(For Hexania) Time is ticking...

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Legion followed her, closely but not close enough to violate personal space. "Um...I can carry some of that if you'd like," he offered when she hoisted the second bag over her shoulder. "It's only fair, I'm going to be eating some of that too..."

He looked at her closely for a little bit as she looked back at her house before saying gingerly, "You don't have to go, you know..."
 
Hex shook her head and smiled at him, "no, I'm okay for now" she reached back and patter his shoulder, "we probably will be traveling quite a bit so we can carry it in shifts."

She sighed as she led him outside and shut the door behind her. "No," she muttered softly, "it's time for me to leave this place."

With that said, she motioned for him to follow her and she continue through town talking to a few people here and there, informing them that she was going to leave for awhile but assured them she would return eventually. Some of the kids she spent her days with cried as she told them she was leaving but she smiled as them and promised they would play together again soon.

Hex turned to Legion and smiled with a heavy heart. "Lead the way" she said as she glanced around one more time with tearful eyes.
 
Assured by her confidence in leaving, he smiled gently and took her hand, leading her towards the road that would lead them closer to their destination. Well...his destination. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, hoping to comfort her somehow. He knew how hard it was to leave the only place you'd ever known.
 
Though she was sadden by her sudden departure from her home, she smiled kindly at Legion as she squeezed his hand back. She knew she was leaving her home but was going on an exciting adventure with a new friend.

Hex looked back one more time at the village and then turned and walked forward happily with Legion. "So... Where how long do you think it will take to reach our destination?" She asked, realizing she really had no information about the journey she jumped into, "and how long have you been traveling so far?"
 
"Well...I'm not quite sure how long it will take...but I guess I should at least tell you what's happening..." Legion looked a little nervous, but pressed on.

"There was a woman...at least, she started out as a woman...and nobody knows her real name. She is called The Corpsetaker, though...because she learned how to switch souls between two bodies. She was a formidable enemy...not only because of her magical abilities, but whenever somebody would defeat her in battle, she would enter their body with her soul, forcing their soul into her dying body at the last moment..."

Legion looked a little shaken. "My mentor told me about her. She was trying to perform an ascension rite, which would consume the lives of all living things within several miles of her, giving her the collective power of all of them...she was in the middle of a city. She would have become a god.

"He managed to defeat her...my mentor's mentor killed her, and as The Corpsetaker changed bodies, my mentor killed his mentor...killing The Corpsetaker.

"Or at least, that's what should have happened...but she came back. She's now a ghost, but she's trying to build herself a new body, and no doubt is still intent on acquiring godlike power...and most likely on taking revenge on my mentor and anyone close to him."

After a short pause, he finished. "So...yeah." He blushed at the anticlimactic feeling he'd given the story.
 
Hex listened to his story in horror. "How... Terrible" she gasped. Hex clasped a hand over her mouth as she walked in thought. How could all of this chaos happened around her and she never knew. So much about the world she didn't know about... It was a lot to take in.

Hex removed her hand from her mouth and gave Legion a reassuring smile. "I'm sure you can do this" Hex exclaimed. She had confidence in this young man. Perhaps it was because he was the first Mage she had ever met, perhaps it was because she sensed something special about him... She couldn't tell what it was but she felt sure in her words.

"I don't care how long it takes" she continued as she walked happily along beside him, he long hair dancing around her, "I'm excited for this adventure!"
 
Legion had no idea how she could have so much confidence in him; he didn't even have that much confidence. "Um...yeah...hopefully it's not that much longer. I've been travelling for about a month now...the only reason I'm not lost is that my master helped me cast a spell so that I know which direction she's in. It just...doesn't tell me how far away she is."

He was glad she was so happy and bubbly. It helped him feel a lot more comfortable, because after describing what he needed to do again, what he was going up against was fresh in his mind and he was feeling rather terrified. He tried not to let it show, though...he was the one who was supposed to be doing this, right? He shouldn't be afraid...

He gripped her hand a little tigher for comfort, and in thanks for believing in him.
 
She shrugged, "its fine either way" she didn't really care how long it took. She was still too thrilled to be on an adventure.

"Your master sounds like a wise guy" Hex stated listening to the comments Legion had been making about his master. "How long did you study under him?" she inquired as she looked up at him.

She realized his concern about the quest he was on. She just didn't want him worrying too much over it. She thought back, with a small smile, to just the night before when he had fallen asleep. How peaceful he looked. She wanted to see that look on his face at all times.
 
Legion got the same look on his face as when she had asked him the questions back on the hill. "Um..."

He hesitated, then almost spoke. Then he hesitated for a while longer. He didn't answer for almost a full minute.

"I...studied with him for fifty six years," he said finally, looking away.
 
Hex stopped dead in her tracks and looked at him in awe.
"Fif-Fifty-six YEARS!?" she said loudly. She remembered that Legion had told her that he was older than he looked but she didn't even imagine that he was that old. She just stood there, staring at him.

"Well..." Hex finally said as she started back walking with him, "you're looking pretty damned good for your age then" She couldn't help but laugh. She knew he said he was a time mage but she never dreamed that he could use it in ways such as that
 
Legion blushed. "I...does this...I mean..." he tried to find the right words. "There's...nothing wrong with that, right...?"

"I mean..." he sighs and seems to hold back a little. "I know it seems...really weird...I just hope that it's not too weird for you..."

He frowns, unhappy with his wording.

"This doesn't change anything between us...does it?" he looks up, trying and failing to hide his fear.
 
Hex reached up and threw one arm around his shoulders, shaking him a little as she laughed, "of course not!"

"You could be over a hundred for all I care" she assured with a bright smile. She grabbed his hand again and continued to walk beside him as she glanced down at her feet in thought. She couldn't understand why she felt the need to make sure he was happy. Yet she found it odd that this news didn't make her feel uncomfortable in the slightest. Had anyone else said that they were fifty-six years old and looked so young she probably would have ran away from them for being so unnatural but she couldn't find it in her to do that with Legion. Hex felt so happy and at ease with him and she wanted him to realize that he had no reason to be uncomfortable and shy around her.
 
Legion seemed both immensely relieved and shocked at this. "You...r-really?" he asked with with wide eyes. "I...but..."

He looks at her in an odd way. He'd never had this happen before. In fact, it was for that very reason that he had never married, or even dated or had any sort of relationship with a girl. As soon as she found out about his...unnatural qualities she became, at best, a friendly acquaintance. Of course...he'd only ever shared this with two people besides his mentor. After that, he just gave up...until now.

He looked up at her, still seeming to make a conscious effort to avoid eye contact, but looking at her face. "Thank you again. And...Hex?" He stopped walking and took her other hand, as well, so they were holding both hands. "I...it's only been a day...but I feel like we've known each other forever...you've been so kind to me, generous, caring...I don't understand why you're different from other people, but I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate it. I don't think I've ever met someone like you..."

He wasn't smiling; he never smiled when he complimented people unless he didn't mean it. But he was so happy that it showed in his eyes, and in how he held Hex's hands, and seemed entirely at peace instead of having his usual nervous manner show. It just wasn't a smiling kind of happy.
 
She blushed but couldn't help but smile... She looked down at her feet for moment.

Hex understood his feelings all too well. She was so comfortable with him. She had never dated in the village, she never saw the appeal in any of the guys in the village but she felt so close to this man. She glanced up at him, still smiling wide and squeezed his hands a little. "No need to thank me" she said softly, "and I feel the same... But I honestly don't understand why you aren't treated like this all of the time. You're the most amazing and interesting guy I have ever known and... I just want you to be happy."

She gazed into his eyes, though he was avoiding hers, she didn't care. She was so relieved he was opening up to her even a little bit.
 
Legion blushed, smiled a little and put his arms around her, hugging her to his chest gently. "I don't know if I can handle all these compliments at once," he said, only half-joking.

Without letting go of the hug, he asked, "Hex...I have something I um...would like to share with you. If you agree to it."
 
She laughed a little and wrapped her arms gently around his back, quite content and a little shocked at his sudden hug.

Hex gave a simple, "Hmn? What is it" in a soft tone. She closed her eyes and sighed with a smile. He was warm against her, she had never hugged anyone like this before and she wanted to dwell in the moment
 
"There's...um...it's hard to explain...but um..."

He huffs. "I'm so bad at explaining this...there's something that happens...when we make eye contact. It's the same with most mages, especially the more powerful ones...It's why I try not to make eye contact with anybody...which makes me seem kind of sketchy, I guess..."

He thinks some more, the part of him not engaged in thought enjoying very much the feeling of closeness they had right then. "It's kind of like...the best way I can put it is mutual understanding of each other. But...it's kind of shocking, even when you know it's going to happen, if you've never had it happen before..."

"Do you want to?"
 
Hex looked up and him and smiled "I would love to understand you more, even if it would be shocking" she replied gently.

She was a little unsure of what was about to happen but she didn't let that phase her. Hex was excited both to understand Legion a little more but to also feel magic of sorts.
 
Legion put his hand behind her head, and looked into her cool blue eyes with his bring green ones. After a moment, she felt a tugging and it was as if her consciousness was pulled out of her body, into his deep, staring eyes.

After an instant of blackness, she found herself in a dimly lit room. She saw a younger version of Legion there, reading a book and taking down notes.

Then the room was gone, and she was outdoors, and there was Legion again, with an older man who had a long, grey heard and a bald head. He was watching Legion cast spells, and whenever something happened that was apparently unsatisfactory, he would shout and whip the younger boy in the rear with a long, thin stick he was holding, causing him to yelp, more in surprise than in pain.

Then once more the scene disappeared, and she was in a nice, cozy looking home. She saw three children, all appearing to be younger than 12, running around playing in the grass. Then the scene changed again, and the old man from earlier was taking one of the boys, who looked only a little older than he just had, by the hand, walking him away from the house while the rest of the family, including the mother and father, waved goodbye.

Then it was night, and the house was on fire. Everything happened quickly. She saw part of the family outside the home...a child...a mother...then the scene changed again.

There was another house. It took her a moment to realize that it was the same location, but much later. A lot of things had changed; for one, the city around it was much bigger, and newer looking. The house was entirely new, really just a different house built where the old one had been. She saw an unfamiliar couple, the woman holding a small baby. Then she noticed Legion was there, naturally much older than he had been when he'd left the house. He looked at the house in confusion, then talked to the couple for a few minutes, asking them questions. He left looking panicked...

And then the scene changed again. They were back in the dark room. The old man and Legion, who now looked as she was used to him looking, were watching a bowl of water intently with grim faces. The old man told Legion something, struggling to stand from his chair. Legion nodded sadly. They hugged, made difficult by the old man's frailty, and then Legion left the room.

She saw several other seemingly random scenes from his life. Him lying in bed asleep. Him doing the dishes. She saw another time when he was a kid, falling out of a tree he was climbing and starting to cry, and another time she saw the younger him smiling proudly as he was given some sort of award in what she assumed to be his elementary school.

She saw him, at an older age, seeming maybe 17, talking to a girl, and watched her expression change from listening to confused and almost horrified. She walked away while he simply stood there watching.

She saw him sitting at a gravestone briefly, for only a few seconds, before the scenery melded into the old man casting a spell onto a 15 year old Legion, causing him to glow a bright, golden light.

And then, abruptly, she found herself inches away from Legion's face again, and him watching her with a mixture of what seemed to be intense anxiety, deep understanding and warm care.
 
Hex gasped and stumbled backwards. So many visions came and went so fast that it made her almost feel nauseated. She rested one hand on Legion's shoulder for balance as she leaned over and caught her breath. All of those scenes left her confused for a moment... Hex couldn't quite put them all together. She thought back on them as hard as she could trying to memorize them all and the emotions that he must have felt.

Hex stood up straight once again with a heavy exhale. She just examined Legion's face with sympathy and confusion. Hex opened her mouth but then realized she couldn't even begin to say anything. Her heart ached for him, she didn't know one person could have to bear so much pain. She didn't know what else to do other than hug him.

She wrapped her arms around Legion and she started to cry a little. "I'm... I'm so sorry" she whispered as she held him tighter. She knew there couldn't have been much in those simple words but that is all she could say.
 
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