Welcome to Gaia! ::

Caedus was still sitting beneath the tree; it seemed he was resting, if only because there was no eerie golden glow from beneath his hood. Celsus' voice seemed to have roused him, if he'd even been sleeping, and his golden eyes opened and immediately focus on the Knight.

"I do not mind," he reassured, though seemed cautious. Celsus seemed tense, and Caedus reciprocated this emotion.

"I expected questions. I welcome yours."

"I would not call this 'all of a sudden'," Caedus replied hesitantly. "This has not been a 'sudden' change for me. I had no control over when I would have left. I know only that I managed to. I am sorry if that is inconvenient to you."

He did not seem as on edge as he had been with the group, but neither did he seem particularly comfortable. He almost even seemed truly apologetic, though the gravely voice distorted it. "I do not think there is anything convenient or easy about this, either. I simply have tools you have yet to discover. I do not know if this is the answer to your problems. But it might be. I have an opportunity for you. That is all. I have made no promises. Except that I can get you to the castle, to strike while they are vulnerable."

"I suppose only time will determine the validity of my words." Again, he seemed apologetic. "If you are so worried, you do not need to use the crystals…My intention was not to alarm or concern you. It was an offer. I thought we shared a mutual goal."

The more Caedus watched the Knight, the more he was on edge. There were certain things—expression, words, tone, that made him take a small step backwards. Celsus had not moved to attack him, but something about the situation wasn't helping his nerves.

But he did not leave, or ignore Celsus. It was the Knight that was concerning him more than his words.

Reluctantly, he asked, "Are you all right?" He followed the question up with a slow, "You are struggling with something. There is more to this than just me. What is going on?"

Though Caedus seemed disappointed, he did not protest or argue. Celsus' concerns were not really unfounded, and he could respect that. Or, at least, he seemed to respect that. He nodded in what might have been an understanding aspect.

"I think there is more to it than you are letting on. You should take care of yourself. Not feeling well is never 'nothing'. You will not be in top condition if you are feeling unwell. Regardless of if you trust me or not, or if we have a mutual goal. You have things you want to protect," he chanced, "Do you not? …You have worked hard to obtain such power. Usually…those who pursue the power you have…have done so to protect something they care about. Someone. Do they not worry about you when they see you like this?"

Caedus was quiet for a long moment, and then moved, slowly, as if he were concerned with alarming Celsus. He was not comfortable, but it was not a difficult thing to see the Knight before him was struggling, with something. He did not know what, and he did not anticipate that he would ever know. Celsus did not want to open up.

"I want to give you something," he said after a few seconds of fishing around. He pulled out a bag, full of something that clinked. It was different from the bag he'd revealed during the meeting; this one seemed slightly better made. He untied the frayed woven band around it and dug his fingers into it. He was silent as he looked, and then pulled out a very plain, boring looking stone.

It was speckled gray and brown, though it looked smooth, and shiny. There was a finger sized indentation, as though it had been worn smooth.

"This rock is ugly, is it not?" he asked, looking down at it. It was fairly small, only about half the size of his palm. He traced his thumb over it, and gently into the worn out groove. "Will you hold it for me?"

He held it out in his bandaged hand.

"It is not like my other crystals. It does not absorb energy," he attempted to reassure. "It is just an old trinket. But I want to show you something. Hold it in your hand. Move your thumb over it. Please."

His voice was imploring, and he was asking for some minuscule amount of trust. Not in the Negaverse, not with the other crystals.

Just with this.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. It was just a plain, boring stone. But the heat from Celsus' thumb—the pressure he applied—was enough to spark something within the stone. The dull colors peeled back, and it was like a switch had been flipped on. The stone reacted to his touch; suddenly, it was a glimmering, opalescent color. The stone seemed to have a faint glow about it, and lit up in an array of colors in his hand.

Caedus kept his distance, but kept his eye on the stone.

"Humans," he said after a moment, "Can do so much. They are capable of turning something ugly into something beautiful. It is not wrong to worry, or to have doubts. But do not get lost in the ugliness of everything. Good will come."

He shifted positions. "Perhaps you will not see it now, but I hope you understand that in the future. When the time is right. I hope you find what peace you need. Take your worry out on that crystal, when you please. Sometimes it is good to clear the mind."

At the very least, it was a pretty distraction; it was a thousand different colors speckled like a cloud of rainbow stars in the palm of his hand.

"If you want the honest truth," Caedus began, voice as soft as something so gravely and inhuman could manage, "It is because I am much, much older than you. I have spent a thousand of your years trapped in darkness. Everything I see now is beautiful. Everything outside of that place is seems wonderful."

He glanced around the hill they stood, watching as the breeze danced between the branches and tickled the grass. The way the clouds moved in the sky, or the way the stars and city lights twinkled in the distance.

He looked at Celsus.

"I give it to you because you sound like you have forgotten that there is good in everything. Hope is beautiful. You have lost your own. Perhaps you can borrow someone else's. You will find something, some day. If you keep looking. And all of this darkness, this negativity, will wash away. Everything will mean more to you, because you have made it through the bad. You will find good. Sometimes it is just very good at hiding."

He shrugged; his hands slid back into his robes as another cold wind blew by.