Choices

When the door completely opened and the person walked in the room, Horo was stunned. 

A young lady, decked in a pure white robe with cloud patterns outline in jet black stitching, came in with a smile so gentle one couldn't help but lend her their trust. 

Horo couldn't see any negative strings attached to her heart or mind. He had already figured his benefactor must be a very kind person or someone with hidden motives, but after staring at her with his obsidian eye he was sure it's the former. 

She spoke before Horo could "It's wonderful to see your doing great physically. My name is Elevora, and I am the young miss of the Pure Cloud Palace, as well as the one who brought you back to heal you."

Horo got up and performed a deep bow which stunned the young miss Elevora.

He fixed his back straight and said "No need to be modest young miss, I'm aware of the condition I was in before passing out. I would have become beast food before bleeding to death if not for you saving me. I'm ashamed to say it's beyond my current abilities to be able to return the favor, but the least I can do is show gratitude and appreciation."

Elevora replied "I did it because it was a simple task and it's within my ability to do so, and there's no need to address me as young miss, you can just call me Ella." 

Horo responded "As you wish. I can tell you have a very kind nature due to a special skill of mine, but it was still a risk bringing a total stranger to your palace without any clue of my background no?"

"Not really, if you're from this kingdom then I'm sure you're aware of the might of the Pure Cloud. I know you have many questions and so do I, so let's skip the small talk shall we." She said 

Horo smiled and replied "Kind Hearted but straight forward, not bad."

He continued "Well sorry for the late introduction, my name is Horo Trueheart, it's a pleasure to be in your noble presence." 

"Trueheart? That sounds very familiar." Elevora said while rubbing her chin with a thoughtful look. She asked "Are you from Crimson city?"

Horo looked surprised and said "Yes, I didn't expect you to know of a declined family like mines."

She said "Ahhh, I knew I wasn't mistaken. I heard about that family a couple of times when I visited Crimson city a while back. What were you doing in the wild all alone? Did you get those injuries during your journey?"

Horo thought about a couple of things before speaking, mainly to decide if he'd tell her the truth or not, eventually he decided to be honest because maybe she could be of help. 

He said "Truthfully speaking, I pretty much escaped from Crimson city due to some very unfortunate circumstance."

Her interest peaked as she asked "Would you like to explain said circumstance?" 

Horo let out a deep breath before explaining delving deeper into his tragedy "To keep it short, a young master of the Empyrean Sun Sect caught fancy to my twin sister. After the initial denial from her him and his guardian brought an official marriage proposal to our family, but it was all part of their scheme. My father left the choice up to my sister and she denied him again, but this time they didn't take no for an answer. They burned our family and entire estate to dust, I only survived due to our insightful steward who warned me of their underlying schemes."

Elevora was struck with speechless. After thinking for some time she responded "It's not unusual for young masters to go out of their way to obtain what they want, but to annihilate a whole family including their large estate is outright ridiculous. I'm sure it took a lot of investigating and planning to due this without leaving a clue, even a power like Sun sect would have problems to deal if that connects back to them."

"You're right", Horo said. 

He continued, "They had it all properly planned, when I returned to our estate with city guards there was nothing left except a massive scorched pit hidden by an illusion."

Elevora pondered before asking "What's so special about your sister for him to go that far? Is it something you're aware of? 

Horo replied "Yes, due to the circumstances of our birth we were both blessed with unique physiques. Her technique is also special, so it's hard to discern what he's really interested in, but I am aware of her current predicament." 

"You don't seem emotional for someone who just went through something so traumatizing, why is that?" She said.

He closed his eyes and said "Because too many emotions can cloud the mind, I don't need any heart demons burdening my progress."

He paused before continuing "I understand what must be done and I have the resolve and will to do it."

He slowly opened his eyes as he spoke those words and his entire being, including his traits, reacted as if in agreement with that statement.

His negative energy released for just a slight second, and when it did Elevora fell on her butt. 

Horo was unaware of what happened, he also didn't know it was his Tree's doing. 

She wore a horrified look on her face as she screamed "What was that?" While pointing at him.