Heart To Heart

Nir and Rain are on top of the turret. Present time.

“You say… She was terrified?” - Nir asks.

-”I think so”. - Rain answers. “Then, she just told me to follow her as if nothing happened and she got me a new skill! But… I didn’t know she could make that face - is all I’m saying”.

-”You got a new skill?? Which one? Not that I know many”.

-”Night vision. Apparently it’s rare. I’m capable of seeing well at night, I just have a bit of a hard time controlling it currently. It’s surely a good skill to have, but I want to be able to see things normally too, so it’s really reassuring I can ‘turn it off’”.

-”I also got a new skill. I’m now capable of seeing other people’s hearts. Up to now I could only see ours, although it’s always a bit tricky to see your own. I imagine that skill might be useful, but I’m not sure how yet. Eventually, we don’t just hunt people for their hearts. We fight for protection”.

-”Yea, but I think information is always useful. It’s good to have that. Who knows, you might find a purpose for it in the future”.

-”I agree. So… Does that mean you are talking to me again?”

-”No”. - Rain answers and leaves.

Nir starts following her as she goes down the stairs.

-”Wait! Rain! Please…”

She keeps walking down the stairs.

-”Rain!”

-”Leave me alone!” - She says, as she reaches the ground and turns the way they came from, going back to the castle.

Nir stands alone at the bottom of the stairs, not knowing the words to get to her.

He finds himself walking around the town, on the way to the market. He notices he is hungry. “Might as well get something to eat if I’m here”. - He thinks to himself.

As he reaches the market, seeing all the stands - he remembers he doesn’t have money. He then gets his last remaining coin out of his pocket, hoping maybe there would be something so cheap - he might be able to afford it.

He then approaches a fruit stand, selling delicious looking, and some weird looking fruits as well.

-”Never seen your face around here… Who are you?” - The seller asks him. “Everyone here knows everyone… Well… I guess not. Hahaha”.

-”Oh, yea, I came from the village, that’s probably why. So… I only have one coin, believe it or not... Is there anything edible that may be worth that amount?”

-”You came… From one of the villages?” - He asks in shock.

-”Oh, that’s right! ‘One of the villages’, since there are many”.

The seller looks like his mood has shifted.

Suddenly, a bunch of other people in the market, along with the merchants - start yelling at him: “What are you doing here?” - “Get out of our town!” - “Who the hell do you think you are?!” - “What are the guards doing?”

Nir doesn’t understand what’s happening. Their reaction seems so radicalized and contradictory to his expectations.

-”Wait! What are you doing?!” - He asks.

-”You don’t belong here!” - “Get out of here!” - They yell at him. They start throwing their goods at him. Nir tries protecting himself, lifting his left elbow up, hiding his head behind his arms.

He then turns to the fruit merchant, asking: “Why would they suddenly act like that???”

The fruit merchant throws at Nir a kind of fruit that he has never seen before this day, hitting his face. It is so solid - the close-range-hit actually hurts badly. He then falls to the ground, covering his face with his hands in pain, still barely holding to his coin.

Nir is struggling to stand up. After a few seconds, he manages to, and as he does - the way he balances his feet for a moment - happens to resemble the god statue’s stance. Nir stabilizes, but it can be seen he is still in pain.

-”Wait! Aren’t you the one who came with the girl? Summoned by the empress?!” - One of the town members asks.

-”Come to think of it, he kind of looks like the god statue! Just like the girl looks like the goddess statue!” - Another person realizes. “The two gods sent you to us! Please! Forgive us! Take these offerings!”

Other people start joining in the apology and offerings: “We are so sorry!” - “Take these fresh vegetables, please!” - “We mistook you for one of the villagers… Please forgive us”.

Their hands keep offering more and more, until Nir snaps.

-”Enough! You think I will just forget how you treated me? Only a few seconds ago you were prepared to exile me! I had enough. I don’t need your gifts”.

The people in the market have become quiet. They seem sad and ashamed.

Nir walks away with the one coin he still held in his hand, doubting its qualities as a “lucky coin”. He wanders around the town, his thoughts are a complete mess, his head is hurting a lot.

He walks towards the same turret he was having the conversation with Rain on top of. He reaches the bottom of the stairs, seeing Ranmei coming out of there.

-”Hey Nir!” - He tells him. “This is the empress’s favourite place to just sit down and think. Did you come here to do the same?”

-”I’m not sure…” - Nir replies.

Ranmei notices Nir looks distressed.

-”What happened?” - He asks.

-”Nothing too bad, I guess. The people at the market threw their stuff at me once they heard I’m from a village. Eventually, they realized who I was, so they started offering me gifts one after another”.

-”I’m glad they didn’t kill you”. - Ranmei says with a smile.

-”YEA! Me too!”

-”But if they did… They wouldn’t be able to get away with it easily…”

-”What do you mean?” - Nir asks.

-”Had one of them actually killed you - their hearts would transform. Then their whole livelihood would change drastically. It’s extremely unlikely they would actually go this far”.

-”It feels like they went pretty far just doing what they did”.

-”That’s what I felt at the begining”. - Ranmei explains. “I came from one of the villages too, only unlike you, I had to prove my worth”.

Nir suddenly remembers Ranmei has already told him about being a villager originally.

”Try forgiving them. Think of how they see the villages. The fear they have of what the village-people are capable of… In some of their invasions - they managed to actually kill some of our people. Despite all the guards. And although they achieved nothing by doing that… They may keep trying to do the same”.

Nir’s perspective changes after hearing that. He was emotional because of the way they treated him, but now he is much more sympathizing with them instead, albeit still in pain.

Ranmei notices Nir’s distress is coming back. He looks uneasy.

“Have I made things more complicated for you?” - Ranmei asks, smiling again.

-”No. It’s just… My head is exploding…” - Nir replies. “I think I should go get some rest”.

-”Okay then. Goodbye for now”. - Ranmei tells him as Nir walks towards the castle’s entrance.

He then enters and goes straight to his shared room with Rain, not knowing if she’s there or not. He walks into the room and as he moves the curtain to his left side to get into the bedroom, he sees Rain sitting on the edge of the bed, lost in thought.

She sees him walking in, but she says nothing.

-”Still not talking to me I see… Great”.

Rain tries to gather courage to speak to him honestly. She takes a big breath and says: “Look. I’m sorry, I just…” - He interrupts her: “Just what? Wanted to keep blaming me?”

-”I just wanted us to try a normal life in this town…”

-”Is it really what you wanted? Then why do you keep getting mad at me? Don’t you see I just want you to be protected? We can’t live a normal life! We would just die in a few years… But if I join the guards - you will be protected.”

She looks into his eyes. She seems serious and caring. Yet, she doesn’t know what to say.

“If you really hate me this much I’ll just go train in the barracks and sleep there. You won’t change my mind about joining the empress’s guard. I’ll kill for hearts if that’s what it takes. Just let me know if you need to sync some of them”. - He tells her, then turns to leave the room.

As he walks out - she keeps looking at him, with her gaze and face being unchanged, filled with care, yet lacking the words.