tw: suicide; no graphics, just mentioned.
tw: lost parents; describes how it happened, one lost by death.
tw: stealing to survive; stealing food to survive.
“I apologise for gathering you all here… I know many of you come from afar. I trust you all had a pleasant trip?” Kwang-Ho tells the group in an unusually sad tone.
“What is so important that we all had to come? Couldn’t you have come to us instead of the other way around?” Wanderer complains annoyed as he, alongside the rest of the group, sits down on the peak of Guyun Stone forest “Must you be so rude? Master deserves respect from all of us.” Cyno scolds him in a cold and harsh tone “He has a point. Would it kill you to be nice, Wanderer?” Heizou laughs with a teasing smirk “Apprentices, please. I have not called you here to argue about tones of voices.” Kwang-Ho settles them with a forced smile.
“Master? You seem off. Are you doing alright?” Kazuha questions in a worried tone, putting a comforting hand on Kwang-Ho’s right shoulder. The winged archon reaches out to Kazuha’s hand
“It is why I called all of you here…”
Everyone shifts their gaze onto him, their expressions showing worry, curiosity, sadness.
Kwang-Ho takes a deep breath “You all have been my apprentices for enough time to tell you about a story about a brave girl… She was named Kana, my very first apprentice… the very first one I failed…
The life she was given was a difficult one… times got so desperate for her that she often resorted to rob homes. The little girl never took jewels or machinery, she just robbed food…”
“That’s saddening to hear…” Xiao mentions as he shifts closer to Kwang-Ho.
The archon sighs “I know Alatus… I wish I could tell you that it gets better…”
Tighnari exchanges a worried look with Aether, who then looks back at Kazuha, the same look plastered on his face.
“She was born to a father from Inazuma and a mother from Joyogham who I knew well; once I got to know that she feel pregnant and that her husband ran away, I immediately offered her a room in my palace for herself and her daughter, to which she eventually accepted.
Not long after she gave birth, she passed…”
Kwang-Ho trails off as he looks at a purple beaded bracelet on his right wrist “I’m guessing she gave you that?” Aether questions in a soft tone; Kwang-Ho smiles and nods
“Indeed… it was the last thing she gave me before she killed herself…”
Unsettling and depressing silence filled the group…
Kwang-Ho takes a deep breath and wipes his eyes with the back of his hand, his pointy ears slightly drooping
“All of you are different, unique is a more fitting term… yet, you all share one thing” Kwang-Ho states as he looks up at the group
“You all were brave enough to accept my offer and ask for help. Some of you here deemed it as weak to ask for help, saying that you did not need any help as it was going to be a waste of time regardless. But today, those who said that are here. Others agreed almost immediately as you were conscious that you could not go on feeling alone any longer, even if you had friends by your side.”
Kwang-Ho opens his palm, revealing a shiny yellowish glow
“The reason I told you this story of Kana was so you could see that, even if I am a God, I fail as well. That I can bring discord, even if a claim to never bring any. That nobody is perfect, even those who were called to be such as myself…”
Grim and depressed expressions fill the apprentices, Tighnari ears drooping down to their side as his tail lays flat on the ground.
Cyno sighs sadly and look to his side, staring at the ground,
Aether simply keeps staring at Kwang-Ho.
Kazuha and Heizou look at each othe, as if sharing the same exact feeling of sorrow.
Xiao reaches out to put a comforting hand on Kwang-Ho’s back, gently rubbing it in circles as a sign of being present.
“I have noticed some of you comparing yourselves to each other or even to myself… but… I am not as calm and peaceful as I let on. If I was there for her that day, we could have lived peacefully as a family… but… I failed. Kana’s death is someone I will never forgive myself for…”
Kwang-Ho sighs once more, looking down at the ground
“Please never do such a thing. Any of you… I cannot lose you as well…” He says in a breaking voice as he suddenly snaps his head up.
“Not only for me! But for everyone around you. The people in this group, the people in your home, those who enjoy spending time with you… if none of those options appeal you, then do it for yourself! For yourself to see a happier future.
I know you all are scared of what is about to come, but do not give up. You all have fought the worst that life as thrown at you alone, and one day realized that you are tired of facing it alone…
But you do not have to face your fate alone just because it is yours…
If you ever feel like giving up. Come find me immediately. Call my name and I will be there. Regardless of the time or day or place you are! I promise I will leave none of you alone.
You are all my apprentices and I am your master, who promised to stick by your side and never abandon you by any means.”
The yellowish glow traveled to all of the apprentices, circling around them one by one and then traveling behind Kwang-Ho, circling around a green haired girl
“Forgive me, Master Kwang-Ho! It seems like you’ve already started!” She says in a worried tone as the yellowing ball slowly fades back into Kwang-Ho palm
“Collei! Oh you are just on time, we just started” Kwang-Ho smiles, hiding his sadness to the newest apprentice. He stands up and walks beside her, keeping a comfortable distance in order to not upse her “Everyone, I would like for you to meet my newest apprentice, her name is Collei. She works alongside Tighnari as a forest ranger.” The winged Archon says to the group “I trust you are already acquainted with Cyno as well?” He asks her in a gentle tone. “She is why you gathered us here?” Xiao asks in a curious tone as he stands beside Kwang-Ho “Indeed…”
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