Trust

"Legion!" Cinder's voice rings out, concern etched into it. 

Shit, I didn't expect her to attack me out of nowhere!

"I'm Legion!..." He groans out a lie, which he knows she would see as a lie. 

"Lies!" She grunts, her eyes burning with fury. "The Legion I know would have been dead all now!" 

Should I tell her who I am? I have no choice she knows the real Legion is dead. 

Sighing, he collected my thoughts and answered. "I'm not evil, I promise! Legion gave me his body to protect his sibling!" Legion shouted, trying to sound as truthful as possible even though part of it was true. 

Her eyes soften for a bit, and her attack weakened, making me able to throw her off. Panting profusely, Legion looks up at her again as she gets back up. "I promise I'm not here to hurt anyone." 

Her eyes flicker up to him. "How can I be sure? Monsters nowadays can be anything and anyone." 

I know. Even I was betrayed by one who wore the face of my best friend. 

"You don't have to believe in me," Legion says, clutching his chest as pain ripples through it. "Trust in Legion's judgment and love for his siblings." 

That seems to get her as she drops her knife to her side and moves back behind the table, fixing her dissolved clothes as Legion does the same. 

"Can I come back inside?" Blaise questions from outside. 

"I don't trust you. I only trust in Legion, so for now, seeing that you're inside his body, whoever you are. I'll respect you, but try anything, and you're dead." She warns, pushing up her glasses on her nose before answering him. "Yeah!" 

What a warning; for a second, I thought I was dead meat. 

The bell chimes as Blasie steps inside, instantly feeling the overwhelming pressure radiating from Noctis while she glares at Legion but he brushes it off. Nevertheless, Legion, unfazed by her stare, is solely fixated on one question—just how many Mana Cores are hidden within her?

How many, Cinder? 

"Four." Cinder answers, using his X-ray to see. "Though each of them is brighter than both of you, unlike anything I've seen before."

Which means her power is of the highest form even though she only has four. 

"Yet, I feel like there's something I'm missing as well, but it shouldn't be anything too important." Cinder remarks. 

Most people if their magic is threaded to craftsmanship or alchemy of any kind unconsciously excel in areas of their unawakened power, for example: A sword creation user would either be able to wield a sword without being taught or craft one with little to no prior experiences. 

So, keeping her current job into consideration, it means her magic has something to do with potions, and it's either she knows or doesn't know. Or I can be completely wrong, and her awakened power can be completely different. 

For now, he needed to seem as though she didn't just figure out he was someone else taking over a dead person's body. "Hello." He says, but pauses, stunned by her sudden change in demeanour. 

"Heya," she responds, flashing a bright smile, completely acting as if she didn't just try to kill him. "Is there anything you would like to get?" 

Pushing past his dumbfounded state, he finally says, "Yes, I'd like a healing potion." He steps forward, favoring his good foot, while the other still throbs with pain from their prior shortened battle. 

"Yeah! Of course, I have that," she says cheerfully, stepping aside from her desk. She lifts a creaky wooden panel and passes through, making her way over to him. Stopping beside him, she begins scanning the rows of potions. "It should be here somewhere," she mutters, adjusting her glasses as her eyes dart across the shelves, searching carefully. 

"I'm just going to take a look over here!" Blaise says, and she nods as he makes his way over to the other side of the store. 

"You're in luck, I think I only have one left," she says, her voice light and playful as she continues to search through the potions with a slight bounce in her step. "Do you need it for you or…" 

It's like second nature for her to switch her demeanor; that's all salesmen for you. 

"Someone else." He interjects. 

This is my chance to ask her. 

"Oh, I see." She smiles again.

"Can you make potions out of anything?" he asks, curiosity evident in his voice. 

"Nope, some things are, too." She turns to him, with her eyes slightly cracked open while putting on a smiling facade, but cuts herself off upon seeing the black crystals in his hands as he raises it to her face. 

"I want to leave this place, and I need some help," Legion says with determination. 

This girl would be useful; she already knows about me, so it shouldn't affect her in knowing my ultimate goal. As for Blaise. If he gets a chance to save his mother from this place, I'm sure he's going to take it.

"And soon…"He takes a moment cussing himself from within,n knowing what he's about to say. " I'll become a monster." 

It may not be the right approach to reveal this, but in both their cases who would believe them if they say that the village's "Sickly child." is actually dead and now a mutant has entered their body?

Noctis stands still, her eyes widening as she looks at him, then something drops loudly behind him, a book of sorts as he turns to find Blaise standing there with his mouth gapped open and eyes fixated on him. 

Composing herself, Noctis fixes her glasses as she retrieves the potion from the shelf and another one identical to it. "You know that's a big want for a person I'm sure that doesn't know anything about this world." She retorts, sending jabs of insults intertwined into her words. "Plus, you're saying you're a monster when you look nothing like one." Her tone shifts, turning more serious, but it doesn't hide her shaking hands. "Big claims from someone who's said to have a cracked core." 

I know she believes me. 

"Yes." Blaise bends down to get the book, still with a perplexed look on his face. "What have gotten into you, Legion?" He places the book back on the shelf next to the door. "You know, if the orcs catch you saying that, they'll kill you, right?" his whole mood changes. 

Noctis may believe me, but Blaise, I'm sure, is reflecting on his past with his father and his failed attempt at escaping.

"I can do it." He says, not to make himself believe but for them to believe him. "I can't explain the monster part but soon you'll see it for yourself."

"We don't have soon." Noctis returns to behind her desk. "The way we are living isn't a joke, we tried many times and failed so what makes you think you can do it? And, heck, even if you were a monster, you still wouldn't be able to overpower dozens of orcs."She hurries to package my items, her hands still trembling. 

Even if they don't believe me now soon they will. It's only a matter of time, for now the only goal is to become stronger. 

"I gotta go," Blaise cuts in abruptly, leaving before Legion can respond. As he turns to leave, he throws a few parting words over his shoulder. "I already watched my father fail. I'm not joining another unwinnable war with our oppressors. I have a mother to protect... and you have siblings." 

Fear is the one thing that gets in the way of freedom. I've seen many of it, too much in fact but soon that fear would turn into courage. All it needs is a little push. 

"I don't know why I'm telling a stranger this but—It's only me out here. My brother has nobody else to look after him while he's in the dungeon." She sighs, putting out her hand with the potion already in a pouch with a smile plastered on her face. "So I can't join something I have to believe in at the moment, that will be one bronze." 

"I understand." He pulls a coin out of his pocket and hands it to her before taking the pouch. 

"I added in a second one. Surprisingly I found the next one, use it when you need it. " She says warmly. "Sorry, I couldn't aid you." 

"Thank you." He bows slightly out of habit from his past life, and before turning to walk off, he throws the crystal to her and she catches it on instinct. "See if you can turn this into a potion at least, and if you can, have an exhaustion-relieving potion ready for me every day before the sun sets." He smiles with a wink. "I have some training to do."

"Oh! And stranger!" She calls out before he leaves causing him to look back. "Did Legion suffer before his death?" 

Did he suffer? Legion's mind scrolls through the memories of the last moments of the real Legion.

"Yes. He did suffere, but in the end his memories of this past and the time he spent with everyone kept him going until the very last moment." He answers this time no lies added only the raw and unfiltered truth. 

"Good." She smiles, a tear gliding down her cheek, landing on her desk as the door closes. "I'm happy."