Chapter 282: Eye Of The Beholder

Underneath a sky of grey, beneath the golden shimmer of dawn's break, came the end to the violet's child tale.

The nation of Astra would wake to a morning unprecedented, to a kingdom without its rulers, to a people without their king.

Princess Riona would be known as the sole survivor of the massacre, discovered alone in the Queen's private chambers, embraced in both the arms and blood of her parents' lifeless bodies.

As for the perpetrator, they were never caught, they would never be known to the world, with the only evidence of the culprit's identity being that of a small purple shred of fabric left behind, and the princess' own harrowing recollection of the events.

"She looked just like me..."

The play finally came to a gloomy end, concluding with an unseen narrator's telling of a rumor in a village faraway of a young figure girl cloaked from head to toe in violet that could be seen amidst the scene of a nearby forest's green… seemingly alone forevermore.

But before the stage lights flickered off, and before the velvet curtains could completely fall, through the narrow gap still barely visible, a pair of feet could be seen slowly approaching another.

Loudly. Forebodingly. Sinisterly.

"Well hello there, little one," The curtains dropped, throughout the entire theatre, a wicked voice echoed. "My name is Terestra. What's yours?"

Boom. Cliffhanger ending. Goosebumps tingling. Crowds raving. 

To call the audience's reception a standing ovation would be the total opposite of a gross exaggeration.

I've never heard of a more overwhelming barrage of positivity being shouted out, whistled out, in whoops and woos of all shapes and sizes. 

When the cast members came back up on stage and took their bows - everybody jumped out of their seats to express their cheers for a job well done.

Leon, still in his sorcerer garbs, was unsurprisingly the central hub to the majority of the applause for his breathtaking performance… and once again, like with all claims singing his praises, I couldn't find myself disagreeing with it one bit.

Yeah, I won't deny it… this guy was a better actor than most of the leading stars I've seen in blockbusters. 

Seriously, he can joust with an Elf, he can battle wits with a Matriarch, he can also sing and act well enough to be a shoo-in for the Oscars and the Grammys simultaneously.

Bastard wasn't just the jack of all trades, he was the master of them all.

So yes, his commendations were well-deserved. His death elicited tears for it so real, so genuine… but at the end of the day, everybody could pat his back, cheer him on still, for as convincing as his demise was, it was never real.

Just a performance. Just fiction. Make-believe, if you will. For most, that was the case… but not for everybody.

The seat to my right was suddenly bare and empty, with its once silent occupant now nowhere to be found.

"Sera?" I looked around the commotion, seeing every possible spectrum of color all around except for her ever-distinct purple hue. "You… you couldn't have waited, could you?"

The one time I took my eyes off her, the one time… practically a stealthy ninja in disguise, this girl.

Adalia, meanwhile, somehow managed to blissfully stay in slumber despite the racket, my left shoulder had essentially become a stand-in for a comfy pillow to rest her head upon… except bonier, and not as comfy.

I didn't really feel like nudging her awake, especially when it sounded like a rock concert in here, but alas… can't really go off to search for a missing necromancer without my left arm now, can I?

She made a faint whimper at the slightest tug, and surprisingly, that was what roused her misty eyes open… staring sluggishly, dazedly at me, barely even aware.

"I'm going to look for Sera," I told her, practically whispering into her ears to make myself heard. "Don't go anywhere, alright?"

"Mmm…" She faintly murmured, burying herself into my shoulder even more. "Stay…"

"Later," I assured her, pulling my arm away completely. "I'll be back soon enough. She couldn't have gotten far."

I took the slumping of her head into her seat as a close enough nod, and went off up the steps leading to the exit, navigating myself across the crowd that was swarming to the front of the stage clamoring for handshakes. 

Didn't think I'd be finding her fast and easy. The moment I left the building, I was ready to go asking the next person I see if they'd seen a creepy woman wearing a violet cloak anywhere... didn't expect that the next person I did see would end up being that same girl too.

Sera was just… there. Like her onstage counterpart, she stood beneath the leaves of a nearby tree, as always, alone, a sullen figure of continued solitude.

Even from where I was standing it was clear something was troubling her, and it was doing a great job at that too, it's as if she was radiating gloom like some sort of beacon of misery. 

Anybody else, and I'd be telling them it's about time they start expressing their woes to someone instead of bottling up like that. But in her case, even if she wanted to, she couldn't. Not to me, at least. 

That, I know.

But that's not going to stop me from trying anyway.

"You look upset," I said, letting my presence be known with a ring and a chime. "More than you usually do too."

She groaned and glared as per usual, only I didn't feel her annoyance was all that genuine sounding.

"What were you hoping to find out reliving your past like that? I'm a bit curious… because from where I'm standing, it doesn't look like it was very well worth the effort." 

Of course, I didn't expect to hold a conversation with a mute, this was just me gauging her reaction, prodding the bear with a stick to put it one way… I could talk enough for the both of us anyway.

Sera maintained her scowl, doing nothing more than just gazing back at me. It was a familiar stare, a familiar inquiry shimmering bright and gold. I could still vaguely hear the drums, the trumpets, the boom of the choir stating fact.

"Sera Nas, the terrifying monster clad in purple," I spoke aloud, prodding once more. "Yeah, doesn't really have a nice right to it, does it?"

She blinked.

"If I tell you someone wrote you that way, intended you to become the person that you are, would that make any difference? Would you feel any better?"

It's just like with Ash's case, she. Fiction made real, tragedy made into reality. Just someone's idea of a cool backstory thinking nothing of it than just that, because it was simply just that.

A backstory. 

It's not real. It never really happened. 

But now she was real, and in turn, she made it real. To her, that was her reality. Those were her choices, and that was her life. So really, I wasn't at all surprised when she shook her head back in response… because real or no, to her, it did happen.

"You killed your only father figure. Countless men. The king of Astra and his wife - your mother," I tilted my head. "Do you remember how you felt when you did all that?"

Truth to be told, I knew why already. Hell, I knew more about her than I knew myself. I summoned her here, I very well ought to… everything she's seen, everything she's heard, and everything she's felt - I've seen it all, heard it all, felt it all.

I could still feel the sting of her heart in mine, the warmth of the tears that fell when the sorcerer did so too, and the anguish, the hollowness, watching the person she yearned for so long as the very life ebbed away from her eyes, gazing at hers with nothing but contempt and hate.

Sera was many things, but someone truly evil she was not. Someone truly evil doesn't feel these kinds of things.

Evil doesn't cry the way that she did when she ran from the kingdom. 

So yeah, I already knew the answer. The question now was - does she?

Slowly, I saw her lower her head, saw her gaze disappear in the shade of her shroud. It was quiet for a moment or two, and then in the slightest, the quietest of noises, I heard the faintest of whimpers.

A quiver of breath, and a pale, trembling hand reached, clutching the fabric of her chest tight. The sting in her heart, it was still there. She still remembered. 

"You're not a monster, Sera," I said softly. "You aren't, you weren't… and you never were." 

The whimpers grew loud, any attempts to stifle them only echoing them more prominent. 

"Misguided, confused, harsh, of course," I took a step closer, joining her underneath the swaying branches. "But never a monster." 

I don't even know what I'm saying anymore.

"You've done a lot of bad in such a short span of time in your life, and none of it you can ever take back, those lives are gone," I continued to say to her continued attempts to silence herself. "But in that same span of time, you've done a lot of good too, haven't you? Reuniting loved ones all across the realm, mending hearts that would have stayed broken had you not come around."

Funny how the more you try to keep yourself quiet, the louder you become… and she was no exception to that rule.

"So you're a mix, a half-and-half. Who am I to judge? Hell, who the hell am I to say any of this anyway? I'm just the guy that continues to test your patience, the guy who got you stuck on a hard bargain. Why care what I think? You shouldn't."

I heard her take a calming breath, slowly unclasping her hand, and lowering back down to her side.

"Ultimately, it's what you think of you that matters, right?" I leaned forward and downwards, taking a peek under the hood where her amber eyes shone bright and true. "So it's my turn to ask you… are you a monster to you?"

Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue why I was comforting her, to begin with. Why despite her belligerence, her stubbornness, her arrogance, I chose to be blind to it all anyway… and why was it when she firmly shook her head in response, I couldn't help myself but to smile almost proud.

"That's what I thought."

I truly haven't the faintest idea why.