"Time really does change your perspective, huh?"

It was because of him.

"You alright there?" I heard a hesitant voice ask, making me whip my head down to look at Louis's golden eyes. His delicate looking face was laced with confusion, his eyes swarming with doubt under the moonlight.

He wore silk pajamas and his hair was swept back for the night. My gaze landed upon the crown in his hands, loosely but securely held in his right hand.

As if in greeting, a couple petals from both our crowns detached themselves from the others, blue hues of softness landing near my ankles.

Louis's eyes briefly glanced at the petals near his feet, specks of yellow a sharp contrast to the green grass.

"I am quite alright Monsieur, why do you ask?"

"I dunno, maybe the tears on your face arose the doubt that you aren't," he explained and raised a brow as he noticed the clueless look on my face.

"tears?" my hands found their way to my face, feeling the sticky trail of salty tears that have partially dried on their way down my chin.

My mind looked for a memory of my eyes glistening but there was none. I dismissed the tears, accusing the cold night air despite the obvious reasoning that had started building inside.

"you seem a little out of it today, would you like to take a walk to clear your mind?" he asked, only to recieve a shake of my head. I was beyond tired at the moment and was planning on heading inside to retire for the night.

"I'm afraid my limbs can't support my weight any longer, I better head to bed now", as I made a move to turn around, the boy shouted out.

"wait! I have something to ask of you," he looked down at the ground for a moment before meeting my eyes. His golden pupils a narrow slit, the bags under his eyes an invitation for concern.

"out with it then, and be quick if you don't mind".

"Right," he drawled out before straighting his back.

"This evening, you cured one of the children...the one who was a cursebearer," he paused, taking in my now interested expression. He sighed once before continuing.

"I do not know how effective that book of yours is but...I want to try every possible cure there is," his words were loud but they lacked confidence.

"Cure you, huh? I would never have guessed...what a turn of events," the usual amused smirk formed on my face, unbothered and unchangeable. However, while my face showed mere interest, my mind was swarming with questions.

Louis...he is a cursebearer. The friend who Noe never talks about, the one who his younger self wakes up to be conforted after a nightmare, the one who made his little self smile like no other.

He was a cursebearer.

As if it was the last piece of a puzzle, everthing clicked. Noe's dedication to curing malnormals, his reason for supporting my cause, my vengence. Why he never left my side; why he never gives up on them; on me.

It all made sense now.

My eyes stayed narrowed, my ears absent mindly listening to the boy in front of me. My thoughts were focused on only one thing at the moment. A memory. A memory that I never thought I would remember but here I am.

It was after a fairly easy and fast battle, the sun almost setting. The malnormal we were fighting was apparently a 14 year old boy, dark hair and brown eyes. His frightened state after beign cured was a pityful one. His body trembled, his hair a long mess. He had collapsed on the ground and begged for forgiveness. Forgiveness for what he had done. For what he had not done.

He wanted to die, to be let out of his misery. "I can't live knowing that I had once been a monster", he had said and that day, I had seen Noe cry for the first time after a battle. He had ran to the boy, held onto him as if his life depended on it.

The man who would usually smile reassuringly had shed tears and sobbed on the boy's shoulder. His cries a desperate calls.

"Don't cry" he had told the boy in between his sobs.

"you aren't a monster," he had repeated until the boy had calmed down slightly, now gripping the man's shoulders.

I had stood back and watched the whole ordeal, amused and fascinated. I had wanted to know why. I wished to know what it was about the boy that had caused a reaction like this. Perhaps it was his adolence; possibly his tears but no.

It wasn't any of those. It was the boy's resemblance to the lad in front of me right now. Shedding silent tears as he asked me to cure him.

The reason Noe had cried, begged for the child to live, was Louis De Sade..

I focused my gaze back on him, his awaiting face. I didn't want to admit that I zoned out during his emotional talk so I only tipped my head back and asked out loud, "are you ready right now?".

The boy looked down at the crown in his hands, a longing look on his sharp features. As more flower petals detached themselves and fell down, the boy's face tensed more.

"I'm ready when you are," he closed his eyes and waited for some sort of impact. I sighed and took out the book, chains clinking and causing him to flinch slightly.

"Alright then, let's get this done with," I muttered before letting the book's light enguffle the place, including Louis.

The book worked it's magic, like always, and all that was left for me to do was read. I focused my eyes on the words, amusement dancing in my pupils as my lips started moving.

My voice higher than usual, a strange flow on my tongue. It was as if the world had stopped, waiting for me to announce a new begginning.

" Occassum Solis, the setting sun. The one who takes pride in the calm he brings, the rage he leaves behind, I declare you a malnormal no more," I finished my incredibly hard task and waited fo the blue light to disappear.

Louis was now on his knees, his body flung back and his head inched upwards to the sky. He was even sweating, skin glistening under the moon.