-A Heart to Heart

Taking a seat on a nearby stone, close enough for the fire to illuminate his features, but far enough to seem distant, Cain looked dimly over the tents and caravans behind Lia.

"They're sleeping, so we have all the time in the world to speak."

He said, panning his gaze to Lia, who avoided eye contact by looking out to the forest.

Seeing this, Cain's eyes squinted, before he inevitably sighed.

"You're ignoring me aren't you?"

Lia didn't move, only keeping her gaze out against the wooded tree line.

"I'm not ignoring you, I'm just trying to keep a watchful eye out. You know, in case some monster decides to come poking around and- "

"Lia."

Interrupted by his stern voice, Lia glanced at Cain before turning her gaze away once again.

"No monster will attack. Not while I'm here."

Hearing this, Lia almost laughed, but with her grumpy attitude, it came out more like a scoff than a half hearted laugh.

"You think you're strong enough to scare away any monster that comes near?"

Instantly, without hesitation, Cain responded, shutting Lia up from any comment she could have made.

"Some monsters are smarter than others when it comes to hunting. The mouse won't dare attack the wolf if it knows it will die."

Seeing her change in attitude, Cain half smiled at his victory over her snarkiness.

"And yes, I'm that confident."

As he stood, he silently moved to where Lia was standing, her gaze against the ground.

"What's the matter with you? Is there something going on that I'm not aware of?"

Instead of responding, Lia shook her head, trying to deny his claims.

However, Cain wasn't buying any of it.

"If you lie to me again, we're going to have problems."

Once again Lia scoffed, gaining new found confidence to look him in the eyes.

"You can't harm me. It's been written in the contract."

Cain's once subtle and small smirk turned into a deep frown as his brows contorted.

"So long as it's for your betterment, then it shall be allowed. That was written as well, you know."

"Problems are for my betterment?"

Sighing, Cain moved back to the fire, circling it, but never taking his eyes off Lia, who watched him with pure interest.

"Lia, problems desire solutions, and solutions are a means for getting things done."

He stopped, the firelight casting shadows across his face.

"You are troubled, and if you don't tell me your troubles, your awareness, strength, cunningness and your overall ability to create solutions to the problems you face will be hindered."

Gesturing to the log Lia had once been sitting on, he spoke with a calm, therapeutic voice, but with a stern order hidden behind it.

"Sit."

Catching the sternness in his voice, Lia complied, and sat down, gazing into the fire.

Similarly taking a seat, he gazed at Lia for several minutes before breaking the silence with his voice.

"Now tell me what's wrong."

With a deep sigh, Lia struggled to find the right words to say, the questions to ask, or the concerns she had. She struggled not only to find them, but to even utter her reasoning for choosing them.

Eventually, she gave in and found one simple question to ask, that easily summarized what she wanted to know.

"Why are there so many messed up people in this world?"

Lia was expecting some sort of sigh, or some comforting talk she would have normally expected to have been given to a child.

However, she received no form of comfort, and no form of easing her way into some cold hearted truth.

To Cain that meant nothing, and like his belief he held nothing back, and gave her everything she wanted to know, straight forward, summarizing everything he could into one sentence.

"Ha."

He half heartedly laughed.

"That's the world for you kid."

Hearing his neglect to let that knowledge be eased into her mind, she sat, eyes wide in surprise.

"The world sucks, kid. Get over it. The past will always lie in the past and there's nothing you can do to change that. You can have power, strength, or give some inspirational speech to the world, but it won't change anything. You'll find people aren't as movable or 'inspired' as you think they are."

Already barely keeping herself back, Lia's mentality finally snapped, and with it, she took herself down the spiral of conversation that would stick with her for the rest of her life.

"But why? What drives people like that to do what they do. To take away people's lives or tear apart their families."

"Because they don't care."

"But why?"

Lia was almost yelling at this point, her anger and frustration against the world, plainly showing before Cain and any witnesses for the world to see.

"Lia, this is human nature. There are good parts to life and bad parts of life."

"I know that much, Cain. But why would people like this give in to those bad parts? Why do what they do, knowing things will only end for the worst."

Sighing, Cain crossed his arms and glared at Lia with disappointment.

"Those are the words of someone who can't accept reality."

Hearing this, Lia was taken aback, shock plastered all over her face. But this only lasted for a moment, as she quickly recomposed herself.

"I know this is reality. I've experienced it myself, which is a lot more that can be said for the dozens of other people who wait in their castles and mansions, wasting away the years of their life, believing everything is perfect in this world."

Pointing at him, Lia continued.

"I'm not that arrogant to believe that this isn't reality. I just can't wrap my head around the idea of people doing this for no reason at all."

"No reason…"

As Cain's voice drifted off, Lia's attention was drawn to his last words. A repeat of her own, so simple, yet so out of character for him

"What?"

"No reason."

He repeated, standing up, though he didn't make any motion to move from where he stood.

Pointing out to the tents, Cain continued.

"The villagers had a reason with Totlac. They were starving, they were dying, and in their somewhat desperate attempt at grappling for whatever bits of life they had left, they committed unspeakable acts."

Now his hand moved to her, his finger pointing to her, his voice now hiding no form of seriousness.

"But they had a reason. So I ask you Lia, who are you really talking about? Totlac, or your family."

Surprised, Lia tried her best to deny what Cian was saying, but it was easily seen through by him.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about. There are hundreds of other people out there who have had it worse than me. Why make the connection with my family?"

"Because, Lia, that's your arrogance."

Before she could continue speaking, Cain raised his hand, stopping her from uttering a word.

"You believe that the past actions of your family is what makes them evil. What causes you to hate them. But that was in the past, Lia. A past you no longer belong to."

"But the wounds still remain."

Cain nodded his head, agreeing with her conclusion and reasoning, but not fully.

"Yes they will. A reminder of what happened. But those wounds are healing over, and fading out. No ones there to inflict more against your skin or your mind."

"What does that mean?"

Struggling to find reasoning within his words, Lia sub consciously agreed with Cain's former statement.

The very same statement where he told her that her words were not about Totlac, but about her own family and their harsh treatment of her.

"What I mean is, the pain your family inflicted upon you is all in the past. You can't change that. So rather than worry and feel hatred for something you can't control, use that hatred to accept the past for what it is."

As his hand began to lower down, he passed over the fire, its flames licking at the edges of his fingers and palms.

As his hand passed through the flames, he wrapped his hands around in a circle, and to Lia's shock, he pulled away his hand where fire now danced on his palm.

Almost mesmerized by the sight, Lia's eyes never left the dancing flame.

"The sooner you accept that past, the sooner you can move to a future where that past no longer exists."

And as those words left his mouth, he clutched his hand into a fist, snuffing out the burning flame. Further emphasizing the meaning behind his words.

"Giving into the past is your admittance that it still affects you. And to show that, is to show weakness."

Processing his words, Lia was faced with a conflict within herself.

On one hand, she wanted to forget what her family had done to her , the betrayal she faced when looking in their eyes. It would make her life easier just imagining that something like that was over with now.

But on the other hand, she was faced with an inconsequential anger against her family, and a thirst for vengeance. It was this vengeance she longed for and her hope for revenge that kept her from letting go of the past.

Sensing her feelings and the conflict within her, Cain brushed his hands against one another, clearing the ash and dust off.

In his attempt to lighten the mood, Cain didn't bother hiding anything from her, and told her the truth as he saw it.

"If you continue holding onto your lust for revenge, you will never be able to achieve it. Much less reach the goals you hope to stove for."

Hearing his words, Lia was thrown back to the time where she was forced to answer questions for herself.

'What are my goals?'

To sign the contract, she needed a goal in her life to strive for, but no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't decide on what goals she would have.

In the end, she signed the contract with no goal in mind, though she would never let Cain know that.

Of course she wanted revenge against her family, but past that it left nothing open for her own life, for her own betterment.

Perhaps this was what Cain was trying to tell her.

She couldn't keep letting her ideals of revenge consume her or else they would destroy what little bits of her were left. Instead, she should look to mend those cracks and pieces, until she is healed.

Once again, sensing the change in her emotions, Cain only smiled, before he tossed the coin back in her direction.

"It seems like this little talk of ours has given you some new found life. Though, I do hope you've taken this advice to heart."

Lia nodded her head, clutching the coin in her hands as her grip tightened around it.

Seeing this, Cain chuckled to himself.

"You know, if you're so attached to that thing, you could make it into a necklace, or a ring."

Noticing her own actions, Lia loosened her grip and avoided Cain's gaze.

"I'm not that attached to a coin. Why would I be?"

Smiling, Cain moved back, letting the last of the fire cast its light over his features.

"Because that coin means something. It means that things can change, and sometimes for the better."

As the darkness began to overtake him, and the light of the firelight no longer illuminated him. Causing his own glowing eyes to peer through the darkness where his features were non-existent.

"Hold on to it for me."

And with his last words, Cain completely disappeared from her vision, the darkness welcoming him home.

Seeing that he was truly gone, Lia sat back down, clutching the coin, before putting it into her pocket.

'Maybe I will keep it. For now at least.'

As the night drew on, Lia continued her shift until the two Safarians came back, offering her rest where she desperately needed it.

Taking her place, she headed back to the tent for a night's rest, and for the first time in days, she finally got a dreamless night.

No nightmares.

No bad dreams.

No false hopes.

***

The morning sun rose with a burning feeling to Lia's skin. A welcoming feeling to the cold shivers she had experienced last night by the fire.

The Safarinas themselves didn't look too good either, obviously disliking the night's watch, but also grateful they didn't have to experience the whole night's watch.

For this they silently thanked Lia, who offered her assistance to Lukali and Totlac who were loading the caravans.

"Did you get enough sleep last night?"

Lukali was still worried for Lia, as they were nearing the silver mines, and she would need to be at her hundred percent if she was going to deal with them quickly.

They both knew this.

"Yes. I'm fine, and thank you for setting up my tent last night."

Hearing her reassurance and thanks, Lukali smiled widely, before moving off to assist the others with their tasks.

Watching him go, Lia couldn't help but shake her head, knowing that at this point, it was best if she just assumed Lukali was one of the biggest pushovers she had ever seen.

"A ball of energy that one is."

Catching her by surprise, was the sound of Totlac's voice, as he rounded the corner, clutching the caravan's rope.

"Sleep well?"

As he asked her, Lia's mind floated back to last night's discussion, and her short fit or anger at the world.

"Yes. I had a pleasant night actually."

She wasn't lying, and that much was easily seen by Totlac who smiled at her response.

With Cain's words came an understanding that she had been missing for most of her life. Now armed with a goal in mind, forgetting her past no longer felt like some overwhelming fear to her.

Instead, it acted as reassurance that she could move past it, and march on to a future where she would never meet such a fate again.

"If you ever want to talk, I'm all ears. Sometimes it's a lot easier to let all of it go, then to bottle it up inside."

Hearing his words, Lia was once again reminded of how much she was wrong about Totlac, giving her an answer to many of her questions.

"Thank you Totlac."

She finished lifting the last of the cargo onto the caravan, and moved to assist Lukali, who was struggling to lift a large crate.

But as she began walking away, Lia turned once more to speak with Totlac, and give her last words to the man.

"But, you know what?"

"What?"

He asked, curiosity written on his face upon seeing her smile.

"Sometimes silence is the best acceptance."

As Lia turned to leave, she swore in her heart from that day onward that she had left Totlac with a smile on his face.