Fighting like Children

Hmm, it seemed that Ebviony may have a similar experience with the human charm to his. The nullification bracelet worked fine but the human shape one essentially just acted as another nullification bracelet. He wondered how many people ran into this sort of issue. This was only the first time he’d met someone who potentially had that problem.

Carmin didn’t feel that Ilia’s words were directed at him, but still felt mixed feelings about them. He liked to believe that they were true and that it wasn’t such a hindrance, but even in his current state he just couldn’t see it. If he could get that stupid charm to work then people might treat him his age. Perhaps he could even eat food and run properly, or maybe even feel again. He wasn’t too sure how much of a miracle the charms actually worked on people or the extent that they changed them to be human. But any amount would certainly come as a blessing. He didn’t express those thoughts, instead adding a simple “I suppose.”

His eyesight was normal, he wondered if it would be wise to make an escape soon. He wasn’t sure why he was still there, he was basically just wasting time. It had to be the work of one of those auras. Unless it wasn’t. Perhaps he actually enjoyed the company or the things he’d been hearing. Regardless there was one thing he had to get off his chest before he felt he could leave. He couldn’t look human anymore, but he supposed he could act like a better person for a start.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” Carmin’s confession came about rather randomly, and most definitely as a result of the aura’s influence on him. “You were only trying to make a new friend, you weren’t even rude or anything and I just acted all dumb and ticked off for no reason.” He’d been acting dumb and ticked off a lot lately. He turned his eyes toward Ebvionny “I know you said it’s rude to apologize so I’m not saying sorry, I’m just letting you know I’m going to try better.” He hoped that it wasn’t an offensive thing to say, he didn’t really know much about the species so it was hard to say. “I just,” He caught himself. There was no way he was going to explain why he was so angry all the time, he didn’t really want to talk about that. “I’ll try harder.” He changed what he was going to say originally.

Ebviony's explanation that she couldn't age mentally caused a few things to click in Carmin's mind. He'd been so confused by how they could be thousands of years old but still be a child, yet this seemed to answer that question. He considered what it would be like, to act the age he looked permanently. Having a mind that didn't age. After a good few seconds, he decided it sucked. Even more than being stuck looking like a child with a mind that still developed normally. Carmin wasn't good at much, but he'd gained the ability to spy the negatives in things fairly quickly, even if Ebviony's case was something he couldn't totally grasp.

Ília's words caused Carmin to think even more. For the first time, he considered the fact that he might be immortal. He certainly didn't physically age, that much was clear, but could he live forever? He looked closely at his own hand for a moment before quickly dismissing the thought. It simply didn't matter. He was far too fragile to live past a regular human's age anyway. Somewhere along the line he'd fall into a fire pit, freeze solid or get trampled by a lawn mower. So there was really no use in worrying about it.

When considering what Ebviony had said, his only response was "That sounds terrible." This aura was really messing with him. Getting him to empathize for a change. Felt like he was using parts of his brain that had been lying dormant for years. "Do you have many friends who are like yourself? That don't age mentally?" If the answer to that question was no, then he imagined that they must have a really hard time keeping friends.

Just as Carmin had thought, Ebviony's condition was not a particularly good one. They sounded pretty upset about it actually, clearly bothered by how Ília was trying to look on the bright side. It was tough to watch, through his cleared mind it was easy to tell that Ília was only trying to help, but he could also tell why Ebvionny was unhappy about it. He wasn't sure what to say.

Seeing Ília with a frown was an odd sight. It looked out of place on someone who held such a positive outlook on life. He watched as she transformed, it was beautiful, but he got the feeling she was about to take off. After she said her good byes, Carmin finally decided to say something, but it was too late. All he got out was a shaky "H, hey." Before she blasted off.

When she left, Carmin suddenly felt a wave of negative emotions. He felt kinda crummy, taking a second to realize that this was just how he always felt. It sucked, but at least he was himself again. For better or for worse. He looked up at the sky towards the direction Ília went and had a sudden realization. He still felt bad for her. He began to question just how much of that was really just him being himself rather than the work of an aura, but decided not to think about it.

Now there was just him and Ebviony again, though thankfully the anger he had from before never came back. He turned his gaze toward them and started to say something to break the tension. "I, uh." Unfortunately, he lost what he was going to say. He felt uncomfortable and wasn't sure what to do in such a situation, so he made his regular Carmin move to run away. "I should get back to my room to start studying." He got his things packed up then looked back at Ebviony and gave a light wave goodbye.

Even with his thoughts back to normal, he came to realize that he might not have been the most troubled person on the island. Others had problems of their own.