Patching things up

Alan accepted Olive’s drink.

“What do you want to talk about?” he asked.

Olive clasped her hands behind her back and smiled.

“Gregory” she replied. “Why do you have it in for him?”

Alan downed the glass and sighed.

“I don’t have anything against him personally, but I can’t accept that a member of the Children of Dragon is among us as if it’s nothing.”

“He wouldn’t be here if he was a bad person, you know that, right?”

“Do you doubt Captain More’s judgement?” added Alice.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just…” Alan gritted his teeth. “I have a score to settle with those brigands.” His expression was full of resentment.

“Gregory is not one of them anymore and he’s trying his best to show it” replied Olive. “He really wants to get along with you.”

Alan looked away, annoyed.

“You don’t know what they did to my family, they’re dangerous people! How can we bring with us one of them thinking that he suddenly redeemed himself? How can I trust him?” His tone was getting angrier. “It happened one of the first years after I became a soldier. My sister and her little son were travelling to Blossomhyl to visit me after a long time, but they were kidnapped by the Children of Dragon on their way and I’ve never seen them again. I don’t even know what happened to them after or if they’re still alive.”

Olive lowered her gaze gloomily and brought her hands to her chest.

“I’m sorry for what had happened to your sister, but it’s not an excuse for your behaviour.” She raised her head and looked directly into Alan’s eyes. “Gregory is not like the thugs that kidnapped your sister. I was kidnapped by the Children of Dragon too, but on that occasion Gregory took care of me and helped me escape. He even saved my life when a thug was about to attack me. He’s a good guy!”

Alice’s eyes widened, surprised. She didn’t know that Olive had to face such unpleasant vicissitudes: she was really a strong girl.

“What?” Alan stared blankly at Olive.

He couldn’t believe that a member of that criminal group was capable of good actions. If Olive wasn’t lying, then, maybe, he was wrong about Gregory. It was still difficult to accept for him, but, thinking about it, Gregory didn’t do anything wrong up until now: maybe he truly redeemed himself.

At that moment, Alan heard some steps coming in his direction: it was Gregory. The tall guy approached him and clasped his hands with a disconsolate expression.

“I didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but… I’m sorry! I’m truly sorry for what happened to your sister and his son! Even if not directly, it’s also my fault: I’ll do everything to make amends! I hope you can forgive me” he said.

Gregory hoped that Alan could feel the honesty in his words and didn’t think he was pretending. He felt guilty for what had happened to Alan’s family. If he thought about his past, he hated himself for just standing by and watching, without doing anything about the wickedness of his comrades.

Alan frowned, taken aback by the sudden excuses. From his tone and expression, Gregory seemed to be truly sorry about it.

“Ah, damn it!” Alan exclaimed.

He felt guilty for treating Gregory so badly: even if in the past he was a member of that gang, he understood his mistakes and was trying to improve himself. Not like him, who had remained attached to things of the past and wasn’t able to see farther than his nose.

“I’m the one who should be sorry” he said awkwardly. “I had misjudged you.”

Gregory looked at him, full of joy and gratitude.

“Don’t worry, I don’t blame you for it. So, now we’re friends, right?”

Alan nodded, avoiding eye contact. He felt a bit embarrassed for the childish attitude he had toward him.

Gregory raised his arms to celebrate.

“I feel so much better now. By the way, you’re good at push-ups, you gave me a hard time!”

“Shut up, next time I’ll beat you for sure” replied Alan, annoyed.

Olive glanced at the two of them with a joyful expression: she was happy that they were able to resolve the tensions between them.

Alice patted her shoulder. “Good job, you handled it perfectly.”

Olive chuckled. “Thank you!”

That night, for some reason, Natsuo couldn’t sleep. He felt a strange aura around, it was different from the other days.

He got out of his sleeping bag and went outside to breathe fresh air. He lay down on the fresh grass and observed the stars.

Observing the night sky, a lot of thoughts went through his mind. He reflected on how much his powers could affect the world and his heart felt heavier: his system was incredible, but it was also a great burden. With all that power in his hands, he felt pressure. When the lives of so many people depended on him, he couldn’t afford making mistakes, and they all had great expectations from him.

He sighed. Being famous wasn’t only about fun and money, there were also great responsibilities.

Natsuo heard some footsteps coming in his direction. He recognized the walk, it was Olive.

“You can’t sleep too?” he asked.

“Yes, tonight there’s a weird atmosphere” she replied.

She sat next to him on the grass.

“You seem to be deep in thought, something happened?”

“I’m okay, don’t worry.” He replied.

They spent a few moments in silence.

“The sky is beautiful at night, don’t you think?” Natsuo commented.

Olive looked up and observed the starry sky.

“Yes, it is.”

She glanced back at Natsuo. The silver moonlight gently caressed his skin and highlighted his delicate side profile. He was beautiful, even more than the night sky.

Olive felt her soft cheeks burning.

“Natsuo” she called.

But at that moment, he sat up abruptly.

“I saw it” he said.

“What?” asked Olive, confused.

“The white horse.”