reason, so you do not need to interrogate him for answers about last night."
He chuckled. "Of course, of course. But you’re just gonna leave this thing here?"
I looked at him, and there I saw him holding out my sword to me. Without giving him any response, I immediately grabbed my sword, but as I pulled it up, he still held tightly to it, causing him to be pulled up as well from the floor and soon stand up properly.
"Thank you for that, Al. I truly appreciate it." He said, still not letting it go.
I stared at his hand for a short moment, still not letting go of my sword’s grip despite my hand holding on to his as well, I looked back at him, "I do highly appreciate the personalized golden pocket watch that you gave me, and if you want, I could have someone make a customized sword for you once I'm out of the kingdom."
He blinked twice before looking at me. "Wait, what— no, I don't think so..."
"Taro, we’ve been training in swordsmanship together for years now. And from what I’ve seen, you proved yourself to be capable of handling a sword of your own…" I said before pointing my finger at him. "Though, your stance still needs a bit of work, and you still need to keep your focus when in battle, and don’t get distracted."
"H-Hey! And here I thought you were complimenting me! What suddenly happened to that?! C’mon, Al! Stop teasing me!" He shouted as he pouted so childishly.
But soon after, the two of us chuckled as he finally let go of my sword. After putting it on its sheath, he finally followed. "Well, if you truly think I’m capable of having one, then I suppose that I cannot refuse that… But if my mother finds out about it and ends up scolding me, remember that your name is what I’ll spout out first."
"Ha! You can only try…" As I began to walk towards the door, I smirked. Then upon opening it I looked back at him one more time, "Are you coming… Taro?"
With a huge smile, he soon began walking towards me, "Of course! I’m coming!"
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Taro and I went our separate ways, and we expressed our short partings before doing so. My smile slowly faded as I took a deep and cold breath and soon headed down to the underground dungeons. Despite how there may be lights coming from the torches in the walls, the walls and the ceilings of the hallways that were made of large black stones, and the cold atmosphere they give, it looks and feels intimidating. I rarely visit this place, but not for that reason. There weren't that many people who were captured for a reason. Most of our enemies retreat, or end up dying in battle, or for the reason that the King himself never liked the idea of keeping prisoners for too long.
He is truly way too kind. But even so, there’s still that lingering feeling of fear that it might one day kill him. I thought before soon arriving at the prisoner’s door, and was soon noticed by the two knights standing guard, who immediately greeted me with, "G-General Amaryllis! Good morning! And are you here to visit Garret Rowe today?"
I nodded to them. "Yes, and you both shouldn’t worry too much. I can handle things from here if any problems were to occur. So take a break for now."
The two of them exchanged looks before turning to me with a smile and nodding, giving me the keys to his prison room. "Thank you so much, General Amaryllis! You are truly too kind!" they said in sync before finally leaving their positions, looking happy even, and leaving me to open the door to Garret’s room.
Upon entering the room, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it looked and felt much warmer compared to the hallway outside. From the light cream-colored walls, ceilings and brown tiling flooring, to the furniture like the large bookshelf, small wooden table with a tray of breakfast served in it, a wooden desk and chair, and how neat the bed he’s sitting in, before he soon stood up, looking at me surprised, "Alessio! You’re here! You’re…"
He suddenly paused as his gaze looked away and grabbed his left arm tightly. "You’re still here… to visit me, and see me in this poor state... I'm at a loss for words."
Without letting him finish, I suddenly ran to him, embracing him tightly, and the first words that came out of my mouth were, "I’m… I’m just glad to see that you’re fine now. And I’m sorry, Garett. I’m so sorry for everything…" Holding tightly onto his cape, I continued, "... For not being there for you when you needed me the most; for letting you suffer alone for so long; for not thinking about your feelings more often. I should—"
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Suddenly, coming to a halt as Garett hit me hard on the head, making me groan in pain a bit and move away from him.
W-What? Why did he suddenly hit me on the head? I thought as I looked at him once more, kneading his hand that he had just used to hit me just now. Did it hurt him too?
"Wow... you really do have a stubborn head, Al?"... No wonder you were able to knock me out last night." He said this before looking me dead in the eyes.
"Listen, if you're going to properly apologize to me— and name everything you can blame yourself for— at least apologize for hitting your own head on mine last night!... I know that you keep on saying before "to use your head", but I never thought that you were going to do it literally!..."
As I kept my silence, his face was flushed red in annoyance. It was close to mine and his breathing was heavy after he was finally done giving me one of his lectures, like he used to do to me before.
It seems he’s back to his old self after all. I thought as he then sat back down in his seat, placing his hand on his face.
"Despite how reckless of a plan that you two made last night, it fortunately worked, and I would thank you both for that but… I know that you came here for an explanation on my part…" he continued.
"... A few days after the disastrous morning the three of us had— and of course it was caused by yours truly— I was trying to calm down and think about things. But it was from those days when I noticed that there was something going on with me... I didn’t want you to worry, but I wasn’t able to find you either. Instead, I found her. She was disguised as Klein, but her eyes gave it away. I was in doubt at first, knowing that she already… or perhaps that’s what we thought at least..."
Garett then started pouring tea into each of our cups.
"She took me to her Companion in Black, who she said could help me with my… case. He was a man with long silver hair and had a right emerald-chartreuse visible eye. She said he works as an informant, but disguised as a traveling woodcarver."
Her Companion in Black? I thought as I stared at him as he took a sip from his tea before he continued on, "Believe me, I didn’t trust the guy either at that time, but I was desperate… Everything seemed to go smoothly after a while... well, until she sensed that you were in trouble. She was hesitant at first, but I told her to not worry about me and to go after you. And so when she finally left, that's when things started to go wrong…"
He immediately paused all of a sudden as he pointed his finger at me, "Oi! Before you suddenly doubt her again like last night, at least let me finish my story, alright?"
"W-What? But I didn’t—" I suddenly stopped in my tracks as I remembered how I doubted her last night when we first met. Clearing my throat, I then continued instead with, "Perhaps I did doubt her at first during that time, letting my cautiousness get the better of me, and I must admit… that was a huge mistake on my part."
He nodded in silence. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, after she left, that’s when the strange guy injected something into me. Whatever it was, it caused me to lose control of both my mind and body. I could barely remember anything else that happened after that, and just found myself here with the headache that you caused, but saved me nonetheless… Before she entirely left the kingdom, she actually visited me. And she couldn’t help but cry and kept on apologizing. She said as well that she knew about the ambush, but didn’t know that her companion was planning to do that to me."
I kept quiet, staring at my tea before soon asking, "She said to me last night, when we met, that there are those people who have their life and mind on their hands. Could that companion of hers perhaps be one of them?"
Surprisingly, he shook his head silently. "Unfortunately, and as strange as it may sound, the guy seems to be just following orders as well as she does. He even had some sort of very strange relationship with her…" he whispered the last lines before clearing his throat. "My best guesses are the Queen herself, and her Masked General from before…"
"The Masked General…" I repeated under my breath. Then, all of a sudden, it happened again. But this time, three quick new memories suddenly flashed into my mind. A scene from the past— but my friend’s face was blurred out. Another was a scene of what seemed to be coming from the future— the companion of my sister, Endellion, as he was telling me something. And lastly, was a scene of the masked man standing before me, with flames and a destroyed home all around us. What— What did any of those mean?
"Al? Alessio?! Hey, come back to me, Al!" I soon heard Garett shout at me as I slowly came back to my senses and looked at him. "Are you alright? You just suddenly looked pale and sweating bullets. And then there's your right hand... it’s been shaking for a while…"
I blinked twice before looking down at my shaking hand that was still holding the tea cup that I had not drank yet. Using my left hand to hold it, and soon it stopped from shaking as I responded with, "I’ll be fine… I’m fine." and drank the tea in one gulp.
He stared at me for a while before sighing in an annoyed tone, and scratching the back of his head, "S-Seriously, Al, your Time stone truly has some serious drawbacks… And I’m truly concerned about what worse things it could do to you one day when we least expect it. But of course…" He paused as he closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "... I’ve already known that convincing you would just be futile. And the least thing I could do is keep an eye on you, because I already knew as well that you would probably ignore its worst possible drawbacks, or forget about taking care of yourself."
"Don’t worry, I won’t. I’ve already learned my lesson from last time..." I said.
"Uh, huh. And I’m a flying orange gorilla…" he said in a very sarcastic tone before putting both of his hands on both of my shoulders, tightly even, but still I couldn’t look him in the eyes. He then sighed before saying, "You can tell me that you’re fine, but I know that you’re not. You can tell me that you can still keep going, and I know that you can, but I don’t believe that you could. And as much as you want to seek the answers to all of your questions, whether it be about the stones or about your sister’s whereabouts, at least do me a favor, just this once— listen to me!… and don’t go out there recklessly."
The two of us stared at each other in a short moment of silence, before I slowly nodded my head a couple of times, then placed down my cup on the table gently and asked him, "From those last couple of lines of yours, I suppose you already know where I’m planning to head soon, and for what possible reasons… But you know as well that I still wouldn’t be able to find him that easily without you telling me— or asking you for his location now, would you?... Not unless you’re planning to stop me from going."
"Even if I won’t tell you where he is, you will still leave to find him yourself. And like I’ve said earlier, if I can’t even convince you to leave this kingdom or to give away your stone, then it’s pretty much futile as well as convincing you now to not go there. What’s more, I’m highly aware that I’m in no good position to leave this dungeon to stop you, despite how kind your "friend", the King himself, may be…"
He looked away from me for a moment. "He… he already proved himself enough in how much he truly cares for you, despite the huge tragedy he caused in the past."
"Garett…" I said, slowly about to place my hand on his shoulder but halted.
"It’s true that I was jealous of the way you interacted with him. Seeing how you seemed to be more calm and happy being around him. And despite how you still know and remember what he did, you no longer see him the same way I do— the same way everyone from home sees him. Every day, their own bottled hatred grows stronger. Just like what happened to me… and you already know how that ended…" He stares at his hand for a while before clenching it into a fist and shaking his head, then suddenly stands up from his bed and finally looks at me.
"That's not my cup of tea, and it's not what you came here for. But if you truly want that badly to get answers from that very strange Traveling Woodcarver— Informant man— or whatever people want to call him nowadays, he has a small cabin in the middle of the Emerald Forest. It’s his primary home afterall, and I believe you can catch up to him if you leave by early tomorrow morning. But!..."
He then suddenly points his finger at me, "... repetitive and annoying as I may always sound to you, always remember what I just told you earlier, alright, Al?"
"Hmm… Tomorrow morning. I don’t think that’s going to be that much of a problem. But I must say, I do fear, not only for my sake and my journey, but for the people who I will be leaving behind here. Even if it’s only for a couple of days. Still, I couldn’t just..." I paused before shaking my head. "No— No, you’re right. I’m being a worry-wart even on such little things, again. My apologies for that… I’m still— Well, that part of me is still a work in progress until now… "I hope that makes sense."
He scratches the back of his head again before chuckling awkwardly, "Weeell, you're not the only one who needs to work on changing something about yourself. So yeah, you’re fine, or better than where I’m starting off at." He then looked down at the untouched food before sitting back once again on his bed, saying, "Oh right, we shouldn’t keep the food waiting for too long, though some of it is probably already cold by now for how long we’ve been talking and just drinking tea. But wasting them would just get Sienna mad at me even more than she already is."
"Sienna?" I repeated it, to which he was startled upon hearing it and suddenly stopped what he was doing. "Are you referring to Lady Elora from the Grand Hall?"
"I— W-Wait— How did you know?!" He shouted in surprise before soon clearing his throat and looking away from me with crossed arms. "Y-Yeah, it’s her. I… Well, she told me about her first name, along with her disappointment in what I did last night when she visited me earlier to bring me food… Aaand when I accidentally called her by that name of hers, she suddenly slapped me in the face and immediately left the room."
I blinked twice before I couldn’t help but laugh, which, of course, made him feel embarrassed and annoyed even more and made him ask, "H-Hey! What’s so funny?"
"O-Oh, right— My apologies, it’s just that— Are you sure you’re still the same Garett who gave me that Anemone flower before, and told me to make a move on the woman I like?" I asked before finally catching my breath. "Easier said than done, huh?"
"I-I— You—" were the only words he could utter before succumbing to his own defeat. "A-Alright, you got me there… And it was only funny when I was the one teasing you, but I suppose I deserve that too. Well, if it means I could see you smile and hear you laugh like that more often like how you used to… It’s been… so long afterall."
I sighed in a slightly tired tone as I nodded a bit. "Yeah, you’re right… It’s been so long— Too long even, ever since this on-going bloody war truly changed our lives, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn’t try to make something better out of it from time to time, don’t you think?" I said as I raised my glass of fruit juice to him.
He soon smirked and chuckled at me, "Now that’s more like it, Al! Cheers to us!" He then said triumphantly before we clinked each other's glasses before drinking.
The two of us then continued talking— catching up for the times we had missed from the couple of days that we never talked, for a couple more hours, and alongside eating our breakfast of course. It was then around noon when I had to take my leave, to report to the King, take some plenty of rest or do a little bit more of work. We then expressed our short parting to each other before soon leaving him in his dungeon room.
And for once, all our worries and negative thoughts faded away for a while now…
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