Virion was not looking forward to this conversation. The blue-haired archer sighed and took a sip of his wine, hoping that the sweet liquid would give him enough courage to tell Sully the truth about his past. The red-haired cavalier sat at the table across from him, her eyes boring into him as she waited for him to explain himself. He was very afraid. Afraid that once Sully heard the truth, she would call him a coward and leave him for good. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He did not think he could handle that happening.
"Well, my dear Sully," Virion began as he opened his eyes and locked his eyes with Sully's, "I feel that I must reintroduce myself to you. I am Virion, former duke of the duchy of Rosanne."
"I've gathered that much, Ruffles." Sully said, her impatience evident in her voice. She didn't want him beating around the bush here. She wanted to know why the hell he hid this important piece of his past from her.
"Why hide it from me, Virion? What stupid thing did you do that you don't want me to know about?" Sully asked, her eyes narrowing as she took a sip of her wine.
Virion flinched. His heart was beating so hard he could feel it in his ears, and the shame he felt was making him a bit sick to his stomach. He adverted his gaze for a moment, trying to find the right words to say.
"As you have said before, I am nothing but a lousy craven." Virion said, his expression darkening, "When Walhart invaded Rosanne, I knew that we stood no chance against his forces. I...ended up fleeing." Virion paused and bit his lip, looking away as his shame prevented him from meeting Sully's intense gaze.
Sully processed his words for a moment, and her brow furrowed as anger was the first emotion to cross her mind. He fled and left his people to fend for themselves? What a cowardly bastard! But...something wasn't right. Virion was a good man, she believed that with all of her heart. He must have had a good reason for what he did. She needed to believe that.
"Why did you flee?" Sully asked simply, her hands balling into fists as she tried to keep calm.
"I...I was planning to offer myself in exchange for the lives of my people. But alas, my men would not have it. They planned to fight and die for me." Virion finally forced himself to look back up at Sully, who looked surprisingly calm. He expected her to at least be glaring at him, or calling him all sorts of unpleasant names, but instead she sat with a confused look on her face. Well, it was at least better than he expected.
"I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I had let my people fight and die in a struggle that I knew they would not win. I fled so that they had nothing to fight for anymore. I made them hate me, so that they would surrender and survive to live another day, even under Walhart's conquest." Virion said, his voice dropping to a whisper at the end as he hung his head in shame. He clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to prevent the tears the threatened to form in them. Sully was going to leave him for this; he was convinced of that. He did not deserve to be loved by someone as amazing as her.
Sully watched the change in Virion's demeanor. She had never seen him look so sad and downtrodden, and the sight left her speechless. Her heart hurt for him. At first glance his decision to flee was cowardly, but in reality it was anything but. Virion ruined his reputation with the people that he loved in order to save them, and that took major balls. He was taking on the full emotional burden of their hatred for him, and he still chose to fight on for them. Sully found herself admiring Virion even more than she already did, which was already a hell of a lot.
"Sully, I am a cowardly nave. Someone like me does not deserve to be loved by an absolute treasure such as yourself. You are the pinnacle representation of a warrior's courage and honor, and continuing to be with me would just soil your grand reputation. I could not forgive myself if I were to drag you down with me." Virion said softly, reaching up to touch his face with his hand. The tears he was trying to hold back had broken through and were now running down his cheeks. He could feel his heart slowly breaking, but he would break it a thousand more times if it meant that Sully could live her life happily.
"Are you shitting me, Virion?!" Sully suddenly exclaimed, slamming her fists on the table as she shot up from her seat. Both of their wine glasses jumped up when the table was hit and fell to the floor, shattering into a million pieces. Now she was pissed off. What the hell was he thinking? She had never seen him cry before, and the sight was enough to bring a few tears to her own eyes. He was putting stupid ideas into his own head and making himself suffer, and she would not let him do that any longer.
Virion froze at her outburst, his eyes following her as she shot up from her chair. He winced as the glasses fell and shattered, just as his heart was doing. He closed his eyes and waited for her to tell him she was leaving him.
"You always did like putting words in my mouth, you dumb idiot." Sully said, her anger boiling over as her face set into a glare, "If you'd just wait and let me tell you what I actually think, you'd stop stressing out for no fucking reason. Virion, you are the bravest gods damn man that I've ever met, even more so now that I know what horrible shit you've been through." She paused to catch her breath, and saw that Virion was still froze in place, his eyes wide with shock.
"You put the lives of your people ahead of your own happiness. I don't know if I could have done the same, knowing that my own people would have hated me for the rest of my life." Sully continued, her voice dropping in volume as her anger subsided. "You carry a heavy burden. And that's gods damn admirable in my book. I don't think that Cherche would have tolerated serving you after all that shit went down if she didn't think that you were worthy to follow." Sully paused as she moved around the table, straddling Virion as she sat down on his lap. He took a moment before he reacted, and he wrapped his shaky arms around her as hers fell around his neck.
"I'm glad that you told me about your past, Virion. I love you even more now, and I didn't think that was possible. And you can sure as hell bet that I'm going to help you fight tooth and nail to get your country back, and all of your people will know how much you suffered to keep them safe. And if they don't agree, I'll fucking fight them until they do." Sully said. She leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Virion's forehead.
"Sully...I-I..." Virion whispered, before something snapped inside of him and he broke down sobbing, burying his face into Sully's chest. Sully held him tightly and ran her fingers though his hair gently. Virion was convinced that he must have been born under an extremely lucky star to have somehow had such an amazing woman walk into his life. He clung desperately to her as he sobbed out all of his pent up anxieties and sadness, until no more tears rained down his face. He pulled his head from Sully chest to look up at her, and she gently wiped away the tears that were still clinging to his face.
"I must have been blessed by the gods, Sully. I never would have dreamed that I would have met such a miraculous woman, let alone have her fall in love with me. This certainly feels like a dream, for it amazes me that the gods would have let an angel such as you ever leave the gates of heaven. I am truly the luckiest man to ever live." Virion said as he reached up to cup her face in his hands.
Sully laughed. "Ah hell, Virion. I ain't no damn angel. More like a...war goddess." she said, grinning as she leaned forward until their foreheads were touching.
"Ah, yes, how boorish of me to suggest otherwise! No other gods could compare to the most beauteous Sully!" Virion said, chuckling as his nose brushed against hers.
"Yeah, yeah, less talking, more kissing." she said as she impatiently pressed her lips roughly against his. Virion smiled against her lips and gladly reciprocated. From this point on, Virion knew that he could conquer any battle, as long as his war goddess was fighting by his side.