TERAVOLL
what99
CHAPTER 2: The Apology
Two months passed. Edie began to change subtly. He was still lazy, still prone to teasing, and occasionally still uttered harsh words, but the sudden bursts of anger that used to flare up like fire had now subsided. He no longer smashed things or reacted with a "I'm the best" attitude whenever he was displeased.
Now, he could sit silently by the window, staring at the sky, an act that the Edie of two months ago probably wouldn't have recognized in himself.
Perhaps after everything that had happened... he no longer had the strength to rebel (perhaps). Hakan, the man who had single-handedly saved him from the abyss, still watched his reluctant protégé with eyes half observing, half caring.
One morning, as Edie yawned and gnawed on a dry piece of bread, Hakan entered the room, holding a steaming cup of coffee.
* Hakan: "Hey Edie, it's been so long, why haven't you gone back to school yet?"
Edie glanced at him, lazily slumped into a chair, taking another bite of bread.
* Edie: "I'm suspended for half a year, so that's about 3-4 more months."
* Hakan: "So what will you do during these four months?"
Edie shrugged: "Eat, sleep, play, ponder life."
* Hakan: "At your age, still pondering life, don't make me laugh. Or perhaps, since you're free, you should write an essay of apology."
* Edie: "You're really funny."
Hakan let out a hoarse laugh, tinged with a hint of relief. Although Edie still talked back as usual, he knew the boy had changed. Before, Edie would have kicked the table, yelled at him, and left. But now? He still grumbled, but... he stayed. He talked. He provoked. And he didn't avoid it anymore.
* Hakan thought to himself: ("This kid is less stupid now.")
A month later, Edie had become a little more self-reliant, at least in Hakan's eyes. He no longer reacted harshly whenever he received advice, nor did he stubbornly cling to his ego as he did when he first arrived. Although he was still lazy at times, Edie clearly knew how to listen.
And during that seemingly monotonous period, a small event occurred – making Edie's life even more unexpected.
That day, the wind was calm. Edie wandered along the bank of a small river behind the forest west of the dormitory. A place almost no one frequented except him and her.
The girl was sitting alone on a rock protruding into the river, holding a notebook and muttering something. Sunlight pierced through the tree canopy, casting a pale golden hue onto her brown hair.
* Edie: "Hey beautiful, this is my usual spot, can you find somewhere else?"
The girl turned, her golden eyes sparkling like a late harvest, without fear, without surprise, simply looking.
* Jinna: "Oh really? But I sat here first, you find another spot."
That was their first encounter.
Her name was Jinna, a student at Bellasia, the same school Edie attended, and ironically, the school that had once suspended him. Unlike Edie, Jinna was one of the school's top students. Though only about 1m6 tall, her aura commanded respect.
Jinna possessed multi-elemental magic, a rare ability for her age. While most of her peers could only control one or two basic elements, Jinna could flexibly change, adapting to the situation. The way she spoke, the way she viewed the world – all carried a maturity beyond her years, yet without losing a mischievous charm.
During their accidental meetings along the river, the two of them began to talk more. A few arguments, a few teasing matches, then quiet moments together, listening to the sound of water lapping against the shore. Edie didn't tell anyone, but every time he passed by, he hoped to see her again.
Another afternoon, the wind picked up. Grey clouds unexpectedly rolled in, gradually obscuring the already pale sunlight. Edie arrived at the river as usual, hands in his jacket pockets, eyes gazing at the swirling clouds above. And just as he hoped, Jinna was there too, still sitting in her usual spot, legs idly swinging.
* Edie smiled: "You're quick to claim a spot."
* Jinna: "If I wasn't quick, would I sit on the ground?"
Edie sat down on the grass behind her, letting out a big yawn.
* Edie: "I always thought smart people would be serious like teachers. But you skip class to hang out and you're still smart."
Jinna raised an eyebrow: "And I once thought that suspended students wouldn't know how to speak nicely to girls."
* Edie chuckled: "That stings."
Suddenly, from a distance, a low growl echoed – some wild beast had appeared, seemingly out of control due to recent climate changes. The dark clouds in the sky shuddered, accompanied by a few small lightning flashes tearing through the air.
Edie subtly stood up, his hand reaching for the pouch at his hip, intending to show off some moves he'd picked up from Hakan. But before he could draw anything, Jinna gently raised her hand.
A string of symbols glowed in mid-air.
Qi swirled up from the ground, merging with the first scattered raindrops. In an instant, the earth beneath the beast's feet turned to thin ice, causing it to slip and fall. Immediately after, a stream of hot air swept over it, rendering it unconscious without any harm.
All of this happened in mere seconds. Edie stood silently. Not out of fear, but out of surprise.
* Edie, surprised: "Did you just use two elements at once?"
* Jinna: "Three, I also drew electricity from the clouds."
Edie nodded slowly, experiencing for the first time not being the center of everything. He smiled faintly, as if his pride had been wounded but he wasn't upset.
* Edie mumbled: "Well then, from now on I'll cook and do the housework."
* Jinna: "What bad things are you saying about me?"
* Edie: "Guess."
One calm afternoon, Edie was sitting under a tree by the old training ground behind the school, a place he often visited to avoid crowds. Hakan walked by, carrying a bag of freshly bought bread. Seeing Edie, he veered off and sat down beside him, remaining silent for a while. A gentle breeze carried the scent of decaying wood through the air.
* Hakan: "You and that girl Jinna are close, aren't you?"
* Edie: "Yeah, we're close. Is something wrong?"
* Hakan slowly said: "Nothing. It's just... I think you should be careful. No one wants to be your friend without an agenda."
* Edie's gaze showed a hint of annoyance: "She's a good person, she's not like that."
* Hakan: "I'm not saying she's bad, just don't trust anyone too much."
That remark made Edie silent for a moment. The wind suddenly shifted, blowing a few strands of hair across his forehead. In his mind then, the image of Jinna smiling as she handed him a cookie when they first met flashed by like a warm, old dream, seemingly devoid of any scheming.
* Edie thought to himself: ("Even so... I don't want to doubt.")
The words tumbled out amidst the fading light of dusk, mixed with confusion and a touch of naiveté in his belief. Edie sat there for a while longer, before standing up and dusting off his clothes.
That afternoon, out of habit, he sought out Hakan again.
* Edie: "Three months now, when are you going to teach me?"
Hakan was sitting, painting, his eyes still focused on every detail in the frame.
* Hakan: "I will teach you, but you have to do one thing first."
* Edie: "What thing?"
* Hakan: "Go to every house where you've done bad things and apologize to them. Each person, until they accept."
* Edie frowned: "Are you crazy?"
The words were like a punch to his pride. Edie didn't reply. He turned and silently walked towards the forest behind the camp. The sunset rays shone over his shoulder, casting a long shadow on the leaf-strewn path.
Hakan yelled: "Don't you want to change?"
A few minutes later, he was standing behind Edie, as if he had teleported in a flash. The boy was sitting on a moss-covered rock, head bowed, hands tightly clenched.
Hakan: "Do you want to live like a failure? Useless to society? Then what's the point of living, just taking up space?"
Edie still didn't answer. His palms were bleeding from his fingernails digging into them.
Hakan turned and walked away: "I'll give you time to think. If you can't do it, don't live in my house anymore."
His footsteps gradually faded, leaving Edie alone in the silent forest.
The wind blew, the starfruit leaves rustled like indistinct whispers. Edie looked up at the sky, which had just turned a pale grey. In the depths of his eyes, something stirred.
Edie sat by the riverbank, silently. The faint sunlight reflected on the water's surface, the wind gently stirring his messy hair. It had been three months since he left everything familiar, three months since he started trying to change. But in return, he hadn't made any progress.
A soft sound behind him.
Jinna.
The girl walked over with her usual smile, sitting down beside him without a word. Edie felt her gaze, gentle yet full of worry.
"Are you overthinking again?" – Jinna softly asked.
He shook his head, turning his face away. He didn't want her to see him weak. He didn't want anyone to pity him. Especially not her.
Suddenly, a deep, powerful voice echoed from behind them.
* Hakan: "You can't even stand the gaze of a girl, so how will you endure the scorn of the whole world?"
Hakan.
He slowly walked over, his eyes glancing at Edie then at Jinna. "Does this girl... know what you've done? Does she know you've smashed people's homes, stolen everything just because you were angry? You made people lose their livelihoods, then ran away like a child, and there are many more stories like that, yet not a single apology or remorse."
Edie bowed his head, hands clenched, lips trembling.
"If you don't even have the courage to admit your mistakes, then don't dream of power. Don't dream of becoming successful. And don't expect anyone to trust you."
The air fell silent for a few seconds.
Jinna looked at Edie, then gently took his hand.
* Jinna: "Well... if you're brave enough to apologize to everyone... then I'll consider being your girlfriend."
Edie looked up, his eyes filled with astonishment.
* She smiled, light as the wind: "I'm not kidding. Not out of pity, but because... I believe you can do it."
That evening, when both had calmed down, Hakan and Edie sat by the fire under the old tree. The flickering firelight reflected on Hakan's weathered face – for the first time, he wasn't scolding or mocking. He began to tell his story.
* Hakan: "I was once like you, Edie. Arrogant, self-righteous."
Hakan was born into the Kalu tribe, a secluded and proud people. His father was the previous tribal chief, so Hakan was taught from a young age that he was the chosen one. He had extraordinary talent, defeating anyone his age, even seasoned warriors. But because of this, he began to look down on others, trampling on the self-esteem of those weaker than him.
* Hakan: "I didn't realize I was hurting my family and my younger brother."
His brother, Hasen, two years younger than Hakan, was weak and quiet. But Hasen quietly observed. When their father died, the elders, who had long resented Hakan's arrogance, turned their backs on him. They set Hasen up as chief, like an easily controlled puppet. Within weeks, Hakan was stripped of all power, then secretly sold as a slave to merchants.
* Hakan: "They tied me up, blindfolded me, dragged me out of the house in the middle of the night. No one in the tribe said anything. No one stopped them, as if I had never existed."
As a slave, Hakan endured all kinds of humiliation and torture. But in that hell, he began to understand the feelings of the lowly – those he had once disdained. Until one day, he was sold to Sill, a mysterious organization that wanted to overthrow the royal family and establish a new order through blood and violence.
Initially, Hakan was just cannon fodder, pushed to the front lines like any other slave. But he survived. Battle after battle. His madness, stubbornness, and skill caught Sill's attention. A high-ranking commander offered to train him to become a "battle monster," and he accepted.
* Hakan: "I had nothing to lose, so I killed, as much as possible. For an ideal I had never believed in."
Hakan became one of Sill's right-hand men. In the great battle between Sill and the government, he faced off against Hero Harneth, a legendary warrior. The two strongest fought, and no one dared to approach. Finally, he killed Harneth... but was severely wounded and fell off a cliff.
People thought he was dead.
But he was alive.
* Hakan: "When I woke up, I was lying in a woman's hut."
Her name was Bella. She wasn't afraid of his past, nor did she disdain his scars or the crimes he once carried. Bella helped him heal not only his wounds, but also his soul. They lived together for a short time, then had a daughter named Furina Rone.
* Hakan: "That was the time I felt truly alive, looking back it feels like just yesterday."
But the peace didn't last. The army discovered his whereabouts. To protect his wife and child, he left in a rainy night. Without a word of goodbye.
From then on, he lived in seclusion in the forest east of Bellasia Academy, working as a janitor – a humble job – just so he could quietly watch over Furina, if one day his daughter were to enter that gate. Because that was the small dream he had promised her.
* Hakan: "I am a devil, Edie. And I don't want you to be like that."
The next morning, before the sun had fully emerged from the thick fog of the eastern forest, Edie stood before the first house. It was a small, old wooden house, where he had once smashed belongings and caused severe damage to the family inside, all because of a senseless burst of anger. His steps were slow, each one like stepping on his own guilt.
The middle-aged man opened the door, his eyes still showing caution. Before he could say anything, Edie bowed very low.
* Edie: "I've come to apologize. I know words can't make up for what I did. But I am truly sorry."
There was no immediate forgiveness. No warm embrace or emotional tears like in fairy tales. Only a silent gaze, and a closed door.
But Edie didn't give up. He went to every place, every house. Some rejected him outright. Some even threw objects out. But there were also those who accepted his apology with a silent nod, and for Edie, that was a spark bright enough to light a flame of hope within him.
Finally, he stopped before the last house, the residence of the young man he had once beaten to the point of near-paralysis.
When Edie knocked on the door, Ivar came out, his eyes instantly darkening upon seeing the person in front of him.
* Ivar: "You have the nerve to come here?"
Edie didn't make excuses. He didn't explain, didn't rationalize. He just bowed his head, very low.
* Edie: "I know I don't deserve this... but I still want to apologize. If I hadn't lost my temper that day... if I hadn't acted like a madman, you wouldn't have had to suffer like that."
Silence fell.
A moment later, Ivar stepped forward and punched Edie directly in the stomach. Not dodging, Edie took the full blow, doubling over, but he didn't react.
* Ivar: "This time... I'll let it go. But not because you spoke well, but because at least... you know you were wrong."
Meylen said, then turned and walked back into the house.
Edie stood there, physically and emotionally aching, but for the first time in his life... he felt a sense of relief.
Hakan watched from afar, nodding. The final lesson was complete.
When Roock heard that Edie had personally gone to apologize to everyone, he merely furrowed his brow. A moment of silence, then he mumbled:
* Roock: "He finally learned to bow his head..."
No praise, no blame, just his gaze looking further away than before and with a smile. A gentle breeze swept by, carrying old memories...
Edie stood in the sunset road, his heart a little lighter. He didn't know where he was going, but at least... for the first time, he walked forward without looking back.
—End of Chapter—