The Twenty Virtues Book 1- The Twenty Generals

6- The Blossom of a Genius.

"Do you think they are okay?" Emily asked, still scared. Pedro remained silent with a downcast expression, Lysa and Stuart checked on Clark, who was slowly recovering from before. John was deep in thought, looking at the horizon.

"I'd like to believe so." said the archer, preparing his weapons. "maybe we should go back and check. Girls, stay here with Clark, okay? And if anything happens, run as fast as you can."

Eagle-Eye and Stuart started making their way back, but the hammer-wielding man noticed Pedro in silence.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Huh?... well..." The priest remained thoughtful, reflecting on his life, the situation he was in, and... how strange it was to be with people again. "Don't worry, I'll be right behind you."

Pedro then got up and joined the duo, leaving the two girls by Clark's side, who was lying on the ground, trying to process what he had felt. For a moment, there was silence among the trio, and during this time, something strange was happening in Emily's mind. Looking at Clark, she began to notice details like the faint drops of tears on his eyes, every crease in his clothes, and looking at Lysa, she noticed a more downcast expression. Suddenly, she began to reason and a flash of memories and dialogues came to her. But it came so quickly that she couldn't keep up, so she still didn't understand what had happened, only knowing that she now had a severe headache.

She felt she had come to a conclusion, but it was so sudden that she didn't fully comprehend the conclusion she reached. Lysa noticed her friend's movement, as she placed her hand on her head, seeing various colors around Emily, entering and exiting her head, as if something was in process there.

"Emily, are you okay?" asked Lysa, Clark heard the girl's question and turn his attention to the hermit with a stressed expression.

"What is it now?" The tone of voice said it all, and although brief, it scared the girls. Lysa and Emily knew how Clark wasn't as kind as Helena and the others thought, even though he often acted kindly, there was a colorless aura emanating from him that only Lysa could see, and a guard that lowered whenever he was alone with the children.

"N-Nothing." Emily mutter, not wanting to get scolded. Her pain was going away, but an annoyance remained. Her body was in the middle of a process she didn't understand. Lysa, on the other hand, was focused on not irritating Clark, being the most responsible she had to take action quickly.

"Well, Emily, how about we let Clark rest, okay?" said the blonde to the brown-haired girl while guiding her away from him. "It's better to stay away from him at times like this, Emily. He's already mad at me for before; I don't want him to get annoying with you too."

The other girl just nodded, she was too thoughtful, which worried Lysa, after all, Emily never thinks.

"Hey, Lysa... I'm sorry for earlier about the book thing, I didn't mean to upset you." Emily's apology was sincere, and Lysa could see that very clearly. She was happy and felt bad about it; Emily was truly a good friend, but Lysa... was terrible with her.

But it wasn't her fault; Emily was too childish and did everything without thinking, leaving Lysa to clean up the mess. It was natural for her to be so on edge; it... wasn't her fault. Adults get irritated with each other and argue without ever apologizing, especially with children. Lysa didn't need to apologize even if she owed it; Emily should forgive her on her own, as adults do.

"You're still on that? I forgive you, silly, don't worry."

The trio stayed there for a while longer, waiting, and after what seemed like long minutes, the others returned, bringing a battered James and Helena.