Part 491: Lon'qu B

Tharja.

I'm not going to move across the room, if that's what you want.

......

Okay, I have better things to do than watch you stand there with your mouth agape. You want me to dispel your fear, right?

Can you truly release me from this crippling aversion to your kind?

Only if you promise to never refer to women as "your kind" again. Also, I need to know exactly where this fear comes from.

...All of it?

Unless I know the true nature of what ails you, I cannot destroy it.

Every night, I am plagued by a dream. A dream of true events. Of a young girl who lost her life because of me. She was an ordinary village girl who lived on the outskirts of town. We became friends despite the fact that I was an impoverished youth from the slums.

In time, she began to steal away from her parents to see me. Love flowered between us. But then...

Go on.

I'm sorry. This is... difficult for me. One day we went into the fields to picnic and spend time by the river. ...The bandits were so fast. So many. I fought them with all I had, but she still... They...

I'm sorry, Lon'qu.

From that day on, the presence of a woman has filled me with fear. A woman died because of my failings. I would not let it happen again. And though that day is long past, I relive it every night...

It is not unusual for powerful incidents to grip our hearts for many years after. You aren't cursed by mortal means, Lon'qu--the memory IS the curse.

Can you help me?

Perhaps. But it will take time. I must learn about you, this girl, and your youth spent in the slums. If I am to break the curse, I must know everything there is to know about you.

If that is what it takes...