what occurs in ignorance

Izu awoke. He stirred around, realizing he was still alive. He checked himself for damages while acknowledging the beast's absence; he had no clue how long he'd been out for, so his best bet was to make a full sprint home and hope no one saw him, and right on cue he was pushed onto the ground by a shaggy-looking man about 40ish years of age. "𝒀𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒊𝒏'," the man says through a small accent and a crooked yellow grin, making it as obvious as possible that he was probably one of the aforementioned 'wrong people'. " Izu starts, "𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔—" The man suddenly kicks his side while he is on the ground, then steps on his head, his boot pushing his face into the dirt. "𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑰 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏, 𝒐𝒏 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏," he stomps on his head over and over again. He could feel the repetitive, surging pain his ears were ringing, and he could feel his skull trying to stay intact. He was about to pass out. The man got off of him and started talking to someone, but Izu didn't care. He pryed himself from the ground and attempted to fight the man before freezing, realizing his attire to be that of a member of the Amaraian pleurs-Rosalba, a thick coat with red, black, and white designs and 3 straight gold lines down the middle with a black face mask. The ones he was talking to were also members. "They must've heard about my poor attempt at an escape. Was I out for that long?" Izu asked himself as one of the people usherd him into a small cart. He was bound to the floor of the cart as horses pulled it along.

He was taken home. They continued to question Hona before giving him a chance to speak to her. He was happy to see Hona, till he noticed her expression. She was crying. He failed to comprehend why till he reached for her but was stopped by a member of the amaraian pleurs—Rosalba grabbing his wrist. Izu aggressively pulled his hand back, then smiled at Hona, attempting to comfort her. "𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈?" he asked, like he was speaking to a small child. She responded in a weak voice, "𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚. 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅'𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓." Her legs were shaking as they normally only did after work; her eyes stained red from crying; her voice dry. She had clearly been crying for awhile. "𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏, 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓? 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆." Izu smiled softly as Hona cried harder. Despite her clearly trying to stop, Hona handed him an eye patch that she had sown; it was black with a red (x) through it. "𝑨𝒘, 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒔," Izu said, trying to show how much he appreciated it and attempt to offer her some semblance of normality. "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒖𝒎 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒚𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒂 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓," she explained very matter-of-factly, her tears stopping briefly as she displayed the things that had been running 𝒂𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒌 in her head. "𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒖𝒎 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆." She hugged him and gently kissed his forehead before the men from the church separated them. 

Izu was dragged into the middle of the town; he was bound to a wooden post as a woman walked onto the rickety wooden platform. She had tied back white hair tipped in dark blue strands and a long blue dress. a book tied to her waist, some simple glasses, and some red fruit on her head in a blue circular container with white flower designs on it. She grasped the book from her waist and opened it while saying in a tone of superiority, "𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝑹𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒂 𝑳𝒆𝒎𝒂î𝒕𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒅𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒌𝒂𝒏𝒆 𝑨𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒖'𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅," she said mildly annoyed. While surveying the small crowd in the lamplight, some people started to talk about the alleged situation of the highest-ranking church member currently in the territory of Sinistareia. Reina coughed to silence the crowed "𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏." She then continued in a slightly more calm voice, "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 both speaking of and attempting to leave 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒗𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒖𝒕𝒚." She shouts loudly along with a few other charges, though less concrete. "𝑺𝒐, 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒙𝒊𝒎𝒖𝒎 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒚; 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒔," she says, her eyes looking at him with disgust as she grabs a sword from behind her. She slowly unsheaths it, staring at the sky. "𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒂, 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒎 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒂." She pushes his head against the wooden pole and plunges the sword into his left eye as he screams in agony. He wanted it to end. If death would make the pain stop, then that's what he wanted. She then broke his fingers, arms, and wrist. She then placed his hands above his head and stabed through them into the wood. She proceeded to move down as it looked like she was grasping for something in her clothes, but she ended up empty-handed. She responded by saying something under her breath. She went silent, then a light swirled in her hand, forming a sharp serrated black glass knife, and she immediately stabed it into his lower stomach. Izu clenched his teeth so hard he thought they'd shatter again and again. The knife plunged into him, cutting off the temporary relief his thoughts brought him. She ended up putting one kife in each leg, one to each arm, one to the stomach, and was preparing to put two to the head, until a scream rang through the cavernous town of Teneburoh. Reina looked to Izu and decided that the steady bleeding would be more than enough to kill him. She ran towards the screams as the crowed slowly cleared too. 

After awhile, Izu can feel his limbs enough to remove the knives. The wounds closed surprisingly quickly, but it does little to alleviate his dizziness and weak-feeling body due to his lack of blood. His hand reaches up to his missing left eye, only to realize he could see. He went to a small puddle and noticed his eye was gone and, in its place, a collection of parsistic glowing yellow eyes in the pitch black cavity of where his eye previously was. "𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒕'𝒅 𝒈𝒐, 𝑰 𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅," he jokes to himself, weakly searching and putting it on. As he is about to consider it further, he remembers a scream from earlier as he walks to where it was—the smell of blood and fire, the sound of metal through flesh. He knew what was happening, so he ran home. Hona wasn't there. He checked her work, the place she'd go to cry when money was especially tight, or the small flower patch she'd rest in on the rare occasion she didn't have to work. He started just running around looking absolutely anywhere till he ended up back at the center of town, where Hona was kneeling in front of the pile of his blood, crying.