"That’s not fair." Rhami replied. "But it’s true." Lith put an end to the argument with a wave of his hand. "Anything else I should know?" "Only that Osyan has been kept in a single room this whole time. We’ve been feeding him properly and he received the best medical care." ’Because I paid for it.’ Lith inwardly scoffed. There was no point taking it out on Rhami. She was just a cog in a broken machine but she was doing her best. "Good. Then please go tell Osyan I want to meet him." He actually said. "Please, follow me." She guided Lith through a series of corridors leading to the temporary living quarters for emergencies and dangerous cases. The place was decorated with decent furniture and painted with warm, soft colors. Even the doors were of good quality, making the residential wing of the building look like a boarding house instead of a prison as Lith had feared. "Osyan, it’s me, Rhami." She said while knocking on the door. "Can I come in?" No answer came, no matter how much she knocked or called. "Osyan, you know how this works." She tried to sound gentle but there was a hint of exasperation in her voice. "I’m sorry, but I have to get inside and make sure you haven’t hurt yourself." She opened the door and ducked under a teacup that shattered against the doorframe. Even from a distance, Lith could follow the events with his Awakened senses. ’That wasn’t a reflex. She expected it.’ He thought. ’Maybe not bringing Solus was a bad idea. She’s the expert in dealing with people like me. The other kid had his parents and a life to come back to. Osyan has nothing. ’He’s faring even worse than I did back on Earth. At least I had Carl. He was my reason to keep living and fighting.’ Rhami first tried and failed to calm Osyan down and then she announced to him Lith’s request to meet the boy "The asshole is here?" The hurt and cruelty in Osyan’s voice were painfully familiar. "Let Verhen in. I want to see him. Maybe the Supreme Murderer can be man enough to finish the job he started when he killed my parents." "You can enter his room." Rhami kept calm and composed, smiling through the flood of insults she had just received. "Thank you." Lith swallowed a sarcastic reply, trying not to add to her burden more than Osyan already did. When Lith stepped through the door, he was in for a surprise. He had been expecting a chaotic mess with broken furniture and a mattress cut open by past broken mugs’ shards. The room was tidy and neat instead. The bed was done with what Lith could only call a military discipline. The books on the desk were arranged orderly and judging from the still-open hologram coming out of the Tablet, Osyan had been doing his homework before Lith and Rhami arrived. The pieces of the shattered cup were the only elements of disorder in the room. Osyan had emptied and dried it for a while, keeping it ready to be thrown. ’Shit. This is much worse than I thought.’ Lith noticed that no toy lay around the floor. They were all arranged inside a wooden crate, ready for inspection . ’This isn’t the room of a child but of someone who is desperately trying to control his life. ’Osyan thinks that if he’s good enough, if he finds the right way to do things, he can fix his shitty life. Just like I did.’ "Do you want me to stay?" Rhami asked the boy. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶 "Get out, bitch." Lith recognized the crazed fury in Osyan’s eyes. The kind that makes you think you can feel better by inflicting your pain on others. "I don’t want Verhen to chicken out again because of witnesses." "Please, stay." Lith said. "Not for him. For me." "With pleasure." She sat on a chair beside the door, keeping it open. ’This way, Osyan can have the support he needs without feeling weak for it.’ Lith thought. ’He knows he needs help but he’d rather die than admit it.’ "Coward." The boy snorted, clenching his fists hard but didn’t move from his spot. "You came all the way to this shithole to talk so talk. Say whatever will clear your conscience from the blood of my parents and go back to your perfect life." Osyan was trembling from head to toe. Lith could smell the rage, hear the small heart beating like a frenzied war drum inside the boy’s chest. Yet he could also smell the fear and read the silent plea in Osyan’s eyes to be put out of his misery. ’Six years old and he already craves death.’ Lith inwardly sighed. ’And this is my fault. Not all of it but I sure gave him the final push.’ "I just wanted to apologize for the things I told you back then and for making you watch while I beat up your parents, Osyan." Lith said. "You and I both know that they deserved much worse than that but you deserved better from me. "I know that nothing I do or say can change the past. I won’t try to explain or justify my actions. I’m sorry, Osyan. I’m sorry for involving you in my mess and destroying what little was left of your childhood. "I know that right now you hate me and you have every reason to do that. I just want you to know that I regret my actions and will do everything I can to make it up to you." "That’s it?" Osyan was flabbergasted. "Do you really think that making me watch while you tortured my parents is all you did? You murdered them! You killed all those people! "You let everyone die because you didn’t care and saved me only to make me suffer more! You are a cruel, deranged, piece of shit! If you regret your actions, go back to your lab and find a way to resurrect my parents. Give me my life back!" The boy spoke with the consummate skill of someone who had rehearsed his speech hundreds of times. He threw everything he had at hand with the desperate frenzy of a child trying to fight the inevitable. Once there was nothing left on his desk, Osyan charged at Lith, punching and kicking him as hard as he could. Lith took everything without moving, waiting until Osyan was too tired from screaming and struggling to reply. He only used a Light Mastery spell to cushion the blows so that the kid wouldn’t hurt himself in his tantrum. The hard-light construct formed a shell undistinguishable from Lith’s clothes. Osyan felt his punches and kicks hitting something the density of an adult man, not a Divine Beast. "Let me get a few things straight, kid." Lith said as the boy wheezed like a bellows, his muscles burning from exertion. "I didn’t kill your parents. The Undead King did. I didn’t come to Zeska to hurt anyone that day. I came looking for help. "You can consider me the reason all those people died and maybe you are right, but I didn’t ask the Undead King to attack me or raze the city to the ground."