Ansel jolted up out of the hotel bed  with a start.

"Ah. The Lightsworn has finally awoken." The same girl with the silver hair sat opposite the bed, facing Ansel. "I was wondering if you had given up and died," she stated, sort of worried, "but I see you have awoken."

"How long was I out?" Ansel asked, his fists balled up underneath the covers.

"Two days," the girl had said, disappointingly, "and the Eos Empire wants you dead. They've sent out bounties to all of the surrounding territories. People are going to start hunting you, and you need to get freshened up and then come find me. I have left some dye for your hair and some scissors to cut it."

Ansel rose up out of bed and then walked over to the sink and then picked up the scissors. He observed his face, ran his hand over the cut that had almost cost him an eye.

"I'm... I'm a monster," he grunted, and salty tears ran down his face. The wound stung, and he felt the wall that he had built up around his emotions finally crumble. "All of this is so stupid! Why did I have to become an Eighth Son? Its like I don't even matter anymore to anyone! I'm just- I'm just-"

A hand on his back turned him around and then caught him in her arms. The girl with silver hair squeezed him tight, making him feel all bubbly inside. He dropped the scissors, and they tinked on the tile floor.

"We do not choose our destinies, rather, we choose whether or not to succumb to the normality of life, or to follow the roads that our lives take us down. You are not invisible. You most certainly are not a monster. You are the most caring Eighth Son I have ever met." 

"No I'm not. I killed men, I was prostituted out, and I'm ruthless. I'm not caring, I'm not loving, I'm not anything but a shell." He swallowed. "I'm nothing but a shell."

"If you hadn't cared then I would be dead. If you didn't care, you would have let the knight kill me."

"W-what is your name?" Ansel asked, his walls finally broken down.

"My name is Sonya. You saved my life two days ago by taking on that knight." Her voice was in a whisper as well, and her eyes gleamed.

Ansel pulled away, attempting to reject that feeling. He failed. "Why... Why did you save me?" He looked at himself in the mirror, observing the scars he had obtained on his journeys. "All I am... Is a worthless Eighth Son." He said, hopelessly.

Sonya took her left hand and gently placed it on his left cheek. "Ansel Valeheart, you are not worthless. If anything, you're a hero. We saved you. You aren't worthless." She gently kissed his forehead, and then took the scissors  and began to cut his hair softly.

"Why... why are you doing this?" He asked, confused. "People only do this when they want to use me. They come in and act all sweet to me and then they ask for favors. They either don't want to be in bed alone or want me to save their lovers."

"I'm not people. I actually do care about you. That's why I came back for you. Let your walls fall down, and feel again." She cut his bangs off, then the back of his hair that ran down to his shoulders. He felt the locks of hair fall gently to the floor.

Ansel sighed and let the tears built up from the years of rejection and being used finally fall. He felt better as every tear fell, and began to feel hope for the first time in his life.

Once she was done, she gave him the dye. "This should make your hair midnight blue, the color of the Cruasian Knights. Let people believe you're hidden or dead, Lightsworn."

He took the dye and asked her to politely leave. "I'm sorry, I just need privacy. I don't know how you people do it over there in Tesalia, but I just want to be alone."

"I'll enlighten you over dinner tonight on how we do things in Tesalia. Just relax and take your time." Sonya gently closed the door, and Ansel walked in the shower. He added the dye to his hair, and let the warmth of the water rush down his face and his whole body. It felt good. For once in his life, Ansel Valeheart had peace in his heart. Once the walls in his heart and mind broke, he felt human again.

Ansel walked out of the shower and grabbed a towel waiting on him, and then walked over to the mirror as he wrapped himself in it. His hair made him look like he had a pompadour style going on in it, and he liked the way it slicked back naturally. He thought about what Sonya had said.

""I'll enlighten you over dinner tonight,' hmmm..." Ansel thought aloud. "Wait, did she just tell me we were going on a date? Oh my... all I have is rags-"

He realized no other woman had made him nervous or feel this way before, and he didn't know this feeling. It frightened him.

"Um, hey, Sonya!" He called out from the bathroom. She slightly opened the door and peeked in. 

"Yes? What did you need?" She asked.

"Take my coinpurse and go get me a new outfit, please! Mine is shredded from the fight a couple days ago-"

"Already done, Ansel," she playfully sighed, and thrusted in a light blue coat and dark pants and a white button down shirt. "After you've finished, go downstairs and wait for me there."

He dressed himself quickly and scrambled out of the king-like bedroom, downstairs into a bigger, grandiose courtyard. He stumbled upon a sign, and it stated:

Welcome to Hylia 

Land of the Prosperous

Long Live the Ancient King

"Huh, well Sonya doesn't dare to disappoint. I guess I'm stuck with her for the time being." Those words came out of Ansel's mouth, but he didn't like saying them. He didn't feel right saying them.

"Master, your sword is being returned to you," A butler-like voice said behind him, and he jumped. "Will you take it, sir?"

Ansel shuddered. "Don't call me master, for you are not enslaved to me. I am only Ansel." He took his katana and belted it to the back of his waist.

"Thank you, Sir Ansel. Your mistress shall be down in five minutes." The butler walked away.

I wonder what she has told these people about us... Ansel thought, lost in his wanderings. Is she going to use me too? Will she kill me? Can I trust her? The memory of that woman using me has scarred me for life. I don't think I could ever trust a woman again.

"Oh, Ansel!" Sonya called out from the staircase behind him. Her green eyes radiated the light of the sun, and she was dressed in a white silk dress, one that matched his shirt. "Come, take my arm!"

Ansel's fears suddenly dropped, for he had dreamed of actually sharing a beautiful moment with someone that wasn't trying to use him. All of his fears dissipated. He walked up the steps and conjoined his arm with hers. "Where are we to go tonight, Sonya?"

"To a special place. Come, let us walk." To Ansel, Sonya was beautiful. Her blonde hair had been straightened out and she had put a rose in her hair. She gave him chills when she had said his name, and she had smelled like lavender.

She led him to a nice little restaurant in the center of town. "Here. We shall dine here this evening."

He walked in, still conjoined with her, and did what any well mannered man would do: pull out the seat for her. She sat in it, and he pushed her chair in. Then, he took the seat across from her.

"So, why this place? Why me? I have so many questions-"

Sonya raised her index finger. "I will answer those as the night progresses. But, for now, let us just order appetizers and enjoy each other's faces and personalities."

He shrugged. "Honestly, as long as I'm with you, I'm fine with it." Ansel blurted out. He then realized what he said, and then covered his mouth with his hands, and blushed.

Sonya laughed. "Being in love will make you be honest with your lover. Don't be embarrassed by what you said, for it's perfectly normal. You act as if you are to have no feelings, and that's no way to live. In fact, that makes you nothing but a stone. To live is to be free with yourself, and to be happy is to express yourself. Don't ever forget that."

"So, wait. All these feelings I've had for the past like hour or so have been of love? What is love?" Ansel asked, blushing.

"I said, I'll explain after staring at you for a little bit." Sonya said, and he laughed.

The two ordered their beginning meals and ate them. Ansel got lost in Sonya's radiant green eyes, and she blushed.

"You asked earlier how things went in Tesalia, didn't you?" She had said, after a while.

Ansel nodded. He was absolutely curious as to why this woman had smitten him from the beginning.

"As a custom is, a maidservant in Tesalia knows she has fallen in love whenever her lover is completely smitten and honest with her. Also, if she falls in love with a hero, her eyes will radiate with whatever color they are. Mine are green. Also, if a Tesalian woman falls in love with a man, then the couple is with each other for life. I fell in love with you after you saved mine and my friends lives, and I knew you were the man for me whenever you broke your emotional walls down to be completely honest with me. Whenever a maidservant falls in love, it is custom to have a wedding with the person in the Larsia months."

"So basically, when the leaves fall, we are to get married? Isn't that kind of fast?" Ansel asked, curiously.

"If the Princess sees that I have fallen in love with you, then she will marry us in her ballroom. She cares for me so much, but I don't want her knowing just yet. I think that we should spend some time alone together to get to know each other. Especially since the life of a person doesn't last more than Eighty- Four seasons due to all of the wars that are constantly going on."

Ansel sighed. He was so confused about love and everything that he stayed silent.

"It's okay to be confused, Ansel. It's okay to not know. I didn't know until I looked in the mirror yesterday that the custom had come to me. It's okay to be scared and afraid." She took his hand, and squeezed it. "You aren't alone anymore."