Chapter 100 Truth

Leo sat right beside Nila, allowing them to speak softly so as not to wake the others with their conversation.

Leo could tell that Nila seemed a bit nervous. She was fiddling with her hands and was looking at the floor rather than at him like she usually would.

"Are you alright? You seem nervous." Leo said with a sympathetic tone. Nila looked at him for a second before returning her gaze to the ground. "I... I know about your past... Well some of it at least." She finally said with a soft voice.

Leo was taken aback slightly. She had outright

asked him not too long ago about his past, to which he answered vaguely, but now she's claiming to already know?

"What do you mean? I thought you didn't know anything and that's why you asked me the other day."

"I asked because I wanted to find out from you directly. All I've heard is what's coming from other people and I don't want to trust their words when I could just ask you." She replied with more confidence than she had been displaying so far.

"Well what exactly have you heard about me. I'll refute any falsehoods and confirm the true bits." Leo suggested. He did his best to try and remain unfazed so that Nila would have the confidence to continue rather than be concerned about offending him.

The truth was that he felt nervous. The worry that his friends wouldn't see him the same way if they knew of his origins hung over him like the grim reaper now more so than ever.

"I heard that you massacred a small village on the mountain and that you were some kind of slaver..." Nila felt horrible saying these things because she had a strong feeling that they were false.

Leo was surprised. The massacre was technically true, but the details were wrong. Being a slaver was quite literally the opposite of the truth.

" Wow... I can't believe my story was changed so much by those petty nobles." Leo shook his head and chuckled a bit.

"What nobles?" Nila was confused. As far as she was aware Leo hadn't interacted with the nobles much at all, if ever.

"Some bandits attacked Grove Village shortly after I arrived there and I defended the village using my ability. I then proceeded to destroy the entire bandit group to ensure they wouldn't try and get revenge on the village.When I returned to the village I was arrested by the milatary and dragged off to the castle."

"What?! Why were you arrested after defending a village?" Nila had slightly raised her voice by accident due to surprise but returned to a whisper afterwards.

"They believed I had ignored the Royal decree stating that all ability users must gather in the nearest city. I had to participate in a trial that took place in front of all the nobles and the king in order to clear my name." Leo stopped there for a moment to see Nilas reaction so far.

"What about the massacre and the slaver part? Also, how did you clear your name if you weren't where you were meant to be according to the decree?" Nila was still confused. Leo hadn't actually cleared anything up about her question yet.

"Up until a few days before my arrest, I had lived my entire life as a slave. That 'village' they claim I massacred was the camp I and the other slaves were being kept in. I managed to escape and shortly after I received my ability. I went back to that camp to try and free the others but I was too late, they had already killed all the slaves. So I killed the remaining guards and left."

Telling the story made the memories of Zack resurface, causing Leo to feel an immense amount of sadness and loss. His heart was still heavy with the guilt of letting his friend down the way he did.

"I had no idea you had such a hard life. I'm glad they got what they deserved and I'm sorry for the loss of anyone you knew within the camp." Nila felt even more guilty now than she had before. She could tell that Leo wasn't over what happened to him and understandably so, her bringing this up made him open fresh wounds and she felt horrible for doing so.

"I'm sorry for bringing all this up, it must be a painful memory for you." Nila hung her head as she apologized.

"It is... But it also made me who I am. To be honest I was worried you'd all treat me differently if you knew I used to be a slave, it's a big part of why I didn't say anything. If you promise not to treat me any differently, then there's no need for an apology." Leo replied with a soft yet sad smile.

"I promise." Nila returned the smile, hers being just as void of happiness as Leo's was.

"I can't believe someone twisted your story so heavily so that you would seem to be the bad guy." Nila's voice was filled with irritation.

"Probably a noble who was jealous of my ability. I'm not too worried about it, so just let it go, alright?" Leo shrugged his shoulders and waved away the idea of holding resentment for this person spreading rumors.

"Alright. But you should tell the others about this all as well, it would be better if everyone was on the same page." Nila suggested, doing her best not to come off as being forceful.

"Yeah... Maybe one day. I don't think I'm ready for everyone to know just yet. Telling them all one by one would be easier too, misunderstandings are more common in a group than between individuals anyways." Leo replied.

At this point Nilas watch had come to an end and Leo chose to take the next one. She got herself situated and lay down to go to sleep.

Clay was laying just a short way behind where Leo and Nila had been speaking, and with a look of dissatisfaction and disappointment, he too closed his eyes and went to sleep.