Guilt Beyond Truth

"You! Empyrean... W-why are you here?" I stammered nervously, trying to hide how terrified I truly was. "Do you intend to ravage further? Take the lives of even more?"

My visitor floated silently beside me, observing my reaction closely. When he spoke, his words were soothing yet haunting, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I shouldn't trust him.

"I was only defending you, Aleratha. They were trying to kill you, so it's only fair we do the same." His tone was firm but gentle. "Don't you agree?"

His question caught me off-guard, making me pause briefly before answering.

"No." I admitted quietly, shaking my head slightly. "Most of those villagers were innocent. Those who stabbed me did so because of your monstrous aura. My life isn't anywhere near worth as much as theirs, so it should've been me who died that day."

"If you die, I die. If I lose you, I cease to exist. That is why I protect you with everything I have, even if it means sacrificing others. Don't you understand?" He asked softly, hovering directly overhead while keeping a safe distance between us. "This is destiny, Aleratha. We're bound together whether you want to believe it or not."

I paused again, taking a few moments to think before responding.

"Why can't people sense you now? Before, even kids knew something was off, but now, no one seems to bat an eye. What happened?"

He chuckled lightly yet without humor. "I was unstable when we first awakened, but after you set me free, I stabilized. They won't see me anymore." he spoke, gazing straight at me with piercing crimson eyes.

"Will you hurt people again?" I asked hesitantly, my voice trembling despite my best efforts to remain calm.

He directed his gaze to the serene farmlands outside the window. "Who knows? You're the one who controls me, after all. I can only release myself if you fall unconscious."

That answer wasn't what I wanted to hear, but it didn't surprise me either. After all, I'd never thought that my decision would change the course of events.

"Agnes, she's coming. Farewell."

"What? Agnes?"

Footsteps approached from downstairs, creaking at the wooden stairs. "Aleratha, who are you talking to?"

She glanced around the room, checking to make sure nobody else was present. "And wait, did I ever tell you my name?"

"What do you mean?" I replied curiously.

"You said Agnes, didn't you? I don't recall telling you my name yet, but whatever; It's probably just my old silly mind."

"Oh, yeah. Um..."

I trailed off awkwardly, unsure of how to continue our conversation.

"Anyway, you're up now. Wanna help me out on the farm? It'll give you some fresh air and exercise too."

I nodded slowly. "Sure."

The two of us set out from the townhouse, exiting onto the garden where a tiny farm grew out of a mound of soil and a bunch of straw. Her small but bustling farm looked like it had been in the works for quite some time.

"I'll need some help with tilling the fields." she walked into the little plot of land, inspecting the rows and rows of straw planted along the ground. "My old back can barely handle this much work by itself." She turned her attention towards me. "What do you say?"

"Sure," I repeated, walking over to join her in the field.

We spent the rest of the morning working together, planting seeds and pulling weeds until the sun rose high beyond the horizon. It took us several hours as she had to teach me how to properly till the soil and plant the seeds.

"Ahh, it's no good. You have to let the hoe do the work. Or else your back will be like mine within no time," she explained, rubbing her sore lower back with a groan.

"How long have you been doing this?" I asked curiously.

"Since I was a child." she answered simply, patting down her hair. "Much, much younger than you are. But I still remember my mother teaching me how to grow vegetables when I was a kid. I'm surprised I haven't forgotten already."

"Sounds nice," I muttered, pausing my work for a moment. "My mother never taught me anything. They all said I was... talentless."

Agnes stopped working and stared at me with wide eyes. "They say that about you?"

I nodded quietly, looking away from her. "But it's okay. It doesn't bother me anymore."

She resumed working beside me and gave me a friendly smile. "Well, you shouldn't listen to them. Just because someone doesn't have any talents, that doesn't mean they're not great in their own way. Besides, I'm sure you just haven't discovered your talent yet."

I sighed. "It's not like that. You wouldn't understand."

"Oh, really? And why is that?" she questioned, brows furrowed.

"It's... complicated." I whispered softly before returning to my work. "I'm not actually from that village. I'm from an aquatic elven tribe known as the Milailt. They all possess incredible water magic and stuff, while I can't even form a droplet. They ended up exiling me."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Sure."

I didn't bother to answer properly. Instead, I sat down, hugging my legs tightly to my chest, and gazed at the farm.

"Why so quiet?" she asked with concern in her voice, staring at me for a moment before finishing the task at hand."

"I want to save a lot of people," I responded quietly. "Save people like those from the village... After all, it was me who burned down the entire place." I chewed on my bottom lip, admitting to my crime with a decimating weight of guilt.

"...Was it really you?" Agnes questioned in a low voice. "You were only a child."

I didn't reply.

She paused for a moment before continuing. "Why are you telling me that? What if I notice knights?"

"I don't really care if they lock me up or not. I'd rather die than see another person suffer because of me," I replied with a weak voice as I looked up at the sky. "So, are you going to detain me?"

Her face hardened as she turned her attention toward me with narrowed eyes.

"When I was young, my mother would often get beaten by my father. She couldn't do anything to stop him from abusing her because he was too strong," she explained to me as I remained silent. "Every single day, I'd wake up to the terrible echo of anguished cries and yells from inside our home. It was horrifying. It was heartbreaking." Her eyes glazed over for a moment as she continued, "Eventually, I couldn't handle it anymore and poisoned him to death with a bitter plant."

A silence followed before she continued. "But my mother wasn't happy. Instead, she embraced his corpse, staring at the young little me with eyes of sorrow—a memory forever locked in my mind. Not much later, she starved herself to death. I must've felt like you do right now—plagued with remorse."

Her voice had become cold and empty by the end of her story. It was clear she'd blocked it out in her head after many years of holding on to her past memories.

"Agnes, I—"

"People can change, Aleratha. You can still be free."