[color=00aeef][center][h1]Chres Sansus[/h1][/center][/color]

[@fetzen][@13org][@Jerkchicken][@HokumPocus][@Typical][@Elevation]
[hr]

Chres had said nothing since the slave left them to dine. He felt much as if he were in a trance. The world passing him by. 

Absently he grabbed a plate of food and collapsed into one of the chairs, his soaked cloak likely ruining the chair's fabric. He sat there staring blankly at his food. A dark cloud hovering over him. Accompanied by that ever present itch.

His mind sought to distract itself from the spiral downwards, seeking questions to ponder away at. Who were these people? What did they come from? Where were they getting the food from?

Questions. He always had so many questions. Questions were good. Questions distracted him. 

How big were these tunnels? Did the tunnels lead beyond the town? How did they discover them? Did any of this matter?

Chres felt his back stiffen. His mind lingering on that last question? [i]Did[/i] any of this matter? Why [i]was[/i] Chres even here?

Chres clenched his hand around Sil's metal glass pendent as if for protection. But Sil was gone. Sil had left him. Her uplifting presence absent from his life.

[color=00aeef]"Sil..."[/color] Chres whispered. 

Why was Chres still here? What reason did he have to stick around? Did any of this matter? Did any of this [i]even[/i] matter? 

[color=00aeef][i]But it does matter doesn't it?[/i][/color] A tiny part of him said. [color=00aeef][i]Families dead in the street. People starving and without food... Is this how you want to leave the world behind?[/i][/color]

Families die every day. People starve everyday. There was nothing Chres could do to change that.

[color=00aeef][i]And what of the others?[/i][/color] The voice asked. Chres's gaze turned towards Karina, DB, Ferris and the rest. [color=00aeef][i]Their chances of success diminish without you. Does helping these people no longer matter? Do you no longer care about protecting and helping others?[/i][/color]

Chres pondered that question for a long moment. Did he care about helping others? That had been his reasoning for staying with them, hadn't it? 

In his heart, Chres wanted the answer to be yes. He so dearly wished for the answer to be yes! He had once been a better man than this. A man who cared for others. A man unwavering in his loyalty. That man... was no longer him... That man... had gone away the day he killed his wife...

Chres's eyes lowered back to his plate of food. A plate that had long gone cold.

No... Chres did not truly care about what happened to the others. True, for some he had grown some semblance of a bond. In reality though, they were mere passerbys and nothing more. 

The reason he had stayed this morning had not been caring, but rather it had been out of guilt. The guilt he felt when contemplating how his selfish actions would cost the rest of them. But that was then, and this is now. Now, with all these new players at the ready, did Chres's presence even make a difference? 

[color=00aeef][i]A few more days?[/i][/color] The voice asked. It sounded more distant than before. [color=00aeef][i]You can see this through for a few more days, can't you?[/i][/color]

Chres found himself nodding. Yes... he could last a few more days. Long enough to let the guilt subside. 

Chres found himself eating his plate of cold food. All the while, he plotted out all the places Sil might be. Tomorrow, he would go look for Sil, wherever she may be. He would find her. He would bring her home. That way, at the very least, he would have someone to be there at the very end...