And done! You can notice that I gave up near the end :0 I haven’t done a final reading since I’m in a rush, let me know what you guys think!
[details=Because there are many thoughts need to be spoken between them.]“What do you think about our Bearer?” Santiago’s question comes as a surprise, it makes her pause at her own confusion.
She chooses to pair up with Santiago because she despises the Bearer and wishes to avoid him if possible. And she knows that her companions know of her distaste toward the boy. Yet, somehow, Santiago still manages to bring him up in the conversation. And that twists the confused look on her face into a frown.
“What is there to talk about him?” Her words come out almost similar to a grunt as she makes no attempt to hide her feelings.
She knows it, this hatred. At first, it’s directed toward an unknown face, an unidentified monster that took her brother’s life out of sheer ecstasy coming with the bloodlust. Then, it has a name, Eion Angelis, and dream becomes nightmare as the hero becomes the devil they’re trying to fight.
And now, the devil has face. A face that belongs to one of her teammate for the this first Trial. She has wished it was a figment of her imagination, but it’s real, it’s very real and the nightmare that haunts her sleep is right in front of her.
Just thinking about those disturbing thought makes her eyes turn into a menacing glare. Not aiming at Santiago but the person in the question, Eion. It is true that their Trials require collaboration and teamwork but that doesn’t mean she will make his life easy.
Her anger is distracted for a moment when Santiago lets out a chuckle that directs her attention back to him. The boy shakes his head with the amused smile never quite leaves his face. “Don’t you see the way he look at you?” Not only he provides her no explicit explanation, he even raises another question to her questioning thoughts.
She wants to chastise him for trying to be cryptic, but she doesn’t want to waste her breath on those things and simply get straight to the point. “What do you mean?” She asks with her brows drawn. If any of her limited information about Santiago provides her any insight into his mind, then even his straightforward answer won’t ease her mind any further.
His smile widens further, but this time, there’s something hidden behind the glimmer that sparks up in his eyes. “He has a crush on you. A very, very weird and tiny crush.” He speaks with a matter-of-fact voice, hinting his amusement at the topic behind those words. And she almost freezes on her feet when the thought finally registers into her mind, her glare now aims at Santiago with the doubling amount of confusion.
“That’s crazy.” Sage almost succeeds at stopping her voice be becoming too loud, but fails miserably and ends up shouting. The commotion causes other two catches the wind of her shout and stops to look back at them to check if something has gone awry. With two lingering stares from Calypso and Eion, the conversation comes to a pause that puts a dubious smirk on Santiago’s lips.
Sage looks back at them, and more accurately, at Eion. Her eyes forms a piercing glare as opposed at his curious stare, her fingers curl around her machete, holding it even tighter than before. He immediately looks away when he notices her expression and continues to walk on, a flustered shade of pink appears on his cheeks. For what reason, she doesn’t know but it doesn’t help answering any of her question.
The group falls back to their previous rhythm before Sage starts talking again, this time with a newly arisen amount of frustration in her voice. “I’ve given him every reasons on this Earth for him to hate me back. Don’t be ridiculous, that is impossible." The more she speaks, the more she sounds like she’s in denial. Sage knows she’s conscious of that yet she has no control over how her emotion is changing her tone.
The conversation between her and Santiago halts into a silence before their other companions shrug and move on with their walking. “Are you mad? He knows I hate him and he has every right to hate me back.”
“It’s not fresh new, everyone knows you hate him.” He cocks his head to Sage’s direction with an unfading smirk on his face. “Even he knows, but nobody has control over their own feelings.”
“By the gods, just stop.” Sage shakes her head, shaking away the thought Santiago tries to plant into her mind, shaking away the idea that Eion is anything but the monster she pains him to be. “We have nothing in common, and my tie with him will end at his death. No more.”
“Vengeance is what drives you to him.” Santiago pauses, there is a though that occupies his mind ever since he starts this conversation. But he has no plan to speak of it yet. “Sympathy is what drives him to you.”
“Or guilt.” She growls, venom dripping on her last word. She can fault him for every action he has made, but none is quite so as bad as the root of her distaste toward him. Because there is no other suspect but him, because she can’t pin the crime on anyone but him, because no one is capable of doing what he did, what she believes he did.
“Maybe, maybe not.” For once, Santiago puts a nonchalant expression on his face before letting out a sigh. More because of what’s on his mind and less because of Sage’s attitude. “No one have solid proof whether he committed the crime. Not even the gods.”
“Maybe.” She bites her bottom lip, the expression on her face is what can only be explained by a mixture of irritation and frustration. “But he doesn’t have an alibi either.”
“How do you know that?” He asks, but doesn’t leave her any moment to answer the question because he already knows the truth. “You don’t, you never asked.”
“I don’t need to ask, I already know the truth.” Sage feels her patience running low, and for once, there’s this sinking feeling in her heart that she has to swallow back at all cost. It’s like fighting a losing battle. And worse yet, she’s alone in this.
“Not yet. He could be, but there’s no evidence aiming toward aside from the fact he happens to be at the wrong time and the wrong place.” Santiago shakes his head, and once again, falls back to his normal state of blinding the truth from the eyes of the onlookers. She doesn’t know if he knows who is the murder, but she knows that he’s not siding with anyone at this very moment, not her nor the Bearer.
“Stop defending him.” She grunts, clutching the machete in her hand even tighter. There is something about this anger inside her that feels infuriating, but she knows that she can’t pick fight with anyone at this moment. Especially not Eion, when his Zeus daddy is keeping an eye on the Trial.
“I’m not, I’m just providing the third person’s perspective.” Santiago tucks his hands into his pockets and makes a shrug that brushes away any of Sage’s claim toward him. He doesn’t want to get in the middle of this meaningless fight, but there’s a way to rise doubts in Sage’s mind, he would slip a word to let her know that sometimes the truth isn’t that simple.
Nothing ever is, for all that matters.
As for Sage, she tries to simplify him into nothing but a murderer, a monster in the guise of a saviour. But, she understands it’s not that simple, because she has given him every reasons to stay away, but he attempts to approach her still. She sees her how he looks at her after she leaves him with a cold rejection. Nothing about it fits the image of the evil she paints him to be. Even so, that never stops her hatred toward him makes her heart rotting.
The silence drags on between the two of them while Sage grimly remembers about her brother, the memory of the day when she received the new about his death left a harsh imprint in her mind. He was supposed to be on a mission to fetch a Demi-god named Eion, it was supposed to be like any other Seeker’s mission. But then, he never returned and when the bad new arrived, she found no one to blame except the mentioned Demi-god for she lacks a better explanation from the story she has heard.
“Saxon won’t go unavenged.” She inhales a sharp breath, feeling her resolve stand itself tall against the odds. “Not when I’m still breathing.”
“He won’t have to.” Santiago gives her a sympathetic glance, one that changes into something unidentifiable when he looks away. “But he wouldn’t want you to harm others while trying to achieve your vengeance either.”
“I’m not going to hurt anyone but his murder,” Sage grunts through gritted teeth, “And I’ll hurt him bad.”
“You’re harming only his murder,” the boy shakes his head with what seems like a defeated smile, “you’re harming people around you, and most importantly, yourself.”
Sage blinks when his words sink into her mind. He has brought her thoughts to consider, as much as she hates to admit it.
But, she would not want to accept that there is another truth out there, not when the pain is fresh in her mind, lingering in her thoughts, and eating her away everyday. Not when she has sworn in front of all gods that she would claim justice for her brother, that his murderer’s death will be accomplished even if that’s the last thing she’ll ever have to do. One day, she will come to realise how destructive her action can be to herself. Today isn’t that day, however. Today, the hatred burns inside her, leaving behind nothing but ashes of her heart.
“I…No, this conversation is over.” And with that, the two of them cut into what turns out to be another drag of silence. Nothing but the sounds of crunched leaves underneath their feet with one’s steps heavier than the other’s.
Sage’s glare does more than just bringing the blush onto Eion’s cheeks. It leaves an after effect of a newfound emotion behind those watery blue eyes of his. They are calm in comparison to a lake on a windless day, but at the same time, hidden many sad feelings of stories untold and forgotten. Eion doesn’t know what to make of the situation other than staring at the ground while walking toward the higher places.
His head is abundant with thoughts as he finds no desire to strike up a conversation with anyone. At one point, he’s so lost in his own world, Calypso barely manages to catch him before he trips on his face. He lets out a soft thank when she helps him from falling face flat on the ground, just the thought about it sounds mortifying to him.
“Something on your mind?” She asks before releasing her grasp on his arm when he’s able to steady himself again. His automatic response for this situation would be saying it’s nothing and she shouldn’t worry about him. But he stops himself for a moment and reconsider his options.
Calypso has been nothing but nice to him so far, and along with Saint and Adonis, the three of them might be one of the first few stable friends he has in a while. At least, friends who stay.
“A lot actually.” His confession comes out naturally to his ears, but he senses hesitation in his own voice. A brief prayer passes through his mind that he hopes Calypso won’t notice it. He’s trying to open up with her, but sometimes, opening up with people means exposing yourself further to pain.
"So, what are you think about?” It’s unknown whether she catches on his hesitation or not. ven if she does, she doesn’t show for she’s keeping her expression completely neutral.
“You see…” Strange that now he discovers that he’s at a lost for word. He doesn’t know where to begin and what to say. It’s true that he’s currently disturbed by many things, but he can’t simply spill out everything in his mind. It’s not that simple, nothing ever is.
And thus, it takes a few seconds or so for him to pick up one word that’s most suitable for his current thought. “Sage.”
“Sage." She echoes him, making Eion feels a bit ridiculous with how he’s acting. Maybe he shouldn’t have been vague, he knows how Calypso is.
"What about her?” Calypso asks with the hint of amusement in her voice. It is strange enough that he’s beating around the bush, even stranger with how he currently acts.
“I never get to talk with her about what happened.” Something’s stuck inside his throat when he mentions that. His eyes dart elsewhere, unable to meet Calypso’s, or anyone for all that matters. The uneasy quench in his stomach doesn’t make it any better, in fact, he even feels more nauseous about the whole ordeal.
“Well, she doesn’t really give you much of a chance.” She points out, not that it makes he feel any better. If not all the more confirms that Sage despises his gut. And he feels like she’s entitled to do so, because for all the he denies, he has a hand in ending her brother’s life. Or at least, what’s left of him.
“I don’t know if I deserve one, and…” He sighs, one that’s ridden with worries and concerns that he won’t voice out loud. “I don’t know, what if she’s right?”
Calypso looks at him with a raised eyebrow, her gaze seems to examine every details on his face. She isn’t sure what to say, for she doesn’t believe that he would be able to do that. At least, spoken from the experience she has gathered from hanging out with him the past few days.
“Doubting yourself now, isn’t it?” The silence is almost unnerving when it comes from her, but she lets him breath out a relieved sigh the moment she speaks.
“I don’t know.” He says, shoulders slouch a bit forward when his mood is down. He doesn’t quote meet her eyes when he speaks, for he knows if he does that, he would expose her to all of the emotions in his eyes. There is a wistful look in them that causes others to feel what he feels when they make eye contacts. And perhaps as enticing as those watery blue eyes are, he prefers to hide them away.
“You’re a strange one, Eion.” Calypso shakes her head, looking straightforward as she walks on. Her movement is gracious, fitting for one who’s aiming to be an Artemis’ hunter. Eion’s is less so, not for the lack of practice, but because he’s not quite there himself. Thus, it takes him a moment to snap back to reality and give her a incredulous stare from behind as she jumps few steps ahead of him.
“What do you mean…?” The question comes out with a genuine curiosity. Eion sometimes wishes he has a sharper mind, he can read what’s in people’s head but to know what’s in their head is another matter completely.
“You care about her more than you let on.”
The thought causes Eion to put on a dumbstruck expression on his face. But, he recovers quick enough, even if he’s not as perceptive as he wishes, he catches on things fairly fast. Though, that doesn’t stop a strange mix of emotions to replace whatever was previously on his face.
He smiles for the first time during their conversation, people always tell him that he has a nice smile — one that brightens up other’s day with one look. But nowadays, he has a hard time smiling with everything going on.
Still, his smile is forced, almost as if he’s doing it to humour Calypso’s attempt of joking. At least, he thinks it is.
“Maybe.” He says, but the word is vague to him. He doesn’t know what he feels about the girl, Sage, especially when her piercing glare can stab through his head if look could kill. He knows as much that she would better see him dead before she agrees to have a proper conversation with him.
But he will never understand how he currently feels about her. Despite that she has given him every reasons to hate her back, he can’t help but sympathise with her. Not just her anger, but also her pain, her grievance and most of all, her lost.
Maybe because lost is the word that defines himself, maybe because sympathy is the only thing he can provide until he can do more. He hasn’t lost a brother, but he understands the anguish she went through when she heard the news.
"She hates you, but that doesn’t stop you, does it?” Calypso looks back at him with a smile on her lips. She hasn’t expected the Bearer to be someone quite so strange, not every day she meets a person insist on running into a death that brings no glory.
“Not really,” he shrugs, “it will only worsen the situation if I antagonise her back.” And that’s the truth, to him it is. When both of parties refuse to listen to each other, the lack of communication will make them further apart.
“You can’t make everyone like you, you know.” Calypso’s word become an arrow aiming his heart, and she strikes true. He has the urge to wince when she says that, because as much as he likes to refuse the truth, she’s right.
“I know, I know.” He chews on his bottom lips, teeth biting hard enough to hurt but not to draw blood. “Bad habit, I suppose.” Not necessarily, but he will keep that thought to himself. He doesn’t need her to like him but giving her some closure about her brother’s death, would let two people sleep better at night. He hopes.
"Beside, you said it yourself,” she nudges her elbow at the side of his waist, “you don’t even know if you killed her brother or not, that’s not very convincing.”
“I don’t know.” He replies right away, feeling surprised at his own abruptness. Though, he wastes no time covering up his track. “When I meet Saxon, he’s long gone before…” His voice falters the more he speaks, and at some point, words become inaudible.
“Before?” Calypso leans closer to him, trying to catch what he’s saying.
“I have said too much.” He sighs and shakes his head, implying that he no longer wishes to talk about it. But he knows that she won’t let him roll off his leash that easily.
“You sympathise with someone who barely thinks you are a human.” Somehow she makes it sound like she’s asking a question. One for the questioning behaviours of a questionable boy. What she doesn’t expect is that, for a brief moment, a grim look flashes through his soft facial features.
“Have you ever lost someone, Calypso?” At his sudden change of topic, Calypso almost comes to pause. Despite that, she manages to gather herself and let a frown takes over her facial expression. For this time, she’ll go along with him, just this once.
"Everybody lost somebody once,” she answers with an indifferent look on her face, “who have you lost?”
“Three people.” He flashes her a smile, to which she doesn’t know if it’s reassuring or sad. “Two turned out to be lying the whole time, the third one never came back.”
“I sympathise with someone who lost a loved one.” He sighs, fingers rubbing his temple to ease the thoughts that disturb his mind. But to no avail would he succeed, maybe this Trial will distract him from those awful problems. He has larger responsibility to deal at hand after all.
“Don’t you think you’re being too understanding?” The concern on his face doesn’t fly over his ears, it touches his heart and puts a smile on his lips again when he has his eyes on her. But, it’s not long until he turns his head elsewhere again.
“Sometimes, an understanding is what people need in this world.” And the conversation ends there, for there’s no more word needed, no more thought exchanged. Silence becomes the simple and pure answer for the conflicted hearts and worried minds.[/details]