A lost boy. An empty stomach. You do what you have to do to survive, right?
But it's so lonely. When you start out with nothing, it gets a little sad when you realize you're eating for one your entire life.
This lasts for years. I thought I was going to be like this forever.
But it's so lonely. When you start out with nothing, it gets a little sad when you realize you're eating for one your entire life.
This lasts for years. I thought I was going to be like this forever.
![[Image: flashback-one.png]](https://i.ibb.co/39pVJHnb/flashback-one.png)
Then one day, I smelled something delicious. My stomach grumbled loudly. The only thing between me and my meal was an old man in a robe, dining with a girl who looked about the same age as me. I just needed to run in, grab the food, and go. Just one leg would have been enough... but I saw the hanging coin purse on the man's hip. I was getting greedy, but I still needed the money. How couldn't I reach for it?
...
He caught me. But he didn't move to stop me. He didn't swat me away, or even berate me. He acted like what I took wasn't actually stolen. That made no sense to me. But I was still hungry. By the time I tried to hoof it, I was already slowing down. I didn't have the energy. And then...
He held one of the crab legs out. I had two choices in front of me that day. That crab leg was an olive branch. Could I hope to make peace with this terrible world, or do I protect myself from hurt?
That was when my stomach grumbled. The decision was made for me.
He and his daughter were magi. Travelling healers that preferred holy magic as their means of work. He helped a lot of people in his day to day, and for a lot of the time he'd be doing it for free. Sometimes, he'd stop by clinics in search of people to help. Moments like that earned him a small reputation, and people would offer him payment for his work then. It was a humble life. I wanted to learn that kind of magic as well, but neither of us were ready for it, apparently. Neither me nor his daughter.
![[Image: flashback-two.png]](https://i.ibb.co/fVckKKnr/flashback-two.png)
He left a strong impression on everyone.
Then one day, it happened. I wasn't there to witness it. I wasn't there to help. Through some mistake of chance, the daughter was attacked. Mugged. But she wasn't the one to worry about... I don't remember how she did it exactly, but she fought back. And it ended in the deaths of the muggers. The father, the healer I've been talking about. Solan Llfiend? He was a pacifist. He hated violence above all. Maybe he was scared for what kind of person it would turn his daughter into. Or, maybe he was genuinely upset with his daughter. It frightened everyone.
I failed to stand up for her. I knew she was just as scared as anyone else... but I just watched the argument happen. I watched her run away. I failed to stop everything that happened after.
...
He became weak after that. No one else would have known it, but that argument seems to have taken a lot out of him. In hindsight? I wondered if that verbal assault he dished out was his own kind of holy madness. Regardless of that, he was too physically weak to act on it. He wasn't even that old... Why was he so frail? What kind of sacrifices did he make?
In the end, I told him that I had to go after her. His daughter, Clairemont. I packed armor and a sword. He didn't approve. He also couldn't stop me. Ultimately, I don't think he wanted to... He saw me off. That was the last time he saw me.
Months after I left, he died in his bed. I received a letter in passing detailing his death.
He died alone.
I can't let this be in vain.
He left a strong impression on everyone.
Then one day, it happened. I wasn't there to witness it. I wasn't there to help. Through some mistake of chance, the daughter was attacked. Mugged. But she wasn't the one to worry about... I don't remember how she did it exactly, but she fought back. And it ended in the deaths of the muggers. The father, the healer I've been talking about. Solan Llfiend? He was a pacifist. He hated violence above all. Maybe he was scared for what kind of person it would turn his daughter into. Or, maybe he was genuinely upset with his daughter. It frightened everyone.
I failed to stand up for her. I knew she was just as scared as anyone else... but I just watched the argument happen. I watched her run away. I failed to stop everything that happened after.
...
He became weak after that. No one else would have known it, but that argument seems to have taken a lot out of him. In hindsight? I wondered if that verbal assault he dished out was his own kind of holy madness. Regardless of that, he was too physically weak to act on it. He wasn't even that old... Why was he so frail? What kind of sacrifices did he make?
In the end, I told him that I had to go after her. His daughter, Clairemont. I packed armor and a sword. He didn't approve. He also couldn't stop me. Ultimately, I don't think he wanted to... He saw me off. That was the last time he saw me.
Months after I left, he died in his bed. I received a letter in passing detailing his death.
He died alone.
I can't let this be in vain.