Tarentek was obviously very shaken by the memory, but he had managed to uncurl himself and take the glass from Onyx, so she hoped he might be calming down. She noticed he was crying, but trying to stop as he told her how he felt. Onyx glanced down at the new mark on her palm, and a sharp pang went through her. She felt so complete since she had seen the vision of the dark Elissic, she could hardly imagine how sad and lonely Tarentek must feel that he would describe himself as broken. 

He had told her in passing about some of the events that had led to Onyx meeting him at the sea just a few days ago, although she had never thought that there was more that he would never be able to tell because of the pain and fear it caused him to even remember it. Onyx sat on the bed beside him and began to reach for his hands. She hesitated a moment and then forced herself to hold his hands in her own, looking him in the eye.

"I don't know what your life was like before this happened to you, and I do not hope to be able to understand completely, but I want you to know this: The past is behind you, and so long as you learn from it, the horrors you've known will never happen again." Onyx kept holding his hands, and she could see the white mark on her palm as she looked at them. "I also think you should know that I'm here for you, if you need to talk about it, or you just need a distraction."