The next morning after my outburst.
Walking down to the training grounds...
All was normal.
Or as normal as Hengeist was capable of being.
But it was when I took a look at my 'comrades' once again.
An entirely different look. With new eyes.
Eyes that could see past the fog.
That was the exact moment.
That was when reality began to set in.
And all I wished to do in the entire world...
Was escape from it.
I saw it all...
Men pummelling boys as they cried out for their mothers. Spilling each other's blood over the rocky floor.
Instructors screaming and spitting into their pupil's faces.
The wails and the cries of despair coated by fury.
The smell of iron and vomit filling my lungs and making my eyes water.
Pandora had shown me a sliver of kindness...
The tiniest crumb of decency.
And now... the torturous hell-hole called Hengeist that I used to call home...
Only appeared that much more depraved.
No one else in the camp, not even those leading it had experienced what I had...
Someone who simply wanted to show them some support.
Any amount of love at all.
But now that I had, the illusion could never fully reform.
Yes, I still had that driving force, luring me back into the flames.
Urging me to dive back in. To prove myself, to 'fight for my family.'
But, in the back of my mind, was another.
Urging me to flee them at all costs.
And, in all honesty...
I was happy to listen to the latter.
But still, I had to train, there was no escape from that.
And so I did, but my disconnect was ever present.
I did not fill my belly and mind with rage as once before.
I did not partake in the wild war cries, the senseless beating.
Instead, I simply practiced...
I focused on the fight ahead, and all that was in front of me in the moment.
Hengeist had led me to believe that I hated fighting and hated combat.
And yet, the moment I stopped listening to them, I had the greatest training session I had ever experienced.
Even though my technique, my power, my speed were still off.
It was as though a disease of mine had been... not cured, but...
It's symptoms had become less potent.
Luckily, my silence had caused me to fade into the background.
Instructors took no note of me.
I was undisturbed. No longer being dragged into their world.
Almost... free.
Once training was over, and I was headed back into the city...
My vision became even clearer.
I glanced around at all the other Gimen soldiers, as though I were looking into a mirror reflecting yesterday.
No light, no life in their eyes.
Their vision still blurred.
And yet all it took for me to begin to see again...
*Was a human?*
My mind almost tipped back into attack mode at the mere thought.
I did not know what to believe about Pandora.
I did not know whether to retreat from her or retreat into her.
All I knew was that I did not know.
I think that was what drove me to speak to her again.
*That is, if she'll let me, after last night.*
After getting home, I decided to play it safe, and wait until around the same time she had reached out last night before putting the ring back on.
Or perhaps, it was not the same time...
Perhaps I could not wait that long.
I picked up the ring and examined it once more.
Pondering on my decision.
Hengeist still had some more objections...
But my mind was made.
If she was truly yet another evil human, I would decide for myself.
And, besides that...
I wanted to hear her voice again, to feel her presence.
At the time, I could not imagine why.
Reclining back onto my bed, not too hard as to break the withering frame...
I slipped the ring back onto my finger...
And closed my eyes.
"Hello?" I said to myself.
No reply.
"Hello? Are you there? Human?"
No reply yet again.
I became paranoid.
Perhaps my lashing out on her had warned her off...
Perhaps I had set her against not just me... but Gimen as a whole forever.
Perhaps I had single-handedly snuffed out my last chance at happiness.
Perhaps--
*"Hello? Can you hear me?"*
Just the same feeling as before.
Her voice sung like music to my ears.
Beckoning me to dance.
But I wanted to maintain my composure this time.
*"Hey, Pandora, wasn't it...?"*
She took a moment to respond.
"Yeah... that's me! Thank you... for remembering me."
There was no anger in her voice, as if the previous day had never happened.
I wanted to pretend so too, probably twice, or thrice as badly as her.
But I thought it wrong to not apologise.
*"Okay... I see. Pandora... I'm sorry I said... those things to you... before. You did nothing to deserve it."*
Another moment of silence.
"I did much to deserve it... Gimen. No words could ever hurt me as much as I have hurt you..."
For a moment, I considered her words as the honest truth.
But then, I looked back on that day, the day we first met.
With my newfound clarity.
And I came to a realisation...
What had she actually done?
She had 'tried' to kill me, and not even lain a scratch on me, yet alone my brothers.
Then she had cried about it as if she had slain 1000 men.
And then... she helped me to appeal to her own allies, to save my mother, and all the rest of the village that remained.
And... as her final 'evil deed', she had set me free from enslavement.
I laughed to myself, trying to make sure she could not hear.
*How can someone feel so guilty over nothing?*
*How could someone be so pure?*
It simply made no sense to me.
*"Pandora... do you remember what I said to you? When you set me free?"*
*"..."*
*"You said we should end the enslavement... altogether... something like that.?"* I could hear her smile even through her mind.
"Yeah. Every feeling of guilt we may have toward each other. I'm sick of feeling... guilty. I think. I just want to speak with you. Nothing in the air. "
*"..."*
*"I would like that very much, Gimen. But... wait..."
*"What is it?"*
"I don't want to address you as 'Gimen'. What is your real name? I've been curious... all this time. You never told me."
"..."
"Elias Sune."
"..."
"That's a nice name. I like it! But... do Gimen go by their first, or last name? In my land, people tend to go by their first."
"..."
"Whichever you please."