2. Say Something
Zesha glanced about the guest chamber, his place to sleep in Lazulis City. He thought it was alright, though it would take some getting used to. He wasn't familiar with a fully restored Lazulis City-no, he was more acquainted with the ruined one, especially with flames and rubble lying around the castle. He was also more acquainted with what happened in the ruins of Lazulis Castle-from the pained screams of the humans to the victorious cries of his Gurak comrades...
Shaking the memory out of his mind, he walked towards the nearby window, gazing at the view of a sunset. It immediately reminded him of how long the afternoon had felt-it could have been eons, and the discussion between himself, Zael and Callista was...quite long, if he remembered carefully. He wasn't sure if he remembered everything, but thankfully he had one of his fellow Gurak to act as a scribe and jot down the important parts of the meeting, which was good. If he hadn't been involved in this conversation, he was sure that he probably would have fallen asleep by the first ten minutes, only to wake up an hour later at Callista's raised anger about how there were these separatist groups, human and Gurak alike, that were tearing Lazulis and the Gurak Continent apart.
There was a sudden knock a the door, and he turned towards the door quietly, not saying a word. There was another knock, and he knew he could not ignore whoever it was for long. Letting out a sigh, he spoke loud enough for the person on the other side of the door to hear.
"Come in."
There was a moment of silence, and then the door slowly creaked open. He had to blink twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things, but he knew who it was.
It was her. Mirania.
"You." He managed to say after a moment of silence. "What do you want?"
The black-haired mage paused, closing the door behind her as she spoke. "My name is Mirania, Zesha." She started, pausing for a moment before continuing to speak. "I'm not sure if you remember me, but I have fought you before, alongside my friends. You even...temporarily killed one of them."
"I do remember you." He figured he might as well just tell it to her straight. "And I do remember clearly the death of the one your allies called Lowell. And yet...he is still up and breathing, as far as I've heard."
"That is true."
Both went silent for a moment, unsure of what to say. Eventually, Zesha broke the silence, knowing so badly that he wished to know exactly why Mirania was here.
"Why are you here?"
There was a moment of silence before Mirania spoke. "Well," She started, "I thought I'd return these to you. It's not right to keep someone else's property-or your brother's. I've been taking care of them until now." Extending her arms forward, he immediately recognized the four swords in her hands.
"East Wing and West Wing..." He snatched those swords (his swords) away from her first, examining the blades closely. There was no dent on them, not even a scratch. The blades were polished so well, beyond anything he'd ever seen before. So immaculate...
He put those blades aside, looking at the North and South Wing, his brother's swords. They were so clean, so immaculate-not a scratch or dent anywhere, either. He shut his eyes for a moment, remembering hearing his brother's dying words.
"...a curse upon the humans for all eternity!"
Eternity. Eternity. How would Zepha ever react if he'd been alive to witness the peace treaty being made? Or Zangurak, even-the late Lord Zangurak would not be pleased at all-
And suddenly, Zesha felt the pressure get to him. He just wanted to say something about how much all of this pressure hurt, say something about how hard this terrorism activity and tension between his people and the humans was getting to him, but that sounded like a childish complaint to him and he didn't want to sound like a child-he was an adult, and adults didn't-kings didn't-
The next thing he'd realized, he was on his knees sobbing as the North and South Wings clattered onto the ground. Mirania went down on a knee, trying to face him properly, facial expression full of pure concern.
He didn't want this. All of this really hurt-the deaths of Zangurak and Zepha, the deaths of many of his people, the separatist terrorists ravaging both the Gurak Continent and Lazulis. It almost seemed like everything was better before the peace treaty was ever created and before that Outsider could be sent back into space where it belonged...
He knew, though, that the past was no better than the current situation. He had to move on, but damn it-it was so hard for him and he doubted anyone would understand.
"Lord Zesha?" He looked up to see a handkerchief extended towards his face. He hesitated, before grabbing the handkerchief and using it to wipe away any tears. Men did not cry. Gurak men especially were not supposed to cry in this world, this society-not here or anywhere. That was stupid of him, to start crying like a child. Right? That was why she gave him that handkerchief just now. Right?
Mirania helped him up, still looking at him with concern. "...Are you alright?"
"Better," He admitted grudgingly, knowing too well that she would like an answer like that. At least, he thought she would.
"What do you really feel?"
"..." He didn't want to answer. She didn't say anything after that. The two just stared at each other, both too full of disbelief and confusion about what just happened.
"Goodnight...Mirania." He finally managed to say, realizing that it was so dark outside.
"Goodnight, Lord Zesha." She headed for the door, but turned towards him at the last second. "I do hope that you'll sleep well."
He nodded once. "I hope so, too."
Outside, Therius walked out of sight before Mirania could notice his presence.
Author note: ...And...the moral of the story is that it's incredibly hard for me to keep Zesha in character without me going and having him cry already in the second chapter. (insert sweatdrop here) Hopefully that didn't seem too OOC for him, but I honestly think all of deaths of his people, Zangurak and especially the death of Zepha (his brother) would definitely not be easy to bear. Especially with the fact that there are now separatist terrorist groups running around in Lazulis and the Gurak Continent.
Anyway, I thought I'd wish all of you guys a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noel or whatever way you call 'Merry Christmas!' I do hope that you enjoyed reading this chapter, and reviews are appreciated! Thanks so much!