Thanatos' eyes appeared rather different, Amara had to admit. Never did the depths seem so sincere, soft, almost unrecognisable and no one would dare to question her shock. For, from the centuries of experience, Amara was quite aware of the very thing which had the ability to cause a good unbreakable mask, to become smashed into pieces.

Pain.

Indescribable pain.

Pain so severe, it burned the very insides.

Let it not be confusable with physical pain, however. This hurt; mental hurt, ruined the mind, the heart, and the vision excruciatingly slow. It never allowed a breath of freedom to escape, until the affected creature was far too gone.

'His gift was truly beautiful,' Aphrodite said with a sigh, 'I remember how proud he was, knowing he was the only one who could sense pure-hearted souls, and everyone knows, how rare, the pure-hearted truthfully are.'

Her words, made Amara look up at her with indescribable consternation, for she was certain any soul gatherer could sense the pure ones, including herself. It also made her ask, 'what do you mean? Doesn't he have that gift anymore?'

'I am not quite sure. It's rumoured around the higher deities, he might have handed his gift to someone who he trusted before he lost his ability to care,' her words followed a saddened chuckle, 'who knows.'

Amara stared at the closed double doors, where a moment ago stood Thanatos, not one person aware of her silent turmoil. She was frightened, yet her heart felt like a gymnast performing the biggest solo of their life. Never in her existence had she experienced a bigger debate between two solutions; Follow her heart or once again let the destiny control her decisions for her.

And she was fully aware destiny could be an expert in forcing the strings of life.

Tonight's events had pushed Amara's mind into overdrive indeed. She hoped Aphrodite was simply misinformed and the ability to sense the pure-hearted was a common ability and not only reserved for Thanatos. For if it was true, it would mean he allowed her to have his gift and she was unsure how she would be able to deal with that. Perhaps, the rumours were untrue.

She hoped they were untrue.

Rumours, as she knew well, could be quite cruel to any particular individual. For example, she herself, never experienced Thanatos' cruel side personally, as opposed to popular beliefs. All she could recall was his oddly expressed amiability, although not openly displayed. In other words, she cannot say herself he is abominable, for, he never once consciously hurt her. That, however, did not mean she placed her trust in him fully either. She might differentiate from other creatures who had their immortality, yet she did not see herself as naive. However, even after that said, she will never give up on her intuition in creatures. It was excruciatingly frustrating if she could be honest, for, there were times, she despised what he made her be; a soul gatherer existing purely for death. Those days of hate were far gone, she realised. There were times, she was even grateful to the man, who stole her reason to exist.

It might have been contradicting she knew, yet the paradox had no solution for her. She was forced to respect him, for he was her Duke and master, yet, she saw him like a woman saw a man, liked him almost, but there was a barrier which she knew, could never be broken; dilemma which could never disappear.

However, at that rare moment when she dared to gaze into his perplexing eyes, just before he left the ball, there was something vulnerable, hidden behind the curtain of masks. For the first time, she made a choice to listen to a heart which stopped beating centuries ago, 'I do apologise Aphrodite, but I will have to leave you for a few minutes. There are some errands I quickly have to run.'

She did not let herself hear the answer of the lady and more or less ran from the ball, leaving the guests behind just like the host himself did, a mere moment ago.

She has stopped in the middle of one of the many narrow halls of the castle, wondering where he could be at that very minute. She felt her own heart beating, curious, for never in her life has she noticed the peculiar feeling of the steady beats.

Never found the feeling so foreign.

She felt breathless, yet she continued her journey and blindly took a gambled guess, where the prince might have been. Amara therefore, began a venture into his office, still not fully understanding why the sudden worry for the Duke.

It is as if she was under hypnosis.

She grasped the door handle tightly once she was outside of Thanatos' office, opening the door suddenly, pushing any pleasantries aside. She stood in the doorway, her eyes running through the interior of the pitch-black office until she noticed a curled object in the corner. There was no doubt in her it was a person, curled on the floor, yet it took her a moment to understand it was no other than her heartless master.

Thanatos held his head in his hands and was sat, leaning against the furthest wall in the room. He looked up quickly, his gaze meeting Amara; his orbs not moving from her burning gaze. Amara could not look away from him. His red eyes still bled wet trail of tears, showing inside turmoils so strong, even she could not ignore.

She wanted to be there for him, suddenly desired to wipe the tears of someone else than herself, yet a crawling against her skin prevented Amara to say anything at all. She knew her serpent awoken to collect a soul once again.

Dreadful for the first time in centuries.

She felt her king cobra crawl graciously from the skin of her back, making his way to settle against her arm, making a precious bracelet.

Symbol, she could not take off.

Mark, she could not rid herself off.

She always made sure to admire the beauty of the snake, yet this time, she did not move, only continued staring at the owner of the black orbs who surprisingly looked back, not looking away from her. She knew weak tears now marked her cheeks, yet she dared not to blink, even after her eyes burned.

That was all over after mere seconds, for she was made to teleport to make her next gathering. In those mere seconds of teleportation, when time truly stopped to run, she usually felt free; Only then, only ever then. However, it was different that time around, for she was truly stuck, trying to forget his distraught eyes, only for just a moment. Enough time to gather a soul.

Her mind became empty, her thoughts absent, her emotions in perfect order. Everything just like she was taught.

Empty and rehearsed.