Uncomfortably shifting in his chair, Lauri looked between his mentor and the woman who had raised him since he was found wandering alone in the forest.
It was something that happened to everyone in this village. Children waking up scared and alone, wandering through the woods, hopefully coming across man before they became some Fiend's lunch.
Lauri turned his gaze to Laurence. Whilst he couldn't remember, he was told that Laurence had found him crying under a tree five years old, with no memories except his name and no clue of how he had got there. That was the same with everyone who lived here.
Lauri looked at Granny. The woman who had raised him since he was found. Although she was blind, her eyes damaged by a Fiend many years before Lauri was born, the old woman always seemed to know what was going on around her.
And now both people who had impacted Lauri's life in more ways than he could comprehend were both looking at him.
It made him want to shrink into the ground.
'Why does this feel more intimidating than facing down Light Stealer.'
Granny was the first to break the silence.
"So, do you think he's ready?"
Still watching him, Laurence leaned back in his seat.
"Are we ever really ready?"
Granny scratched her jaw.
"I suppose that is fair."
Granny stared at Lauri through her closed eyelids, despite not being able to see her eyes, Lauri felt them look straight through him.
Holding a hand up, Lauri quietly spoke.
"Um, excuse me. You sent everyone away and said you need to talk to me? What's wrong?"
They were both silent for a moment until Laurence crossed his arms.
"There are some things you should know, Lauri, as it seems you are the next in line to defend our home. Secrets and knowledge passed down from protector to protector. From the first Awakened who took up their blade to defend the people of this village two hundred years ago."
Lauri squinted at Laurence's words.
"Secrets? Knowledge? Laurence, why have you been so vague of late. So many secrets, are you trying to drive me mad? It's working." Lauri muttered.
Granny slightly chuckled, "That was my doing. Forgive my selfishness Lauri, I wanted to be here to see your reactions."
Lauri rubbed his temples, "Why would you want to see my reactions to things – ignoring how you can't see. You speak like you know a lot about this whole Awakened business, except the only Awakened who have been in this village in recent history would be myself, Laurence and Laurence's master. But she died years and years ago."
Laurence perked up at the mention of his name, "My master died? Damn, that's a pity to hear. Hey hag," Laurence nudged Granny, his voice. "You hear, my master finally bit the dust."
Granny rolled her eyes – at least that was what Lauri thought he saw the old lady do beneath her eyelids.
"Your master will definitely die, but like hell would they die from old age."
Lauri looked at Laurence who was chuckling to himself, then at Granny who was staring back at him, then back to Laurence whose chuckle had started dying down, back at Granny one more time before stopping at Laurence.
"Wait!" Jumping up, Lauri slammed his palms onto the table. Pointing at Granny, he mumbled his words, "T-th- that- Granny- she- she's! Granny is your master?!"
Laurence and Granny exchanged amused expressions.
"Took him long enough." Reaching forward, she picked up a cup from the table and took a sip.
Lauri was shocked.
'But, I thought master's master died before I was born. That was why Laurence has been protecting the village alone for so long…' Lauri's eyes came to rest on Granny's own eyes. 'Although-'
"It is exactly what you are thinking," Smiling, she placed the cup back down. "I could no longer reliably defend our home, so I had to pass all of that responsibility onto Laurence. At first, I was… hesitant, how could I not be. He had only been an Awakened for a handful of years, and suddenly I was of no help."
Listening intently, as Granny paused to take a breath, Lauri inserted his question into the conversation.
"You've never told us how you lost your sight, I mean. We all figured it would have to be something to do with a Fiend, but." On the edge of his seat, Lauri took a deep breath. "How did it happen?"
Granny frowned as she shook her head.
"I'm afraid to tell you. It was nothing impressive, nothing amazing. I just thought I was the best, and when I went to clear out a new infestation of Crimson Vine…" Slowly, Granny reached up to touch the bridge of her nose where the old scar ravaged her skin. "I found out I wasn't. The Crimson Vine had infested a powerful Fiend, one I had never seen before and have never heard of since… As I was worn out from purging the infestation, that was when it chose to appear."
"You lost to it, and it took your eyes… That's horrible…"
Granny shook her head.
"Oh, I lost my eyes alright, but I sure as hell didn't lose. After all, only one of us walked out of that cave alive."
The old woman's voice rattled with a slight chuckle as she reminisced on the event.
Laurence, on the other hand, his usually happy demeanour was gone. Instead, he was looking out of the nearest window, a deep disapproving frown on his lips. He shook his head.
"It's not like how she says it, you wouldn't believe she was the one who came out alive. Half dead. Both eyes devastated, when I found her she was almost dead from the blood loss. We used every method of healing we had, every Imprint capable of healing we had collected. We saved her body but her eyes…"
Granny shook her head, a small smile still on her face.
"He's never forgiven me for leaving all this work to him. Not that it ended badly after all, Laurence became the strongest Awakened this village has ever seen. Becoming a Destined. I could have never been so proud."
Lauri sat in awe, over the last year, during downtimes or whilst they were sat around the campfire, Laurence had spoken of his master. Of their escapades. Lauri could never have imagined that the woman who had practically raised him would turn out to be that very master.
"Thinking about it." Looking out the window, Granny nodded. "Maybe we should leave this for tomorrow. It is getting late."
Lauri groaned, already knowing what he was about to be told.
"I believe it would be a smart idea to have this conversation tomorrow. It is late, and you have had an exciting few days."