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They grazed me quickly. I heard the muted tear of fabric, felt a dull sting etched across my wrists as Amelia abruptly pulled away from me, and the next I knew – I was staring at Ash who had suddenly appeared standing just outside the corridor.

Guess the allotted five minutes were up, and more punctual than a clock, here she was on the dot not a second later.

Didn’t really feel like five minutes though…

Amelia apparently decided it better than to linger. Without another look or even another word, the Elidna strode out of the darkness, passing Ash by with only the narrowest breadth, and with the distant cheering of a revitalized director having found again his surly muse… seems our conversation had come to a somewhat inconclusive end.

And much like a typical vampiric affair, no doubt this discussion here would simply just continue to stalk me in every waking moment.

“Has something happened?” Ash inquired, stepping into the room with her gleaming eyes like dotted sights focusing in on signs of unrest. “What did she wish to inquire with you about, Master? Won’t you tell?”

“Mm, I could…” I muttered, my gaze stuck to the empty concrete where Amelia once stood. “But I’d rather just leave it be, if that’s okay with you.”

“Of course, Master. Whatever you desire,” She said, closing the distance with a final step. “Yet, forgive me, but the look upon your face only continues to spur me… I can’t help but wonder what could possibly stir such unrest within you.”

.....

I finally looked at her – and it was exactly as I predicted. Not even half a minute had gone by and already my head was dredging up the dilemma for me to tear my hair out on all over again.

So long as I am unable to choose, I will never be good enough. That’s what she said. Between Ash, between Adalia… and I suppose that also goes for Amanda and Irene as well.

Of course, there was not a single side to my brain that didn’t believe her to be just flat-out wrong. That all I was hearing was the clear irrationality of an understandably overprotective little sister. What actual merit does that have, right?

But sometimes, rare times between my absolute certainty, I felt a pull in my heartstrings, a freefall in my stomach, and I’d wonder right there and there if she was right all along.

Was she?

“Your silence is worrying,” Ash leaned upwards an inch, and a tender warmth pervaded, her hand cupping my cheek. “Should I be worried for you, Master?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head – assuring myself more than I was her. “No, don’t worry.”

“But it’s…”

“Just Amelia,” I finished. “And you know how she is. Really, it’s nothing that I haven’t already heard before.”

Ash stayed her eyes on me for a little while longer only partly assuaged. Meanwhile, in the distance, I could hear the distant barks of the director giving orders and somewhere between his madness, I also heard Chester’s name being spoken out loud in the chaos.

“That’s me right there,” I said, and without another moment to think, I began leading us back onto the set. “Better get going.”

Because there was no need to think. Not for a second, not even for any less than that. ‘Cause Amelia was wrong – full stop.

How come?

For the simple reasoning that I won’t ever let her be right.

And as far as I was concerned, that was all the reasoning and resolve that I will ever need.

Having said that though, for one reason or another, I just can’t seem to disappear into character as easily as before. And after thirty long minutes of which I had my ass scratched for various blunders including flubbing my lines, and getting a tear on my costume, I couldn’t help but feel a little resentful toward my fellow co-star who this clearly biased director continued to only shower with more praises to her name.

Still, I forged on ahead, doing my absolute best, and sure enough we had finally worked our way through the shoo and into the pivotal end of the scene. Leonardo and Chester had finally met with the fabled Elidna, and having spoken our case, and pleading for her aid, all that was left of us was to simply await her answer.

“You wish to return to your land?” perched high in a mountain of rubble, the Elidna roused her voice with a hollow indifference. “Save your people. Rid this realm of this great evil – Terestra, you called her.”

“Yes,” Leonardo said, leaving my side, stepping firmly and boldly forward. “And if the rumors are to be believed, you are the only being that possesses the knowledge and the means to help me. Please, it is imperative that you do. Without me, Asteria is left unprotected, defenseless. I must go back.”

“Why?”

“Why?” Leonardo took another daunting step. “I just said – ”

“Why do you have to save anyone?” the Elidna stood up, fake strings and wings slowly flapping her to level ground. “Why even bother yourself with such futilities? Who asked? Who demanded?”

“It is simply my purpose.”

“Purpose… oh, how noble of character you are,” She scoffed, facing him with a leer overflowing with ridicule. “Though I suppose you are a hero, aren’t you? How can you not be? Without fault, without imperfections, and without any actual purpose you can call your own. Living only to serve, to fulfill a need, and never once pondering your own. Such selflessness. Such heroism. Oh dear, how meaningless your existence must be.”

Leonardo’s brow gave a flicker, the graceful flutter of his cape falling limp with the dying wind. “You’re saying I should just leave Asteria to fend for its own?”

“No, I’m saying why do you even bother? Why should you even feel obliged to? The fate of the world they leave to you to shoulder alone, and you will not deny the burden? One man, a life that isn’t their own, and gladly you will throw yourself into a pursuit that has nothing to do with you?”

“Is it suddenly so heinous an act to simply wish to help others? To preserve life? To rid this world of the evil that afflicts it? Kindness, empathy – do all of the Elidna lack these traits in themselves, or are you simply the exception?”

“And what of you then, Leonardo?” She whirled around at him, blinking a weathered gaze that had seemingly seen and lived through far too much. “A legend resurrected. Summoned from non-existence to wage a war that isn’t yours. Abandoned now by his own Gods in his most dire time of need. Selfishness, hatred, resentment – have all of mankind truly lost these inherent traits of themselves, or are you simply the sole exception? Have you truly not felt anything for yourself?”

Leonardo only glared, only stood in a rigid silence, unable to provide an immediate answer. In the meantime, Chester stood by a slight distance away, having no lines to say, no presence to exude, and without a single camera lens staring his way… he was simply left to his thoughts. I was left to my thoughts.

Seeing what I was seeing, and hearing what I was hearing – I remembered Dad telling me this string of events had all actually transpired in his life. In that case, did this happen to him too?

This lack of anything to say, this sway in his resolve… was this how it happened? The reason he would go on to eventually condemn an entire realm to its fate?

Selfishness, hatred, resentment… had the great Hero of the realm really been festering these traits all along?

“Tell me then, O’ great Leonardo,” the Elidna said, curling a slight smile that the hero quickly veered away from. “Have you?”