Amari's word's were a cacophony of confusion, but the sentences she formed were purely aesthetic. She had talked like this before; jumping from hurtful accusations, manifested by that dark anger as she vocalized these imagined slights, to softer moments of underlying compassion without really knowing herself where to hedge herself. Shinsou was no longer interested in words. Everything he wanted to know was deep inside her, because the Telgradian could sense her conflicted soul burning with almost magnesium brilliance; a totally different aura than the one he sensed before.

Shinsou felt that he was like staring into the entire universe, except it stared back with added intensity. It felt somewhat judgemental, as if whatever he said next was always going to be found wanting beneath the weight of its gaze.

Confronted with this, Osiris became humble, whether he wanted to or not.

"I'm not here for an apology, either. I know what happened; how Samson played you back at the camp. Turns out he's one of Ducos's moles, and he probably thought that driving a wedge between us would shake things loose. But it doesn't matter. I could prattle on all day about what happened and why, and you would either believe me or not. I just have this feeling that you already know the truth. That is good enough for me."

Shinsou knew that the subject was already at saturation point, and that the conflict with Ducos bore little relevance to what Amari thought about him. But, as he stepped into the circle pattern of a rug adorning the floor, he felt a shift in Amari's soul, one that seemed to cause light to flicker in and out of view. She spoke without even moving her lips.

"Your time with the Hand didn't strip you of all your humanity. I don't know what Lye did to you, or what was triggered to get your soul so broken, but I will make sure no-one lays a finger on you ever again."

It was the perfect delivery of how he felt, but to melt the ice all the way to the core of Amari's heart, Shinsou knew it wasn't enough to just pledge his protection. This situation had happened so quickly that no-one, not even himself, even had time to notice that he cared about her more than anyone in the world. At the time, Shinsou felt he was just doing the right thing by taking her in after that botched mission to find Am'aleh's aggressors. But then, after months of tutoring, caring and soldiering on to turn Amari's situation around, Osiris had grown almost dependent on her presence. After every mission, she would be waiting for him. At every evening meal, the redheaded noble would be at his side. Her smile would greet him first thing in the morning and last thing before bedtime.

With a harsh Salvic wind whipping the windows came the sounds of curtains rustling, of leaves scraping against the frozen floor and squeaky shutter hinges swinging in the wind.

"It's not just that..." Osiris started again, a surety in his voice that was absent before, "...but for those long months away, all I thought about was coming back to you."

The truth made its entrance with less rhythm and madness than he expected, but there it now was; his heart a book opened on the ground in front of the astonished looking Salvic noble. The world inside that corrupted shell shuddered just a little bit in answer. Though fleeting, the moment had a permanence that stuck in the Telgradian's mind. Feelings constructed. They moved into place with purpose and brilliance; even just momentarily.

With Amari before him, he lifted his eyes met her bewildered gaze. Shinsou knew that Lye would like to think that nothing human looked out upon the world from those eyes anymore, but that was a falsity and for a fleeting moment the Telgradian took joy in that small victory. Amari's eyes were fascinating. They were compound, shimmering like diamonds made true by years of toil.

"So, here I am; not as the Executor of the Brotherhood, or the Telgradian usurper, or a soldier. I am Shinsou Vaan Osiris, true and straight, and I've come back for you."