The Burden of Destiny | Sequel to The Aura Within

22 | Running From the Past

Hope kept her eyes on her hands that rested on the table, silently battling with conflicting emotions that stirred within her. Across from her sat Nicholas, who eyed her worriedly. He had built up the courage to ask his student about her past, specifically before the tragedy of Solaceon Village. It was a chapter of her life that she kept to herself for almost five years. A story kept in an old library as she turned over a new leaf. Hope had known that this day would come, but she wasn't prepared for how difficult it was to talk about it.

Nicholas felt terrible for prying into Hope's past. He had always intended to let her have the decision regardless of how long it took for her to come forward. However, time was becoming limited as the days went by. Answers were needed as soon as possible, and that proved to be more urgent after his conversation with Gallade. There was only so much the ancient texts left behind by earlier aura guardians could provide. Nicholas wished there was another way if it meant sparing Hope from reliving terrible memories.

"We can do this another day if it proves to be too difficult on you," Nicholas assured.

"No, I can't keep pushing back the inevitable." Hope rose her head and met her mentor's eyes. "We both want answers about how all of this came to be. If opening up about my past helps, then I'm more than ready to speak about it regardless of how painful it will be."

Nicholas frowned at the idea of Hope forcing herself to do something she wasn't ready to do. "Are you sure? There is nothing wrong with waiting if you feel--"

"I'm positive." She answered sternly. "I wouldn't have agreed to meet you here if I thought otherwise."

"Very well," he answered, leaning back against his chair. "Take all the time you need."

Hope pondered about where to begin. It wasn't as if she could remember everything from the moment she was born. When had the strange behaviors started? Were there even strange things happening behind closed doors? Was she simply overthinking again? This was going to be harder than she ever imagined.

Perhaps starting off simple would ease her into the conversation. Jumping straight into her family and her relationship with them wouldn't go well, especially since she hadn't spoken about them since that fateful day.

"My mother and father were happily married. I had a brother who's a year older than me, so I wasn't often alone. We were all happy to be living a normal life," Hope began to tell. "I knew from a young age that my father was a mercenary no matter how many creative ways Mother explained his absence."

"Why do you always have to leave, Father?"

Jasper Eldridge looked down at seven-year-old Hope, who clutched her Budew plushie close to her as she pouted sadly at him. She didn't know it, but her sadness was one of her father's greatest weaknesses. He was almost ready to call off his mission just to make her happy. It was hard living like this. How could he call himself a father knowing how many times he had to be away from his family? Jasper often found himself feeling undeserving of his wife and kids, especially when he knew of the terrible things he'd done. The hands he used for murder were the same ones he held his wife and children with, and it haunted him.

The mercenary knelt down in order to meet Hope at eye level. Jasper never liked towering over his children like an authority figure, as if they were lesser than him because of their young age.

"There are people out there who need my help, Hope," Jasper briefly explained. "I can't turn my back on them, not when there is no one else to help them."

"Why can't the knights go instead?" Hope wondered sadly. "Why do they exist if they can't protect us?"

"The knights can't help with the missions I go on," he answered. "They need certain people. People like me, who're... different from the knights."