Page 61 of Drenched

His head dipped, his glow dimming further until the cavern felt colder, emptier. His voice came softer this time, raw with something I couldn’t place. “The villagers offered them to me,” he said, his words cracking. “Your parents, your friends… they were sacrifices. I only took what was given.”

“Don’t you dare,” I snarled. “Don’t you dare shift all the blame onto them. Yes, they’re responsible, but so are you. You could’ve stopped it. You didn’t have to take them.”

My voice broke. “You caused this!” I yelled, the words tearing through the air. “If my parents hadn’t been chasing your cursed Abyss, they’d still be alive! I wouldn’t have ended up in that house. I wouldn’t have beenhisvictim. I wouldn’t have had to killhim. I wouldn’t be carrying this guilt, this endless weight that eats at me every single day. You set it all in motion. You did this to me!”

He flinched. His whole body jerked, as though my words had stabbed through him. The silver glow guttered, flickering like a dying flame in a storm.

“I’m sorry. I am really sorry, Pearl.”

My laugh came out hollow—a sound without a trace of joy. “Sorry? Really?” My voice dripped with venom as I glared at him. “A few seconds ago, you were ready to show me just how much of a monster you are!” The rage surged through me, blazing hot and uncontrollable. “The truth is, you are a monster—the worst kind. You steal innocent lives, kill without remorse, and imprison their souls. Their blood is on your hands, Rynar!”

He stumbled forward, his claws reaching out as if to touch me, to anchor himself in the wreckage. I recoiled, every nerve screaming in rejection. The movement stopped him dead. His face crumpled, his glow sputtering out entirely for a moment. In the darkness, he looked fragile. Mortal. As shattered as the life he’d destroyed.

“I… I never meant to hurt you,” he rasped and I could feel that every word was bleeding anguish. “Not you.”

“But youdid,” I said as my voice shook. “You ruined everything.”

He dropped to his knees, his claws scraping the stone floor, as if the ground was the only thing holding him together. His silver glow pulsed faintly, a pathetic echo of what he once was. “Pearl,” he murmured, his voice trembling, “if I had known, “

“You didn’tcareenough to know!” I screamed, the force of it ripping through my chest. “You didn’t care until it was too late. Until the damage wasdone.”

His hands flew to his face, his claws digging into his own flesh as he groaned, a low, broken sound. “I deserve your hatred,” he choked out, the words barely more than a breath. “I deserve every ounce of it.”

“You deserveworse! You deserve to suffer like I have. Like they did.”

He crawled toward me, his body low, his eyes hollow. When he reached me, he stopped, trembling hands reaching for the dagger lying on the floor. He lifted it, the blade catching the faintest glint of his dying glow.

“Then hurt me,” he whispered, his voice hollow and stripped of pride. “Punish me. Make me pay for what I’ve done.”

I stared at him, my breath ragged, my heart pounding painfully. The sight of him, this god, this monster, so utterly broken, so drenched in remorse, was almost more than I could bear. My fingers curled into fists, shaking with fury, grief, and something I couldn’t name.

“You think that’ll make it better?” I whispered. “You think your pain will undo what you’ve done?”

“No,” he admitted, his voice thin and unsteady. “But it’s all I have to give. I need you to punish me... so I can feel something—anything—besides this misery. Please forgive me, Pearl. Please.”

A scream clawed its way up my throat, and I lunged forward, my fists slamming into his chest. “You don’t get to make this aboutyou!” I cried, each word a blow. “You don’t get to hurt me and then beg for my forgiveness!”

He didn’t resist. He took every hit of my fury. When the last of my strength bled away, I collapsed against him, my sobs muffled against his chest. His arms wrapped around me, tentative and trembling, as if he feared I might shatter in his grasp.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice filled with despair. “For everything.”

I shoved him back, my hands shaking, my vision blurred with tears. “Sorry, don't bring them back,” I said, the words breaking inside me.

He nodded, his eyes shimmering with tears that finally fell, tracing pale streaks down his cheeks. “I know.”

I wiped my face, the anger and exhaustion crashing over me like a tidal wave. My voice dropped to a whisper. “I hate you.”

“And I love you,” he said, his voice soft, breaking. “That’s why I have to let you go.”

I froze. The words hung between us, fragile and devastating. “What?”

I watched Rynar move to my little workstation. It was strange, seeing him touch something so completely mine, just a mess of tools and scraps I’d thrown together to keep my hands busy. His eyes landed on the black pearls he’d gifted me.

He picked them up carefully, his claws shaking like he thought they might break. The pearls had a soft glow, faint and gentle, the kind of light that felt more alive than it should. I froze as he pulled a strand of seaweed from his sash and started threading the pearls together. Every movement was slow, focused, like it mattered more than anything else.

Then I saw the tears.

They slid down his face, quiet and steady. He didn’t even seem to notice. A few drops fell onto the pearls, smearing their glow. My chest tightened, the sight of it twisting something deep inside me. I didn’t want to feel this. I didn’t want to care.

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