All three of us: Dhuradhan, Dhanthas and me, were all right about one thing. We said that a million times before and even after my unexpected tree crashing. And that is: Pain never leaves you...

No matter how much you try, you cannot run from pain. Only easing it is what is possible and that means time. Time may never vanquish the agony, but ease it to the point, where you learn to live with it. It doesn't matter if it's a mental or a physical damage, you will feel it forever. While you get used to it, your mind will be your betrayer, as it reminds you about a scar or a grim moment in your life...

In my case, I indeed learned to deal with these on my own. Pumping up myself with self-encouragement; turning my sorrow into anger; doing my best to remain productive... that is how I deal with pain. I wear my scars as reminders, feel the pain radiating from them and some days, I feel like I'm about to break down to sobs. But I promised myself to never cry out my dissatisfaction over life, not even literally. I experienced the world's pain and took it all in, just so I could let it all out via doing my job... my destiny...

What happened in my room, was one of these times. Instead of mourning over the previous events, I'm looking forward to the future, trying to solve the problem. This lifestyle may be hard, but someone has to do it, like someone has to sweep the streets, if no one is willing to do it. Unluckily... no... luckily, I was the one who got saved by Celestia and not someone else, who would fall into darkness and brings misery upon the people of the world... MY people! They chose me and now I know that I would never give away this faith for anyone...

But I will talk about the positive parts of being The Balance, later. After all, I've been only talking about the disadvantages of this destiny. Believe me, you learn a lot by just helping the whole planet! School was never able to teach the teenagers as this lifestyle. Your whole point of view about the world could change! And by just telling you the negative parts, you already received a whole new perspective! Imagine what you will get to know if I tell you the positive parts!

But as I said... later...

When I woke up, I felt the pain, but thankfully, it was reduced to a bearable level. That, and my lifestyle made me familiar with the pain, so thinking clearly wasn't hard. Hmm... sometimes I think that pain is one part of me. I kill and suffer. I deliver pain and receive it over time. And how it will effect others? What chain reactions leads to point of massive agony? Again... I have to mention time. Take this as an example, just so you could get what I'm rambling about:

I send a soul to Hell. He or she will suffer there-  shut the fuck up Dhanthas, I don't care if it rhymed! ... Ahem. But not just he or she will suffer, but his or her loved ones. And as the loved ones suffer for the loss, the friends and relatives of THOSE souls will suffer too, because they see their friends or relatives suffering. And as the mutual feelings are going from soul to soul, it eventually crashes down upon me or upon the soul I sent to Hell, increasing his or her suffering! I already receive a little suffering, due to the loved ones of that soul wanting my head. And even him or her receives this suffering bonus! So in the end, by taking care of a problem, I raise more. They either accept it and grasp onto the fact of their dead loved one... or they follow that soul's faith, when they try to take revenge on me...

And this never ending cycle goes on and on. The suffering I receive is only physical one at least and it helps me to see the other Sinners... that is, if those who are coming after me for sweet revenge, are actually Sinners and not just angry people, who started their path to be Sinners...

See, I learn new things! Sometimes it's a quick learning process... and sometimes it's a slow one and after a badly ended experience, I finally learn that certain lesson.

And that is pretty much what happened after I woke up...

I finally received every sense in myself, to focus on my surroundings. The silence was unnerving and the only thing I knew, is that I was in a small bed - my feet touching the end of it - and half of my clothes were missing. My bracelets were thankfully remained on me, but the same couldn't be said about my hoodie, T-shirt, boots, socks and my tools. Under the blanket, I unleashed the right hidden blade and I was relived to feel it working.

But I was forced to pull it back, when the silence got disturbed by the sound of a Female's humming...

''Hmm-hm-hm-hmm hm-hm-hmm-hmmm-hmmm-hmm-hmm-hm-hm-hm hmm-hm-hm-hm-hmmm-hmm-hmm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hmm-hmm-hmmm~''

She walked inside the room, her footsteps sounding really odd. Also, I didn't even hear the sound of the door opening, which lead me to think that there were no door, OR it was open. It was the latter one...

As she continued humming, I heard her opening a counter somewhere opposite to the bed, then she proceeded to search for something. I decided to lift up my head and see who she was...

But I found myself unable to see anything...

I reach up to my eyes slowly, not wanting to make any noise. I tend to be cautious when waking up, because the last time I got beat up and woke up... well, not everyone greets you as a friend...

I moved my fingers up to my eyelids and upon contact-

''*gasp* Ugh!'' I touched my eyeballs... yeah, bad experience, but learned something new...

''*gasp*'' I heard the women turning around and gasping in shock. It was a miracle that she didn't drop anything, taking into count that her feet made a lot of noise...

I moved my hand around my head, searching for anything, that could somehow prevent me from seeing. Some sort of glasses or anything, but luck wasn't on my side...

''What the...?'' I said quietly, sitting up fully and electing another gasp from the women. ''Who goes there?''

And she was out, her footsteps rapidly clopping against the tile floor. She must have walked with really short steps, because the sound of her movement was like an old lady's... yet, her voice told me otherwise and the picture of a young lady in her twenties came to mind...

Outside the room, I heard her calling out...

''Call the Princess, it woke up!''

I would have said something about that 'it' in her sentence, but I was busy figuring out why I was blind all of a sudden. I placed my fingers above my eyelids and blinked several times, making my eyelashes brushing against my fingers. My eyelids worked, but my eyeballs themselves weren't. I turned my head to different places, trying to find a light source. I thought I was in some sort of barrier and only the 'outsiders' can see me, but I can't do the same thing to them and with the things around me. Crazy, but after the Dream World, I wouldn't be surprised...

I threw the blanket off me, quickly getting up to my tired legs. ''Augh!'' If not for the bed's mattress acting as a support, I would have collapsed right there, bashing my bones into the hard floor. In my awkward, bent over pose, I gasped for air, as it was like every blood from my head just ran down to my feet. I had no idea how much blood I had lost, but considering the lack of cables on me, they didn't find my blood loss a concern.

And there I realized where I was... In a medical room! And the nurse who I successfully scared away, was the one who I tried to kick away, when I had first woken up on the operation table. Great, first impression out of the window...

I stayed at that position for a little longer, regaining my strength to stand properly. Meanwhile, I wondered if they actually tried to take down my bracelets. They weren't loose, the needly inside my arm didn't rip up the skin from any tugging. It was like they didn't see the machine, winking back at them!

Now standing blindly, I rose up and put back down my leg to the ground in hesitation. I had a good condition to get into balancing positions and such, but not seeing the environment made me unsure about my own steps. Besides, the area was unknown to me, so it wasn't like a memorized rout to the bathroom sleepily and back to your bed...

So, I patiently waited for their... Princess...

Outside the room, I heard a lot of people going about. The place must have been really crowded, given from the sound of many footsteps. It was like every nurse or doctor had someone next to them. They always moved in a group of two and some of them even passed by my room's door.

I couldn't hear them properly, though. I tried listening, but the sudden rush of blood caused me to feel dizzy. I had been in a standing position, but my own blood acted like lava. Flowed slowly and didn't want to trickle down to my lower regions.

Without my eyes, I was forced to visualize the surroundings with my ears. I knew that there was a bed to my right and the door was opposite from me. Deciding to feel around a bit, I moved my arms to my left, trying to grasp onto something.

Outside, I managed to make out some halting conversations. They probably saw me, trying to grab onto something like an idiot. But, as always, I cared less about others' opinion. Let it be appearance or methods, I just don't care about the dirty looks. After all, I have a shapeshifting ability, which turns my arm into something nasty. Actually... only I and Dhanthas find those claws beautiful... and a few more women, who are into something rough...

I managed to find a small bedside, some medical equipment and noticed how small they were. Actually, way smaller too! No wonder why I felt myself so crap, after waking up...

I didn't dare to move away from the bed. I wasn't sure where my hearing and sensing would lead me and I didn't want to break anything. Especially in a medical room... AND especially before a Princess arrives here! That was all I needed... ruining another first impression...

Not too any longer, I heard a larger group approaching from outside the door. Also, everyone else outside stopped with their activity, whatever were they doing. It had to be the Princess... or they just brought someone in, who was in worse shape than me. I bet they were all gawking at me, however they dragged me through the corridors and rooms. An energy spear poking out from my chest, blood covering me and all of these things... I must have looked like a corpse...

''Wait outside, please.''

''Yes, Princess!''

I thought I was going to do a backflip right there. It was HER, Celestia! I may have forgotten many things about her, but I was sure as Hell, that I didn't hear her mentioning ANYTHING about her rank in her world. I knew that she didn't belong to my world, but to be a Princess?! Even better, I made myself look like a disappointment in front of Celestia... who was a Princess!

I heard her stepping inside and couldn't not note her strange footsteps. I had no idea what kind of tiles or shoes they have there, but it was like several more people were moving at once. Also, I memorized her footsteps' sound. She must have been wearing some sort of fancy boots. After all, she was a Princess... I could only fantasize about her beauty...

I focused on her steps and I soon had a slight guess about how far the door was. From my current position, she was close to me, probably two or three meters away. And she made... I don't really know how many steps she took from the door, but the sound told me about the same distance we had between each other. I quickly calculated the lengths and I predicted around six or eight meters. That was the room's full width... or length. It depended on which point I was looking over the room... well, if I would have eyes at that moment, of course...

''Celestia...'' I spoke up, not knowing where I was looking. I decided to aim my gaze to eye level, so I wouldn't look at her certain body parts. I've showed her that I was a mess, a mad man... I didn't want to add pervert to the list...

''Adam, are you alright?'' She asked. I didn't dare to smile, even if her concern warmed my heart a little bit.

As the word 'heart' went through my head, I raised a hand up to my chest. I brushed my fingers through the left side and found what I was looking for...

A scar... a nice, fresh scar. I even felt it stinging lightly. Looks like they weren't able to heal me up completely, after all. I won't blame them, though. Most of my scars have been 'melted' into me. My flesh was able to be healed, but in an odd way. Therefore, there are scars, which cannot be healed. Let it be a really strong healing ability, you CAN'T make it disappear.

And since I preferred to let my scars on myself as reminders, I didn't heal them completely... or tend to the wound right after receiving it. Healing abilities are working like this: The faster you heal the wound, the lesser it will be visible in the end...

And I just did the same thing with that stab, too. Let it to be there, to keep the lesson literally on myself. From that point, I will be reminded about my mistake... a terrible one, actually...

I lowered my hand and hummed. ''Hmm... aside from losing the ability to see? Under an hour, I will be fine.'' I told her, getting this topic out of the way. ''Do not be concerned about my well being now. I have come to-''

''Yes, I will be concerned about your well being.'' She cut in, not letting me to even start explaining the situation. I suddenly got the feeling, that I will black out again. Like last time, when I tried to explain this to her... and the time before that too...

''Celestia, please. I am fine, only my vision left me for unknown reasons.''

''But I am not fine with your current state.'' She reasoned. I was glad to see her not being disappointed in me, nor furious. I had no idea where I appeared and if her, being a Princess was true, then I could have easily appeared in the middle of a discussion! Well, from her tone, I could only make out concern and I took it as a plus for me. And an another plus, because she cared about me, if not less than I cared about HER!

''Then I apologize for worrying you.'' I nodded, even if I found it unnecessary. ''I will heal myself up later.''

''You had immense amount of bruises and scars on you, all over your body. Weak cracks on the bones and there were wounds, which were nearly lethal. Not to mention that... thing in your heart.'' She sounded really concerned. I felt sorry and happy at the same time, hearing that she cared about me so much...

''And why in Equestria did you pull it out in that dangerous state? You were not even stable and all of a sudden... you just woke up and attempted to speak with me!''

''Sorry for what I'm about to say, but those doctors would have not been able to progress without the energy spear out of my heart. I simply showed them the right way, since they were only making things worse.''

''The spear kept the wound... why did you have a spear in your heart? Adam, what is going on? First you appear in the throne room and collapse. I thought you were going to die!'' Again, she sounded really worried and again, it both saddened and lifted up my spirit. ''In the afternoon, you wake up and tell me you need my help in something. You nearly hit one of the nurse and pull out the... the spear. And now, in the evening, I heard words about a terrified nurse. So please... explain everything. I won't hold you back anymore...''

While I remained motionless, I thought this over, quickly. First, we were in a medical room, cameras were probably everywhere, along with microphones. And I wasn't about to tell the whole hospital, that I came from another world. I had several aliases and I wanted to make sure, that none of them will be revealed...

And my life's story... it was safer to keep it as a secret too. I've been betrayed before and those people used my secrets against me. Further more, informations about me, were just advantage against me, for them! I've already lost my sight, that was a huge disadvantage for me...

And actually... did I really want to tell her, how much humanity I had lost? How rotten I've become from the pure child, who I used to be and she remembered? Let her know that I had forgotten everything about her, only that relic and her last words came back to me as a blurry image?

The answer was no...

''I wish to discuss this with you... somewhere else... somewhere outside, under the open sky.'' I thoughtfully described the only place, where no one will be able to spy on us. Outdoor eavesdropping is hard without proper equipment. Cameras? They weren't a big of a concern. And anyways, they've probably expected me to stay in the room, thanks to my injuries.

Well... they didn't expect someone like me, who can adjust to handicaps...

''You refuse to stay?'' She asked and I nodded. '' Hmhm, if you wish, we can talk outside the hospital gardens.''

Her reply was somewhat cheerful. At first, I thought she was glad to finally get some fresh air. Dumped into a crowded throne room, all day?

But after this thought went through my head, I realized who I was talking to... a Princess. 'You refuse...' She said like that. So she expected me to do what she had told me, because of her position? Yet she happily asks ME where to go? Maybe she was calculating my needs and she will eventually draw a line and snap at me?

All of this got thrown out of my head. She was Celestia, for the love of Thelestial! She regarded me with friendly intentions and left her guards outside the room! That totally indicates something! And it was thrust and she didn't need me to worship her, which I'm glad in a way... not like I wouldn't do it for her, but I don't worship anyone. I'm a free soul...

But I still had my doubts. No matter how much I leaned to trusting, my careful side still tried to adjust me back to the middle...

''That would be perfect...'' And still, I decided to go with her suggestion. I was a guest, yes, but I had less needs than someone else. And actually, the hospital gardens were just perfect...

''Can you manage to follow my lead?'' She asked kindly.

''Of course. I'll follow your footsteps.''

There was a short pause before she started walking. I decided to prove her that I will manage, but just as I took a step forward, she too made one, then slowly walked out of the room. I listened to her odd footsteps, which was a really easy task to do. First: Her boots or shoes, whatever she was wearing, were particular. Thus, losing her lead was out of question.

And second: ... well, her footsteps number were twice as much. It was like she was knocking on the floor twice on purpose, drawing my attention to that direction, just so I could follow her. Yes, everyone else had that same, strange footsteps, but hers was unique and the duplicated number of the sounds never let me lose her track.

She turned to the right and I did the same thing. On my way out, I heard someone moving out of my way. That someone was standing right next to the door, pressed against the wall. Unfortunately, I decided to stay close to the wall. In turn, that someone quickly moved out of the way.

I momentarily stopped, sensing something move out of my way. Placing my hand on the wall, I caught up with Celestia's footsteps and I was glad to find closed doors on the wall, which I was using for support. Also, with me following the way of the wall and taking up only little space from the corridor, I was able to avoid from bumping into someone. I didn't think that the whole hospital knew about my blindness and I couldn't feel my eyelids either. So I either looked like a sleep-walker or someone who was on some strong stuff... great...

''Row of seats coming up. Ten meters before you, by the wall. Take a step to the left.'' She warned me and I did as she told me to. I counted down the distance and after like the twentieth meter, she spoke up again. ''The double doors are coming up. Keep this direction and stop after... fifteen meters.''

Again, I counted down the meters, along with the time it took me to reach the doors. It was a good navigation training for me and it helped me practice my aiming. Abilities required a little bit imagination, in order to do a specific spell. But I wasn't just full of various powers and most of the abilities I use are for close combat. I had weapons, so when she told me the distance, my marksman skills did the work. And since I concentrated, it helped me to become fully aware of my surroundings...

Instead of hearing nothing, I heard many conversations. I heard other passing me by more clearly and their already odd footsteps became even more stange. They probably looked back at me curiously. Well... I did have spectacular chest and not just because the well built muscles... ahem... scars... and my mark too, on my right shoulder...

All of a sudden, I stopped and when I extended my arm forward, I felt the glass on a door. ''Nice one, Celestia...'' I thought, impressed by how accurate she had told me the coordinates.

I pushed the door open, while Celestia walked through the left one, right next to me. I would have held the door for her, out of respect and good manners towards a female... but that cursed blindness! I really started to get inpatient from it and I wanted to speak with Dhuradhan about it. Celestia hadn't mention anything about eye damage and me neither couldn't remember receiving a blow to the eyes. Only my cheek and skull got damaged, not my eyes!

We stepped through the door and I immediately know that we were outside. The distant sound of air movement and the breeze blew through me at the first second, when I stepped outside. My bracelets even elected a whistling sound, as the wind got stuck in its mechanism. The sound also reminded me about one thing... my gear, knives and rifles. Well, as many rifles I still had. I used the sniper rifle as a spear and my submachine-gun- turned-rifle just disappeared in the fight. Damnit, but I liked that thing! Now it was under the demolished houses...

As Celestia mentioned, I woke up in the evening. Taken from the lack of warm light outside, it proved to be true. And I just can't leave out the cicada, playing its song on its violin like legs...

''What is happening?'' I asked her, wanting to know what is outside... and to just hear her voice again, in that calmed state of hers...

''You mean... right now?''

I motioned towards the area before us. I had no idea how big that garden was, but the cobble stone beneath us gave me the picture of a terrace. Further before me, I heard the trees, their leaves getting rustled and the same happening with the bushes. From these, I assumed it was as big as the house's lot in the Dream World, but the black sight I was seeing, prevented me from checking it...

''Tell me... where are we right now? ... can we go to the trees? A little bit away from the noises?'' I asked her further and without any word, she started walking and I followed her...

''If you could just see the night sky, you would be amazed by its beauty. She surely does a wonderful job at painting the night sky...'' She started, her voice just as calm as I remembered. For a second, I was about question the 'she' part, but decided to just let her go with it. I've experienced such before and it usually turned out, that the being had some sort of religion. Like the Elves, they have one too, a completely different one...

''As you gaze above you, you see two bats, chasing each other. You follow them with your eyes and they eventually disappear from sight, behind the trees before you. Now, we are following them, but we need to walk down the stairs from the balcony.'' I heard her stepping down onto the staircase. I slowly lowered one leg to the first step and measured up its height. After that, I successfully walked down the stairs and onto grass. From there, it was a bit harder to recognize her footsteps, but I heard no one around us. And of course, she said too, after that we descended down the stairs...

''We are alone here, the trees and bushes creating a small clearing for us. We are almost there...''

We walked further, according to her, deeper into the vegetation. The clearing she was talking about was promising and sounded rather nice. It helped me to mentally prepare for her questions and tried to come up with an explanation about my current situation. I decided to share as much with her, which was allowed to me from my way of thinking...

She stopped and from what I heard, she turned towards me. Seriously, what kind of shoes they have there?

''Here we are, Adam. No ears, no eyes, only ours...''

I heaved a small sight and started, by looking up, even if I couldn't see anything... natural reaction? Used to this gesture? I didn't know, but allowed myself to show some expression, both with body and face...

''There is a rotten soul, who defeated me. I failed to protect my world and now he's roaming about without anyone to stop him. In my last moment, I remembered you and your relic. I used that to get away from death, from his final blow. I couldn't find a way out and every solution had left me. Thankfully, I managed to teleport myself to you in time...''

''Who did that to you?'' She seemed to find this awful...

I audibly growled, starting to hate that old tatter more and more, as time went by. ''The man's name is Markhar. Some sort of Mage. But I care less about it, the thing is... I need to ask you a favor... I... need your help...'' Again, that word, which I've never used before. Why was it so hard, it was Celestia! I said I would even cry in front of her!

Well, maybe I was afraid that someone will hear me and take advantage of it...

''And it is?''

''Nothing serious, actually. I only need time... in here, I mean. I'm planning on getting stronger and going back to my world... and kill that old man.'' Just the single thought of me, holding Markhar's head, sent a rush of adrenaline through my body. Only time and the different locations prevented me to do so...

''So what I need from you, is permission to stay in your world. I have low needs, if that would be a concern. I'll leave you and every soul in this world alone. I'll even live in a cave if you want, so no one will see me or disturb me. I will be completely under this world's and your laws and rules, which I will keep respectfully. If you need me, I will go and help you without any second thoughts. And when I feel like I'm ready, I'll leave and never disturb you anymore...''

My conditions... well, I didn't really have any, so I was pretty sure, that she will agree. Hell, I was the one who gave HER a favor, if I thought about it...

''Adam, Adam... slow down, please. What are you talking about?'' Confused, she was. ''Why would you ask for permission? Equestria is a free world and the loyal subjects would welcome you! You do not have to live as a hermit. I can arrange you a place to live, where the citizens can quickly get used to you, if you make the first impression good.''

So the world was called Equestria and she wasn't the owner, even if she was the Princess? Exactly what I've come to like in her...

''As you wish, Celestia. Though, you really don't have to. Besides, I won't be on any social gathering. My future life here, will be all about training. I have to act quickly and recover from this fight. I also need to retrieve my eyes, then I can start the training... and time is of the essence, so gaining a good reputation with those... citizens... it won't be necessary, only time-wasting.''

''Believe me, you will find great friends there. My faithful student lives there and she looked at it with the same way, as you do now. Hmhm and what do you know, she has many friends now...'' That giggle nearly blew up my stone face. Her voice... goddess!

''You will see about that later... right now, you just need to recover. Your eyesight will return under six days, so meanwhile... try not to scare the nurses.'' It filled me with joy, to see her so positive about that. I honestly thought that I will have to reassure her about the situation.

Well, I also thought that she will not agree with my presence in... Equestria, as she called it. Actually, I found her quite positive about it, like she wanted me to stay!

I had to make sure, that I shall fulfill her secret wish, which was my company...

''So I take it you have things to take care of. You don't have to stay with me, if you need to go. I can find my way back to my room... right now, I just want to enjoy the night...'' I told her, trying to get rid of her. Not because I had any problem with her, but I didn't want her to ask about my past. It was a shame and I didn't want to risk anything. Maybe it would make her upset and she would send me right back to my world, with my lost eyesight.

And there I caught up with what she said...

''*sigh* Unfortunately, I couldn't arrange any time in my schedule, so... yes, I do have some royal duty to take care about. But I promise you, that I will try to find the time to visit you in the evenings. I won't bother you anymore, I shall leave you alone now-''

''What did you mean, by under six days, my eyesight will return?'' I asked her out of curiosity, interrupting her as carefully as I could, before she goes back inside the building.

''The amulet I had given you, Adam. The wielder loses his or her ability to see. According to Starswirl The Bearded, it was supposed to have this effect, so whenever the user tries to teleport to his or her friend, he or she will lose her eyesight for a short time. Sadly, it wasn't possible to achieve and the amulet's effect took up a longer period. It was supposed to not let the user to see his or her surroundings for a few minutes, in order to not be used in the wrong way. Surprises are nice, but only at the right time and place...''

''Reasonable...'' I nodded a few times. Oh well, I guessed it was better than sacrificing blood or something like that. And my state would have not allowed me to use up energy or do some sort of dance, just so I could save myself...

''It is... any questions?'' Her cheerful attitude just became bigger and bigger. She surely wanted to spend some time with me. In other situations, I would have been happy for that completely, but she wanting to be in my company, which meant that she wanted to hear about my past... I had to think up something about that. Some way to let her know about the events in a more gentle way...

''No, thank you.''

''Well, as you said, enjoy the night!'' She started her way back to the building, her footsteps growing quieter. On her way, I heard her whispering. ''If she would have heard that, hehe, she would be pleased...''

''Good night!'' I said, taking a seat on the soft grass.

I found that 'she' strange. Maybe she was talking about a friend of hers? But I had no idea why that friend would be happy to hear something from me... odd.

I didn't think about it for too long and instead, I decided to come up with a way, to let Celestia know about what happened after she had left my world...

That night, I spent a good few hours under Equestria's sky... far away from my home...

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The nurse's song, which she hummed: