Anna still looked on for a few more moments, confused. Slow as ever to finally grasp the point, a light appeared in the darkness, and she stepped back with an audible gasp.
“You!” A harried mumble, steadily rising in crescendo. Dark blues widened, fist unwinding and latching over her mouth for a brief second. When she regained her composure, tiers spat: “You were that Dark Knight; in Mysidia AND Damcyan!”
Like a floodwave, memories washed over the Red Mage: her engagement, her marriage, her supposed death… Everything swirled and compiled into one huge memoir, leaving her breathless.
And still, I am here. How is that, anyway?
Realizing the man was still there, she looked up in embarrassment, scarlet painting her cheeks once more. “I… Cecil. Who would’ve known…”
Now she wanted to emulate the bards, and run… Oh, dear.
The girl was clearly surprised, however the fact that she hadn’t attempted to hurt him calmed Cecil’s racing heart just a little bit.
What a cruel joke Cosmos is playing on me, he thought to himself. As if I needed more a reminder about those horrible nightmarish days
“I’m sure,” Cecil began, “that there is nothing that I can say or do to express my deep deep regret about those incidents. There is no excuse for the lives that my partner and I took those days. Just know that I am sorry. So sorry that my dreams are plagued by the screams of the innocents I have slain.” Cecil closed his eyes and placed his left hand over his heart. “I know that the elder of Mysidia trusts me, but please do not feel obligated to do so on his behalf. Here in Aphrodite I am guard Captain at the palace, please, I ask that you provide me a chance to show you that I am changed.”
Anna was clearly overwhelmed. Everything about this man brought back her own fears she had tried to escape from. She hadn’t been directly involved in Mysidia’s affairs, having been in the town of Kaipo when it happened, but to know that such a thing did indeed take place within her mother country sent shivers down her spine.
Still, though; he was here, and so was she. The Red Mage would have to make the most of it. Regaining her composure, she coughed into her fist, and listened to his words.
When he finished, dark blues blinked, drinking in his words. Anna was all for peace, having grown up with a Toroian-born mother, and she knew the Mysidian Elder; if he could find it in his heart to forgive him, then so could she — though honestly, the fact that he had witnessed her supposed death frightened her more than the slaughter he had caused in Mysidia.
“I… Yes,” she finally stammered, tresses bouncing in an affirmed nod. “I trust you, Cecil. Likewise, if there’s anything you need from me, I am usually at the temple, helping to cure the wounded and lame with the White Magic my father taught me.”
“Alright” He said, his heart easing just a little more. “Thank you. This means a lot to me. I promise you the man I once was in dead.”
He held out one hand, for a handshake.
