Repentance: Book Two To the Heir Series: Teamcrafted

| Chapter Eighteen | The Qualifications of a Sky Army General

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"Home is where the good times cannot be overwritten by the bad."
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When Seto made it down to the archives, he saw Adam sit in a chair, seeming to be thinking, Seto stopped, seeing his dark mage books on top of a box. Seto stared at them and looked at Adam.

"Ian said you wanted to talk to me," Seto said. Adam paused for a few moments, his eyes shifting to Seto.

"I don't like it, Seto," Adam said. Seto looked back at the books.

"I'm sorry, Adam, I just..." Seto trailed off. He always meant to get rid of the books, but he couldn't bring himself to, not just for the pure temptation, they have helped the Sky Army out of rough spots in the past and he was always ashamed of himself for using dark magic without telling anyone. "I'm sorry...I never..." Adam's eyes soften a bit.

"Why didn't you tell us about this? You don't have any reason to be afraid to tell us these things, you can trust us--"

"C-Can I? Can I trust you?" Seto questioned him. Adam nods, standing up.

"Of course you can," Adam said. Seto stared at him for a few moments and looked at the flooring. Adam looked at the books. "Was it the temptation of them...or was it something else that never made you get rid of these books?" Seto hesitated. His hands clenched into fists for a moment.

"I...D-Do you want the truth?" Seto asked. Adam nods, looking to Seto.

"That's all I want to hear, Seto, no more lies or cover-ups. I want the cold-hard truth." Adam said. Seto looked at Adam, pausing. 'Adam...he's...He's always been there for me, protecting me from the Magic Council every time I used dark magic and I only ever lied to him. Both Adam and Ty deserve the truth...they at least do.' He thought to himself before he responded.

"I-I...Yes, the temptation was one thing, I...I couldn't let go of them. And...I've been lying to you guys for a long time. I haven't stopped using dark magic...I just can't...I can't separate myself from the dark arts. I can't. I feel like abandoning dark magic would be abandoning a piece of myself, it isn't a piece of myself that I like...but it is still a part of me. I'm sorry, Adam, I never...I never meant for it to go this far. I never meant it to." Seto shakily said before looking at the books, feeling his eyes watering. "I-I was scared of telling you guys about my real past since I'm ashamed of who I was and everything I did. You don't understand how much the Sky Army means to me." Seto looked at Adam. "The Sky Army feels like the first real thing I've actually done right in my whole life...I didn't want my real past to ruin the first time I actually had a second chance at making things right and here I am...using dark magic when all I ever wanted was a second chance. I understand if you want to kick me out of the Sky Army, Adam. In fact, that's what you are supposed to do, the Sky Army law says you were supposed to fire me and kick me out...so why haven't you yet?" Adam shook his head a bit.

"Seto, we all make mistakes--" Seto stepped away from Adam, feeling angry.

"Were you at Void City, Adam?! Were you? Did you see what I did to it?! I can't be trusted! I can't!" Seto shouted. Adam put his hands up a bit.

"Seto, calm down, calm down. It was an accident." Adam said. Seto shakes his head.

"No, no...stop it, Adam. Stop making excuses for me, stop protecting me, stop acting like a friend and act like a commander." Seto snapped. Adam stared at Seto.