Serah sat there in silence for a long while, her gaze lost on the still surface of the lake, though her heart was far from calm. Every word Billy had spoken lingered in her mind—each one like a stone dropped into her chest, sending ripples of sorrow through her soul.
She could almost see it now. The little boy Marcus once was—the laughter, the warmth, the love he had for his mother and sister—and then the blood, the ruin, the grief that twisted him into the man she now knew. It hurt her deeply.
When she finally spoke, her voice was soft, trembling slightly with emotion.
"Billy… I can't even begin to imagine the pain you both went through. For Marcus to see that… for you to come back to that… gods, it must've felt like the world itself was tearing apart."
Billy didn't reply. His eyes were fixed somewhere far away, as though watching ghosts walk upon the water.
