Chapter 65: Pretentious Considerations.
Damien wasn’t too convinced. Not much could surprise him anymore after everything that had transpired during his first few days inside this cursed Tower of misery. At this point, the only thing he expected from Vincent was the unexpected.
Before he could respond, Ryan slowly walked over. He still looked visibly exhausted. His eyes were slightly swollen, and although he wore the same gentle smile as always, it looked far more forced than before. Being naïve was always easier than facing reality, but once someone finally accepted that reality, there was at least room to grow. Damien believed that much, so he decided to offer what he considered consolation.
"Ryan, get over it, bro. There’s plenty of fish in the sea."
Ryan paused for a moment before letting out a quiet laugh. Somehow, Damien’s attempt at encouragement was exactly as strange as he expected it to be.
"Did you ever figure out who killed Leslie?"
The sudden question caught both Damien and Vincent slightly off guard.
"Don’t you think her death was an accident as well?" Damien asked.
Ryan folded his arms across his chest and looked back toward the camp. Groups of survivors were already returning to their daily routines as though nothing unusual had happened only moments earlier.
"Honestly... I don’t even know anymore. Things have been different lately. Back when it was just Andrea leading the camp, everybody’s mind was at ease, and there was proper order and accountability. Sure, most of us couldn’t even use our Dormant Abilities back then, but Andrea was always there to guide and support us. The camp was much better."
Damien’s impression of Ryan immediately dropped.
"Bloody Andrea glazer. I hate these guys".
None of it reached his face. Instead, he maintained the same faint, supportive smile.
"I haven’t found her killer yet, but Vincent and I are working on it. There’s always the possibility we’re chasing a fool’s errand, but if she truly was murdered... Then she deserves justice."
Ryan nodded without hesitation.
When Damien had first arrived, Ryan genuinely believed he was nothing more than a suspicious corpse-looking man who wandered around camp watching people. Looking back now, Damien’s first few days had been incredibly misleading. But after everything that had happened today, Ryan found himself trusting him far more than he ever expected.
"You know, Damien...I think the camp would be much safer with someone like you on the Round Table."
Damien slowly shook his head. His expression rejected the idea entirely, but his thoughts did not.
"Yeah, no shit, Ryan. I’m working on it. I can’t exactly let you lot have all the fun, now can I?".
His lips finally parted.
"The people who deserve to be there already are. You could’ve killed that girl, but you didn’t. You had the strength, the authority, and frankly speaking, the immunity to get away with it, but you chose not to. You chose restraint instead. That’s a decision most high level Awakened would’ve never made."
Ryan rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, his ears turning slightly red.
"To tell you the truth, I thought about it. I knew I could do it, and for a moment, I really wanted to. I hated how she made me feel. I felt like a complete fool. Who would’ve thought betrayal could hurt that much?"
"Bitch, I don’t know. Ask Paige and Leslie".
Damien forced the thought aside before it could distract him.
"But you didn’t," he said calmly. "And that’s the difference between you and the rest of us Awakened. You proved that having power doesn’t mean you’re obligated to use it. You had every opportunity to become the sort of man everyone fears, and you decided you’d rather remain yourself. Don’t lose that. Once you do, you won’t get it back."
Ryan lowered his head slightly, quietly taking those words to heart. He didn’t know it, but receiving genuine praise from Damien felt strangely rewarding. For perhaps the first time since entering the Tower, Ryan felt that someone truly understood the kind of person he was.
Ryan later bid them both farewell, Damien frowned slightly. A strange feeling settled in his chest. It wasn’t excitement, nor relief. It felt satisfying though. Watching Ryan pull himself back together after all that chaos left him with a quiet sense of fulfillment, an emotion so unfamiliar that he almost found it irritating.
Vincent, on the other hand, didn’t care about Ryan’s emotional and spiritual growth.
"You do possess a rather enviable confidence, Damien. Ryan’s ability is exceptionally troublesome. On the off chance he had genuinely succumbed to madness, how did you intend to defend yourself against an ability you barely comprehend?".
Damien glanced innocently at Vincent.
"Speaking hypothetically, if Ryan did allow his rage to blind him and he decided he wanted to kill you, how would you defend yourself?"
A faint smirk tugged at Vincent’s lips.
Damien had simply thrown the question back at him. Whether it stemmed from a lack of confidence in his own answer or merely his usual caution, Vincent couldn’t quite tell. Either way, he wasn’t particularly concerned. He had absolute confidence in his own abilities, and, rather curiously, almost as much confidence in Damien’s.
Earlier that day, when he struck Damien, he hadn’t been testing him. He had genuinely intended to kill him. Yet the outcome had been rather peculiar.
Vincent felt something he had never experienced with anyone else. Damien’s soul had simply shrugged off his attack as though it were nothing.
"I..." Vincent pretended to consider the question. "I should strike him down before he even thinks to use his Dormant Ability... And if, by some dreadful lapse in judgment, I allow him to use it, then I shall simply lie down and die."
Damien turned towards the distant ice caves and began wheeling himself away, leaving faint tracks behind in the untouched snow. He didn’t stop, nor did he bother looking back at Vincent.
"That’s about it for me as well, except unlike you... I simply don’t die."