Daniel wiped his hands on a rag and took a seat on the outdoor table. Across from him was a surprised Kato who was still accepting that a human was right in front of him.
A human in a place surrounded by shadows.
His wife Lyra, Mira and their little son played on the grass a few feet away from them and in front of them, was a plate of grilled meat with cutleries and a cup of water. Daniel ate his meat quietly while Kato just continued to stare at him.
Daniel looked up from his plate of food, studied Kato for a moment, then spoke.
Daniel: Aren't you going to eat? You must be hungry right?
Kato: Not really...
Just then, Kato's stomach gurgled violently at that exact moment which almost made Daniel laugh.
Daniel: Just eat the food. It won't harm you.
Kato looked at the grilled meat in front of him and then succumbed to his hunger and cut a piece of it and ate it. The moment the sweetness hit his tongue, he immediately began eating furiously.
Daniel smiled and watched him eat and continued to eat his own food but to his surprise, Kato had emptied his plate before he did.
Daniel: You must've been really hungry. If you want seconds you can ask for them.
Kato: Can I?
Daniel then called his wife and then asked her to please bring another plate of meat for Kato. She smiled at both of them and went to carry out the task. As soon as she left, Daniel turned his attention back to Kato.
Daniel: So... you're the kid who got shadowfied and lived, right?
Kato's face fell.
Kato: Yeah.
Daniel nodded.
Daniel: Could you tell me how it's been for you these past few days?
Kato remained silent for a while and then responded.
Kato: It's all mixed up. Everything I've been told my whole life and everything I've seen these past few days doesn't make sense to me. Right now I don't know what to believe.
Daniel let Kato's words ponder in his mind for a moment before he spoke again.
Daniel: Then you're standing where I was a few years ago.
Kato blinked.
Kato: You?
Daniel leaned against the table.
Daniel: I used to be a Clarion supporter. I hated Shadows and thought they were the reason the world went to hell. It wasn't very hard to believe because all we had to do was look at the news to see for ourselves or the aftermath of an attack. I'm sure you saw some of this too.
Kato nodded.
Daniel: Then one night, a Shadow monster broke into my house.
Kato's breath caught and it was at this moment that Lyra came back with the plate of meat for Kato. Once she dropped it, she turned to leave but Daniel urged her to sit and then she sat beside him as he continued.
Daniel: Now where was I? (pauses) Oh yes, I thought I was going to die that night. But just when I was faced with certain death, (looks at his wife) she swooped in and saved me.
Lyra smiled as she remembered that very night.
Kato: Saved you?
Daniel: She dragged me out of my burning home and took the hit meant for me when the monster attacked.
He paused.
Daniel: Even when she was bleeding all over, she still stood between me and the monster.
Kato's chest tightened.
Daniel: It puzzled me as to why a shadow would go this far to protect someone who thinks of them as a monster and when I asked her why she saved me, she said "isn't it the right thing to help someone when they're in danger?"
Kato remained quiet as he listened to Daniel, amazed by the story he was hearing.
Daniel: I kept asking myself the same thing you are now. "If Shadows are monsters… why did one save my life?"
Kato swallowed.
Daniel: And after thinking it through, I realized that evil doesn't come from shadow energy... (taps his own chest) It comes from here. The decision we make is what defines us and the fact that Lyra saved me, made me think that maybe they were actually good shadows out there. And she took me here and proved my point.
Lyra finally spoke.
Lyra: Shadows feel fear, love, regret and guilt just like everyone else around the world. If you believed otherwise before let me ask you this, did becoming a shadow erase all the emotions and feelings you have as a human?
Kato shook his head and then said the words that had been at the back of his mind.
Kato: But... Even if not all shadows are evil, the evil ones still exist and they keep causing chaos everyday and even right as we speak. Everything I know has been flipped over its head and I don't know how to move forward with this.
Daniel gave a faint, wry smile.
Daniel: Kato, one thing you need to understand is this. The world doesn't move based on what we think it should be. And everything we've been told our whole lives isn't always the truth. Some Shadows are dangerous and some Clarions can be ruthless. But this isn't a black and white world. Survival, power and morality, they're all gray. And now that you're part of it, you have to decide which side of that gray you're going to stand on.
Kato didn't answer right away.
Daniel's words lingered in his head, repeating over and over again as he processed everything he had seen so far.
But this time, everything was different.
The conflicting thoughts that jumbled up in his head suddenly began to clear up and it suddenly became easy to process everything he had been told and after thinking it through, he began to see the genuinity in everything Mira, Isaiah and Ervin did for him that night.
Daniel studied Kato's face and then asked him a final question.
Daniel: So Kato... What are you going to do now?