Blade Dance

"Today, we are gathered here to witness the union of these two hearts. For them, the extraordinary in this life was born in the ordinary. That is because they met each other, knew each other, loved each other, and entrusted them for life. For this reason, We will give them our best wishes. May their love last forever.

"Orson □□, would you like to marry Megan Hilde Eileen—"

"I am willing."

"—Love her, respect her, cherish her, and protect her. No matter rich or poor, healthy or sick, you will be loyal to her, and only to her, until eternity?"

"I am willing."

"Megansilde Irene, are you willing to marry Orson? Love him, respect him, cherish him, and protect him. Whether rich or poor, healthy or sick, you will be loyal to him, and only to him, for eternity?"

"I am willing."

There was applause on the open grass.Someone in the audience booed them for a kiss.But before that is the link of exchanging tokens, which is essential.

"For the birth of this connection, for the eternity of this love, they brought a precious token, symbolizing two pure souls, two sincere hearts..."

"Honestly, what do you think of the two of them?"

Amid the prolonged applause, Vincent turned his head and whispered in Harlan's ear.They sat in the bottom row, fifty yards from the bride and groom.They had no choice but to be seated according to their ranks in the coalition.

"Yeah," Harlan said.

"Because they are all trolls?" Vincent said casually.

Harlan froze.

"maybe."

Vincent glanced at him, but Harlan was still staring straight ahead, expressionless and seemingly unwilling to say anything else.Vincent was used to him being like this.Since a certain day, Harlan has said as much as a stubborn prisoner under interrogation.

In the distance, the bride and groom have already started kissing, and the people in the front row stand up and applaud one after another.It wasn't until everyone around him stood up that Harlan stood up as if he had suddenly woken up.Afterwards, Vincent helped him straighten out the crumpled dress.

Amidst the tumultuous applause, he shouted in Harlan's ear:

"They've booked the tavern in Central City. Let's go to the Gold Rose."

Harlan nodded subtly, and Vincent knew he heard.

The wedding continued, followed by speeches from Team Seven captains, Orson's father and Megan Hield's mother.After the ceremony was over, the crowd began to disperse, and the flow of people slowly moved towards the central city area, surrounded by laughter.After walking a few steps, Vincent couldn't help grabbing Harlan's arm, as if he was afraid that he would be swallowed by the crowd.Just as they stepped into the outer slums, someone patted Vincent on the shoulder.

"Hey, long time no see."

"Elia?"

Vincent immediately turned his head, with extreme astonishment and a little hesitation on his face.

"Are you Elijah?"

"Yes."

"This... It's been a long time. Six months? Half a year... Where have you been?"

Elijah has changed a lot, and Vincent stared at her, unable to look away for a moment.She was wearing a pure white lace gown, her long flaxen hair was tied behind her head, and two peridots hung from her ears, which set off her shining green eyes.She didn't look like a killer at all, and she couldn't even see that she was a soldier who was on the battlefield.

"Azeroth." Elijah replied, "I followed the Allied forces when they returned, and came back after visiting the Eastern Kingdoms." She walked on the other side of Vincent, holding two hands. wearing her own dress.

"you alone?"

Elijah smiled meaningfully.

"Yes, I'm alone, and I only came back a few days ago. In fact, I should have come to you earlier."

Vincent was taken aback for a moment, and then joked, "I heard that you went to Azeroth with the Allied forces. I thought you wouldn't come back, so I cried for several days."

Elijah laughed out loud.She covered her mouth with her hands and let out a "giggle" laugh.

"How is it possible? You are still here."

Vincent laughed, and his gray eyes looked at her with a completely different expression.It was a combination of the melancholy left by the pain of the past and the comfort of being lost.Elijah avoided his gaze and looked at Harlan on the other side.

"This is..."

"Harlan Anthenar." Harlan nodded to her.

"Hi, I'm Ilya. Ilya Karenmier. Have we met?"

"Yes, a hasty glance. But you've grown too much since then."

Elijah gave a soft smile.

"Thanks, you too."

Harlan froze for a moment.

Elijah turned her gaze to Vincent.

"Are you free tonight?"

Vincent looked at her in surprise: "Ah..."

"I'm fine," Harlan said.

But Vincent didn't look at him, and just said to Elijah, "Sorry, I have plans for today. How about tomorrow? I'll be with you all day."

Ilya laughed, her eyes curved like two crescent moons.

"Of course no problem. See you tomorrow." She said goodbye to them, and then followed the flow of people towards the central city.Vincent and Harlan went in another direction, passing through the small half of the central city to the Aldo Heights.All the way they didn't say anything more, until the two walked into the golden rose and fretted over the seats.Even though most people went to the central city, there were still many guests with golden roses, and there were also many people who had attended the wedding before.Where to sit, Vincent asked.Harlan didn't answer, but just looked around, saw that the corner by the window was empty, and walked over without hesitation.Vincent followed closely behind.

The wedding took place in the afternoon, so by the time they finally sat down and their respective drinks were served on the table in front of them, the sky had turned a dark amber.

This position in the corner brought back some memories for Vincent, and he wondered if Harlan felt the same way.No, he must have, otherwise he wouldn't have just walked over.He raised his eyes cautiously to look at Harlan, but realized that the other party couldn't care about his gaze at all, because he was staring out the window intently.With such concentration, it seems that he is in an empty city, so he can stare at the direction he wants to his heart's content until the sea is dry and the rocks are gone.

In the past few months, Harlan has hidden all his emotions, and his carefree but overwhelmed appearance made Vincent deeply worried.During this time, he sought out Harlan whenever possible, making sure that he was alone as little as possible.And Harlan never took the initiative to look for him, not even once.Maybe there really was a void in his head, Vincent suspected so sometimes, that day that took away a part of him forever.Since that day, he has ceased to be his full self.

Vincent didn't know what happened, and no one knew what happened.The ups and downs of things, the causes and results, everything is so vague, abrupt and hasty.He only knew that the war took away Roy, and also took away the Harlan he knew well.

In fact, the war took away a lot.Some are extraneous things, some are part of the body; some are cherished people, and some are part of life.Orson lost an arm and spent a lot of time recuperating, otherwise the wedding would have been held long ago; Eric lost his Zangarmarsh home and loved ones; Vincent thought he had lost Ilia; the former self.

But this crazy world just wants to occupy you, from the outside to the inside, forcing you to accept the reality.He watched as Harlan wasted away at a considerable rate, reduced to a shell, unable to do anything.No one can do anything.One day everything will be alright, he firmly believed.Harlan also understood, because he was also waiting, waiting for the day when he could talk about all this calmly.

They sat like this for nearly an hour without saying a word.Vincent looked out the window at the sky, or stared at the wine glass.There was so much noise around them that they couldn't hear each other's silence.The sky is already glowing with stars, and the street lamps are also on.

"Harlan."

Harlan turned his head and looked at him suspiciously.

"Why didn't you light the fire wine?"

"This is not Dragon Eagle."

"Oh yes." Vincent nodded, showing a self-deprecating expression for his stupid question.Then he laughed:

"Tell me a few words, I'm very lonely. I refused the beauty to drink with you."

"I said I was fine."

"I wanted to come," Vincent said. "Really. We haven't sat and talked face to face like this in a month."

"I'm sorry," Harlan said.

Vincent was startled.

"Why are you apologizing for something like this?"

"Just wanted to apologize."

There was a silence.Vincent took a sip of his wine sullenly, only to realize that Harlan's glass was empty.He suddenly felt bored, so he called the bartender over and ordered several more glasses of wine.And Harlan turned his head to look out of the window from the beginning of the silence, as if he had nothing to do with him.

"What have you been up to lately?" Vincent asked again.

"hunt."

"anything else?"

"Help from the hotel."

"anything else?"

Harlan thought for a moment, picked up the glass and said, "Drinking? If you drink, it counts." Then he drank half of the glass in one breath.

Vincent laughed inexplicably.Yes, nothing has changed.He was helping Joanna in the hotel as before, hunting alone, drinking alone, sitting on this seat and staring out the window alone, searching for that impossible figure from a certain angle.Nothing has changed.

"What about you?"

"I joined the archaeological team. I went to Blade's Edge Mountain a few days ago, and before that I went to Nagrand. There is nothing in Nagrand, but Blade's Edge Mountain is simply a paradise for archaeologists. We have found many treasures." Wen Wen There was a flash of excitement in Sente's eyes, "I also went back to Eclipse Village, but I didn't stay long. It has been burnt down by the war, and most of the villagers moved out of their original residences, but There were also a few remaining houses that were still doing some repair work. I helped Eric when I was in Shattrath City. I opened a weapon shop with him, mainly swords and daggers ,do you know?"

"No, I don't know," Harlan said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize."

Vincent looked at him.

"Stop apologizing."

He paused, and then said, "You obviously aren't apologizing to me."

Harlan looked at him in astonishment.At the same time as stunned, there is pain like being stabbed into the heart by a sharp knife.He picked up his glass again to hide his expression, but it didn't help.The twisted corners of the mouth and the sudden tightening of the facial muscles, the expression on the verge of collapse couldn't be concealed at all.So he simply put down his wine glass, lowered his head and cupped his face with both hands.

"Harlan—"

"I'm sorry I screwed up. I screwed up everything."

"Harlan, this has nothing to do with you." Vincent crossed the table and put his hand on his shoulder, noticing that he was shaking uncontrollably.

"I never begged him to stay. I can't do it." Harlan hugged his head and let out a tearing sound from his throat, "But what can't be done? If I begged him to stay, maybe he won't go, and if he doesn't go, he won't die."

Vincent tightened his knuckles and grabbed his shoulders.

"Listen, this has nothing to do with you. We don't know what's going to happen in the present, and your self-blame is—"

Vincent pursed his lips, unable to speak for a while.Because Harlan looked up at him with the most unforgettable expression he had ever seen on his face.It reminded him of his collapse in the swamp shortly after he met Harlan, as if it happened again yesterday.Staring at that expression, Vincent felt that there seemed to be an ever-expanding darkness in his head, seeping out to the surroundings.There was a black fog in front of his eyes, and his eyes could no longer focus.

He withdrew his hand and turned to hold his glass tightly.

"Every minute and every second he was with me must have been filled with sin."

Harlan drank two more glasses of wine unknowingly, his cheeks flushed.Vincent looked into his eyes and didn't intend to stop him.

"He said it himself that he stayed because I needed him. I remember denying it." Harlan suddenly laughed. "But he said it all, clearly. He knew I needed him." .Do you understand? It was never for himself."

He stared at the glass, running his fingertips around the rim.

"He betrayed the Illidari and his teammates, betrayed himself to come to me. He entrusted me with everything he had, and then left, taking it all with him."

He laughed.

"What a dream."

Vincent felt furious.

"You're thinking nonsense, stop."

"I know what I'm talking about."

"Are you sure that Roy thinks so? Are you sure you know what he thinks?" Vincent tried his best to suppress his voice, "If not? How can you be sure?"

"Ah." Harlan listened intently to his words, and then showed an expression of sudden realization, "You're right, I don't know, I can't be sure. I don't know anything about him."

Then laughed again.

"From start to finish, I knew nothing about it."

"You are trying to prove that you never had him, so as to escape the loss now." Vincent grabbed Harlan's wrist, his voice was like a lonely and sad river, "You can escape if you want, but don't think about it that way." , don't distort the past. Please... please take care of your pain."

Harlan smiled politely, pulled his hand away, and looked out of the window again, as if he didn't hear him talking.But Vincent continued:

"I don't know how long it will take, but time dilutes everything and casts a veil over the past, making it a trivial 'past'. During this time, I will always be—"

His words cut off abruptly as Harlan stood up suddenly.The chair screeched against the ground.

"Harlan?"

"I saw him."

"Who?"

Harlan's whole body tensed up, and he stared out the window like a torch.He kept mumbling and repeating "I saw", "I saw him", "it was him", with an expression of ecstasy, surprise and extreme excitement on his face.Vincent tried to grab his wrist, but he didn't expect his body to flash, and he pushed away the table and chair and ran outside.The wine glass shattered.

"Harlan!"

All the people around cast their eyes on them, and Harlan ran out regardless, annoying many guests along the way.Vincent stared nervously at his receding figure, but he only stepped on glass shards all over the floor when he took a step forward.He uttered a curse, and at that moment the bartender arrived.

"Please help me clean it up. My friend is drunk, I'm going to find him and I'll be back right away. Thank you very much." Looking at the worried expression on the girl in front of him, he took off one of the two daggers without hesitation. Hand over to her, "This is the mortgage, I will be back soon."

After he finished speaking, he ran out of the tavern, calling Harlan's name all the way, but there was no response.He ran straight to the gate of the commander's residence, and saw a gloomy and solemn building in front of him.

No one has lived here since Harlan, and the current Commander, Steele, has chosen the Scryer's Terrace as his quarters.

Obviously nothing.

He ran around the house and knocked on the door again, but he still couldn't find Harlan.