Calm and Calamity

Chapter 23

"I'm Klei."

"I'm Harmony-" Harmony bit down on her tongue, cursing to herself as she had already confirmed that. She sucked in a breath and raised her head. "I'm sorry for what I did. I know that an apology can't fix all of the damage I've done but I..." Her voice trailed away, unable to think of anything else to say other than repeatedly say 'I'm sorry'.

"Why did you do it?" asked Klei, his tone flat, void of any aggression but also any friendliness.

"I... I wanted to escape but I had so little strength and energy. With no mask, I couldn't get much food at the drop-offs. So, when my mask finally arrived, I got greedy. I took too much, far more than I needed. Even after I knew it was all mine, I panicked that someone would try and steal it so I continued to attack everyone."
"You want to escape that badly?"

Harmony nodded. "But I guess it wasn't worth it since I'm still stuck down here... and of course, all those people that I hurt..."

"I see..." Klei scratched the back of his neck.

They both remained silent for a moment.

"Could you not simply wait until your sentence is over?" asked Klei.

Harmony shook her head. "I don't know when it is. I don't have a brand like everyone else, nor any of the magic branding kind. Who knows how long I have left in this place." She paused. "But yes, I realise that I was wrong to hurt others to help fulfil that. I'm not sure how I can fix any of the things I did, I don't know if I'll ever make it up to you."
Klei stared at her for a while, his eyes darting to the ground. "Well," he began. "In response, I attacked you and tried to hurt Corinna even though she was innocent and had no part in it all. I wanted you to suffer, but I was still in the wrong. So, I suppose we're even."

A faint smile appeared on Harmony's lips. "Really?"

"Yeah. I can't speak for Wendy and Kai, but we're even. As long as you don't do it again, of course."

Harmony chuckled slightly. "Of course!"

"You know, you're not really what I imagined the chimaera's human form to be like," said Kai as he wandered over and joined in on the conversation.

Harmony hesitated. "What did you imagine me to be?"

The goblin shrugged. "Someone scary and fearless. Not someone too scared to talk to strangers."

"I-I am not scared to talk to strangers!" Harmony attempted to lie, faking confidence, but her voice still warbled, and her hands continued to fidget.

"Yeah, Corinna said you were just shy around new people," Dex added, appearing by Kai's side.

"I am not shy." Harmony pouted.

"We thought we had done something wrong so we asked her about it."

Harmony lowered her head and mumbled, "it's more like I was the one that had done something wrong." She looked up at Kai.

The goblin glanced away.

"I am sorry for what I did," the young woman continued. "I'm not sure if there's anything that will make up for it."

Eventually, Kai locked eye-contact with Harmony. "It's um..." he began, his hand clutching his waist. "You promise you won't do it again?"

"No, no, I promise I won't do it again!" Harmony blushed, realising how loud and enthusiastic she had just been.

Kai, Dex, and Klei chuckled.

"Then, we're good," said Kai as he sat down on the sand, the others joining him.