[ And here she thinks to herself that she must have underestimated how upset he is with her. ]

I'm.... here to apologize for all that I've said to you. [ Bowing her head in remorse, she can't exactly muster the courage to look him in the eyes, not when she feels so ashamed. Even if Chroma took away some of her emotions, she still said those things to him. They were said with hate, with disdain for his humanity, looking upon him as if he were some sort of blight upon the world. ] If I could take it all back, I would.

[ She grimaces as she recalls the memory, closing her eyes. ] With the first thing being.... what I said about you being weak.

You're not. At all.

And what I said about your love for your betrothed, that too, I want to apologize for that as well. Love is... it could never make another weak, least of all you. It is something that makes a person strong, and you have that in spades not just from your courage and honor as a knight, but as someone who cares very much for a woman dear to him. [ Pyra dares to raise her gaze, hesitant and cautious, but even by now she's already become a little misty-eyed. ] You're... stronger than me, by far, for loving someone like that, and being loved in return.

[ This kid is just. Adorable. ]

The more lunacy, you say? [ So, fine, she's picking up the bee husk! And some of that dirt as well. ] So maybe things like... hair? Or nails? [ Sounds like it would make up for the "creepy" part of the story of the stone. ]

But pressurize and heat anything hard enough, and you might just be able to make a crystal out of anything, right? I don't know how a cauldron can do that, but maybe it's simply using a mechanism that we're not quite familiar with.

Many people would call it magic, but I think there's probably just some extra particle that governs these mechanics that make it possible.

[ ...........Well, she had been ready to apologize but uh. Just looking at the man and noting his pallor-- ] Huh? What-- no, nothing... [ She fumbles over her words at first, but then quickly recovers to ask: ] Are you all right? Goodness, you look so pale...

[ And then a sigh, a shake of her head. ] "Light-years ahead"... You still are. [ She smiles at him softly, recalling their other conversation. ] And here I wanted to apologize properly to you.


...I forgive you. And I would have forgiven you, even if you had hurt me.

[ Here goes. ] Because... I want to apologize for all that I had said to you. Even if Croma had changed us it was still... very cruel.