"We have too little information at the moment. Slaughter all except Guild members who approach Teary Hill. We must withstand the attack for mankind."
-Executive Chancellor Order #02 on The Siege of Teary Hill
The upstairs of the fishing shack was a lot cosier than the open shop area of the first floor. With a jumble of rooms the size of large closets, the maze was connected through a single landing after walking up the first floor stairs. Daniel found that he was going to stay at the guest room on the second floor, one which looked similar to his room in Igo's home, but a lot smaller.
"Sorry that I was a bit late, I was just finishing the final touches on your new room." Havie admitted after leading Daniel up to his room, with Eni following and Avos staying behind to play with Anya. Havie had the disposition of someone kind-hearted and friendly but his appearance was a bit on the rough side. It would be a stretch to call him burly, but Havie certainly was muscular. A small scar on his upper lip gave the feeling that he was always snarling or angry at something yet all of those things melted away when he gave a smile that could fell nations and swoon the hardest of hearts. "I really hope it's to you're liking."
"It... it should be fine, thanks." Daniel muttered, staring down at the floor and not paying too much attention to the conversation.
"Make yourself at home, Daniel. Me and Havie are just going to have a little chat." Avos said, pushing Daniel into the room and closing the door. With the creaking of the outside stairs, Avos and Havie had gone back down to where the rest of the family were, leaving Daniel well and truly alone.
Methodically, Daniel searched through the drawers and cabinet of his room, checked under his bed, tapped on and checked that nothing was behind the window curtains and made sure the door was shut tight. After he found nothing to be worried about, Daniel finally collapsed on top of his bed.
Had I always been this paranoid? Daniel couldn't help but ask, am I going to be so pathetic that I'm going to be like this now? Why couldn't I have just stayed dead? Then nobody would worry about me anymore. They'd all return to normal. If I hadn't escaped from-
As if his body had stopped him, Daniel felt sick enter his mouth, forcing him to jolt up from his bed, crying in the searing agony it caused his mouth. He couldn't bring himself to throw it up so he instead swallowed it, resulting in even more pain.
"I'm sorry Igo, I-I'm sorry..." Daniel moaned, tears falling down his face and he fell back onto his bed. Crawling into some semblance of a fetal position, with the bed duvet soaking up most of his tears, Daniel fell asleep.
"So what do you want to talk to me about?" Havie asked, going downstairs with Avos in tow.
"I need you to be firm with the boy. He's gone through a lot and so you might be inclined to give him a bit of leeway. That's fine and all, but eventually he must learn to move past his painful memories and live normally once more."
"How hard are you talking? That kid, Daniel, seemed pretty normal, but if he is dealing with a lot like you said, doesn't that suggest that I need to give him a bit more time? Time to come to terms to his past, in a sense, before fully being able to move ahead and deal with those things?"
"The thing is, Havie, the second this boy even thinks about what he has dealt with, he breaks. In a normal circumstance I would give him all the time in the world to deal with his issues and help Daniel with that. But that boy is a fuse. A very powerful fuse that could kill us all if we let it burn for long enough. So, we need to be hasty and get that burning fuse under control before it ends up burning faster." Avos explained, the two now stopped in the middle of the stairway, a grim contemplative expression on Avos' face.
"Even then, is it possible to just give Daniel a chance, a chance to stop that fuse himself and then be in a better position than he would have been if we forced him into it?"
"I get where you're coming from Havie, I really do."
"Then why, Avos, why do we have to push a kid in the best years of his life so far?"
"...-I don't know" Avos muttered.
"What?" Havie whipped around, meeting Avos' gaze. It was empty.
"I ask that myself too. Constantly. Why do we indoctrinate entire generations of young children to become machines of war against the redcaps? Why do we act as the righteous ones when we also slaughter and murder entire villages and towns of innocent redcaps? I always tell myself it's for the greater good, the survival of man-kind. But isn't that what the redcaps are also doing it for? In order to survive and not get obliterated by their divine leaders, they do the same as us. They kill."
"Avos, I-"
"The reason we kill each other, the reason why we have waged war against them for a millennium, it doesn't exist. It is lost to time. The real reason that is. The reason the gods knew, though? That is what still exists. And so, as the last remaining gods of this world, Obelisk and Dhalene continue commanding the races that worship them to slaughter us all. We godless humans, however, are left to retaliate without a clue for why they do it. So in the end, it's the same reason why I am going to push Daniel so hard. There is no reason other than survival. And that poor child has the potential to find that reason out for himself."
"...I see. What else did I expect from the Guild," Havie said, helpless. "Go downstairs already, I'll check on the boy. Anya's bound to be waiting."
"I can't stay for long, sorry. Have to head back to Alandriel for my match."
"Match?"
"Let's just say I'm going to fight one creepy bastard over some useless rank."