eyes

He looks me in the eyes.

Always with that trusting smile, his own eyes wide as a child's. He's perfectly aware of what I could do to him, but he doesn't care.

Before I told myself that it was because he didn't know any better. His mind had been wiped. The Guildpact was gone, replaced by a blank slate, some helpless innocent in Beleren's body.

Even after the fall, he still looks me in the eyes.

He trusts me.

And I think back to what things had been like back on Ravnica. I'd used those same eyes to murder, just to get his attention. To try to get someone, anyone, to listen to those that had been forgotten.

And in doing that, I'd made myself another link in his shackles. Another person wanting to use him, for his status or his skills. Twist him further and further away from who he truly was so that he could become what some outsider wanted him to be.

Some parts of it I don't regret. I know that I acted for the best from what I knew. I wanted things to be better for us, those that I thought were pinned underneath his feet, waiting to be crushed.

But if I knew we'd been so much alike, seen into his heart and mind like I had done before, I wouldn't have done it.

It hurts. It hurts like hell, knowing what's going to come next. I've finally found someone who understands. Who can look into these eyes and not see death, but a friend. And before we can enjoy it, it has to be pulled away.

But only for a while.

I'll see you again on the other side.