Chapter 54: Fire Heart Sword Dao
Grim had risen before first light, preferring to avoid the crowds that would soon fill every thoroughfare with tournament excitement. The white robes he’d worn yesterday had been exchanged for a simpler dark tunic and trousers, a hood pulled low over his face. Anonymity served him better today than spectacle.
[You seem contemplative this morning,] the voice observed.
"Hard not to be," Grim replied aloud, knowing the empty streets afforded him privacy to speak freely. "Yesterday went exactly as planned, yet somehow I didn’t expect to feel..."
[What? Satisfaction? Vindication?]
"Hollow," Grim admitted. "Seeing their faces when they realized who I was—it should have felt better."
[Revenge rarely satisfies as much as anticipated,] the voice said. [You spent twelve years imagining their shock, their fear. Reality seldom matches fantasy.]
Grim snorted. "When did you become so philosophical?"
[I’ve always been philosophical. You’ve just rarely been in a mood to listen.]
That drew a reluctant smile from Grim. The relationship between him and the voice in his head had evolved over the twelve years of exile. What had begun as an unwelcome intrusion after his rebirth had gradually become something closer to a mentor, albeit an often cryptic and frustrating one.
"Twelve years," Grim mused, turning down a narrow street that would take him past the western gate of the coliseum grounds. "Feels like a lifetime ago that I was that obnoxious kid who thought everything was a joke."
[You were certainly difficult to guide,] the voice agreed, a hint of dry humor coloring its tone. [So immature. So impulsive. So convinced you knew everything already.]