Chapter 108 Awakening

The gripping terror and the paralyzing fear were the twin pillars that held up her catatonic shock. Because of the sharp razor edge of his verbal attacks, Adalia had no counter at all. And because she couldn't contest Xzavier's postulations, she felt like she had been ambushed with no defense whatsoever.

Feeling attacked, feeling like she had been backed Stark naked into a corner, Adalia began to do the only thing she could do in this situation. Her eyes bulged as her tear ducts began to prepare to release a fresh stream of hit stinging tears. Adalia fought a continal losing battle to keep the tears from flowing. She did in fact manage to hold back the sob from coming out of her throat. But she couldn't do anything about the tears.

The tears rolled down freely, on her already shocked face. At first, they came in trickles and in single lines, but then, in response to Adalia's growing agitated state, they began to pour down in silent droves as the beautiful blonde lady began to cry. Unable to look Xzavier squarely in the face, she closed her eyes and began to sob uncontrollably. Her shoulders heaved up and down like the hydraulics in the engine of an automobile.

The young maid was distraught. The flaming torch slid from her left hand landed owns landed clumsily on the ground with a soft thud. Little embers bounced from it and quickly faded away. They were both lucky that the floor wasn't made of wood, else, it would have been a different matter altogether. With the torch burning brightly on the ground beside her, with Adalia draped in a white, silk nightgown, and wth both of her hands cupped over her face as she sobbed heavily, she looked like a ghost haunting the grounds.

The burning flame casted her a long shadow across the training ground, filling the wide open space with the serenity of her ghostly ambience. The golden light flattered her long blond hair that was draped all over her shoulders. Her wails soon rose up and saturated the open space.

With mixed feelings, Xzavier watched her go through all the stages that brought her to this very point. He had never been one to regret anything he usually said, because his every speech was almost always the product of serious deliberation and careful pondering. But as she watched the young lady sob, he began to rethink the part he had played in all of this. Had he been too hard on her? Of course she deserved to know the truth. That was what friends usually do.

When she began to sob at first, Xzavier contemplated stepping in. But he hesitated because he wasn't exactly sure of wat to say. But when his eyes caught sight of the torch slipping from Adalia's hand, Xzavier knew that Adalia was definitely shook. As he made a move to try to comfort her, Adalia beat him to it.

Her voice, muffled as a result of her trying to speak through sobs, Adalia finally broke the ice.

"It's...it's..." she sniffled as she tried to gain control of herself to speak more coherently.

"...it's not as if I am not grateful..."

She used her pinky finger to delicately wipe off a tear in her eye and continued.

"I am… Xzavier, I really am thankful that you stood for me! No one has ever treated me with that degree of respect in my life..."

She stopped to let out the choking sob that had been building up for a long time.

"Looking at you do all that just to defend my honor…it was unbelievable! I struggled to contain my happiness in that moment! If you had turned to look at me but for a brief period, you would have seen it! I know you would have!"

Her voice was rising dangerously to the point of hysteria, she seemed to be mindful of this and stepped down her tone as she continued her heartfelt confession.

"Xzavier, I am grateful to you for standing up for me, and that is precisely the reason I will never forgive myself if heaven forbid some harm should befall you because you stood up for me when no one else did…"

Her tone, less shaky and sturdier now, she wiped down the last wave of tears and addressed Xzavier squarely;

"This was why I beseeched you not to do go out alone anymore. I have lived with these people much longer than you have Xzavier. I know them, I know the depths of their depravity, as well as the lengths they would go just to get back at anyone who crosses them."

Xzavier paid attention and hung on to her every word. He saw through the hidden messages and listened to not just what she was saying, but everything else that she wasn't saying.

"…you would put yourself in a loop of endless trouble if you should chose to continue on this path. I am afraid that you will die because of this."

Her voice choked with agony as she uttered those last words.

"Please Xzavier, please I beg you, for my sakes, heed my words."

She bowed ever so slightly to show her deference and lifted up her head sorrowfully.

Adalia had done a good job of provoking Xzavier's wrath, getting him to cool down, and finally, getting him to understand why she had spoken the way she did. For a room that had been burning with the combined energy of both Adalia and Xzavier's anger and hot words, the calm that pervaded was kind of unprecedented.

With this calm came clarity, and with clarity came understanding. Xzavier finally understood. Adalia had good intentions. For someone who had been through what she had been through, it was nothing short of impressive that she could get up every morning and face the world with a sane mind and a radiant vibe. For the better part of her life, Adalia had been subject to the oppression of the nobles, and gender based oppression from the members of the male gender. Not to mention her own childhood tragedy at the hands of the orcs.

Despite having been through all this, Adalia still maintained her golden vibe and radiant countenance. She had fought through it all and disallowed depression and gloominess from overtaking her completely. Above all, Xzavier was most impressed by the fact that she had retained her humanity. Adalia was a kind soul. He had seen, felt and tasted it. And in these last few moments, she had bared her soul to Xzavier and opened up like she had never done before.

Xzavier wasn't too dense to acknowledge this fact. In all his years, he hadn't seen or felt this level of true kindness from a girl. This depth of thoughtfulness was impossible to fake. It stemmed from an inexhaustible spring of kindness that was situated at the very core of her being. Because it was located in a region way deeper than her own consciousness, it was virtually outside her control. Hence, she was subject to it in the same way she was subject to the external force of the hand of fate.

Xzavier was moved.

Like the compelling power that draws in a worker bee to the nectar of a sun flower, Xzavier found himself gravitating towards Adalia. With his mind totally captured, without even realizing it, Xzavier found his body moving on its own. Like a displaced celestial body that was shifting from its orbit due to the pull of a more powerful force, Xzavier got sucked into the Adalia's force field.

It was only when he found himself by her side, gently reaching in to swallow her relatively shorter frame in a warm embrace of his hug that Xzavier fully awoke to the full consciousness of what he was doing. But by then it was already way too late to pull out. His emotional walls were already down. Her head rested on his chest and her tears soaked through his black garments. His firm, battle tested hands became instruments of comfort in that moment.

Very gently, as if he was afraid of breaking even a strand of her hair, in slow, intentional gracious movements, Xzavier ran his hand through her hair. Like one would comfort a weeping child, Xzavier stroked her hair gently, whispering words of comfort into her ears.

"It's going to be fine…shush now. It is okay, I'm not going to die alright? Don't worry your pretty little head."

Without both of them realizing it, in that moment, something came to life. Deep in Adalia's heart, a seed of awakening began to thaw its way into her mind, sinking its deep roots in the soil of her heart. That night, something inexplicable, something intangible, almost primal awoke deep in her. This abstract, and yet very present feeling would set the tone for her in the days to come.

Time passed grudgingly with the stealth and dedication of a climber steadily making his way over a mountain.