Orcelito spares a moment to follow Kit’s gesture, looking up at the gaunt corpse slouched behind the mist. The sight still makes him sick. It really does look like a drowned man, resurrected out of the lake in some unholy fashion. More than being hurt, it seems cruel for such a creature to exist in the first place.

Trusting Fuu to watch out for them, Orcelito returns his attention to Kit, staring intently at her face. She doesn’t look ensorcelled; at least, her eyes are clear and she appears more earnest than obsessed. But he can’t be certain. He steps closer, curling a wing forward to nudge her further from the mist.

“Kit, he tried to drown us. Worse than that, he tried to take our minds with his music. Do you remember?” There’s a note of anger in his voice. Orcelito definitely remembers; he still has nightmares about it.

“And why do you think he’s come back? Did you consider it might be for vengeance? Or that he wants us to feel pity for him?”

Granted, it is piteous to fail to finish an enemy and see them in anguish afterwards. But a defeated enemy is still responsible for their actions! And that makes him angry, because Kit is a child and shouldn’t have to witness this.

He lowers and shakes his head, his voice softer. “An apology isn’t going to make this right.”