It's been a couple of days since the events that led to Fae's arrest, and it was so dark outside only enlightened by the meek moonlight, she was put into the jail of Freesia temporarily as she awaited her trial, yet why were they taking so long with it

The best she could think of was that maybe they were arranging her execution to be public so they'd make an example out of her, yet even with that thought plaguing her mind she has yet to form an escape plan, no, for now she didn't want to escape anyways

She was stripped of her belongings that they've found on her, mainly her dagger, sword, cloak, flashlight, cigarette pack, lighter, and phone

They were very cautious with all but the first three possessions as they themselves didn't know what the hell their purpose was, and Fae wasn't quite in the mood for an éxpose on electronics

And so she sat down on the hard ground of her cell, the reinforced wooden door was the only thing she was staring at as her eyes were barely awake, she had gone for far too long without a proper night of rest, but how could she sleep with what happened to her lately, she just couldn't

All of a sudden that same wooden door that attracted her gaze so very much made a distinct cling, somebody was unlocking the door, and that they did as they opened it wide

It was two guards that gazed down at the sitting woman

"Somebody wants to see you, get up" The first spoke, but Fae had yet to obey his words only staring at them with her narrowed eyes that were quite intimidating, he sighed and walked towards her with his partner as they grabbed both of her arms and lifted her up, not before shackling her wrists together with chains that she wouldn't even hope to break with sheer strength

She didn't want to resist, nor did she want to obey anything they'd tell her, for now, she was too numb to want to do anything, yet her mind still wondered who'd want to see her

Yulia didn't show up ever since their last argument, and how could she, Fae didn't blame her as she felt responsible for any hard feelings the guild master might hold against her, she wouldn't be surprised if Yulia didn't want to see her anymore with how she treated her recently, she felt deep sorrow at that thought

She couldn't think of anybody that would come see her, she treated them all wrongly and didn't deserve their care, that's what Fae thought of herself at that point

And that mystery only grew even darker as she noticed Knights sitting outside of a door that the guards led her to, they then immediately walked away without uttering a word as Fae was left to the mercy of those two knights standing guard, she couldn't recognize them

"Get inside and do mind your manners" The knight on the right opened the door for Fae as she looked inside with a raised eyebrow

A feminine figure was sitting down on a table wearing a cloak with its hood over her head, the table had another chair at the opposite side of the hooded woman while four knights were also present inside, one at each corner of the small room

And she knew them, Claude, Lucy, Myles and William

She entered inside and the door was gently closed behind the curious Fae

"Hope you're having a nice evening Fae" The stranger woman's voice was smooth as butter, to Fae she sounded like she was in her 30s perhaps

"Please, do take a seat" She gestured at the seat in front of her, Fae slowly and cautiously sat down, she couldn't trust her but she could tell that this was another noble of Flora

As she was now closer to the woman, she was surprised to see that her eyes were of a crimson color, just like blood, with a small beauty mark under her right eye while her hair was silvery and long as the long bangs tried to cover her left eye and the scar she had that went from her nose to under that same eye

"You can call me Yuri, I'm a government official of sorts" She introduced herself to Fae with a very much uncomforting smirk as she put her hand on her chest

"And you're Fae Walker, correct?" She asked her that question but with the tone of voice she took on, Fae could tell that Yuri was just throwing rhetorical questions at her, and so she only nodded to the newly met woman

"You came to Freesia maybe, three weeks ago?" She asked her with a tilted head and a plotting smirk

"Something like that" Fae replied to her in a calm manner, her face didn't bear any emotion specifically apart from the little touch of confusion it had on its surface

"Not before meeting with Claude, who you took care of when he was unconscious" She added on, Fae could but nod as she didn't have control of the conversation

"Then you registered at the guild and made quite the impression on the guild master, Yulia, was it?" She asked Fae, who nodded again, and Yuri seemed quite pleased

"Right, Yulia" She added on and then chuckled

"I confuse Yulia with your friend Yuna much often, my apologies" She spoke nonchalantly, but Fae's eyes widened, how does she know about Yuna?

"Then you and your ghost friend" She spoke and her smirk only intensified as she could clearly see that Fae was caught off guard

"Joined the defense of Freesia against the green skin attack, and you've succeeded with taking out the goblin leader, prompting the others to retreat" She stared at Fae's eyes with much enjoyment on Yuri's face, Fae could tell that she enjoyed toying with her

"Then after that, you went on to a little trip to the empire of blades after saving their princess, didn't you Fae?" Fae was speechless, she didn't know what to answer

"Well I wouldn't pick it as a vacation spot myself but hey, everyone has their preferences" Her empathy wasn't quite doing its effect on Fae with the mischievous smile she wore on her face, but Fae didn't think that Yuri wanted to be empathetic to begin with

"You also made a good impression on both captain Edward and the emperor himself, though I have yet to talk with princess Ichiya about you" She smiled at Fae who could but stare at Yuri

"But I'm sure she'll only say nice things about you, like how kind you are" She took on to a slightly sarcastic tone

"And how brave and courageous you are, right Fae?" Fae wasn't quite amused, much to the contrast of Yuri's expression

She shrugged to the question given to her, prompting a chuckle out of the other as she looked at Fae's brown eyes for a silent second before resuming her speech

"You then went on to join the hunt for the wild beast, and you yourself took it down with magic that none of the witnesses here know quite well" Yuri gesture to the knights around with her hand, none of them spoke, just what kind of high position this woman had Fae wondered

"Either you're special, or the standards for the knights have awfully dropped" She snarkily remarked, Fae could tell it was a joke but Yuri's dry humor wasn't amusing her one bit and especially not the unfading smirk she had plastered on her face

"But well, they all spoke very highly of you, just like the people in the Empire did" Yuri then widened her eyes in fake awe

"Hell, if I could sum you up in one word with the things that people said about you, I'd say you're an angel" She smirked at Fae who didn't react to the things she heard

"But do tell me this" She then rested her chin on the back of her hand as her elbow was put on the edge of the table

"How can an Angel like yourself, murder a noble and find herself in this Jail?" Yuri asked Fae who didn't quite understand what she meant

"Murder a noble? I didn't kill him" She replied, Yuri widened her eyes for a split second

"Oh? you didn't know?" She questioned Fae's knowledge

"He died one day after you beat him to a pulp" Yuri smirked at Fae, the reaction Fae had quite amused her

"Are you happy?" She asked her, Fae didn't know how to answer that, was she? she didn't know, she couldn't but look away

"You left him with broken cheekbones, a broken nose, and a fractured skull that gave him a brain hemorrhage which resulted in his death very much after" Yuri continued, her red eyes didn't leave Fae

"He was in so much pain after that, nobody could even save him either because by the time he received the care he needed, the damage to his brain was already irreversible" Fae could still feel the burning gaze Yuri gave her while her own was fixated on her lap, she didn't know what to do or what to reply

"Now you tell me how can an angel do that to a man" Those last words seemingly prompted Fae to bite her lower lip in anger, she lifted her head and looked right at Yuri

"You know so much about me and what I've done, but you know nothing of what he did?" Yuri scoffed

"Oh I do know, and I also know why you did all of this" Her eyes then looked slightly down under Fae's neck

"That scar you got speaks enough" She smirked and then looked back at the unamused Fae that didn't enjoy the amount of information Yuri had on her, it was all getting on her nerves, can't she take a break?

"So you wanted to take revenge for what happened to you, by killing the people who hurt you, right?" It wasn't quite the truth, but it wasn't too far enough from Fae's real reasons either, she wouldn't tell her that she's wrong though

"And so you killed seven guards and a noble" Yuri added, Fae forgot how many she killed on that night, and she hated that fact, was she really becoming a monster? even forgetting the number of people she has killed?

"Three of them didn't have anything to do with the crime, you know?" Fae's lips parted suddenly from what she heard, she was lying to her, there's no way

"But rather than waiting or doing something sensible, you rushed in and killed everybody on your path to the baron, right Fae?" Even with the morbid things she was saying, Yuri still had her smirk on her face

"Whether they were innocent or not didn't matter to you, you just wanted to get your hands on the baron" Yuri continued while Fae furrowed her eyebrows

"How do you even know they were innocent?" Fae asked Yuri, who scoffed

"I assure you, our interrogation methods are quite..." Yuri pursed her lips as she was looking for the right word

"Reliable" She continued, seemingly pleased with the one she used

"We questioned all the people that worked under him and ruled out precisely who participated in that human trafficking ring" She then tilted her head while her gaze was still locked with Fae

"Any thought that might come to your head that says I'm lying is merely you trying to hide away from the things you've done" She continued, Fae lowered her head and looked down, was she right?

"You selfishly wanted your vengeance at the point of where you didn't care about human life, you didn't want to do the right thing you only wanted to give back the hurt you've been given" Yuri smirked

"You didn't try to save those people that were in the manor's secret basement either" That, she was right about, Yuna did tell Fae about it yet she refused to go there for fear that she might not catch the baron

"See" Yuri added

"You did know they were people there" She told Fae, the latter gripped tightly on the cloth of her pants, Yuri was getting more information from Fae's reactions

"You killed innocents, refused to save prisoners, and killed a person out of your own bare hands, you didn't even give him a proper trial, you brutalized him" Fae didn't lift her gaze as the other spoke, she couldn't handle her words

"So, tell me Fae" Yuri crossed her arms and rested them on the edge of the table as she leaned forward towards Fae, and with a tilted head and a smirk on her face, she spoke up

"Do you feel like an angel yet?"

Fae raised her head and looked at her with furrowed eyebrows, not one of anger though, one of guilt

A silent second dawned on the two before Yuri broke it

"Do you know what awaits you now?" Fae didn't, but she didn't speak either, she was too busy bathing in her own self-loathing

"The punishment for killing a noble is public beheading" Although those words prompted Fae to furrow her eyebrows in anger, with all he has done she was the one to be punished? unfair

"You want to execute me?" She asked Yuri who didn't speak a single word, yet she spoke enough with the smirk she had

"Fine then" Fae smiled and got up, leaning over the table to close the distance between the two women's faces, prompting William who stood behind Yuri to step up, only stopping his stride at her lifting her hand

"If you want my blood on the ground, you'll get it" Fae then smiled

"But I'll make sure yours spills first" She then didn't utter a word, keeping her deathly stare locked with Yuri's much-amused gaze yet none of the two spoke, Fae gave up and went back to her seat as the shackles around her wrists clanked

"Nice to see this jail hasn't dulled your edge" Fae clicked her tongue and looked away, she wasn't in the mood for the woman in front of her and if anything she'd love to strangle her with the chains she was tied with

"Because you'll be needing it for the favor you'll do for me" Yuri spoke, Fae raised an eyebrow and gave her a side look

"The fuck makes you think I'll do whatever you say?" Fae responded angrily, Yuri chuckled

"Well, unless you'd rather be executed at least hear me out" Yuri replied to Fae who raised her furrowed eyebrows, if anything Yuri was right, Fae had to let go of her anger for now, it was leading her nowhere, but how let go of something that was glued to you for most of for your life

"I promise you, I have enough power to give you back your freedom, if you do what I say" Yuri smirked and let Fae receive the words given

"So? do I have your attention now, angel?" Fae despised being called that, yet Yuri smiled as she spoke, with that same smile that was slowly digging itself under Fae's skin

"Fuck you" Fae told Yuri, who seemed very well aware of what she was doing as she then smiled

"I'm sorry I don't swing that way" Yuri chuckled

"But well, back to my offer to you" She then went back on topic

"If the guild's reports back to the main branches are correct, you went down that dungeon and destroyed some kind of gem, correct?" That she did, but was Fae willing to be honest?

She looked at Yuri for a silent second, before she nodded

"And that sent the dungeon back to its dormant state again, isolating the monsters that were inside it" Yuri said

"The thing is, the dungeon next to Freesia isn't the only one to have suddenly been activated" She told Fae

"No matter what kind of physical or magical procedure we've utilized we just couldn't damage let alone destroy their cores" Yuri then gestured to Fae

"Until you came" She gave the curious Fae a smirk

"You're the only person capable of destroying a dungeon's core, you're a valuable asset to Flora" Fae could feel that Yuri might want to chain her to the country, but Fae had no intentions to stay linked to Flora, she couldn't care less about this kingdom after what happened

"In fact, we need you to take care of a very volatile dungeon that's next to the capital, Rose" Yuri informed the other

"If you could do that for me, that'll prove that you're both reliable and that your ability to destroy those cores aren't just a fluke" Yuri tilted her smirking head to the side as she kept her gaze locked with Fae's

"So, what do you say?" She asked her

"Your freedom, for a favor" Yuri slightly widened her eyes in excitement for Fae's reply, the latter looked away for a second, thinking deeply

"If you do one more thing for me, I'll agree" She then looked back at Yuri who scoffed

"As if giving your freedom back isn't enough" Yuri replied, looking at Fae's ever so serious face before she chuckled

"Sure, what is it that the angel wants?" Fae desperately wanted to punch the woman in front of her, but for now she had to hold that urge in her

"I want an audience with the queen" Fae said seriously, and only then did Yuri's smirk betray her face for a split second, before it immediately came back

"That's quite the request" She chuckled and then looked at Fae right in her eyes

"And what would you ever be needing from the queen Sofia herself?" Yuri said with a touch of offending sarcasm that Fae had to suffer through, in the end the woman in front of her was her only rope out of jail

"I need to give her something" Fae said, yet Yuri crossed her arms as her curiosity still wasn't quenched

"Well if it's just that I can deliver it to her myself" She told Fae who then shook her head

"It has to be from my hands, to hers" Yuri smiled and tilted her head to the side

"Alright then, I can't promise you she'll agree since she doesn't like me much" She said as she chuckled

"But l promise I will at least ask if you can meet her" She spoke, Fae gave her a slow nod as a reply

"So? will you agree to help our kingdom with our research against the dungeons?" Fae looked away momentarily, it wasn't much of a choice if she could set her hatred aside, whether she cared or not, deeply inside she didn't want to die in this hellhole, she spent too much time not fulfilling her promise to Archard, she had an adrift oath to fulfill

"I will" Fae said, slowly turning her gaze back to land it on Yuri's crimson eyes, who smiled

"I'm quite pleased to have your cooperation Fae, I'm sure you'll do quite well in your assignment" Yuri replied to Fae

"I would assign a bodyguard to you but well" She then gestured behind her

"Claude already volunteered to aid you" Yuri looked at the knight with a smirk as Fae looked over her shoulder, making brief eye contact with him and giving him a nod before she turned to face Yuri yet again

"You two seem very close" She gave Fae a mischievous smile as she delivered her words, but the other had no intention to either answer or listen

"Am I free to go now?" She answered Yuri's snark remark with a question of her own that prompted a soft chuckle out of the silver-haired woman

"And here I was thinking you were delighted to have my company, I'm deeply hurt" She had a quite fake on purpose tone of voice as she acted offended with a hand on her chest, Fae wasn't amused, but that's what made it worth it for Yuri

"But well, no you're not young lady" Yuri added

"I have still a couple more questions to ask you concerning your belongings to be exact" Yuri gestured to the knight before her as William stepped forward and rested on the middle of the table four things, a flashlight, a phone, a cigarette pack, and a lighter, they were all Fae's things that she had in her pockets when she got captured

"I would be quite the liar if I would say that I'm not ever so intrigued about these" Yuri first grabbed the cigarette pack as she flipped it open with her other hand

"These are cigars, correct?" Fae sighed

"Sort of" She wasn't in the mood to explain mundane things, but the mundane things of her world were quite the exotic artifacts here

"Interesting, Captain Edward did say he quite enjoyed smoking one of these" Yuri said as she examined the cigarette she had between her index and middle finger closely, Fae groaned, did Edward report back every single thing Fae said

"You don't mind if I take one for myself, right?" Yuri lifted her eyes as she asked Fae, making brief eye contact yet before Fae could answer Yuri replied in her place

"Of course you don't, you're such an angel after all"

Fae couldn't but sigh

"And this?" She went on to grab Fae's flashlight

"It's a magical lantern" Fae told Yuri, who didn't really know how to interact with, what to her, seemed to be quite the magical device in her hands

"You press on that button" Fae leaned forward and pointed at the on and off button the flashlight had, Yuri raised an eyebrow and as she pressed on it the flashlight immediately enlightened the dimly lit room

"Heh, this is quite the novelty" Yuri said as she kept enlightening the room around, and then pointed the light at Fae's face, for too long

"Can you please stop?" Fae asked as she squinted her eyes from the sudden and powerful light from the flashlight

"Well since you asked so politely how could I refuse" Yuri pressed on the button again and turned the flashlight off before spinning it in her hand and then resting it on the table

"And this?" She grabbed Fae's phone as she looked at her own reflection

"I doubt this is a mere black mirror, correct?" Yuri was indeed correct

"Yeah, it's a magical device of sorts" Fae said while Yuri had quite the chuckle

"Wow, that's so descriptive, thank you Fae" Yuri laughed a bit more at the expense of Fae's patience, she could only give a sigh

"But really, what does it do?" She continued her inquiry about Fae's phone while she rotated it around in her hand to look at its sides

"I... really don't know where to begin" Smartphones could do so much that Fae had no idea where to start, nor did she want to

"Not like you can use it anymore though, it's out of battery" Each word that came out of Fae's lips only watered Yuri's curiosity further

"Battery? you mean like a mana stone?" Fae fumbled on her words from the example given to her, she didn't know a single thing about those

"I don't think so? it runs on electricity per se" Yuri seemed surprised by what Fae said

"Oh? you mean like electric magic?" Fae scratched her head, though she didn't like the look Yuri had for her

"I guess...?" Fae said confusedly before pointing at the charging port of her phone

"That's where it can be charged" Yuri looked at Fae's phone in her left hand before she raised her right

And that's when Fae's eyes widened in shock as she could see electricity jump between Yuri's fingers, too much electricity

"Wait no! you'll fry my fucking phone!" But it was too late as she tried to lean forward to grab Yuri's arm the electricity that danced around her fingers accumulated on the tip of her index finger to then jump into the charging port with a barely audible bzzt

Yet Fae stood in awe, as she could see the screen of her phone lit up, the logo of a battery being fully charged in green appeared soon after the increase in brightness

"How the..." She took her own phone out of Yuri's hand as the latter had quite the smirk on her face from the reaction she has gotten

"You're welcome, by the way" Yuri exclaimed to Fae but the woman was too busy with the now booting up phone

"Right, thanks" Fae gave her a nod of her head while Yuri smiled and gave a nod of her own, yet before Yuri wanted to reply William stepped up and whispered something in her ear, something that seemed to quite displease her

"Well Fae" Yuri spoke to her, locking eyes with the woman

"I'd love to hear you explain your ahem, 'phone' to me" She spoke with a smirk

"But I'm afraid I have quite the busy schedule for the following days" Yuri then got up from her seat, eyes still gazing at Fae

"We'll meet in the capital once you're done with your task, Claude will explain everything to you in detail" Fae gave her a slow nod

"So..." But she just had to confirm the current state of things

"I'm free to go?" She asked Yuri who was standing tall with her height being just a little bit over Fae's own, she crossed her arms and smirked

"Of course you are, I'll send a guard to unshackle you and let you go" She raised her eyebrows mischievously

"There's also somebody waiting for you outside" She added

"Somebody that seems to care about you quite a lot, better not keep them waiting, angel" And then winked to Fae, the latter could only sigh while Yuri departed followed by the knights, leaving Fae to her own thoughts as she looked down at her phone that just booted up, showing her phone's lock screen that was a picture of her much younger self alongside an old man, both were in front of a Ferris wheel with each having cotton candy in their hand, both smiled warmly at the picture

Fae smiled while her eyes narrowed in bitterness, she felt deep homesickness in her weary heart, now more than ever, she wanted to go home really badly

The guards came soon enough and unshackled Fae while one of them was quite curious about her background, Fae presumed that he was wondering how a nobody like her could get somebody in a high position to get her out of jail, but she didn't answer, she was so apathetic to everything around her that she just didn't care anymore

And so she left that cursed building that she spent far too much of her time to her liking, she took a deep breath of the air that felt so fresh to her after those damned days of being stuck inside

She exhaled all that air and then turned her head to her right as she noticed a figure in the corner of her eye

It was somebody that she didn't want to meet, not because of resentment or anything of the sort, but it was because of guilt

"Glad to see the red-eyed woman kept her promise" The woman stepped up from the wall she was leaning against and walked up to Fae

"I'm so happy to see you" She couldn't resist the desire to embrace Fae in her arms

Fae pursed her lips in a smile, or at least she tried to make them form a smile the best she could, she lifted her arms and gave back the hug she was given

"I'm sorry" The hug she gave back was quite tight, Fae's emotions that were entangled in her heart made sure it was that way

"It's fine, you didn't do anything wrong" Yulia spoke softly in Fae's ear, the latter feeling a hand gently go through her hair, it felt like paradise after her sojourn in that jail

She enjoyed it far more than she was willing to confess, but alas that embrace had to cease as the two parted away from each other after a couple of seconds

"I thought you might not wanna come see me" Fae meekly told Yulia, whose smile softened further at the words given

"That's because the guards didn't let me see you" She replied to Fae

"Don't worry about it, I'd get angry too if I was in your place" She added on as she rested her hand on Fae's shoulder, the weight of her hand was very comforting for the latter

"Whatever happened, I'm just glad you're safe and sound" Fae smiled warmly at what Yulia had to say, she felt a wave of relief course through her body

"Thank you, genuinely" She told her guild master friend, who only nodded with a smile as a reply, but she did have more things to say

"What about that woman? do you know her?" Yulia asked with a raised eyebrow

"The one with the red eyes?" Fae inquired as she got an affirmative nod

"Never seen her in my entire life" Yulia hummed to herself as she looked away

"Well, she does have some sort of interest in you" Yulia then spoke to Fae, her arms crossed

"When she came to talk to me about you, she didn't seem to have the slightest intent to punish you in any way" She furrowed her eyebrows slightly

"Hell, if anything she seemed quite content of the outcome of the baron" The guild master continued

"And I have the slight feeling that they knew all about what he was doing, they just needed proof" Yulia smiled as she spoke to Fae

"Then you came, and your arrival brought all the proof they needed" Fae too smiled, but her gaze looked elsewhere as her heart slowly processed that just maybe, her recklessness wasn't all bad

But she did kill some innocent folk, and that thought alone quickly snatched that small smile out of her face

"Right then, what are you planning to do now?" Yulia inquired the daydreaming woman, who slowly looked back at her friend as each of their eyes locked with the other pair

"I'll walk around, I still need some time to think about what happened" She told Yulia with an expression that was quite serious

"And what to do onward as well" Fae added, her friend smiled at those words as she then tilted her head to the side

"I'd ask to join you but I'm sure you want to be alone" She said to Fae who smiled in gratitude of Yulia's understanding

"Alright then, I'll go see Ulfgan and tell him that you got released, you take care of yourself alright?" Yulia said while her hand gave a slight tap on Fae's right cheek, the otherworldly woman smiled at the friendliness she was given while the duo parted

Fae took an ever so big inhale, slowly, and gently

And then she exhaled just as slowly, a lot has happened to her

She walked on and on through the empty streets of Freesia, the deafening silence was comforting, or at least Fae thought so

Her hands in her pockets and her head lowered to stare at the ground, she thought about all that has happened to her, especially on the fact that she was quickly getting used to killing other humans, to the point where she killed a man with her bare hands

It agonized her as it was too much for her to adapt to, it gnawed slowly at her weary heart and lost mind, what would her friends back at her homeworld think of what she has become, what would her grandfather think of her now?

Only then did Fae realize that the rain was pouring heavily down on her as that fact brought her to a stop, the clothes she was wearing that belonged to Yulia were completely drenched while her hair was too

She looked up to the cloudy night sky that blocked the moonlight from reaching her, lifting her hands slightly

Fae frowned

The rain, it was annoying

She then looked forward again to notice the silhouette of a man sitting down on the ground under a barely supported roof that sheltered him from the pouring rain

And as Fae got closed to him, she realized that it was that same man who she gave a gold coin to, that blind beggar with the red neckerchief tied around his eyes and the same man with the coat that quite interested Fae

She went down under that same roof as her body finally had a break from the heavy rain, she leaned back against the wall and looked at the man

"Hope you don't mind if I hide from the rain here" Fae said with her soft tone, the man raised an eyebrow and then looked at the side where the voice came from

"Eh?" It seemed that Fae took him by slight surprise, which made sense considering he lost his sight and the rain muffled all the noise around him

"Not at all lass, you can stay here for as long as you want" He continued, Fae crossed her arms and stared at the man's face, if he wasn't blind it would be quite the awkward stare

"Thanks" She was still polite though

"Don'tcha worry 'bout it, hope I ain't an eyesore" His words made Fae scoff under her breath

"Not at all, I'm not that type of person anyways" She responded, seeing the blind man nod and smile

"I like your coat, where did you get it from?" Fae asked curiously, she was very fond of it

"I stole it from a noble" His brief answer made Fae snort

"Hah, quite the honest man aren't you?" He shrugged to her with a smile plastered on his face

"Aye, trying my best to turn on a new page I guess" His words only watered Fae's curiosity further, and with a raised eyebrow she spoke

"Got a story to tell?" She asked, and he smiled

"Depends on whether ya got some time" He replied while Fae looked away for a couple of seconds

"Well, the rain doesn't seem wanting to stop anytime soon, so I guess I do" She then looked back at him with a smile that he couldn't see

"Right then" He said before clearing his throat

"Where to begin..." He scratched his light black beard thinking of a start to the tale of his life

"Was born in a remote village far away from any decent city" He said, Fae crossed her arms while her gaze was locked with his face

"My parents had a farm that I helped with early in my life, though that didn't last long" He let out a pained exhale

"Some travelers came from afar one day, very sickly too" He continued

"And that sickness soon spread very quickly in the whole village, it was a deadly one as well" He said, Fae tilted her head to the side as she looked at the man

"Both of my parents were with the people who caught that disease that soon took all their lives" He then clicked his tongue

"With the village lost, all the ones that weren't inflicted by that invisible death decided to leave their home behind in search for greener pasture" He added

"And I presume you were alongside them" Fae responded to the man who nodded to her assumption in affirmation

"We moved to the nearest town in look for work and the like, most wanted an honest life but me and my friends were too desperate, a meager wager for hard work didn't really interest us" Fae nodded in proof that she was attentive, but it wasn't as if he could see her

"So we quickly took on to a life of crime, stealing food from stores, purses from passerby's, anything that could get us through the day" He told her

"But each of us quickly got caught and eventually regretted the path we took" The man's head was lowered as he spoke

"Only me, for I couldn't get enough of the amount of gold that type of work brought to me" He said

"While the others walked back to the right path, I kept going farther and farther away, I kept telling myself that I was justified in what I was doing" Fae raised an eyebrow in curiosity

"The gods stole my home and my loving parents from me, why should I care about being morally just?" He asked a question that Fae didn't need to answer

"So I kept on to that life of crime, and as time passed on my deeds did nothing but worsen" He explained

"I soon enough became a bandit, a brigand, whatever you want to call it" The woman didn't require a further explanation, though she was indeed surprised by his background

"I robbed travelers with my sword and bow, it was quite the profitable life" His tone of voice was quite far from sounding happy about that work

"Though sometimes, the people I robbed were very stubborn, or desperate, they wouldn't be parted from their belongings no matter how intimidating I was" He continued

"I didn't just rob, sometimes I had to kill, and that left a very bitter taste" Fae too, looked down

"But I kept justifying my actions, that it wasn't my fault, it was the gods' fault" He told her

"I didn't want to be a murderer, but I couldn't stop, it was too profitable, and soon enough my connections to the criminal underworld grew to the point where I was given a job from a noble" He said, a pained smile growing on his face

"To steal precious jewelry passed on from generation to generation from the home of another noble, I presume they didn't quite like each other" He chuckled to himself

"And so I did, it was quite the easy job for somebody like me that spent their entire life in the shadows" He didn't seem to be happy about that fact

"Yet when I came back to deliver it, the guards of my employer captured me and brought me to meet the noble that gave me the job" He pursed his lips and shook his head

"Turns out, he didn't hate the other noble, he wanted to get into his good graces since he was in a higher position than my employer" The man then laughed

"And what better way to make somebody like ya than to capture the thief that stole your ever so precious family jewelry" Fae pursed her lips at those words, she could relate far more than she liked

"But I had other tricks under my sleeve, I escaped and made my way out, though I couldn't take the jewelry with me, shame, I would have loved to throw them in the sea" He said, then sighed

"After that, I haven't felt more hatred and desire to hurt in my entire life" Fae could understand his feelings, she too felt that way

"I wanted to do things to that man, things that I'd rather not say to a lady like you" His politeness made Fae smile gently, though she wouldn't mind hearing them, they wouldn't be worse than what she has done

"My life turned from surviving the days, into plotting against that noble, doing favors to people so I could get as much information on him as possible" He then looked up

"And then a little bird came to me saying that some very, very, precious cargo was being transported close to our town, and that same cargo belonged to that one cursed noble" The beggar added

"I didn't want to kill that man nor do I think I ever could, I wanted to make his life miserable, and touching his riches was the first step" He told her

"And so I grabbed my sword, bow, and some materials to make fire arrows, and went to the road that the carriage was supposed to take" He said

"I waited on and on, for hours on end, until it finally came" The man smiled

"Finally the chance to give back the hurt I was given" His words made Fae's heart shiver, his past self wanted revenge as much as she did in the past couple of days

"I fired my arrows at the covered cart, lighting it on fire, and then went on to fight with the two guards" He looked down at the ground

"They screamed as I killed them, and they screamed after I killed them" Fae raised a confused eyebrow, what did he mean?

"Because the people who screamed weren't the guards, it was the cargo itself" And as he explained, Fae's eyes widened

"It sure as hell was precious cargo, because it was slaves, people put in cages inside that carriage, that same carriage that was on fire because of me and my damned desire for vengeance" He furrowed his eyebrows as he spoke

"And before I realized that people were inside, the fire was already too big, I couldn't do anything about it" The man added, his voice broke for a second as he talked, his heart overcome by the emotions he felt from what he did once

"I ran away as fast as I could from there, I was too shocked by what I did" He told Fae

"Then I spent my days wallowing in my own self-loathing, getting drunk and losing all the money I gained, I wanted to become a better person, but the guilt I felt weighed too much" He sighed

"And soon enough I lost my sight seemingly out of nowhere, and to this day I think that it was fate coming to bite me in the ass" Pursing his lips, he continued

"Nobody can outrun karma after all" He then looked to his right, where Fae was

"That's my story, you're welcome to judge me" The man said, Fae shrugged

"I can't judge you for anything, I'm not such a clean person myself" What Fae said seemed to have surprised him

"Really now? you don't sound like a bad person lass" Fae gave him a pained smile as she looked at him for a couple of seconds

"I killed innocent people just for the desire of vengeance" She told him, her gaze drifting away

"Somebody double-crossed me, and that just narrowed my vision and made me only want to kill him" Fae added on

"Heh, guess we're not all that different you and I" The man told her, bringing her to nod, to herself more than anything

"Did you get your hands on him?" He asked her as she was gazing elsewhere, slowly bringing back her eyes to lay them on him

"He's six feet under" Crossing her arms, Fae's words brought a chuckle out of the man

"Good" He gave her a nod, but Fae couldn't really take what she has done as a net positive

"I'd say the same, but what I've done really is haunting my mind" She tightened the grip on her arms as she looked away, her heart ached

"I feel like I'm turning into a monster, an evil person" Fae told him

"Well, life isn't all black and white young lady, sometimes there's a catch to fighting evil" He responded, Fae narrowed her eyes in guilt as she then looked away, she didn't know what to say

"That's why it takes a strong person to fight evil, to be the one deciding the sacrifices isn't something everybody can handle" He added on, was he right? Fae didn't know herself

"I'll give ya an example" He attracted Fae's attention again

"Have you heard of what happened to the baron?" He asked her, Fae smiled and narrowed her eyes in guilt, it was quite an awkward moment for her

"Yeah" She didn't know what to reply with apart from a simple affirmation

"Beaten to death by an adventurer that he sent to her death" He seemed to have quite the impressed tone as he spoke

"I think her name was..." he hummed and scratched his beard, Fae smiled

"Faery?" He said confusedly while Fae's smile softened

"Nah, think it was Fae" He corrected himself

"Anyway, that lass was betrayed by him and so she went on and killed all his guards to get a hand on him, beating him to death with her bare hands" He told her, Fae though raised an eyebrow

"How come you know what happened in such details?" She asked him only prompting him to chuckle

"Well, I kept in touch with a few of my contacts from the underworld, word gets around very quickly over there" Fae puffed her cheeks as she took an inhale, she didn't know what to say

"But yeah, what do you think of what she did?" He asked her as she pursed her lips

"I think she was very reckless" She spoke as she lowered her head and narrowed her eyes in guilt

"There had to be some innocent guards, and because of her just wanting to get her vengeance, innocent people died for nothing" She spoke what she always had in her heart

"What would you have rather her do?" He said, she was quite surprised that he was so opposed to her opinion, especially seeing on how he didn't even know he was speaking to that same person

"Do you think anybody would have believed her? no matter what she would have said to anybody she would still be seen as the faulty one" Fae smiled at what he said, he didn't know it himself but he was leaving a mark that was going to last

"She did what was right, she saved so many people from being trafficked by that devil, the ones that were locked in his manor and the ones that were going to be caught by him in the future" He continued

"If anything, she's an angel" Fae pursed her lips at the sound of that word, she couldn't but look away

"An angel huh?" She said, her lips formed an ever so tiny smile

"Not an angel of a fairy tale, oh no, I'm talking about a real angel" He replied to her

"One that brought retribution straight from the gods to that demon, one that finally brought some semblance of solace to the people that were chained in his manor, without her gods know how many more people would've lost their lives to that baron" He spoke with a genuine tone and slightly furrowed eyebrows, maybe he felt related to Fae's vengeance, at least with her's there was some sort of silver lining

"Honestly..." He then took to a much softer tone that caught even Fae by surprise

"What she did, brings me a little hope that maybe this world isn't all so fucked" He lowered his head

"It just shows that there are still amazing folk out there, willing to fight evil no matter how unfair it feels, no matter how powerful that evil is, it just really fills me up with hope for the future" He smiled and let the silence sink those words in Fae like a beast's teeth in flesh

"Also, you might be getting a cold" The man was referring to Fae's sniffles, she chuckled and wiped her eyes

"Maybe" She didn't want to tell him

"Well, I just hope she'll be careful in the future" He attracted Fae's tearful eyes

"What she did was right, but sometimes vengeance can lead to one's fall" He continued

"You know what they say, eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth" He smiled and spoke again

"But sometimes an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth will leave us all in a blind toothless world" Fae smiled warmly at those words

"You're right" She spoke with a shivering tone

"Aye, but you might wanna head back lass, the cold's doing an awful job on you" It wasn't the cold, but Fae didn't want to confess either

"True, I guess I'll get going, thanks for the talk" Fae pushed herself off the wall she was leaning against

"Oh bugger off lass, if anything I should be the one to be thankful, I missed conversations like this" His attitude prompted Fae to feel some semblance of homeliness, it felt warm

"Have a good night lady, hope we can talk again" He added

"Hope so too, have a pleasant night" Fae left the man to himself as she walked away with a smile on her face

With each step she could feel some part of that crushing weight on her heart vanish away, that bath of sheer guilt was slowly evaporating away

She walked on and on, until she came by an alleyway, it was dark and isolated enough, she got deeper and then came to a stop, there was one person that she had yet to apologize to

"Yuna, could I have a word with you?" She spoke, and a silent second passed, she pursed her lips and felt that maybe she was too hard on her ethereal companion, but as soon as that thought crossed her mind, she felt her whole body tighten

Yuna appeared right in front of Fae, her arms already wrapped around the latter's body as that alone prompted a smile out her

"You don't need to apologize" Yuna whispered softly to Fae, who smiled as she seem to know exactly what Fae was going to do

"You can't stop me, I'm sorry" Fae responded while Yuna chuckled, gently parting away from Fae yet still holding her hands

"I missed your smile, blood-sister" Yuna told Fae who couldn't but smile even wider

"I'm glad you're not angry at me" Fae replied, Yuna merely tilted her head to the side

"How could I ever" She said with as much of a serious tone as her smiling face could give

"After all you went through, and all you did, all I can say is that I'm happy you're unscathed" Yuna told Fae, a smile on each face

"It takes a strong person to make the right calls to ensure a better and safer future, Aoki did that once, and you too have done that" Yuna continued, bringing a much sought after comfort to Fae's heart

"And just like Ichiya said, sometimes good people deserve to be forgiven so they can stay in the right path" She continued on while Fae gave her a small understanding nod

"Thanks" Yuna smiled and let go of Fae's hands

"It's a pleasure, Fae" She then stared deeply into her brown eyes

"The place that I go to when I'm not in this world was raining nonstop ever since the baron betrayed you" Yuna told her

"And only tonight did the skies clear out, and I'm glad to see that the clouds around your heart have also cleared" She added on, Fae smiled and nodded

"You should head for a good night of sleep, we can talk further after you get a good rest" Yuna spoke softly to Fae who couldn't agree more with her as she felt exhausted now more than ever

"You're right, I'll see you tomorrow Yuna, thanks for everything" She told Yuna, who left a smile as she disappeared

Fae sighed and walked out of that alleyway, a smile plastered on her face while her heart finally could rest at ease

She looked up to the cloudy night sky that blocked the moonlight from reaching her, lifting her hands slightly

Fae smiled

The rain, it was comforting