Peace

Shui knocked on the door twice and waited for a short period before hearing her voice.

"Yes?"

"Can I come in?"

Sia was confused when she heard someone knocking since none of her siblings had this habit. It was one thing for Lily to do it since she was her sister, but there were several times when she had to slap her older brothers for not knocking first. Aunt Lilia might knock, but she couldn't remember a single time when she needed to come to her room. However, when she heard Shui's voice her mood went from confused to panicked.

"Uh uh uh, wait a minute!"

Shui usually restrained his eyes and senses in the house so he couldn't see what Sia was doing, but his hearing was enough to tell him that she was rushing to clean up. After much frantic cleaning, Sia eventually opened the door while appearing unflustered. The room that peeked out from behind her seemed plain and ordered, but he could still see pieces of clothing sticking out from boxes.

"What is it?"

"Are you doing okay? You took a hard hit yesterday."

Sia touched the back of her neck as she nodded, "Yeah, your potion, was good. I'm fine."

"Oh..."

Anyone would be able to detect the awkward atmosphere that was here, but Shui didn't know how he would be able to fix it. He might have acted like a gentleman in front of Cleia, but he was no expert when it came to girls. Most of his knowledge came from books, so he couldn't wrap his head around the mystery that was the female thought process.

Since the conversation had gone dead, Shui was about to leave but Sia felt that if she didn't take this chance, she wouldn't know when another would come.

"Wait!"

She grabbed his arm and fully opened the door before letting him go.

"Do, do you want to come in?"

Shui's honest answer was 'no', however he also wanted to get rid of this awkward mood.

"Okay."

Shui followed Sia and sat down on the bed with her after closing the door behind him. She hugged her knees to her face and kept glancing at him, but this time he was able to patiently wait for her.

At some point, she released her legs and turned towards him.

"Thank you for protecting us. I want you to know that I'm really grateful for everything you've done for my family."

"You're wel-"

"But this doesn't mean I forgive you for leaving us for so long." Sia pinched the pants of her nightwear as she made her point clear.

"Huh? But I couldn't help i-"

"I know!"

Shui thought that everything was about to be solved, but then a different problem slapped his face. With a deep frown, Sia went on to explain herself as her hand went from pinching to clenching.

"I know you had your problems but, but, do you know worried we were? Do you know how many times I had to look at my sister crying in her sleep, and then waking up and acting like everything's okay? Do you know what it feels like to have to be the one to tell her that there's an extra portion at the table, and watch the room go silent? Do you know how we felt when we heard what happened to your clan? How my sister felt, how my stupid brothers, how I felt?! How hard it was on me when I thought you might actually be..."

As she changed from criticizing him to ranting, Shui grimaced as he raised his hand and laid it on her head. His other hand was also squeezing his thigh as he looked at the girl. He was sure that he had gone through a lot. After trying so hard to recover and get stronger, he came out to find someone who was like a father to him, dead, along with his fellow apprentices. He thought that nothing could top that hopelessness and believed that although they would miss him, it wouldn't be too bad. However, it seemed he had dismissed their feelings.

"It's not fair, it's not fair! You just come back and, everything's supposed to be fine again. I'm just supposed to act like you never left, it's not fair..."

As her rant became accompanied by shaking shoulders and wet eyes, Shui embraced her. More than seeing her injured yesterday, it was her tears that left a deeper mark in his heart.

After some time, Shui left her on her bed, fast asleep, and exited the room.

"Did it go well?"

Waiting on him as he stepped out was Lily with a gentle expression.

"Uh, I guess."

Remembering what Sia told him, there was a bit of guilt on Shui's face.

"Lily, I'm-"

"Shh."

Shui tried to apologize, but Lily interrupted him with her index finger on her lips.

"Master, have you forgotten? I will always be on your side. No matter what you do, you don't have to apologize to me."

He thought she was holding herself back, but the smile that appeared on Lily's face was free of sorrow. Thanks to the unbreakable bond between them, he knew she wasn't lying.

"Okay."

Leaving a resigned Shui behind, Lily entered her room. After a couple moments to regain his composure, Shui scratched his head and sighed.

"I still don't understand."

The next day, when Sia was about to go to school with her brothers, Shui asked her to follow him somewhere. Sia felt very self-conscious due to the events of last night, but in addition to it being hard to refuse him in front of her family, this was the first time he had ever brought her anywhere so she was curious. However, as soon as they walked out the house, Sia acted distant once again.

There was nothing wrong with her walking beside him while they were on the main streets, but once they approached the slums he grabbed her hand. She flinched and finally looked at him, but there was no change in his relaxed expression. She then looked down at their hands but neither accepted nor rejected his grip.

The two gave the impression of siblings or young lovers, the type that wouldn't normally be in this area. It would be natural if men or women with malicious ideas came up to them as they walked through the slums, that was just how things worked here. But not a single person bothered them, they didn't even notice them.

After the Red Ravens were basically decimated, the underworld quickly turned to chaos as several gangs fought over the right to be the next ruler of Cyrus' darkness. Naturally this meant that even though it was broad daylight, the two of them walked past many scenes of bloody fights and dead bodies. Even though she had never killed someone before, Sia used to live here so she wasn't scared by these sights even if they were more frequent than usual. What bothered her was how they were capable of strolling through the slums without being stopped even once.

She gently tugged on Shui's hand and looked up at him.

"Are you doing something?"

Shui turned to her, but he didn't speak. He only showed her a smirk and continued leading the way. Considering the level of the thugs in the slums, 'Hide' was enough to conceal their presences. As they walked down this path, Shui was reminded of the trial, when Sia took him here as well.

'I hope that place is open.'