Chapter 1078: A Talk With The Saintess
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I followed Elizabeth, as I saw her vomiting on the bathroom's toilet. I let her do so, not like I could or should stop her, while gently patting her back.
"Hahh… Hahh… I-I'm sorry… I… I just can't… This is harder than I imagined."
"It's fine, I understand how you might have felt. Was it the blood or…?"
I hugged her, cleaning her with a simple Clean spell, and let her rest her head on my shoulders. I didn't really care if she had just vomited recently. She was someone I loved, and I wouldn't mind such things. I believe it is important to be there for them when they most need you.
"No… it was… I just… It's so sad…" Elizabeth kept weeping on my shoulders. "The cruelty these people went through… the souls… The blood and all the bones we found of them, clean off their meat like… they were treated as mere supplies. It wasn't just soldiers, or adults… but the elderly, children, even… even babies… It so awful… so horrible…"
I can understand why she felt that way. Honestly, I also felt like it was terrible, but through the memories of Asmodeus, I had already lived similar events, perhaps dozens of times.
His mind was different though, born as vampires, with high mental strength and cold emotions, these things did not affect him as much.
But as I am a human now, I can understand better, the visceral, disgusting feeling that surges from your stomach.
The feeling that makes you want to throw up in disgust, and the horrendous dread you feel, combined with the sorrow of everything.
It is truly a despairing feeling.
My friends who were all eating, probably are very strong in their minds and hearts, Elizabeth is too. But she's also much more compassionate than everybody else.
She's someone with an incredible amount of empathy, to the point she perhaps even felt the agony these people might have gone through.
"I understand how much it hurts you, and I know it is horrible…" I said. "Honestly, I have little to say about all of this… How you feel right now is totally justified… I can't blame you."
"Blake…" Elizabeht kept crying, I just couldn't see her in such a way.
"But please, be strong," I said, looking at her in her eyes. "Be strong, Elizabeth. Like you've always have been. I know you're strong, you're one of the strongest people I've ever met, in the heart, where it truly matters."
She nodded as she wept.
I took out a handkerchief from my pocket, gently cleansing her tears, and then gently pulling her long, blonde hair behind her shoulders, revealing her cute face.
Her face was slightly red, her eyes a bit swollen from crying so much, but she was still my beautiful Elizabeth.
"Calm down… I'm here with you, you're not alone, and I'll always remain here, by your side." I said. "You're not facing this alone, Elizabeth. You're facing it with everyone else, together… With me." I held her hand.
"Blake…!" she hugged me again. "Never leave me…" her hands tightly hugged my back. "I love you…"
"I love you too," I smiled gently, kissing her cheeks, and then her lips. "I love you too, my dear. My strong Saintess. Let's get through this together, alright? I will not let go of your hand until you feel better."
"Thank you…" she smiled gently. "I'll be strong… for you. And for Erika, and… Chris, Eric, Alberta… Erdrich, and Elfriedden too… for Eleanora and everyone else as well. For dad… I don't want to disappoint him now."
"I'm sure he would never be disappointed for you, even if you were to quit everything now, I and him would understand well, and we would still love you all the same," I said.
"No… I won't quit this…" she said. "I'll stay with you, with everyone… You need me, right? My powers… and their souls need me too. They will never find peace if I don't purify or exorcize them… I have a duty as the Saintess of the Holy Spirit of Light."
"Yeah, we really need you," I sighed. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine!" she smiled more. "I'm happy to have you here, Blake… Since I met you that… That my life has changed, for the better… I still have it, the coin you gave me."
"Eh?"
She suddenly showed me a silver coin, now with a hole, wrapped around silver chains, she wore it as a charm around her neck, hidden behind her dress.
"Elizabeth… Hahah…" I couldn't help but giggle a bit.
"See?" she smiled a bit more now. "It is my good luck charm! As long as I have it… I-I… I know I will… be safe… Agh, it's embarrassing, haha.. I was so dumb back then, so little."
"It's cute," I said, kissing her cheek. "It's part of how you are, and I love it. Thank you for keeping it as a memento of our friendship, Elizabeth. I gave you that coin mostly because I wanted to… well, back then, I coldly considered it an "investment" on you, as a future ally. But… Over time, I realized how much it changed my life too. I'm truly grateful I gave you that coin."
"Haha, of course you would consider it that back then…" she giggled. "Nonetheless, I'll still keep it!" she hugged me again, as I quickly stood up and lifted her like my princess.
"Feeling better now?" I asked her, kissing her in the lips again.
"Y-Yeah… A bit hungry now, out of nowhere…" she said, looking into my eyes with her golden irises. "Thank you for taking care of me… I'm a bit better."
"That's good," I nodded, as I let her stand up.
"Um, you weren't disgusted?" she wondered, nervously. "I just threw up, y-you even kissed me in the lips and all… I'm sorry…"
"Oh? Ah… well, I used a Cleaning spell, so don't worry," I said. "And now, I was not disgusted. Don't worry. Let's go."
I still held her hand as we walked back to eat, Erika was right outside the bathroom with everyone else though.
"Some privacy would have been a bit better…" I sighed.
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