Chapter 215: Grief

3rd person view

Eliza is hammering an equipment away in the forge alone during the night as it is the only thing that is helping her after her mom's death.

< If only I left earlier, maybe I could have at least saved her or -> Eliza thoughts then get interrupted by a familiar voice

"Please don't think about taking her place instead, your mom will be sad if she can hear your thoughts" the voice said

She turned to see Perseus leaning against the wall

"Can you read minds now?" Eliza asked

"Nope, it's just a bit cliché way of thinking, don't you think?" Perseus replied "I know exactly what you're going through, so I just thought that I'll comfort you a bit. It's really late and you haven't even had dinner yet, you should've gone home by now."

"If you come here to apologize, and blame yourself for her death, don't. I'll kill you if you do. You are a genius commoner, people like us are bound to be targeted for associating with you. Besides comfort my dad first"

Perseus just sighs and go to sit by her side.

"My parents are already taking care of that, and they left you to me" Perseus said "Hammering your grief away might help a bit since people should do their hobbies to deal with their grief, but...isolating yourself will do the opposite"

"Well I just need some time, I'll be back to normal in no time" Eliza replied "How's your day with your new sister?"

"Fine, I guess. We argue a lot though." Perseus chuckled "And now I'm here to help my first big sister that I used to have a crush on. You can talk to me about whatever you want, I'm here to listen."

"You could have left the part about you using to have a crush on me" Eliza grumbled before cracking a small smile

"Just talk to me, I know what you're going through, I know it sounds cheesy but..., I'm here for you"

"Did getting a girlfriend make you more mature all of a sudden?"

"Hahaha" Perseus laughed "I always am mature, you know"

"That's true, maybe it's because of that goddess inside you. Is she always listening?"

"No, currently she's away. Even if she's here, she doesn't intrude into private conversations, so talk to me about whatever you want, no matter how stupid it is. I promise that I'll try my best to help"

"I really find your mature side quite endearing"

"Now THAT is something I can't help with"

"I envy your genius"

"Then you overcome talent with hard work"

"I envy your happy relationship"

"With your beauty, I'm sure you can find anyone your heart desires"

"Why do you have a reply for everything?" Eliza asked "Cheesy ones too"

"I've written some notes" Perseus answered

Eliza just giggled and put her hammer away

"I regret... that I did not spend my time with her more often" Eliza said as a few tears flowed out "She doesn't really like me taking after my father, but she's...very accepting, apart from our few trips and time at home...I spend most of my time in the forge with dad. If only I am at home more often"

"...Then from now on, live your life without regret, Eliza. Spend your time more wisely, don't focus too much on your hobby and make time for your loved ones. If you keep isolating yourself, you'll just end up as a really lonely and depressing person with nothing but dark thoughts in your head.

"Find someone Eliza, they'll help you with your burdens, maybe join a support group filled with people in a similar situation. I'm sure that they will be able to help you more than I can. Losing a loved one is hard, it's harder especially if they are taken from you earlier than they should have."

"You talk about it as if you been through one before" Eliza grumbled

"I'm a soldier, Eliza. Dealing with losses is a part of the thing, your comrades are the closest thing to a sibling you can have. Losing them is hard, you blame yourself for not being stronger and the more you blame yourself...the more you start to lose yourself, so I'll try not to blame myself and you better listen to my advice on how to move forward"

Eliza then leaned closer to him and placed her head on his shoulder. Tears started to flow out again from her eyes, Perseus didn't say anything about it. He instead just put one of his arm around her and comforted her while listening to the crackling fire of the forge.

"Your girlfriend will be jealous if she sees this" Eliza commented

"Yeah, she can be a bit possessive at times" Perseus chuckled "Just curious, did I help?"

"Yes, a lot" Eliza nodded "Just so you know, you won't be seeing me cry again, and you better not tell anyone about it"

"Yeah, sorry about missing the funeral though. I heard that you didn't cry, you may try to appear strong, but at the end of the day, you experience grief like everyone else. So just let it all out today, I can stay up all night"

"I thought that your girlfriend made plans to comfort you, it seems like you're doing just fine"

"Well compared to you, definitely. But I just need to keep moving forward, I killed a lot of people, I'm not any better than Arthur when you look at it properly. You are my family, so I'll protect you even if it means making my reputation worse than it already is"

Eliza started to feel weird and leaned closer to him, but Perseus stopped her.

"You're emotionally unstable right now, so that's why you're feeling like this" Perseus said "You really didn't listen to my advice about living your life from now on without regret. If you kissed me just now, you're definitely going to regret it forever, besides I already got a girlfriend and 2 kids"

"Sorry" Eliza apologized as she pulled back "I-I wasn't thinking"

"Then luckily it's me and not some other guy" Perseus chuckled "They definitely would have taken advantage of you just now."

"I can't believe that I would get consoled by you " Eliza then wiped her face and Perseus helped her cleaned up

"Well just think of it as a one time thing then. I'm also not good with these emotional stuff, Lia is the one who does that and I'm very grateful for it. My bonds also help, I hide my emotions more than you think, so I'll probably take my own advice too"

"Then please just think of this as a one time thing, because you'll never experiencing it again" Eliza said before kissing him on the lips taking him by surprise "You're not as a great kisser as your girlfriend say you are, but maybe that's because you were caught off guard"

-Uh...I think I arrived at a bad time- Dabria said -Um, I think that I'll take my leave now, don't mind me and continue doing what you're doing-

"You-you just...me-you. We just-" Perseus stuttered "Why?! I just told you not to do that!"

"Your words, one time thing. I did offer you a kiss, remember? Besides I did tell you that I have something to tell you" Eliza laughed "Now let's go, I need to close the forge and get dinner"

"Wait hold on, what did you want to tell me?"

"It's that you're exactly my type"

"Huh?"

"Do you want one more?" she asked

"No!"

"If you want to erase my memories, then forget it" she rolled her eyes "But if you want to make them instead...then I'll take up on your offer"