It was rather cold that day in Orchidia, the winter seemed to have settled in for good, not that it bothered Waltz he was well prepared for winter. He wore a long sleeved shirt, followed by a shirt, followed by a jumper so he could barely feel the cold. After packing some food and a jacket-just in case it got colder-in his bag, Waltz headed towards the castle of the Muramasa family, he had taken a request to assist with a senile man that used to appear in front of the castle making a ruckus about the coming of satan and how everyone should repent for their sins and ask Illumin for protection.

After stopping for directions Waltz was able to find the castle, he was asked to wait outside before the event and the moment he saw the old man he was too lead him away from there. Waltz waited there for a couple of hours, admiring the scenery, the stillness and the silence, the melancholy of the weather, hoping this year he would actually be able to enjoy a snow day. Suddenly, the silence was broken by someone's screams, it was coming from down the street and Waltz rushed to see what was going on.

In front of him Waltz found an old man in a wheelchair screaming, yelling, preaching about the coming of satan. Waltz recognised him immeadiately and quickly headed towards him. "Hello there, would you happen to be Leis?". "Why yes sonny, that is correct, and who might you be?". "My name is Waltz, I'm a mage requested by the head of the guard at the castle to lead you away from it as they will be having an event". "Then I must be on my way and go there at once, the more people gathered in one place the more will be warned about satan and his machinations against humans". "Are you sure you'd like to do this Leis? The people there will have loud music playing, they will talk with each other and no one is gonna care about what you're saying, in the end they might start calling you names". Leis was looking at Waltz's eyes, he seemed a bit sad and disheartened. "I'll tell you what, you come with me, we're gonna have a long walk down the streets of Orchidia, and you can tell me everything about satan and how to protect myself from him. Leis's eyes sparkled to life and he agreed with a smile, however he warned Waltz that there was a great deal of things he had to say. Waltz reassured him that he was going to listen to every last word the old man had to say, and as Waltz took his jacket out of the bag and placed it on Leis so he wouldnt catch a cold, he started pushing the old man's wheelchair towards the town's square, away from the castle.

Leis had been talking for a long time now, Waltz would stop him every now and then asking him questions or making remarks that would show he was paying attention. The old man would sometimes act a little crazy and raise his voice or flail his arms making people around look at him, but Waltz would calm him down and smile at people staring letting them know everything was fine.

It had been about four or five hours now and Waltz was starting to get hungry, he asked the old man if it was ok to stop for a snack, the man agreed and asked him if he cared to share some with him. "You know I had a feeling we would become friends and I brought with me two sandwiches, so I could give you one". Waltz smiled and took the sandwiches out of the bag giving Leis one, the old man thanked him for his kindness and the two ate in silence.

Halfway through, Leis stopped eating and stared at the sky. "What's wrong Leis?" The old man trailed his eyes to Waltz's eyes, a tear falling down his cheek. Leis explained to Waltz that he had lost his wife in a tragic accident. He was a happy man back then, he loved his wife and tried to keep her happy any way possible and so did she. On the night of their anniversary Leis had prepared some fireworks for her, they would have dinner and then he would set them off for her, so he could see her face sparkle in excitement. "Dinner was over, I was on my way to light the fireworks and surprise her, oh what a fool I was, something went wrong with the fireworks, as I lit up all of them and started heading towards her I saw the first one changing course and falling down right at where she was standing. I run to her with all my strength but it wasn't enough, she tried to run the moment she realised but it was too late, the explosion killed her and as I was not paying attention to anything else, tripped and landed on rocks. I only broke my legs but how many times I wished I had died with her, it was all my fault". The old man couldn't hold back his tears, Waltz went to his side explaining to him how his family was killed by the people that wanted to abduct him just because they couldn't find him at the beginning, and that for years he was blaming himself for not being there.

Waltz hugged the old man. "The one at fault was not you, you loved your wife, the firework was defective, you couldn't have known and you couldn't do anything about it. I'm sure your wife has forgiven you, time for you to forgive yourself". The old man shed a few tears, thanked Waltz for his words and for his time and asked him if he could take him home. Waltz following his directions took Leis to his home, wished him goodnight and headed towards the castle. As he approached the castle he noticed a figure standing by the gate, it was Jelies Sov the head of the guards, he thanked him for his services and his time, giving him the reward and saying goodbye he headed towards the interior of the building. Despite the late hour, Waltz found a few people to ask for directions and headed home, cursing his sense of direction.


WC : 1128