It was rather warm that day in Orchidia, spring seemed to have settled in for good, it was Aurelion’s favourite time of the year with every flower and tree being in full bloom. After packing some food and his cloak –just in case it got breezy at night- he headed towards the castle of the Muramasa family. Aurelion 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, this is going to be interesting, he thought.

Aurelion found the castle with ease, mesmerized by its beauty and the greenery around it he finally came to a halt in front of a man that appeared to be the head of the guard, Jelies was his name and was the one that gave Aurelion his mission. He was asked to wait outside the castle for some hours prior to the event the family had planned and the moment he saw the old man in the description he was too lead him away from there. Aurelion waited there patiently for a couple of hours admiring the scenery, the flowers gave off strong scents and their colors were of unparalleled beauty, the vendors some meters away from the castle could still be vaguely heard trying to sell their wares. Suddenly, Aurelion noticed a figure in a wheelchair making its way towards the castle, as it came closer he could see an old man with a slightly crazed look on his face as he started preaching about the coming of Satan.

Aurelion walked towards the old man, he stuttered from the figure of a boy approaching him. “You must be Leis I presume?” Aurelion asked with a smile. The old man went silent for a moment looking at Aurelion like he was scanning him, after a brief moment he exclaimed “Why yes that’s correct and who might you be young man!”. Aurelion introduced himself to the old man explaining that he was there to spend time with him as the castle was off-limits that day and he wouldn’t be able to preach like how he normally did. The old man nodded in agreement looking at the ground, Aurelion gave him a slight pat in the back and smiled suggesting, shortly after, that it would be a nice idea to go for a long walk down the streets of Orchidia, even volunteering to listen to Leis’ preach against Satan. Leis' eyes sparkled to life as he turned to face Aurelion, he agreed with a smile, turned his wheelchair around and started heading for the streets away from the castle with Aurelion right beside him.

Leis had been talking for quite some time now, Aurelion would stop him every now and then asking him questions or making remarks that would show he was paying attention to his speech. The old man sometimes acted somewhat crazy raising his voice or flailing his arms around. People would often stare at the two with confusion all over their face, but Aurelion reassured them shortly after that everything was fine.

It had been about four or five hours now and Aurelion 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. Aurelion chuckled and nodded affirmatively as he took out of the bag the two sandwiches he packed earlier this morning, giving one to Leis he started to take a few bites while resting on a bench. The man thanked him for his kindness and started nibbling on the sandwich, thankfully the bread is somewhat soft so he shouldn’t have a problem eating it, Aurelion thought.

The festivities at the castle had already begun for quite a few hours, Aurelion could hear the noise coming from the castle although somewhat vaguely. At some point Leis stopped eating and stared at the sky, Aurelion noticed a melancholic look on his face. “What's troubling you Leis?” he asked as he placed one of his hands on the old guy’s back. Leis trailed his eyes to Aurelion’s eyes, a tear falling down his cheek. He started narrating how he 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 thirtieth 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.” Leis said as he looked towards the ground and tears continued rolling down his cheeks. Aurelion was shocked hearing how the fireworks turned to be problematic and one of them changed directions towards Leis’ wife ending her life. “I was close enough for the explosion to also leave me crippled.” he said and started a monologue of how it was his fault she died, how he wished that it was him who died in her place, how he hated living his miserable life alone without her by his side and how much he truly missed her and would do anything to see her again. Aurelion tried to calm the man down explaining that it wasn’t his fault, the people he bought the fireworks from should have been more careful and that surely his wife would not want him to take her place. He had suffered enough from her loss and being crippled for a big part of his life, it was time he finally moved on because she had already forgiven him.

The old man in awe watched Aurelion speak these words and shedding a few final tears he reached to hold his hand in his aged palms. Leis thanked him for taking the time to listen to him and promised him he would try to live his life peacefully with those words in mind. Aurelion gave the old man a heartfelt smile, everything will be ok, he thought. At last, Aurelion took the man home following his directions and shortly after returned to the castle where Jelies was waiting for him. The guard thanked him and giving Aurelion his reward he returned to the interior of the castle. Aurelion looked briefly at the sky reminded of Leis, let out a sigh of contentment, smiled and headed home.