The celebration had long ended. People were sprawled out in random places, and others were resting in their houses. So it wouldn't be wrong to say the entire village was asleep in this current moment.
Well, everyone but him and Talia at least. Right now, both of them were awake, lying out on the grass, looking at the stars. Back in the outskirts, he would never have been able to see such a thing—no, perhaps he would never be able to even outside the outskirts.
He still hadn't come up with an answer. An answer to who he is exactly. He supposed he had many identities: Sunless, or better yet Sunny, Auro, Monster… and even Hero. But none of those seemed to fit him in all honesty.
Looking next to him, he saw Talia, her brown eyes sparkling at the sight of the stars, the green ribbons that never left her hair spread around on the grass. Perhaps she felt his gaze upon her, as she turned her head to him before pointing at a constellation in the sky.
"Look, Dad—"
At those words, both of them froze. He wouldn't say he hadn't viewed her as family, but Dad? That was something he couldn't fathom… but also the fact that, in reality, he himself had killed her father.
She turned her head away, obviously embarrassed, but he wasn't. Perhaps he would have been, if not for the guilt eating him away. He didn't deserve any of the kindness she gave him… no, he didn't deserve kindness at all. She's being deceived by him, and there was no other way to word it.
Perhaps she would hate him, resent him, and curse him. That would hurt, but what would hurt more was to see this girl he viewed as family be deceived by someone he viewed as evil. He would rather she curse him than fall into his evil embrace.
"Talia—"
"I know…"
His eyes shot open, the guilt swept away by shock and confusion.
"I always knew… and I did truly hate you for it."
Then the guilt came back, along with another sickening feeling he couldn't describe.
"But the worst part about hating someone… is that you'll remember all the good things every time that hate swelled up. Though even if it were just a collection of small moments… the more you hate that person, the more those memories pop up.
I can't say my father was a good one, but he was still my father, and you took him from me."
Her eyes met his, and though they weren't staring at the stars anymore, the sparkles from the stars never left.
"I don't hate you anymore… though I can't say I don't resent you in some aspects."
As her eyes began to water and the tears trailed down her face, she looked back up at the stars.
"Perhaps I'm crazy—no, I definitely know I am… to smile at my father's killer every day, and for that smile to be true, I must be crazy.
Perhaps that's why I've always felt alone… I don't hate you, but I hate the way you make me feel. Whenever you walked through the door or even came back to the cave… I was never alone. Perhaps that's all I needed—another crazy person to realize that I myself was crazy.
So I beg you… please don't cry."
He hadn't noticed, but his face was wet. Had it started raining? No, he wasn't a fool.
Sobs poured out from his mouth, and eventually, she followed, though her sobs were drowned out by laughter as they hugged in that grass field, the stars shining down on them.
"So please… never leave, and let's just be crazy together."
Eventually, his sobs—just like hers—were drowned out by laughter.
"I promise… my precious daughter."
He wasn't Sunny. He wasn't Auro. He wasn't a monster. He wasn't a hero.
He was the crazy father to a crazy girl.
---
The next day, he set out to go hunt in the afternoon. Due to the celebration going a little overboard, they had to restock on certain things. Luckily, though, it wasn't too much.
As night struck, he found his way back to the village, the smell of smoke assaulting his nose as he got closer… no, rather it was the smell of something much more foul.
Rushing toward it, he was met with the village he had called his home set ablaze.
On spikes in front of it were four impaled heads. He recognized the first two as the herbalists, and the third as Capitus's…
But he also recognized the fourth.
Green ribbons still adorning it.