Broken Crystals

"I don't know his name," Rae said. "Not that any of us Verniz people have names in this world."

"We have names, and you know yours,"

"Rae," she said as if testing the name for the first time. "A feeling swells in my chest when I say it," the previously cold and aloft woman said, to Arthur's amazement.

A strange feeling overtook him as he looked at her. She looked older, no longer the youngster he once knew. She was mature now, forced to mature by this world.

'Maybe I'm the same,' Arthur thought as he looked down toward his body. A missing limb, calloused skin, and weary eyes. They were all changed by this world of hardships and battles.

"I still want to know who he is," Arthur repeated his question, and Rae raised a finger to her lips. Then, she turned away from him and looked toward the mansion in the distance.

"I guess not everyone has turned into crystals," she said with a smile before walking into the town.

***