Marks of the New Era

Chapter 6- Guilt and Freedom

A month had passed since the secret of the siblings was revealed, despite knowing they didn't share blood, the relationship between all of them hadn't been doubted, on the contrary, they appreciated their bond more than ever.

Things had actually been going smoothly for Tai, since he now had to take care of half the work as Safiya made the other half, he wasn't as stressed as before, and most of the feeling of guilt he had was gone, although there was still a part there.

He never realized how much he needed someone who knew about his diagnosis to hear him, he had been used to talking to their mother or to his psychologist, but now in war, neither of them was there.

But since he told Safiya about it, she had been his emotional pillar, he never imagined the amount of support she could show him, no matter how busy or exhausted she was at the end of the day, she always dedicated time to hear him and give him comfort.

Of course, the process wasn't immediate, but it was much more bearable when having someone to talk to.

Safiya had been quite interested in Tai's way of expressing, she knew her brother always had a gift for drawing, she remembered how even as a child he drew landscapes or even people, one of her favorite drawings being of them along with their parents, definitely the image of a happy family.

She was a little sad that his talent was being used in such an undesirable situation, the beautiful family and nature drawings had been replaced by horrific monsters representing his panic attacks or exact recreations of the Saigai Night and the Cheve Slaughter.

However, as much as she hated seeing her brother's art transformed into things he would rather forget, she was glad he had some way of letting out his thoughts, definitely better than having anger explosions.

Tai is an interesting young man, despite his age, he has all the qualities of a great ruler, including his intelligence, his way with words and how easy it is for him to find solutions to most problems, even big ones.

Definitely someone you can talk with for hours and hours about most topics.

About himself though, that is a completely different story.

He can tell you the basic information about him, but besides that, he doesn't like to talk that much about himself.

Unlike other traits about his personality, his reservation towards himself has been noticeable since he was a child, unlike Safiya who was always more playful, cheerful, a little rebel, someone who was very honest with her feelings and in general more childlike.

But Tai was more mature, more educated, very obedient, always knowing what his place was in Genzo, and somewhat reserved, even with their parents although he still had typical traits of a small child.

They are basically polar opposites, and maybe that was the reason they got along so well despite being so different.

Safiya had always taken pride on knowing what her reserved twin brother was thinking, being the only one who could get everything out of him.

Now he and his drawings had become a little unpredictable, while she still was able to decipher most of them, there were some that remained as a total mystery.

While analyzing them, she realized that they seemed to have an order and by seeing his drawings one by one, she was able to know the events that occurred during the 15 years she was away, never imagining what her brother had gone through.

At the end of the day, she realized that, although she had said it in a state of shock, Tai had really changed, they both had, but despite that, their bond and their promise would stay forever.

She had been helping Tai both mentally and emotionally, she knew he enjoyed her company and really appreciated her support, although he had only opened to her.

Until one day he called her to his office because he needed advice.