CHAPTER 158: THE ONE WHO GAVE ME CONFIDENCE

Ariston (Past- Kid)

We walked into the village just after dawn, when the mist still clung to the grass and the air smelled like dew and woodsmoke. I pulled the hood of my cloak low, keeping my eyes on the dirt road. The fabric scratched against my cheeks, but I didn’t dare push it back.

Rael walked beside me like he belonged here—like he belonged anywhere, really. There was something about the way he carried himself. Loose, calm. One hand rested lazily on his belt, near the hilt of his dagger, not as a threat, just as a habit. He didn’t slouch. He didn’t skulk. And he didn’t hide his face.

Unlike me.

"You’re walking like you’re waiting to get caught," he said without looking at me.

"I am," I muttered.

He exhaled, long and slow, but not annoyed. "We’ve been over this."

"They stare," I said.

"They stare at me too. Let ’em." His said calmly but firmly

"That’s different. You look like you can rip a man in half."

Rael chuckled. "I can. But that’s not the point." He stated, "I haven’t killed anyone for giving me a weird look."

I kept my eyes down as we passed the blacksmith’s stall, where a heavyset man pounded away at an iron horseshoe. Sparks flew. I caught a glimpse of a woman hanging linens on a line across the alley, pausing mid-motion to glance at us. I could feel the stare, the slow realization as she saw the red eyes. Her face twisted—not in fear exactly, but that subtle tightness, like she’d tasted something bitter.

Rael noticed too. He always did.

He didn’t stop walking. "You want to know a secret?" he asked.

"No," I grumbled.

"Too bad," he said, clapping a hand on my shoulder. "People are going to stare no matter what you do. So give them something worth staring at."

"That’s stupid." I replied

"It’s confidence." He stated

"It’s asking for trouble."

Rael stopped, suddenly, right in the middle of the street. I bumped into him before I realized he wasn’t moving. He turned to me slowly, his red eyes—bright like embers—meeting mine under my hood.

"Ariston," he said, voice low but firm. "You hide like you’ve done something wrong. But you haven’t. Your eyes aren’t a curse. They’re just eyes."

"Easy for you to say."

"You think I didn’t get chased out of a dozen towns before I learned to stand my ground?" He crouched slightly, so we were eye level. "I chose not to let them decide who I was. You can choose too."

I swallowed. My throat felt tight. I remembered the way they’d looked at me in the last town. Like I was some kind of demon child. People muttered. Crossed streets. Threw things once. That had been the last time I’d dared to go near a crowd.

And I haven’t forgotten my time in the orphanage and the things that happened there.

But Rael’s hand was still on my shoulder. Solid. Unmoving. Not forcing. Just there.

"Just for today," he said. "No hood. Just try it. I’m right here."

"..." I stared at him and he stared back. We kept looking at each other for a few seconds, then I sighed and gave in

I hesitated, fingers twitching near the hem. Then, slowly, I pulled the hood back. The air hit my skin. Cool. Open. Exposed.

"Good," Rael said simply. Then turned and kept walking like it was nothing.

The rest of the village came into view ahead: the small central square with a well, the market stalls covered in patched canvas. The city beyond would be busier, louder. But for now, this was enough.

We stopped at a baker’s cart first. Rael handed the woman a silver coin, and she offered him a warm roll wrapped in paper. She looked at his eyes, then she looked at me.

Her smile faltered just a bit when she saw how red our gazes were. I looked away.

Rael saw it. "His name’s Ariston," he said, casually. "He caught the trout we had last night. Best I’ve had in months."

The woman blinked. "Oh—uh... is that so?" She looked back at me, then nodded. "Well. Good hands, then. Want one of your own?"

!!!

I was surprised but then I nodded mutely. She gave me a second roll. Didn’t charge for it.

Rael led me through three more stalls—vegetables, tools, even a cloth merchant where he picked out a dark tunic for me. At each one, he’d introduce me. Never loudly. Never like he was proving a point. Just calmly. Like I belonged.

And people didn’t throw stones. They didn’t scream. A few looked twice, sure—but that was it. One little girl even waved at me when her mother wasn’t looking.

But of course, people still looked at us with disgust.

"You see?" Rael said as we left the square, munching on his bread. "That wasn’t the end of the world."

"I don’t like it," I muttered, chewing slower than I needed to. "I feel... raw."

"That’s what growing feels like. It’s uncomfortable."

"I didn’t ask to grow."

"Tough." He replied

We walked the rest of the way back through the woods in silence, just the squelch of earth under our boots and the distant whistle of birds overhead. I kept thinking about the way the market woman had looked at me—uncertain, yes, but not afraid. And the kid who waved. That was new. That... hadn’t happened before.

When we got back to our camp, I slumped down near the fire pit. Rael was already crouched beside it, stacking kindling.

"Why’d you take me?" I asked suddenly. The words came out before I could second-guess them. "Out there. You knew I hated it."

Rael lit the spark, watching the flame catch. "Because hiding doesn’t suit you. You’ve got a spine. It’s time you used it."

I turned the roll over in my hands. "They’ll never accept us."

Rael looked up at me, and for once, he wasn’t smiling or teasing. He was just honest.

"Maybe not," he said. "But you can accept yourself. That’s where it starts."

The fire cracked softly between us.

I didn’t say anything for a long time. But later that night, after we ate and the sky turned purple with dusk, I found myself glancing at my reflection in the river nearby.

Red eyes. Too bright. Too strange.

But not monstrous.