The First Step

Well Xilo took the time to explain the events that had occurred just before to Xelfia, Tearia's grandparents sat around her bed and looked over her condition that had stayed the same for the past couple of days.

"How's the rest of her condition?"

"Still the same as before."

Turning to her husband she answered the same question she had everyday whenever they went to check on Tearia in her bed but nothing had changed. She still kept repeating the same sentence with a lifeless look in her eyes while remaining unmoving but at the very least nothing else seemed to be wrong with her. But she understood her husband's feelings in this kind of situation.

"Sorry, just worried."

"I'm not mad or anything. I'm just as worried as you that's all and it's tiring in its own way."

Looking over at his wife sitting in the chair and seeing the bags starting to form under her eyes he couldn't agree anymore. Before this last week he couldn't even remember the last time either of them had felt tired but now that was all they were both feeling these days. Thinking about their well being though it was probably time for them to have a change of pace to get out of their current state. He didn't want them to get into a worse state let alone have Tearia wake up and see them like this. "It would probably shock her." They hadn't opened up the inn or did any of their usual schedule this past week so it was probably about time they did now. Even if it only helped keep their mind off their worries.

"I think I'm going to go open the Inn today and I think you should get back to your job as well. I think it'll be nice to get a change of pass."

"You're probably right but today?"

"Better than putting it off any longer and finding an excuse. We know better."

"True....Fine"

Hearing her husband's words she knew he was right so she stood up alongside him and gave one last goodbye to Tearia before getting ready to leave. Looking at their granddaughter one last time before shutting the door, they went off to their work leaving her all alone in her room for the second time this entire week. Both of them went their separate ways towards their usual places as they made no conversation together.

"....."

Meanwhile Tearia laid there repeating the same thing as she replayed the events of that day on repeat in her head and even some stuff from the time she first met Xilo while she stared at her ceiling. At first she had played the moment over when she first met Xilo and saw Xelfia and the things that went wrong from there. But all that lead her to was blaming and hating Xelfia with every fiber of her being for taking away the one thing she couldn't seem to get a hold on. "Xelfia, Xelfia, Xelfia...." Stuck in that hate she forgot about everything else thinking about that. From ways to torture her to how to kill her.

However that eventually stopped when she realized how impossible that was with her own strength alone and once she got to that point she realized she might have almost made the same mistake again as before. Taking her mind off that a little she tried to think of Xilo and the way he treated them both to maybe find the differences between them. "How is she any better." With bitterness she remembered the distance he had always kept between himself and her that she never understood from the very beginning while she remembered how close Xilo and Xelfia seemed. But that quickly brought back the hate but this time she didn't let it cloud her judgement.

"What is it? Is it because she's more attractive than me? More Kind? or because they met first." But no matter how she thought of it no answer came to mind that helped her figure out the difference. Frustrated with herself one thought came to mind. "Maybe I don't know them enough to really tell." But that thought got pushed out of her mind as she watched the beginning of their fight with the person she had hired. Watching Xilo continuously get hurt made her a little sad at first but it wasn't a big deal in the long run to her so she pushed it out of her mind while she watched just wanting it to end.

Then came the moment where she was betrayed by someone that was supposed to be doing her job. Feeling angry at him she watched and waited for Xilo to get mad at her or let her die thereafter. Scared she almost backed away a little at first watching that first knife fly directly towards her but ended up paralyzed in fear and then she quickly gave up without even trying. In the next moment though everything started to change when she didn't feel pain and looked up at Xilo still in front of her after everything that had happened so far but her first thought wasn't gratitude or thanks. Instead she thought he was an idiot.

Seeing that scene again the same thought still popped up in her mind but as she started to watch it on repeat as each knife repeatedly hit Xilo over and over again a new thought started to occur in her mind that she couldn't ignore. "It hurts." Watching every Knife hit Xilo without stopping made Tearia feel more and more pain herself as she slowly started to think about why he was even doing such a thing. At first she thought he was idiot and was just ignoring the truth being thrown at him but the more she watched the more doubts she had until eventually it occurred to her that maybe he believed every word of it but still decided to protect her but the thought of his idiocy still prevailed as she began to wonder how she could even love such a man.

Watching him do something that gave no benefits to himself was stupid to her but at the moment the her of then needed to take advantage of it as she huddled behind him slightly in fear. "Do you really love him though Tearia?" Hearing a somewhat familiar voice in her head she tried to find the source of it but no matter where she looked it was nowhere to be found. "Of course I did." But watching the next knife dig into Xilo disgust for herself started appearing as she watched but she was simply too afraid at the time but watching over it she felt her heart breaking again as well. Thankfully though Xelfia was getting ready to attack again and help.

"Do you want to know the difference between you and Xelfia?" Hearing that voice again she didn't bother looking for it as she watched on. "I'll give you a hint, You know how bad that poison can affect Astral Beasts but what is she still doing despite that fact?" Unable to ignore that voice she was forced to think about it as she watched Xelfia's waterball fly at the man. "She saved Xilo? That's no fair If I was that strong..."

"No, you silly girl. The difference between you and her is quite simply really. She's trying and actually feels love towards Xilo and vice versa but you? You did neither. You never tried to learn about him or understand him. Instead you pestered him about everything and anything and simply hated when things didn't go your way and even when Xilo tried to understand you, all you did was push him away in fear and then you caused both of them all sorts of trouble and then refused to do anything yourself to help."

"...."

Silence washed over her little world as she watched Xilo kill the man. But then her nightmare started and she watched as herself actually looked at Xilo for the first time properly. She watched the fear she felt run through her body as she still somewhat felt it even now as Xilo transformed into a monster and pounced on top of her. BUt this time around she saw the sadness and loneliness in his voice and eyes while he yelled at her and eventually she saw the fear that was there as well that she couldn't see before. Watching him run away into the forest Tearia finally had somewhat of an understanding of Xilo now as the words she mouthed silently turned into something else.

"Mother...Xilo...I'm sorry."

Life slowly came back to her eyes as she started to awake and move her body. Looking around at her room and not seeing her grandparents around her a bit of loneliness crept into her but she ignored it as she tried to move her body. Feeling a little stiff she struggled a little getting up but eventually made it to the door as she silently made it down the hall as one thought solidified in her mind. Making her way down the steps she tried to find the destination she was looking for as she finally made it to the main hall where the person she was looking for was probably at right now. But her feet paused before she could make it around the corner as hesitation and fear filled her mind. Thankfully not for too long as she felt a soft gentle push bring her forward forcing her to face the back of her grandfather. Looking at his back as he hunched over in sadness pain washed over her but she still had words she had to say now instead. If not she was scared things would never begin.

"Grandfather...Can you..Teach me how to fight again?"