Self-Righteousness is Wearing Thin

Vengeance led me back to his throne room after my fight with Shadows. I went straight to my corner and sat down. I was exhausted.

Vengeance went to his throne. The room was silent, except for my breathing which was slowly returning to normal. Finally, Vengeance said, "Wow. That was amazing. You did much better than I thought you would."

I looked at him curiously. Did he just compliment me? To be honest, it was kind of creepy. "Um...Thanks...I think." He smiled. This one was actually sincere. It made him look absolutely gorgeous. Oh my God, I did not just think that.

"You can go back to your room now, if you want."

And he has shocked me again. It wasn't even getting dark yet. I decided to get out of here before he changed his mind.

When I got to my room I flounced onto my bed and just about the second I closed my eyes, I was fast asleep.

Gates's P.O.V.
After Talia's fights with Shadows and Plague, I returned to my chambers. I was surprised at how strong she was. When you just look at her, you'd never expect her to fight as well as she did.

As I laid on my bed thinking, I was interrupted by Vengeance summoning me. I groaned. I was still mad at him for what he did.

As I walked to his throne room, a thought occurred to me. What if he knew about mine and Talia's little fling earlier? I just had to hope that our lie had worked as well as I had thought.

When I entered, he said, "Gates, we've been best friends our whole lives, right?" I nodded in agreement. "And I can tell you anything, right?"

"Yeah, is this about Talia?"

He smiled. "Gates you know me too well."

I started to feel uneasy but kept my voice steady and said, "We've only grown up together, Vengeance. I think I can tell when something is up."

He chuckled slightly. "I guess so. Well, the reason I called you here is because....Well....I think I'm falling for Talia."

After he said this, a hurricane of emotions swept over me. I felt angry at him for saying that after what he had done. I also felt some guilt because we wanted the same girl, which could cause difficulties later on. There are so many other emotions I don't think I could even begin to put in words.

All I could manage to say was, "Really?"

"I know it's hard to believe considering how I've treated here," he began, "But I felt guilty after it all. I think I was doing it to hide my real feelings for her."

My mouth went dry. "That's possible," I said trying not to fling myself at him to tear his eyes out.

Vengeance sighed. "She'd never like me. Not after the things I've done. I'm not even going to kid myself there." He was probably right there.

"Well, you can go now. I just needed to get that off my chest."

"Glad I could help." With that, I returned to my chambers to think.