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The pain started to become unbearable. Never had Dominik dared to let his guard down for so long and push his soul to the limit as so. The corrosion at this point seemed unstoppable and felt as if it was going for the kill this time around. The small spike in intensity that had happened minutes ago was not close on the scale to what was going on in his soul at this point. 'How...?' he thought. The meister couldn't figure out why on earth he would lower his concentration to such and extent. What would drive him to do so? The conversation? Of course that would be impossible. The amount of concentration is so very minimal for conversing with another. 'Then what could it be...?' As the pain continued, Dominik tried to grasp his mind around the thought as well as the prevention of his soul slipping away to the erosion. Soon enough his question was answered not in the form of words or thoughts, but an embrace. The girl he was just talking to had stepped closer to him, not away, and wrapped her arms around him. The feeling was not only physical, but spiritual as well. The troubled meister could feel her soul reaching out a lending hand to try and comfort the pain he was going through. Dominik was instantly reluctant to even receive any help towards what was happening to his soul. The burden on his soul was a great one, and would only have to be shared to ease the stress in order for him to gain control once again. The only question left now is if she was prepared for it.

It was now or never at this point. Dominik had never faced such a conflict before from the erosion and this would be the only chance to fight back. The contact between their souls was enough for the corrosive darkness to press outward towards the girl's soul and would give off a stinging inside her, only a small fraction of what the meister was feeling. The pain that would be dealt to the girl caused the erosion to pull back on it's force in Dominik's soul and give him a chance to take control over once again. Clearing his mind quickly, Dominik tried to ignore every tiny thought in his mind to concentrate on the problem at hand and to get it done with as fast as possible so the girl wouldn't be in contact with his tainted soul any further. Soon enough, his breathing began to slow down gradually as it became easier to breathe. The tight clench on his chest was lifting and the pain reducing drastically in measure. The girl at this point would barely feel a tingle upon her soul, but would indeed still feel the presence of Dominik's soul afflicted by what had just attacked both their souls. Sight soon returned to the meister's darkened eyes and the first thing that caught his eye was an arm. The limb wasn't his own but the girl's with a bit of wood was stuck jutting followed by a small dribble of blood. He could only realize that the fault of this was his own mistake. The bloodied hand that had gripped the tree lifted itself into his view. Shards of bark and wood stuck inside his palm and fingers, blood dripping down his arm like a small river before dripping onto the picture perfect grass of the garden. A clawed out section of the tree faced him from behind the hand, the shape and form acting as a print that mocked him of the crime he had done. This single spot he chose to relax in this beautiful garden had just been darkened and disfigured from just a few minutes of being there.

Dominik fixated his eyes back over to the girl that was at his side. His eyes full of depression and guilt as to what he just put the girl through. They had only just met and now this meister had just introduced himself as this disgruntled person, completely contradicting the image he wished to make. Wriggling out of the girl's arms, Dominik snatched the satchel that laid on the ground as if waiting for it's owner and turned away from the girl looking down towards his hand. The pain felt like nothing compared to what he just experienced. The free hand grabbed onto all of the shards at once and ripped them from out of their place in one pull. Blood once again started to drip onto the grass, but quickly stopped after a second or two from the wounds already trying to close and heal. Dominik didn't want to face the girl after what just happened, for this is exactly what he wished to prevent. This was the exact reason why he wished to stay in solitude, keeping every thought and action to himself. It was so there would be no repercussions on anyone else and this pain would never have to be experienced by anyone but him. After what just occured, Dominik couldn't just leave this as is and his tendency to stay proper would make sure he didn't. With a slight turn of his head, the meister forced out an apology. "Sorry..." The tone contained not only his depression as before, but a truthful innocence that was very apparent. Words couldn't express his guilt, but they were the only things he could use at this moment. Dominik stood frozen in his place as he awaited some form of rejection from the girl, expecting some kind of scream or the sound of footsteps turning and disappearing off into the distance to leave him by himself once again in the garden.

Her words felt like no more than hollowed statements. In Dominik's mind and perspective, it was all his fault. Loosing control, the girl's injury, even to why is soul was afflicted with this curse. It all fell as a burden atop the meister's shoulders and the weight has been crushing him since obtaining it. To him there was no way of escaping the shadow over his soul, and if there was it had to be by himself. He alone trudged with this tainted soul within his body, so only he could be allowed to save himself. Dominik never wished for anyone else to get involved with him for one sole purpose: sharing the burden he carried. Only this encounter was on a completely different level than he could ever imagine. The corrosion not only affected his soul, but any others trying to come into contact with it. That is what the meister was truly guilty about. Taking his pain and sharing it with another being. Physical wounds could be healed at any time, but wounds upon the soul last for an eternity, he of all people would know all too well of that fact. Yet the sharing of his pain allowed him to save himself from the brink death. Though 'saving himself' was too much of a conceited thought. If it wasn't for the girl intervening, his entire conscience would have been surrendered to oblivion, and the Dominik working through his conflicted thoughts at the moment now wouldn't exist.

To his dismay, Dominik owed this girl her life and at this very moment he couldn't have been ruder to a woman in his life. Finalizing his thought process back together once again, the meister turned his attention back to the weapon girl. "It was my fault, and I do indeed have a reason to be sorry for..." The meister began to walk towards the girl, pulling out a handkerchief and folding it into a neat square before taking a hold of her arm. He crouched slightly to face the crime he was guilty of. "You trusted me, helped me, then got hurt in the process. I do believe that deserves an apology..." Though this would be the moment where a normal person would smile, Dominik only had a glum look upon his face as he pulled the bark out of the girl's arm and quickly replaced it with the handkerchief to patch up the blood. Knowing full well that pulling the bark from the arm wouldn't give much pain, or she would have focused on it rather than respond to his apology. Either way if she did, the grip he kept on her arm would be sure to keep it in place long enough for the piece of cloth to stick to the blood and prevent any more from leaking out. "On top of an apology... I owe you my gratitude as well... Whatever you did helped cause me to stay alive for a bit longer..." Though his thanks was more of an excuse to continue blaming himself, Dominik truly felt thankful for what the girl did for him just moments ago. Reaching out the hand not soaked in blood, the meister looked up at his rescuer. "I'm Dominik..." The expression on his face was another sulky, depressed stare towards the girl but it still contained the same amount of innocence as his apology.

Faiyth. The girl's name was indeed intriguing to Dominik. The name struck as odd, but it seemed ironic after what had happened. Moving past those thoughts he continued to keep his mind on guard as to prevent another incident. What had just transpired could be done once again, but the meister would do everything in his power to not allow it. His soul would need time to relieve itself of all the stress it had just endured and any more would cut his chance for survival to nearly zero. The pain alone was hard to deal with, but the corrosion's grasp on his soul was another deal entirely. The grip was tight and prying the claws off was difficult every time Dominik had to battle with it. Even now he could still feel the squeeze upon his soul as if the corrosion was still fighting for control with its own demonic agenda. Faiyth continued to press the point that this all wasn't his fault. 'If only you knew...' he thought to himself, trying to keep the images from surfacing in his memories. Though most of it wasn't his fault, Dominik believed that the blame fell on him for loosing control for the first time which in turn caused his soul to be plagued with this demon.

Soon enough, Faiyth's hand went to cover his as she smiled and confessed she couldn't understand why she was drawn to him. Her touch was a sensation Dominik hadn't felt in a long time, years to be correct in estimation. Quickly getting defensive, Dominik retracted his hand towards himself letting a few of his scarred fingers to inspect the area that had been affected. There was an obvious connection between the two, but he couldn't put an exact definition to it. Letting a sigh escape with his breath, the meister brought himself to his feet standing infront of Faiyth. "Destiny you say..." the boy kept a horrible scowl from forming on his face by instead letting a small frown take its plac e. "I am sorry that I find it hard to believe for just things to spontaneously happen. There is a reasoning behind everything that happens..." This topic of conversation wasn't new to Dominik, as his mind was already set on his statement he had just announced to her. The only difference to this discussion was that this was an expression of thought with someone other than himself. Being singled out for most of his life caused his thought process to adapt to having thought provoking questions to be consulted with himself to find answers and make rational conclusions. Dominik's attention turned from his thoughts and the conversation for a moment to the time. Loosing control as he did doesn't just make him loose out on consciousness, but also reality. If anything he had been out hear for close to an hour before Faiyth's arrival and so he might be set back in his schedule for the day. To Dominik there couldn't be enough time in the world to give him a chance to get things done. Shrugging off the thoughts for now, he turned back to the conversation with Faiyth. "Though I naturally object to such questions... I can't say no after what just happened... The meister answered the girl's question with a hint if distaste in his voice. Being alone for so long had Dominik's mind set to stay that way, but after this encounter he began to rethink things for the first time. Giving up his solidarity for a chance for survival was a choice he wasn't willing to gamble with. This girl could be the product he was striving to obtain after many years of research.With a sigh and a resentment towards himself, Dominik gave Faiyth a look that seemed as though he was happy and yet displeased at the same time. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to say yes at this point.." The meister looked away as he accepted his new partner, feeling completely awkward as the words passed his lips.

Dominik was still in a clueless mentality. Having never fully interacted with another person for years, he wasn't sure what to even think at this point. The meister had just accepted his weapon and had not even the faintest idea as to what to do next. Where normal people would be in an awkward rut, the blissful ignorance Dominik had towards social interaction kept him simple on thinking within this situation. Pocketing the damaged hand, he fixed his satchel upon his shoulder as he looked over at Faiyth with a more confident and slightly more welcoming stare within his eyes. "I am not exactly sure what to do myself at this point, let alone adding in another...." That was the truth, plain and simple. After all that had just transpired Dominik's mind was in mental limbo with his thoughts. The only thing he could think of was returning on home and getting rest. But with the addition of his new partner, he couldn't just leave her there unattended with her wounded arm. Thoughts mixed and collided, leaving no answer for the young meister to give in return to his partner. Though there was a more simple answer amongst them all that Dominik couldn't ignore any longer no matter how uncomfortable he felt to bring it up. Letting out a small sigh, he averted his gaze from the girl for a moment before speaking. "Though the only thing now I suppose is to head on home, of course you would need someone to tend to that wound of yours..." Even after the fact that the event had past, he still felt a need to be guilty for Faiyth's injury and could be easily recognized in his voice.

Finally, Dominik had answered the girl's question and couldn't expect any kind of reaction from her. Surprise, nervousness, shyness. The possibilities were tremendous and he wouldn't be able to pin an exact answer; all that was left was for her to state her mind on the matter. With or without her, the meister was indeed motivated to return home to relax after enduring the strain on his body and soul. He only wished to include her because it was the only polite thing to do at this point. Dominik's free and undamaged hand lightly clung to the opposite shoulder to ease his own nervous tendencies as he awaited Faiyth's response to a more welcoming gesture than the ones he had shown before. Underneath that could have hinted a motive for the two to have some time to get better acquainted with one another, but even Dominik himself wouldn't have noticed this desire for a person in his lonely life.

Walking alongside Shino, Marielle had her head bowed low, occasionally nodding as a form of response at Shino's words. Moments later, she looked up at him then smiled brightly, beautifully(though unconsciously). "Uh-huh! It is!" she replied cheerfully.

Nice trees, nice rays of sunshine... hell yeah, everything seemed just nice all of a sudden because Shino was trying his very best to cheer her up. So, I really can't stay angry for too long... Guess I have to follow Shino's advice. But... she thought then blinked. But. Such a powerful word, but she hoped that she can forget every worst thing that happened just for one and stop being too angsty. She kept up with Shino's pace then noticed two other students. When her meister spoke, she stopped on her tracks then stood right beside him. She didn't know any of these two, maybe it's because she doesn't give a damn about other people for the past few years. Marielle heaved a sigh then eyed the two with curiosity. Trying to remember their faces, she took a step forward then decided to introduce herself since Shino didn't bother doing it.

"And I'm Marielle, his weapon partner. It's n-nice to meet you,"" she said with much difficulty. Heck, she didn't know that being friendly could be quite difficult. For her anyways.

Just before Dominik could even think of a responding nod to Faiyth's agreement to head on home, new found people had made their way into the garden. Bombarded with social interaction once more, the meister felt dizzy from the blood loss and almost had an upset stomach from just imagining another conversation. He tried his best to keep his wounded hand concealed in his coat pocket as a young man approached the two and spoke a foreign language. Keeping his mind occupied with something other than talking, Dominik tried deducing the language he was using which was a far eastern language like Japanese. The deviation of his attention didn't helped the troubled meister as he would need more distractions to keep himself out of the conversation. "Verdammt gesprächen..." He said underneath his breath as greetings were exchanged when the partner to the eastern man arrived. Having a talk with one person alone was a stretch, but a group conversation? Dominik wouldn't be able to keep his head on straight before just wanting to be alone once more.

Faiyth began to strike a conversation back at the pair and soon enough it was Dominik's turn to greet the two. The chat was going to be avoided all together. The free hand dug within a pocket only to return with a neatly folded receipt that he had kept from a down payment in full for an apartment the meister purchased recently. Lucky enough for the meister's sake, the address was printed down on the flimsy paper as to keep him from announcing where he lived to two strangers. Strangers they were, and in Dominik's mind they were going to stay that way... for now. Befriending and talking to one person was enough for him to handle for today and he was quickly tired from all of it. The stress on his soul and mind would just drive him closer to insanity and the best way to avoid it all was just to be alone for a bit. Taking a small walk back to his domain would be the perfect way to clear his head and to have some kind of rest. The wounded hand would make an appearance as it would close Faiyth's hand around the paper after it was placed there by the other. The blood was already dried and the coat sleeve would do its best to hide away the hand but it was still noticeable all the same. The location of where he was going to be was planted in the hand of his partner and Dominik was determined to make his exit quickly. The troubled meister gave a look at Faiyth with an apologetic gaze within his eyes. Hoping she would understand his situation, he adverted his stare and pocketed the damaged hand once more as Dominik turned to exit the garden. The steps were almost silent but heavy, just as his soul felt after feeling a bit guilty leaving his partner alone for a moment in that situation.

[[EXIT]]