Ori and the Spirits Within

Chapter 20: Realizing Pain

Ku and Ori entered the cave to see their parents, looking at them worriedly. Although, it's not like that anymore. It's more like... Ku's parents now. He didn't want to see them. He couldn't handle the pressure, the guilt, the fear welling up inside himself. It all came by in a flash. For the first time from what he could remember, he was scared by what would happen next.

"H... Hi, Naru." He said nervously.

"Hello..." Naru said with a somewhat sad expression on her face.

I knew it. She hates me for what I did. It's all over. "I... I'm... " He didn't want to speak anymore. His emotions took over his body. He felt so alone and afraid. Nothing was there to protect him from whatever horror awaits him on the other side.

He instantly flinched in surprise, as someone picked him up from behind, and held him in their arms. He instantly covered his arms in front of his face. He didn't dare look at who picked him up, but he had no choice. He felt a small pet on his head, and he started tearing up in their grasp. He slowly took his arms away from his face, and looked to see the familiar looking Gumon, with a small smile on his face.

Why? Why are you doing this? He looked around in the cave, and saw that all of them had soft smiles on their faces, including Naru and Sein, who appeared behind her shortly after. He started to cry in Gumo's grasp, covering his eyes with his arms once more as Gumo continued to pet his head.

"Pl... Please... d-don't...*sniffle* h-hurt... me..." He said in his wailing.

"Why would we do that?" Gumo asked.

"Be...Be-Because I... I-I..." He continued to cry in his grasp.

Eventually, Gumo moved over to the chair in the cave, and sat down on it leaving the crying child in his grasp all the same. Gumo felt so bad for all that happened to him. His forceful eviction from his own life, the erasure of all of his memories, and the guilt he had to carry throughout his trip in Nibel. He didn't know how to feel about him, but Gumo could tell that he felt like... a villain. Someone who acts against those who fight for good.

But, he wasn't a villain. A true villain wouldn't feel bad about his actions. A true villain wouldn't try and make amends for his wrongful deeds. And surely, a villain wouldn't try to help out the good guys. He wasn't evil, corrupt, or malicious in any sense of the word. He was still kind and considerate like Ori is, just a bit broken on the inside. He needed someone to care for him. Someone that he could trust. But knowing all that happened in the past few days, Gumo felt that trust was going to be a hard thing for him to accept.

In the middle of his crying, all of them could hear words emanate from his mouth. "W...Why...?"

"You're asking us why?" Ku asked with a smile. "Why are you being so hard on yourself? You're not a bad per-"

"Yes I am!!" He shouted, as the room filled with silence once more. "*sniffle* I-I'm... I'm...!"

"Shhhhhh..." Naru said, putting her finger in front of his mouth. He kept sniffling, trying not to cry anymore. "You did nothing wrong. You aren't a bad person."

"... *sniffle*" He took his arms away from his tear filled face, and looked at all of them, sad as can be. How? How can you be so forgiving for someone like me? "...why do you all care about me so much?"

"*sigh* Do I need to explain it to you again?" Ku asked, pretending to be annoyed.

"You know, when you and Ku were in Nibel for a few days, I went to talk with Seir for a bit. But, I felt that the discussion made Seir feel bad about something." Naru said. "He asked me if I hated him for taking Ori away from us. Do you want to know what I said in return? I asked him, 'You made up for it in the end, right?'" He looked at Naru, with a depressed look on his face, still sniffling in Gumo's grasp. "Now, forget everything you heard from Seir about you and why he brought you here. After Sein told you the truth of you not being Ori, what was the first thing you thought to do?"