[AuroraSky]

Such painful, painful memories Arcane was forcing him to bring back. For so long the Barghest had tried his hardest to forget his past, but it always found its way back to him. His voice trailed away a little and he turned his face from the young girl, angry and embarrassed that he was allowing himself to display his emotions. What kind of assassin went so soft in so short?

"Are you okay?"

Seeksoul froze, eyes wide. Was this...this...girl showing him compassion?! How dare she act as if he was some sort of charity case?! "I'm fine." He said roughly, eyes flaring red. It was a good thing he was already anchored to the hospital bed or he would have attacked her. "I just paused to...remember events."

He could not meet Arcane's eyes, for he knew she knew he was lying. Damn, how could he be so transparent sometimes? "The man was on top of the roof. I screamed and I pointed. I remembered screaming so loud. I remembered everyone turning to look where I was pointing. The man set the arrow in the bow and aimed for me, to keep me quiet. But," He closed his eyes tightly. "He shot her instead."

"...Your mother?"

"My mother."

[32][32]

[AuroraSky]

Arcane sat there, not sure what to do. Seeksoul had just told her that his mother had been killed, right in front of him, and all she could do was sit there. It was highly against her nature to feel any compassion or sympathy for anyone, considering that she killed people for a living, but at the same time she had gotten to know Seeksoul a little better. Even if he was the crazy guy trying to murder her. "Don't feel sorry for me." He said sharply, bring Arcane back into reality.

She looked away briefly, not sure of how to reply to that. "Don't worry, I won't." She replied in the same tone that he just had, even though it was a complete lie. He nodded firmly and turned his head to he was staring at the ceiling.

"So then I suppose I should continue my story then?" He didn't wait for her to finish. "Immediately time stopped, and everyone went into panic mode. People were running, tripping over other, tossing children aside...leaving my mother just there to die. She just lay there, bleeding to death and screaming. No one stopped. No one. It was just me." His breath got caught and Arcane bit her lip. "Finally the whole seating area was cleared. I remember just leaning over her body and crying. Her hair was so soft...she was blonde. Like you."

Arcane's head snapped up and for some reason it made her blush when he said that. "Continue."

[33][33]

[AuroraSky]

Seeksoul didn't continue. Instead he watched her, images of his mother flowing back rapidly, as just saying the thought aloud broke the dam he had so steadily built. As he looked into her golden eyes, she turned away rapidly and he couldn't help but smirk a little. He could tell she hated the attention, but pretty girls got lots of attention. In his book, that was the way the world worked. And he loved the fact that she hated it.

"Continue." She repeated again, this time is sounded more like a question than command. But Seeksoul decided that since the pain was getting worse and worse every second he spent lying there on the icy bed, he might as well. "Sure thing."

"It was just me and her...her and me. The man from the roof jumped down with a swiftness I had never seen before. In startled, yet intrigued me. Then I remembered he was the monster who had taken my mother away from me, so I started yelling at him. Well half at him, half for help. No one came, not that I was surprised. Everyone that lived in my village were cowards." He gritted his teeth as he said this, and reminded himself to calm down. "He just kept walking towards me. He was wearing a mask, and only when he came closer to the firelight did I see that one of his eyes was missing."

[34][34]

[AuroraSky]

Arcane nodded intently, the story suddenly taking an interesting turn. More interesting than the murder of his mother. "His...eye was missing?" She asked, leaning a bit forward as if Seeksoul was reading a horror tale. In truth it was just his life.

She blushed as Seeksoul displayed an amused expression, and Arcane felt like a little child for a moment. "Yes, it was missing. Just an empty hole; no glass eye, no nothing. I was a lad of only five, so naturally I was scared out of my wits. I screamed even louder, hoping someone...anyone would come and rescue me. But all they did was turn their backs and run like fools. The man...grabbed me. I remember he grabbed my arm and dragged me so roughly I thought it was going to rip off. I can still feel his sharp nails digging in my skin. He just dragged me away from my dead mother. I kept yelling for her to help me, but of course she didn't. She couldn't."

"He dragged me just a little while longer but it felt like eternity. We approached a wagon, a cart more like it and he just threw me in. There were other little boys there too...like they had done this before. It then occured to me that I was being kidnapped. And I was never coming home."

[35][35]

[AuroraSky]

It was funny how young Arcane had suddenly seemed so innocent and intrigued at nonsense. But she was still the enemy, and Seeksoul would have to keep reminding himself about this. He shifted his position as the pain started to ease away just a tiny bit, but he was still no where near being strong enough to escape and finish out his job. "Other boys? Where did they come from?"

"I didn't ask them, the man sat with us. He had his knees up at the opposite side of the cart, and we all just huddled together, terrified. No one spoke, our teeth just chattered. I remember it was cold. So very cold. And there were so many bumps in the road and it seemed like we were traveling forever."

"Did you stop again?"

"No. We get kept going and going. The man just stared at us eerily with his one eye. I remember I would jump out of my skin when it blinked. The hole twitched slightly as well, as if it was trying to blink as well. It was sort of...funny."

"You have a sick sense of humor."

Seeksoul let out a wry laugh. "When you do this, you have to."

[36][36]