I Plead, Your Majesty, For Forgiveness

Chapter 10

More experience leads to better survival rates.

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The Yaksha struggled. The usual, calming sounds of the water being brushed by the fish below were deafened by the screams and yells of berating and derogatory terms directed his way by the enraged gods. He's noticed they've been louder, picking up on his guilt of being inferior to what is expected of him, but there wasn't much he could do to achieve peace of mind. His palms scooped up the water, letting his mind go into autopilot as he focused on his movements to heal the Creator the best he could.

Talking helps; he recalls, letting his mind produce sentences and questions as he watches the healing process. His head lifted at the mention of Barbatos, disbelief filling his veins at the level of disrespect the Anemo Archon held as his eyes blinked. The sudden change of attention made him falter, adding another mistake to his list as the comfortable clothing they wore began to soak. He regurgitated the knowledge Morax had told him, desperately trying to ignore the snide remarks of his karmic debt as he frantically searched for other injuries to keep his thoughts away from the provoking voices.

It only went silent when he noticed the traces of his debt carried to the Creator, lowering his guilt as his mind whirled with questions. He hesitantly lifted his gaze, meeting theirs as he struggled to complete his sentence. Had it always been this difficult to talk?

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Silence struck a nerve between them both. [Name] was the first to break their gaze, dropping to observe the trails of debt as the two shared the burdens of anger and betrayal. It had only been for a minute, but the whispering was already overstimulating as so many voices overlapped and intertwined with one another. This is a nightmare, they swallowed anxiously, does he have to listen to this all the time?

He hesitantly stood himself up, "there are nearby foes with additional karmic debt." He cleared his throat, "it would be wise to test other healing properties. You shouldn't have to deal with my burdens due to my negligence of your well-being." His arms crossed over his chest as he averted his gaze, "but..." His voice fell to a whisper, "I must thank you for weakening the degrading I hear, even for just a moment."

"Xiao..." They murmured, picking themselves off the floor with a frown. They watched somberly as he turned his back to them, silently wishing for them to follow without another word to hang off of. They respected his wishes. After all, how could they empathise with someone who didn't wish to be understood?

They caught up to him, listening to the trinkets on his person that uttered a story each time his hips shifted with a step. It wasn't much, but it was better than a thick silence as he keeps to his own mind. "You don't need to worry," he hesitantly spoke as they neared a camp of karmic foes, "if their pure karma isn't suitable for you, I shall take the burden to convert for your sake and health." He let his polearm materialise as he spoke an offhand comment, "it's the least I could do."