Part two of my original chapter two, I knew trying to cram too much in would result in a shitty rushed story so I decided to fix that in this chapter by splitting it into The Guild Hall and The Hero Who Weeps. Again, trying to build the personality and connection between Amara and Warren as well as give my characters more life so you'll a bit more in depth dialogue.

The Hero Who Weeps

They followed him back to the Guild Hall with Midnight and he set the chest down in their quarters carefully placing the journal into his pack before handing the maps and documents to Thomas, whispering a few things as he did; Amara tried to make it out but was unsuccessful. Thomas nodded and left for the library with Warren; leaving her with Midnight and a burning fire. She began to prepare their dinner, trying not to focus on the pit building in her stomach. She began to cut the vegetables and seasoned the pot adding meat carefully to make the stew. After a while Warren and Thomas returned with another small box and a few more papers. Thomas grabbed his dinner and a loaf of bread, and went to a table to work on the papers as Warren and Amara ate in silence, she occasionally glanced up at them. Warren was eating patiently this time, being sure to feed some to Midnight, and making eyes at her quite often, which unsettled her. When they were done eating, they sat for a while before Warren broke the silence by pulling out an ocarina from his pouch and began to play a strange tune. It was slow and sad, yet elegant and beautiful. Thomas lifted his head from his work listening closely before singing.

"In a land far away in a cove by the sea,

I look at the moon and I begin to dream.

Here I am a knight one day, a clever thief, a wise mage.

I dream of the future and silently sing,

The songs of the Heroes so far, far away.

One rose from the East both strong and wise,

Powerful in Will and with hard-set eyes.

Another from the West a clever thief with swift hands,

A Reaper both Skillful and Sneaky, but never too greedy.

The next to the South was a Knight both Strong and Just.

The last was a Sorceress, who was rather strange.

She married the Knight and a child they made.

But not all was meant to be,

As this dream soon turned to tragedy.

The Heroes were betrayed by the Mage, who wished to see their Guild Hall burn.

His death was swift, justice in turn.

The Knight was slain, by man's bullet in the fray.

The Sorceress ran to her Knight with a scream; in love's tragedy, she died the same way.

The Reaper fought, and many men died.

Until the grim reaper took her life.

The Guild Hall burned and none were spared.

Their spirits and screams still fill the air.

And so we sing to mourn our dead.

Solemnly now we bow our heads."

At the final verse Thomas lowered his head as did Warren, and although she did not lower her head she could feel the salty tears on her face, "What is that song?"

"It is a song Warren wrote when we were in Aurora…it honors the dead Heroes who lost their life that horrible night. I have not heard it in fifteen years…it is a sad thing." Thomas said as he quickly fought back tears.

Midnight howled a long and lonely howl before resting his head on the stone floor. Warren took a deep sigh and petted his companion before standing and composing himself, "Now we begin your training…first you must follow Thomas and me down to the Chamber of Fate beneath the Guild."

She followed them down the stone stairs, with each step her heart grew heavier, to the library where they walked down a second set of stairs and across a stone bridge to a large circular chamber at the center. Warren opened the small box, and began to prepare a potion with the materials within as Thomas began to channel Will into an artifact at the center by shooting lightning at it. It began to glow with blue light and Warren finished with his potion. "I need to add the last three ingredients…a lock of your hair," he said plucking out one of her hairs, as he dropped it in the hair fizzled and disintegrated, turning the brew a blue color.

"The tears of a Will Master," he said as he pulled a vial with a clear liquid inside and shook it. Thomas gave him a scowl, and she saw the fresh tears on his face and his hunched position gripping his groin. He added the tears and the potion glowed blue in resonance with the circle.

"Finally, the essence of the Skillful." He drew a knife across his hand and let his blood flow into the potion, where he swirled it all around to mix the disgusting brew together where it began to give off a golden glow.

"Drink." He said simply and held it to her, as she accepted the potion her hands continued to shake and her stomach churned as she felt she would vomit. She raised it slowly to her lips shakily and began to slowly drink, it tasted like iron and as it went down she only felt sicker. "You must now stand in the circle Amara." She was still groggy and now slightly disoriented; she hesitantly stumbled, as this ritual slowly terrified her more and more, but she complied stumbling slowly into the circle with each step it felt as if her stomach was getting heavier; she reached the center and stood still the potion like lead in her belly.

"Now you must put on these gauntlets," he said handing her his gauntlets, "they help channel Will energy, and in this case you will need them to channel the potion." She put on the gauntlets and the focuses on them began to glow, she suddenly dropped to her knees as her stomach began to burn as if her insides were being set on fire. She gasped and tried to scream, but only a dry wheeze escaped her throat. The gauntlets glowed brighter and they too began to burn, the metal glowing red hot, as the circle began to shift to red instead of blue and she saw a look of worry on Thomas' face. He turned to Warren and shouted, but she heard nothing, their mouths moved but all she heard was the loud pounding of her own heartbeat as the stone thrummed with it. Will lines began to creep up her body like Thomas' and she saw them look at her in awe. As the Will lines spread, so did the fire in her body. She wanted to stand, to run and drink a lake dry, but the pain kept her grounded, the Will like fire in her veins.

As the Will lines finally reached her eyes the pain intensified, and she saw images: people running and screaming, dead bodies across the field; their blood soaking deep into the ground and dying it red, the Guild in flames, a couple fleeing with a child in their arms, a dark mage laughing before a gunshot silenced him, a woman tall and fierce swinging a scythe downing man after man, a group of boys running towards the forest as the Guildmaster stood there now with the babe in his arms screaming for them to run. Then she saw other images much more rapidly than the rest: years of training, running through woods, swordplay and magic, archery, it all flooded and blended together until the voices and screams blended with her own and the darkness gripped her. One final image washed across her mind, the fierce woman standing and looking down at her. She had black hair with red highlights, a red vest and long black pants, her leather boots with metal skulls studded on the side and a long black cloak with a ruby broach. The woman smiled and said simply, "You have grown stronger, Warren." Amara flew away from the memories and she saw the young Warren whose body she had been in and seen through his eyes. He was much more innocent, wearing a tan guild uniform with the sleeves torn off. The blue accents stood well with his pure blue eyes, his black hair was still as shaggy, but his smile was bright…it wasn't like the ones he showed today. Those fake smiles full of pain.

She did not know how long she slept, but when she awoke she was in the dormitories. The sun had not yet risen and it was cold on the stones where she slept, and he frost covered the ground outside. Warren stoked the flames and Thomas lay at the desk asleep, a pile of books all around him. She looked at her hands and the gauntlets were gone, a faint blue glow traced lines across her arms so faint that one would have to look close to see them. She rose slowly and went to the fire to warm her body. "Good morning." Warren said with that fake smile again.

"Why are you doing that?" She asked before she knew what she was doing.

"Doing what?" He asked with the same smile.

"Hiding your pain…" She said simply fixing him with a determined gaze, she wanted to know the truth behind him now. She wanted to heal his heart.

He sighed, obviously wanting to avoid the question, "I see you've seen my memories the potion was designed to give you my Skill and Will experience, but it seems you saw much more than that, let me ask you, what is the worst pain you have felt?"

She looked away, "When I was powerless to stop bandits from killing my best friend Sammy."

"Is this where you got your Hero fixation?" He asked.

"Do not change the subject, now answer me truthfully!" She cried.

He wheeled on her, his eyes full of fury, "You will never! Know my pain…" He looked away, "You try watching everyone you know and loved, your family, slaughtered like animals in a rain of gunfire from those damned muskets from Samarkand! Watching your mentor, your friends, your adoptive aunts and uncles bleeding in the dirt my sorrow is something that cannot be departed to you through those images, it is something you feel."

She looked away from him, hurt, as he slowly began to calm down and she spoke again. "So what I saw, those were your memories?"

"Instilled through my blood and in my Will gauntlets, yes…" He said simply.

"…who were they, the people in the visions?" She asked carefully, so as not to incite his wrath again.

He gritted his teeth, but exhaled as he continued, "The evil mage was Alsain the Wicked, who betrayed us to the Anti-Heroes League. The Knight and Sorceress in the song were your parents, James and Mary Collins."

"So then the couple with the child, were my parents!?" She said with a gasp, wishing she could have seen their memories rather than his, to see their faces. "But then who was the Reaper; the woman with the scythe, who was she?"

Warren choked at this and seemed to hold back his tears, the pain becoming too much to hold inside, "That was Ruby, my mentor. The greatest Hero I have ever known. She fought valiantly in that battle, and bought enough time for me and the others to escape; she was an honorable warrior."

Amara bowed her head solemnly, "I meant to ask, Thomas says that your tattoos have meaning; what do your tattoos mean?"

He spoke as though in a trance, "The orange moon represents my strength, the strength of the wolf. The red scythe is my love for Ruby, the woman who made me the Hero I was; and the blue lines that run from my eyes are my sorrow, so that even if I do not cry, I will never stop mourning those I lost."

"I am sorry Warren." She said as for the first time since they had been together she touched him, she wrapped him in her arms to give him a hug. He felt so warm and strong.

"It is alright Amara." He said as he turned and held her back; looking out at the stars, he began to sing,

"Lo an a sheta, Mariam do khan.

Solut a sheta ne atola, Mouri karim do lan.

Kalin soi, dak no ashe.

Norim ta wanaeta…de."

Amara understood what it meant, but sang in the tongue of Albion.

"Long the road before you, but fear not my love.

I sing this tune to guide you, warm death awaits you.

Gently now, you return to ash.

No more do you suffer…go."

They sat in silence before Amara, looking up at him, asked the question weighing on her mind, "What was that song, and how did I know the words?"

"It is a song we sing in my home at Snowspire; it is a song of passing when one embraces their grief and wishes good fortune for the spirits of the dead. As for how you know it, you absorbed my memories didn't you." He said with a warm look in his eyes.

"It is beautiful…do you sing often?"

"Only when I feel remorse…" He replied looking down at her, the sadness was so pure in his eyes, "I was so weak back then, too weak to protect anything and rather than grow stronger I raised grief and was imprisoned. I have not grown stronger, but I will help you in any way I can to learn the ways of the Heroes past."

She stood and looked down at him offering her hand, "Don't worry. You have grown stronger, Warren. Strong enough to train me, and strong enough to change"

Looking up at her he thought he saw Ruby standing next to her smiling, and for the first time in a long time he wept, embracing his sadness and his joy.

Whoo! Long chapter done only like...a bunch more to go. Keep reading and reviewing please, much loves my homies.