Strife of the Gods

Heart to heart

Kathyln and I parted ways before we reached my room. Once inside, I pulled a shirt over myself to better hide my wounds.

‘How long till I can use my abilities again?’

‘Give it another hour or so.’

I sighed, ‘Alright.’

I summoned Solaris on my hand, ‘I’m not gonna be able to fix this, am I?’

‘No, you’d better start using Shroud.’

‘I suppose…’

I focused on Ellie’s mana signature and began walking through the hallways.

There she is.

I sensed her to be on the edge of the castle.

A balcony? 

When I reached her, she was already in a conversation with Arthur.

“It’s funny. I never told anyone this, but there was a time when I hated you two.”

Her words felt like a dagger to my heart.

“What…?” I whispered.

“I felt like it was because of you two that my life was like this now. I thought you were the reason Mom and Dad felt like they needed to help out in the war. I blamed you two for the fact that I couldn’t have a normal school life with classrooms and a bunch of friends.”

“...”

“Ellie…” Arthur muttered, not knowing what to say.

I know the feeling, Arthur.

“But the funny thing is, I don’t blame either of you anymore. How could I, when your lives were far worse than mine? Most of the time when you came back home, both of you were riddled with injuries, with stories about how you faced a legendary monster or two. I remember the look on Big Brother Fayden’s eyes when he came back after the attack on Xyrus, and even though he refused to admit it then, saying he was used to it, I could see the hurt in his eyes.” She sniffled.

Looks like I need to hide my emotions better.

[Agreed.]

‘You two…’

I ignored him in favor of announcing my presence, “I’m over it Ellie, you don’t need to worry about that.”

“B-Brother?!” she looked startled.

“You heard all of it I’m guessing.” Arthur said.

I nodded back at him, a smile on my face, “Yep. And I don’t hold you against it Ellie so wipe that look from your face, don’t you want to show Arthur what you’ve been working on?”

“You know about that?” Arthur asked.

“Yeah, because unlike a certain someone I chose to meet up with Ellie before going on a detour.” 

He smiled nervously, “Sorry?”

Ellie shook her head, “Let me show you what I’ve been working on.”  

“You guys go ahead, I’m gonna go pay a visit to my team.” I waved at them.

“Your team?”

“We have a lot to talk about, find me after you finish.” 

________________________

“So, how’re you guys feeling?” 

“Tip top.” Zach replied.

“Could run a marathon.” Owen chirped.