It was the day of a solar eclipse and the world was shrouded in darkness,much like the person kneeling on the now uneven pavement.

He was cradling the lifeless silhouette of a woman in his arms,like she were glass that could break into myriad of pieces if touched.

The heavy raindrops cascaded down his raven hair and fell on her cheek like big,rounded Pearls.

His shoulders were hunched,as he kneeled. If one could look into his eyes,they would have been terrified of what they saw.

"Aren't you a little too cruel, m'lady?"

His clear voice rang out through the empty space, ricocheting through the hillside,but there was no reply. The person who was asked the questions were no longer able to answer him, but he didn't care. He kept going.

"You test me,agápi.You're after my life,my soul after taking my heart alongside you! Now, you keep lying there looking like you've done no wrong and no worldly things can touch you?!"

He had a mad gleam in his eyes as he screamed,but his hands were holding her frail body as delicately as if she were a flower.

"You think everything is a jest! You,you cruel woman. You wicked witch.."

A shudder wrecked his body,and his voice broke as he looked up at the sky. His face was contorted from so many emotions, hatred,love,pining, devastation,it was a sight to behold.

"You're a wicked schemer, my lady. You made me into this damned fool! You forced me into committing a sin as atrocious as love,and look at you now,looking all peaceful,sleeping the eternal sleep while I can do nothing but accept my fate of being a ghost!"

"Must you make me suffer? Must you make me live a life I wouldn't wish upon my nemesis?" He barked out a laugh as he wrapped his arms around her,he thought.

You were right,Agápi. I should have heeded to your warning,I should have left when I could and gone far,far away from you.

"...The moment I set my eyes on you,I knew I was doomed."

That last word was nothing but a whisper,barely audible. There was nothing that was left of him but an empty shell of a body, the fate of the damned.

...The Almighty One has fallen, all for the sake of love. ...

"Ladies and gentlemen, the imperial court has released an repression act on Raytheon Callipse. The chosen one, most trusted by the King of the kingdom of God,has fallen!"

"How foolish must a man be to be bewitched by a wicked woman,and to kill the trusted warrior of Gods for such reasons? What a vengeful soul! "

"All for what? For the sake of love!

What a jest!"

"A fool is what he was,no matter how powerful or intellectually adept a person is, everyone is blind in the face of love. How foolish."

"What a scoundrel, to bite the hand that had fed him! I hope my son doesn't turn out that way! You wouldn't wish that on your enemy,my God."

"Still,he was such a gentleman. For him to suffer a fate such as this is..."

----Tale of the Damned

The sky was dark when she heard something.

Among the sounds of the wind making the beige curtains in her room go aflutter ,and the rustling of leaves of the Maple tree in their garden,she could barely make out the sound of a whisper.

"....She's..."

Who's there?

Through her sleep laden mind,she forced herself to look and sure enough,there was a silhouette of a person. A man.

Quite feeble in stature, he seemed to be sitting on the ledge of her window.

Her mind whirring, she looked at the silver dagger in her bedside, then at the man's silhouette,mentally calculating the risk factor if she reached for it.

She wasn't a naive duck to not know that her residence was at one of the least safe part of the town which thieves considered to be quite lucrative. Like moths to a fly,they all came here to raise a ruckus.

The people who resided here were mainly commoners,so if one or two of them died not many would notice.

Then there's the fact that those of high status don't really care about the common people..

She felt the familiar feeling of burning hot fury slowly making it's way up her veins as she sat up,stealthily enough so that the person outside doesn't notice anything wrong.

Mister thief or whoever you are,you've chosen the wrong person to mess with,She thought as she picked up her dagger and stalked to the window without making so much as a squeak.

You wouldn't see many young women in thesedays who goes to sleep with a dagger in her bedside, but years of living along in places that are questionable made her prepare for the worst.

The least I can do is try to injure the person enough before he can kill me.

Licking her lips that are suddenly dry,she started to tip toe. Her heart was beating at a frantic pace, she could almost feel it vibrating against her ears.

She stopped once she came right in front of the window,now nothing but a thin curtain separating the man and her.

Either the man didn't notice her,or he just didn't care,it seemed. Was she so little intimidating that the man didn't even care? She didn't know how she felt about it, but she pulled the dagger out of it's sheath.

Here goes nothing,she thought,by the name of all that is holy, devil may perish!

She was going to put all her strength and jab into the stranger's shoulder blade, but before she could so much as graze her a pale hand shot out and grabbed onto her wrist tight enough to leave a bruise. The dagger dropped to the ground with a metallic thud.

She squinted from the sheer force of it and tried to yank her hand away but to no Avail. She grimaced, for looking so frail and sickly he has one mighty arm strength.

"You shouldn't overestimate yourself. Don't go charging until you know who your opponent is."

She didn't know what was to happen now that he had caught her, she should be scared, but she found herself thinking that his voice sounded nothing like that of a lowly troublemaker.

Instead,he sounded very clear, carefree manner. If she didn't know better she would have thought he seemed refined, even..

She tried looking at the man's face,but it was obstructed by the curtains. The only thing she could make out through the thin veil of curtains was that he had a very, very long raven black hair that shined in the moonlight....the texture of it,she somehow felt a sense of familiarity.

How weird is that?

"Says the one that's probably after the measly amount of money I have saved over the years."

She knew she shouldn't look a tiger in it 's eyes, everyone had warned her so. But weirdly enough, it just didn't register in her mind that she's in a possible mortal danger.

"I'm not after your money, or anything that you could possibly have."

He told her,in that same carefree manner as he did the first time, and it made her head spin. She didn't know why,but she wanted to believe him.

As if a thief would ever say he's a thief.

"Don't tell me you're here to hold my hands,then?"

Before she could stop herself,the words were out. She grimaced realising a moment too late that she possibly just made a grave mistake.

Grandma always told me that my mouth would someday get me into trouble.

She was too preoccupied deliberating the factors of her survival when there was a chuckle,and she shivered. There was something..something feral,and unbridled and familiar in this man's every word and attitude that seemed to tick her off somehow

"I think you have a misunderstanding,agápe. I'm not a measly bandit nor did I ever want your life,or possessions." He chuckled again as if the prospect of stealing her possessions were funny to him.

How preposterous!

"I come from the Land of the théos. I'm here for nothing but to appreciate the view before I must leave for my destination tomorrow at early dawn. I was travelling and got famished so I decided to catch my breath here, I present my apology for ruining your grace's sleep."

He nodded, as if that explains it all and released her hand.

"I'm sorry for holding a lady's hand like that too,I was alarmed and acted without thinking,please find it in yourself to forgive me,m'lady."

"It's...you're not lying. "

It wasn't a question, and by the quiet hum in his throat,he agreed with her statement.

"Where are you going?" Against her better judgement,she heard herself asking,as if she would've made a grave mistake if she didn't.

What a foolish notion, she thought to herself.

"I'm living for the capital of Chámenos. I cannot disclose any more than that,m'lady." He seemed to be smiling at her bewildered face before he looked at the time from what seemed like a pocket watch,and swore.

This man makes even swearing sound like old folktales,she caught herself thinking as she started fidgeting with her robe, suddenly feeling ashamed for accusing a perfectly mannered man for being a thief.

She was going to apologise too,but before she could so much as make a sound the man waved a hand at her in goodbye,apologized again in a hurried manner and jumped down the ledge before disappearing into the darkness of night.

I didn't even get to ask his name,She thought as her knees gave out and she slipped to the ground right beside her dagger.

It was well past noon when she made her way back to her small cottage,hands filled with groceries that she kept for the orphaned children that sometimes visited her.

They were beggars, with muddy feet and filthy clothes that didn't get their share of food most of the days. Such is a life of the poor and helpless.

She had only been around beggars, poor commoners and slaves all her life. She knew how they were. They were familiar.

But as she stared at the children playing outside,she couldn't help but think that, that man was different.

She could feel it in his words, albeit she didn't notice at first.

She was born out of wedlock from a foreign merchant,and after making her mother pregnant,he had conveniently left for the horizon. So her mother gave birth to her,right here in this cottage.

Who would have wanted to accept a child coming from a commoner's womb,right? This was the so class high class society she knew.

This was the noble men and women who oh-so-convieniently would exploit the benefits off of the commoners, before throwing them away like rotten oranges.

She felt a bitter taste in her mouth as she looked out at the bunch of merchants unloading a cow carriage of various goods.

Her mother had died when she was twelve years old. After wasting her body away trying to raise her, she had finally succumbed to the deathly disease,what they call typhus thesedays.

She sighed, thinking that going down memory lane would bring her nothing but more heartache.

Thinking that she should get the food ready for the kids,she dashed into the kitchen.

It was well into evening when the had left after having their meals, and she was sitting in her room with one of the old books she used to love reading she realized something.

She stared at the window, almost as if she expected a certain dignified stranger to lounge on on her window ledge,raven hair flying all around..but to her chagrin, there was nobody there.

She would be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed. Perhaps, a little sad too.

She had never seen anyone apologise so much,and to be honest it was baffling. Even the local merchants only throw her a annoyed look after bumping into her in the road, much less an apology she usually doesn't get acknowledged, even.

I wonder what his name was..

She wondered how it's like to travel around...

Weirdly enough, she felt an unfamiliar tug in her heart. There was a part of her that she kept locked away from view,that was innately curious about everything.

For a small town girl like her to dream big was not something she could probably achieve, that's what lead her to smothering any flame of curiosity in her mind. For years, it had stayed dormant,almost as if it wasn't there at all.

But as she looked around at the familiar old room that smelled of lotus oil, she felt her skin itch,she felt uncomfortable.

I wonder how land of Théo is like...

Is it anything like the old folktales in the library says,she wondered. She wondered if they have flying chariots and skyscrapers that are made of glasses..

She chuckled. She would have liked to go on an adventure and see new places.

Perhaps make a friend,or two on the way. Do new things with others of my age..

She realized that she wanted to,and the realisation made something in her break free. It felt exhilarating.

She laughed out loud,I wonder if he would have taken me along if I had asked yesterday.

The idea seemed funny to her,asking a total stranger to take her along in a place she didn't know. But she couldn't help the slightest tremor in her hand as she thought of it.

She felt excited.

She threw the book on her bed,now abandoning all notion of a quiet evening reading books, and padded to the only picture of her mother she could keep.

She stood in front of the portrait of her mother,she was nine years old when her mother had made this by a painter who was a regular in her shop.

In the portrait, there was a nine year old her, smiling up at her mother as she held up a bunch of sunflowers. Her mother had her hand wrapped around the tiny pair of arms trying to hold the flowers together with the happiest smile in her face. Loving. Cherished. Warm.

That was what she remembers of her mother. She doesn't have many memories with her mother but her mother had loved her with all that she had,and she knew that.

Mothee had to give up her dream of becoming a singer after giving birth to her,but she had never harboured any contempt for me whatsoever.

Feeling nostalgic, she touched the frame with her fingertips.

"Mommy,I sometimes wonder what you would do if you were me. Would you have listened to your heart an or would you have stayed here, if I was not here?"

She chuckled,she could almost feel her mother pat her head as she broke into that unrestrained laughter,that made her think that the world would be a little brighter if mommy smiled.

She could almost hear her, saying, like she used to, honey,I don't regret you. You were the best thing that has happened to me. But I would be lying if I said I still don't want to follow my own dreams. So if there comes a day where you're confused as to what is the right thing to say, just do what your heart tells you.

She wiped at her cheek with the back of her hand,and smiled a watery smile at the picture.

She ran up to her room and pulled out whatever she could find useful,all the money she had saved over the years, grabbed her winter coat and went out the door without looking back.

I'm going in a long journey mama.