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"Where were you, bastard?! Where in the Gods were you?!"
A flower pot was thrown into the side of his head. He simply stood there with his hands behind his back, allowing the blonde-haired woman to curse him.
After all, he knew very well he deserved the venom that she spat out. He also knew that it wasn't out of anger, but sorrow.
"Get out of my house... get out!"
Her face was distorted, and her blue eyes bore into him as if wanting to tear him apart. He glanced over to the couch, a brown-haired bearded man surrounded by bottles, passed out from their influence.
The more he looked around, the messier the house looked.
"I won't apologize. I don't have that right, I know that very well... but I'm pleading with you-"
"Will your pleading bring our daughter back?!"
His lips locked up as the words caught in his throat. A nauseous feeling overtook his entire body. He didn't want to be here. He wanted to go home, lay in his bed, and stay there until he died.
"Answer me! I said answer me!"
The woman ran up to him, her fist slamming into his chest. A mundane fist like hers didn't cause him any pain or damage, but her fist hitting his Ascended body hurt her.
She let out a sharp yell as her fist began to swell. He reached out to offer help, but she raised her head up.
Her eyes bore into him, a seething hatred burning in their depths.
"I'll... I'll take my leave."
Sunny turned around, approaching the door, but as he grabbed the knob he heard the pained mutters coming out of the woman's mouth.
"Cassia... my baby girl... oh Gods..."
His body tensed up before he forced himself to turn the knob and walk out, leaving the sobbing woman and her broken husband alone.
Cassie was dead, and she died because of him.
In an attempt at redemption, she tried to find a way of breaking his shackles, but in the end she had died trying.
His head was a mess, and he had one sure way to clear it. That was visiting her grave.
So, jumping into the shadows, he made his way there. It wasn't that long of a journey. Cassie's parents made sure the gravesite she was buried at was close to their house.
When he arrived, he saw her grave, adorned by flowers from those who respected her, knew her, or respected Awakened as a whole.
He sent shadows out to blow them all away. The one thing people didn't know about Cassie was that she hated flowers.
She hated the smell of them.
There were a lot of things people didn't know about Cassie, but he knew them.
Approaching her grave, he sat down in front of it. Seeing the engravings on it only reminded him of the reality. Cassie was dead, and the dead don't come back.
After Forgotten Shore, he had loathed her, and that's how their relationship remained. While it was repaired slightly before the Second Nightmare, that resentment was still there.
In truth, even now it was still there. Would this hatred ever dissipate? Or rather, would it always remain, slowly eating away at him?
"It is all quite weird, really. I used to not think of anything else but the present, but now I find myself reminiscing about the past and what could have been. And right now, I am even wondering...
Would things have turned out differently if I had forgiven you?"
He no longer wanted to hate Cassie. He only wanted to remember fond memories. But that was impossible... every time those fond memories washed over him, the shackles on his soul grew tighter, reminding him of what she did.
Yet in the end, she sacrificed her life trying to free him from those shackles.
"You didn't have to die, Cassie. You deserve to be here rather than someone consumed by hate like me. I can't help but think what a colorful life you would have continued to live...
...I am truly sorry, Cassie..."
He looked at the gravestone before resting his forehead on it, the cold cobble cooling down his heated head.
"I forgive you..."
Suddenly it felt as if his world was crumbling. He shot his head up, only to see the sky falling and blonde hair cascading from the cracks.
And then... he woke up.
***
A young woman with a blue blindfold walked across the dark street. She had no clue where exactly she was going, though she did know where she was supposed to be going.
Every step she took was measured and planned, as this entire path was rehearsed in her mind hundreds of times. She arrived at what she would call a familiar house, not familiar to her, but familiar to someone she once knew.
However, that wasn't her destination. Rather, it was the house next to it. She walked around to the other side of it before finding the back door.
And then she proceeded to crush the door handle, making sure she was as quiet as could be while breaking in.
Luckily, it was pitch black outside. She had to be quick in getting what she came for, though, as sunrise was just around the corner.
Taking measured steps, she found herself in the living room. Off to the side was a small podium, and standing on top of it was an urn.
The urn that held the ashes of her once dear friend.
She knew the location of it because she'd been looking through the eyes of one of the people residing in this house every day, mentally mapping the layout.
Though now she was blind once more due to everyone in it being asleep.
Quickly and quietly grabbing the urn, she began to tiptoe out, before she felt a change happen in the room.
"Lady Song of the Fallen..?"
It was a familiar voice, the voice of her former friend's student. She didn't respond, though. Rather, she dashed through the room, heading out the door that she came in through.
Shouts came from behind her as she ran, but she kept going.
In all honesty, she had no reason to run. His student knew her, and she could probably explain herself.
But perhaps it was out of shame that she ran.
Stealing the ashes of the person who died in order to save her life, it was truly shameful.
So, in the darkest part of the night, she ran across the streets, blind to where she was going and blind to where she wanted to go.
And then, she tripped.
The urn slipped out of her hands, and the sound of the lid popping off was the only sound resounding in her mind. The next thing she felt was grains of ashes hit her hand.
Once again, she ruined him.
She had ruined the life he was living by binding him to slavery. She ruined the death he had by making him die as a slave, and even now she was ruining his peace by desecrating his remains.
...
How long had she been falling? It felt as if she'd been falling for hours, the now sludgy ashes were getting stuck inbetween her fingers.
Oh, so that was it.
She had fallen into the water, and now she was drowning.
Perhaps this was a fate she deserved. Maybe death was a mercy far too great for her.
But despite knowing that, a selfish happiness consumed her mind. The thought of seeing him once more in death... did she have that right?
She didn't want to spend the rest of her days grieving for an event that had long since passed, even if that was the fate she deserved.
Plus, she had no desire whatsoever to keep crying even after he died.
If she had to die... she'd rather do it happily, with no regrets. But that wasn't possible for her, as she regretted almost every action she'd taken in her life.
It'd be nice if it were a situation where she could say, this was for the best.
Where she could die for someone else's sake and go out with a smile on her face.
But someone had already died for her sake, someone who she never even truly apologized to.
Did she have the right to apologize after it was all said and done?
She didn't know, but what she did know was that the heavy water fragmented while embracing her.
And then she woke up.
***
Sunny woke up far past midnight. As if moving on its own, his body jumped out of bed and, without even bothering to throw on proper clothes, he headed downstairs, rushing out of the front door and running down the dim street.
He needed to see her.
He needed to see Cassie.
***
Cassie woke up in a cold sweat far past midnight, and as if in a trance, she ran out of bed, not even bothering to change out of the nightgown she was in.
She didn't know where to go, and she didn't know how she would get there.
But she had to see him no matter what.
She needed to see Sunny.
***
Sunny ran down the street, approaching the footbridge that was illuminated with dim lights. He had a feeling somehow he would see her if he went in this direction.
And if that feeling was wrong, he would run every damn street on the continent until he did. If she wasn't there, he would explore every area of the Dream Realm, and if she still wasn't there, he would descend into the underworld itself.
Luckily, those drastic measures were unnecessary, as he saw a blindfold floating down the river underneath the small bridge he was on.
In a panic, he jumped into the water.
Then he saw her.
Her long blonde hair was soaked, sticking to her face.
Her pale blue eyes were revealed, a sight he had not seen in a long time.
Her nightgown was also soaking wet, now partially translucent and sticking tightly to her body.
But that didn't stop him from running up and pulling her into an embrace.
Without a second of hesitation, she reciprocated it.
Her body was freezing cold, and he could feel it trembling constantly.
"I'm so— hick! Sorry! I'm so sorry!"
Small sobs spilled from her delicate lips as she cried out apologies. The hate he once felt from just being in her presence was gone. Now it was replaced with a sense of completeness.
She was his other half. They were two hearts committed to a hopeless fate.
It took a while before she had stopped crying, but not once did he let go of her.
Now they were sitting on the edge of the river. He summoned a Memory to act as a blanket that covered both of them.
“It was the first time I ever had something I wanted to become. It was the first time I'd ever admired someone like that."
He looked over at her as the confusing words spilled from her mouth. He darted his head right back forward, though, when she laid hers on his shoulder.
"When we first truly met, that is."
"It was the first time I realized that it didn't matter that no one else believed in me...
I just had to become someone that I could believe in."
A long silence ensued after that, neither of them brave enough to break the silence that would forever define the future of their relationship.
But how would they survive in this world without bravery?
So he ended up being the one to break the silence.
"I'm not sure if I hated you, or hated what you did to me... well, I'm not sure if that makes sense. What I'm trying to say is whenever I remembered what you did to me, I couldn't help but remember all the happiness I shared with you... or at least the kind of happiness you can get in a world trying to kill you."
"I think all that reminiscing is what made me somewhat hate you, the fact that we went through all of that together and in the end you still did that."
Only now did he notice how pressed together their bodies were. Trying his best to ignore her current attire, he continued.
"You had to make a compromise, and it just so happened that I got the losing end of the stick."
"But I don't want to live a life accustomed to compromises... look, I know everything I'm saying is all over the place and I can't help that, but what I'm trying to say is... if I were to die tonight—"
Suddenly the cover they were under fell over as Cassie's body rose up. She was now on her knees, cupping his face with her delicate hands.
The pale blue orbs that were her eyes seemed despondent as she looked down at him.
"Please don't say that... don't ever say something like that, I beg of you!"
This stubborn heart of his, why was it beating so fast?
He couldn't hold back the silly smile that spread across his face.
"Don't worry, I'm not planning on dying anytime soon... but once again, if I were to die tonight, I would be full of regrets... but I know despite everything, the only regret involving you would be not being like this with you sooner. Despite everything, I'll never regret having met you."
Raising his hand, he gently took hers that was still resting on his face.
He was scared.
Scared that if this kept going on, he would cross the line and never be able to go back.
"You know... whenever I'm with you, my blindness truly dawns on me. I was blind to so many things. In fact, everything involving you ends up blinding me even more. I have no clue where to go, if what I'm doing is right, or if I should be doing it at all...
I don't think I can ever truly face you due to that... and for that, I'm so sorry..."
He couldn't help but laugh when she said that. Snickers came out of his mouth, but they stopped when he saw her confused expression.
"Ah, I was just thinking how I'm also blind sometimes. I was blind to the solution to all this."
In the next moment, he brought her hand off his face before bringing his to hers. After the hours they spent outside, the sun was finally rising.
"From now on, I'll become your eyes so you'll never be blind again."
This was his vow.
From now on...
"Are... are you sure?"
From now on, he would never leave her side.
"Cassie, from now on, let's keep moving forward...
Until we can't see the pain anymore. That is my promise to you."
...
In that moment she arrived at a quiet realization.
It was as one would their confidante, or their brother, or their savior.
As one would a kind, shameless fool.
As one would anyone whom they ought to love.
***
Life had been quite different since that night. For one thing, Cassie moved out of her parents' house and moved in with him. Of course, he was with her every step of the way... literally.
He had meant it when he told her that he would become her eyes.
For the past couple weeks, there wasn't a single moment when they weren't together.
At first it was awkward, as expected of course. But eventually it became natural.
If he had to compare it to something, then it would be the feeling of being complete, a puzzle being fully put together, a full bookshelf, two full hearts beating in sync.
Currently, as he was having these thoughts, they were in the shower together. As he thought, he would never truly get used to this sight.
But... this feeling he had welling up in him ever since that night, for some reason only now was he able to put a finger on it.
"Hey Cass."
"Yeah?"
"I think I'm in love with you."
"..."
"Even I wasn't blind enough to not see that, you know?"
Oh, that was nice to know.
"Hey, can we kiss?"
"..."
"Yeah, we can."
From now on, they'll keep moving forward. They'll leave every journey behind together and begin the next together.
From now on, they'll live their lives complete for the first time in a while.
[End of The Shadow and The Witch]