After having embarrassingly passed out in front of such a large crowd, Theodore and Avery moved me to a separate room. I couldn’t remember the details of it too well, because most of everything continued on like a blur. Hazy and obsolete, I felt mortified. It should’ve taken more than simple memories to make me weak like that. I’d stood upon dead bodies before, had my arms soaked in blood from fingertip to shoulder, and sat through my childhood’s brutal training to knock any sense of fear out of me.

So why? Why had my fear returned to me so quick? Wasn’t I supposed to be strong?

“She’s fragile,” I heard Avery mutter to Theodore by the door. “We need to be careful, lest we hurt her.”

And all I could think was our positions should’ve been switched, that once upon a time I too could make people cower in fear. That in comparison to my steely resolve, everyone else was made of glass.

Yet if you asked me to, I wouldn’t have been able to summon a speck of strength in me. Like feeding wood to bonfire, my tears had begun to wet the branches. No longer would my fire be able to consume it to live, for the rain had settled into me.

I couldn’t keep up the veneer of my smiles and friendly disposition, all I could do was follow Theodore down that hallway in silence. My back was slightly hunched, my chin pointed downwards, and my eyes looking everywhere but his face. I didn’t need to, I knew he was frowning. He was concerned for me, and I was consumed by feeling both entitled and undeserving of it all.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “On behalf of all the alchemists of The Apple, I am truly sorry. We should have known our boundaries, it was unwise for us to push you knowing your special case.”

“I’m the one who should be sorry,” I said. “Your people have given me food, a job, and a temporary roof over my head – if anything, my problems should be the last thing you need to worry about. Given the, uh, curse situation.”

Theodore’s frown only deepened, “I was worried that’s how you’d see things.”

This time, I turned my gaze towards him – squinting as the large windows before us gave way to a bright scenery.