Finding Contentus

Chapter 151: Reconciliation

"My name is Renero. I am a husband, uncle, brother, friend, and father. I am all the things that Ferrou is not."

Renero purposely left out that he was also the strongest motherfucker in Constanshiya, maintaining proper etiquette. When speaking to a sensitive audience, it was of paramount importance to be very selective of pace, tone and wording in the Constant way.

He started with simple introductions, going from group, location to location, never pausing to rest from dawn till dusk, utilising every ounce of every day to address as many victims as possible across Mettro from West to East. Cities. Towns. Villages. To anyone that chose to spend some time with the Racaan Chief.

The aim of the talks were more so focused on reconciliation rather than forgiveness. On restoration as opposed to retribution. To an extent, it was rather one sided. For one, most of the direct offenders had long been killed, either by Renero many years prior, or by Genesia and Neosa in the recent months. Which meant that the leftovers who, while not being as involved, did still play a role in the Optimer system under Ra's regime.

Renero did not judge the remainders as they confessed to their misdeeds, unfurling how they participated in the distribution of Optimers even after the plants had been destroyed. The objective was to pardon previous crimes and move forward from them. The lack of remains presented a small obstacle. How could they remember the Racaans who had been turned to Optimers if there was nothing to remember them by? How could they remember the humans Renero had killed?

To that, Renero asked if they remembered all the humans Ramsis and his followers had killed? Could they remember the humans Ramela and Ramoth had killed using their guards? Could they remember all the humans that died back when they were slaves?

Those that could were asked to write those names down. Ramiya, Musa, Ramoth and Ramela tasked scribes with collecting as many names as possible so that they could be recorded and immortalised. The scribes also recorded Racaan names, given to them by Renero, Genesia and Neosa.

Things got harder when people started making requests of Renero, to mimic the voices of those he, as a mindless Ferrou, had slaughtered. Begrudgingly, he did so, speaking as children to their parents, parents to their children, siblings to their siblings, friends to their friends and so forth. He understood the need for closure. To hear those voices one last time. The experience was strange, comforting and uncomfortable all at once. A murderer, speaking as the murdered.

He did not let the welling tears that surrounded him tighten the knot in his fibrous chest. He relentlessly voiced the war cries and screams of his fellow Racaans from when he was a captive. He forbade groups from closing their ears to the horror. If he had to live with what he had endured, what he had done, then so could they.

It wasn't all just about the bad. Renero was adamant on voicing the good memories. The more joyous, trivial moments. He dealt with the more fond and silly conversations, human and Racaan alike from his lips like sun-drenched castles, opened for all and closed for none.

He shared his pain, his problems, his condolences. And they shared theirs in equal amounts, no longer restricted by Ra's censorship on free speech. It wasn't crafter healing exactly. It was akin to warrior mending, forming scabs over wounds and stitching torn clothes. It wasn't everything. It was something. At the very least it was a start. This was the goal that Amoar strived so hard to achieve. Renero was finally talking to the Mettronian. Not fighting. Just talking. And it helped immensely.

The reconciliation didn't have its fair share of hiccups along the way. Those who were too aggrieved, stubbornly holding onto their hate and hurt often threw around slurs as if they were weapons of retribution. Renero's ears twitched whenever he heard the word Prim being uttered in the quietest of whispers like chattering mice.