Eight Intertwined

164 - Reflections

Cyrus wasn't too fond of the heat in Wellspring. 

It was to be expected. In Atlasdam, most days were temperate in the perfect way for him. When it rained, the weather remained warm enough for Cyrus to be comfortable. He was used to wearing a few thick layers of robes, but they had never quite bothered him the way they would have upset others. He was used to his routine, and he hadn't thought he would ever need to think of straying outside of it. 

That had been before he was sent out on his random sabbatical... Well, it wasn't necessarily random, but it may as well have been to Cyrus. He hadn't expected he would have a reason to wander the rest of the world so soon, but all things considered, Cyrus didn't have much to complain about. He had grown used to traveling Orsterra, and for the most part, he thought he had come to know the world well. It had taken a bit of adjustment after living in Atlasdam his entire life, but the travelers were the perfect group to ease Cyrus into this new period of his life. 

But none of the travelers could do much to help Cyrus with the excessive heat of Wellspring. Primrose was the most used to it out of the group's members, but she was still doing what she could do avoid the sun when possible. Cyrus had decided to spend his time in the inn until he started to feel better, but that promise of leaving the inn once he was ready to get back on his feet was quickly becoming harder and harder to fulfill. Cyrus didn't know if he would ever feel better. The heat of the desert was beyond oppressive, and Cyrus kept casting small ice spells to keep himself cool. It didn't entirely solve the problem at hand, but it did something to help him, he supposed. 

Unfortunately, no amount of ice spells could pull Cyrus out of his thoughts entirely. He wanted to forget about everything and just focus on pushing through the heat, but he wound up right where he started again each time he tried to distract himself. Of course he did. Cyrus shouldn't have been bold enough to assume that he would be able to force his mind to concentrate on something aside from the heat without his thoughts straying in the direction of Stonegard. 

Cyrus wanted to say that he had gotten over what happened. He had been a fool to believe Lucia without asking any questions about her true loyalties. Even so, Cyrus didn't hold that against himself after what Therion had told him. Therion was right; there was no way Cyrus could have known to expect the treachery in advance, and he couldn't go through the rest of his life waiting for somebody else to stab him in the back. It was no way to live at all. Cyrus knew that well, and so, he was willing to let go of being betrayed by Lucia. 

The situation with Therese had been a different story entirely. Cyrus knew that Therese was safe in Atlasdam now, no doubt being taken care of by the attendants of the royal family. She wouldn't be caught in the middle of a situation like that ever again as long as they had something to say about it. Cyrus was relieved... But he was nervous about it too. He could say all he wanted that he forgave himself for the consequences he had suffered at Lucia and Yvon's hands, but Therese was different. She was still a child. She was too young for all of this, and there she had been regardless, caught in the middle of a horrible situation she couldn't escape. She would carry the scars of what had happened to her for the rest of her life, and Cyrus would never be able to fix that damage. 

Cyrus should have known better. Risking his own safety was one thing, but he wished he had been smart enough to not put one of his students in danger. He hadn't known Therese would be there, but what did that matter? Therese would still remember what happened until the day she died, and there was nothing Cyrus could do about it. If he had known she was there, then he could have defended her. He should have been able to keep her safe. 

Cyrus' mind kept drifting in the direction of Saintsbridge too, but that never did him much good either. Of course it didn't help him. Therion had been snippy with him back in Saintsbridge, and Cyrus had done his best to stomach it despite the horrible feeling it gave him. Therion had claimed he would gladly go back on all of his words about Cyrus needing to stop blaming himself what had happened... No, he hadn't said exactly that. Therion had declared that he didn't give a damn about trust anymore though. Cyrus had been trying to use the same logic that Therion had used to help him, but it hadn't mattered in the end. Therion didn't want to hear him out, and while that was his decision to make, it hurt Cyrus regardless.