“Please! Go before I hurt you!”
“No! Not until you tell me what's happening!”
His eyes shift before giving out an empty, almost sporadic laugh. “I don't know… My Cosmo's wish was corrupted…” He hyperventilates between words. “Everyone thinks I'm evil… I’m condemned by Cosmo… I wrapped up my mother in tenebris flowers… I'm evil!”
The flowers lunge and wrap around my arms. A shriek escapes me as I wrestle with the stems. Their grasp on me only tightens.
“You should've ran!” He cries. “I don't know how to stop them!”
My heart beats pick up speed as I wrench against the dark flowers again. He's got me trapped.
“I'm so sorry!” he yells. “I'm so sorry…”
The sorrow and agony in his voice is clear. It hurts me like a knife twisting into my heart. I understand it. I’ve felt that pain before. He just needs to calm down. I know I can help. I've panicked like this before.
Besides, how could I run when he stood against his society for me, and saved me countless times?
“You're not evil, Amias,” I stop fighting against the wrapping flowers, letting them tangle all over my body. “You're not evil, and I'm not going to run from you.”
“You should. Cosmo himself deemed me a monster! So has everyone else!”
Monster? Deemed by Cosmo? Why would he say that? I've seen real monsters, and it's offensive to even let him consider that statement true. “You're not a monster,” I say firmly.
“A disgusting hideous monster.”
I deeply inhale, as if it would comfort him too. “You hold the most beautiful soul. I've never laid my eyes upon a man so soothing and generous. How could I dare tarnish your name with such a title? ”
“Tarnish my name?” The flowers loosen their grip ever so slightly.
“I could never do that to you.”
He becomes quiet for a moment, his dark eyes shifting. “Why do you care if my name gets tarnished? You're twisted incorruptedflowers! You don't even know what happened!”
“Tell me then. What happened in the castle?”
His breath slows slightly, and the grasp of his flowers weakens a little more. “I….I got a wish from Cosmo himself. I was supposed to wish for something to protect the people. The wish could only come from someone who has pure intentions or else the wish corrupts.”
A small gasp of realization escapes me. He mentioned that at the orphanage. “What did you wish for then?”
“I… I just wanted to be shown the truth about dreamscreechers. I thought maybe getting the whole truth out would help.”
Joy jolts through me. “You… wished to help dreamscreechers?”
“I…I wanted to help everyone by showing them an unbiased truth. I was thinking maybe if we were shown the truth by Cosmo, that Amarians would believe us and no longer be afraid. Maybe we could've repair things between our kingdoms.”
My smile stretches enough to make my face ache. My body feels like a wool blanket is hugging it. He’s come so far! He really has changed!
“But then I got a voice in my head telling me to kill them,” he continues with a whimper. “That was gonna be my wish before when I didn't know the truth, but… I didn't wish that today…”
I scrunch my brows together. “Well then, those thoughts shouldn't matter.”
“I thought so too…” He pauses for a moment. “But the wish exploded in my face. It wasn't supposed to do that. It got corrupted. I… I don't think I've really changed. I'm still as cruel as I was before. Those thoughts wouldn't have come if I really changed.”
“Youhavechanged, Amias,” I snap. “You've changed for the better. The fact you’re panicking about those thoughts shows how much you've grown.”
“If that were the case, the wish would've worked!”
“Your powers are out of control. Maybe that's what made the difference.”
