Morgan used to think her flaw was a blessing. Well, as much a blessing as the perverse and cruel machinations of The Spell could give.
Sure, possessing it was an annoyance, particularly when choosing clothes, but it couldn't directly become the source of her downfall in a fight. She only really recognised how cruel a curse it was after touching someone for the first time.
It was an accident, she was fully aware of the nature of her flaw, but a simple oversight on her part due to not being used to it was the source of a trauma that stuck to her to this day.
She remembered vividly as she went to grab someone's hand, only to watch it part before her. Blood fell in torrents as a piercing shriek assaulted her ears. His finger fell to the ground with a series of soft thuds and his hand was split down the middle and partially up his arm. Not even his bones were spared.
The horror of the incident wasn't anything she hadn't seen before, but it left a deep imprint on her psyche.
She simply distanced herself instead of getting another person she held dear hurt. It helped that her father was already shaping her to be a weapon devoid of emotions.
It was only after she had suffered an ugly defeat at the hands of her brother did her pain resurface.
Morgan had been stripped of her childhood. From birth she had been forged as a perfect weapon, both in mind and in body. She longed for warmth, but accepted her purpose nonetheless. The fateful day of her complete defeat shook her world.
Her father was disappointed and sent her to better herself, but she grew disappointed in him too.
Her defeat had made her take a step back, seeing her father and his twisted dream for her as the ugly reality it was.
Forgotten, or rather suppressed, emotions in her heart resurfaced. She had decided to be her own weapon, her own person, and with it came the longing for warmth.
Morgan no longer felt the need to blindly become the perfect weapon, cold and calculating without any unnecessary emotions.
Being raised by him, Morgan had the same thoughts as her father towards some things, including the importance of clarity. But she was still human after all. She had been starved of warmth all her life, it was only natural for her to long for something, anything.
The true cruelty of her flaw was revealed to her under the light of her heartfelt desire.
No one would ever be able to handle her feelings. They would crumble and fall apart under her flaw, just like the man who was so vivid in her memories.
'It's fine.' She told herself, 'I don't need it anyway.'
So she pushed her desires to the bottom of her heart once more.
***
'How irritating,' Morgan found herself walking down the streets of bastion. It was rare for her to leave the stronghold, but she was suffering from an unusually intense emotional outburst.
She was barely disguised, only taking the basic precaution of changing the colour of her hair and eyes with a memory.
'Those bastards dare!' Morgan stopped herself and took a deep breath. It was unlike her to lose control of her emotions, but she had recently fought against a particularly insidious corrupted devil that had compromised her mind. The aftereffects lingered despite her robust mental fortitude.
She had removed herself from the stronghold to avoid tainting her image in her compromised state.
She walked and walked, her pace was rather brisk, betrayed the irritation that she didn't let spread to her face.
Even seeing people was becoming a source of irritation for her now, so she purposely walked along the less populated and more obscure streets, looking for nothing in particular.
After walking down the endless sprawl of streets in bastion she stopped. She saw a cafe tucked away a few buildings down from her, the unusual sight brought her out of her thoughts.
'Such an odd place for a cafe, surely any respectable business owner would want to be easily accessible.' Morgan found herself intrigued, because despite the unfavourable placement, the cafe had its fair share of customers.
She walked up and read the sign: 'Sunny's Brilliant Emporium: Café & Memory Boutique' and with it she realised why.
'Oh, it's the eye candy cafe.' Morgan had done her investigations after finding someone with a memory-crafting aspect not affiliated with Valor. It was run by a master with enough skill to be considered adept, but not outstanding enough to warrant 'persuasion' from Valor.
She stood and pondered, 'Should I enter? I mean, of all the days to have a break, surely today ranks near the top.' She deliberated shortly before deciding.
'I guess I can check it out.' She would be lying if she wasn't interested in how the cafe got its nickname. Additionally, the cafe's appearance had successfully managed to break her out of her spiral of angry thoughts so she saw it in a somewhat more favourable light.
She pushed the doors open and walked inside.
***
Sunny was serving people as his avatar continued cooking in the kitchen. It was past midday so the majority of customers had already passed through, but the cafe was still somewhat filled.
He had been enjoying making food for people, and was quite comfortable living off of the occasional memory he sold. Although, Aiko's nagging about promoting his services never stopped. He chuckled lightly, her avarice could even rival his own.
Sunny had mostly been staying out of the sight of influential figures, he was enjoying the peace and would rather it stay like that. He did sometimes worry about being assimilated into Clan Valor for his ability to craft memories, but believed he hadn't shown enough ability for them to show up at his door.
That's why he nearly fell to the ground when he saw a familiar face walk through the door.