Zemeria: The Final Sanctuary

Chapter 6: Forgiveness

 

 Liam waited patiently until Fia was finally back from her void. He found her sitting alone near a river deep in Zemeria. Her eyes were closed but he knew she was awake.

  He went up to her and cleared his throat. She opened her eyes, slowly.

  "Good morning!" he said cheerfully. "I haven't seen you around in a while, I was getting worried."

  "I don't believe it's any of your business where I go or what I do," she said, not bothering to look at him.

  \ "R-right, but-"
"What do you want?" she asked intolerantly.

  He took a deep breath and cautiously sat down beside her. "I- I wanted to talk," he said slowly.

  She finally spared him a glance.

  "What... did you think happen to me before coming to Zemeria?"
 

   "Hm?"

   "I mean, you had an idea didn't you? A guess? That's why you let me stay, right?"

  Fia considered for a while before finally answering, "... It's not a 'guess'. I know you lost... someone, something... everything, before coming. And I know you blamed yourself for it, if only a little."

  Liam smiled, a sad knowing smile. "Do you... want to know what happened?"

  She turned to him, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "Where is this coming from all of a sudden?"

  "Well, you asked me when I first came, but I was a little... vague about it. And yet you still let me stay, so I thought it's only fair to tell you."

  "Mhmm," she said, still looking at him skeptically.

  He pretended not to notice. "Well do you still want to know?"
She turned back to the river and thought about it for a moment. "...Fine."

  He smiled and turned to the river too. "After my parents died, I was raised in an orphanage in a small village. The Humans there... weren't very welcoming of a witch's child. And when my parents passed away, the orphanage was even contemplating whether to take me in or just leave me to die. But then one of the orphanage's caregivers stepped up and said that she will take full responsibility of me. She then gave me the name Liam, a strong-willed warrior, because she knew life ahead of me wasn't going to be easy, but she fully believed I would be strong enough to withstand anything it throws at me. And so, I was raised in the village, feared and hated by everyone, except her. It didn't bother me too much. She was all I needed really. She was... like a mother to me," he said fondly with a distant smile, his mind revisiting his warmest memories. "She would stand up for me whenever any of the people in the village or orphanage spoke poorly of me. And... and I thought, as long as I have her with me, then nothing else mattered. But......" He stopped as his voice cracked.

  And Fia finally saw it again, what flashed in his eyes when he first came. Loss. Regret.

  He took a deep breath then continued, "But, eventually, it was circulated that the village harbored a witch's son. And one day, the knights came to the village looking for me."

  "Knights?" Fia asked. It was her first time hearing that term.

  "They are the humans with armors, like the ones who came here six years ago."

  She gave a light nod. She had a feeling she knew where this story was going.

  "The rest of the village was glad to get rid of me, so they pointed the knights to the orphanage right away. But once she saw them, she told me to run. She had told me before about Zemeria, the only place left where magical creatures still exist, and the only possibly safe place for me to go to if anything was to happen to her. And she had pointed me at the direction it was supposed to be from the village. That day, she told me to run there and never look back. And so, I did... I ran. But I heard her. She was causing a commotion with the knights, trying to buy me as much time as possible, then I heard the slash of a sword, and it all went quiet." He was starting to tremble. "I ran and ran and ran," he said, his voice shaky, "and never looked back. I couldn't look back. And after my legs finally gave out, I fell down and cried. I had lost everything, the only person who cared for me in this whole world, the nicest kindest and gentlest person, was gone. And it was my fault. All because I was a half-mage." He paused there for a second and looked at Fia. She was clenching her fists and looking at the river.