"Alice, there are some things you ought to know."
"Oh, really? Well, it's nice that you figured that out. How many years has it been?"
"I knew this day would come...I knew that, eventually, you would come to realise that there is so much I kept a secret from you."
"I knew that the day you crawled into that fancy bed of yours and never came out. You were a dead man. Even I could tell you had no intention of telling me before you croaked. Stop playing innocent."
"Alice, you must understand..."
"I don't care! I don't care how you want to justify it, and I'm not interested. Just tell me what you know. Everything you know, and now."
"As you wish. Where would you like me to start?"
"How about finding me in that rat-slum orphanage, for a start? And don't you go giving me any of that "Chosen One" crap. Did my parents send you?"
"No, Alice. If you must know, there was...really nothing at all extraordinary about you. I merely went to that orphanage to search for a test subject, and you were described as the most troublesome child, so I..."
"So you picked me out of the dregs like an abandoned dog. Lovely. Now, what's this about a test subject?"
"Before I tell you, Alice, I feel I should tell you..."
"You're not telling me anything but what I want to know. I don't care if you're just a spirit, I'm sure this Necromancer freak here knows how to interrogate a ghost."
"I understand. If you must know, I had gotten it into my head somehow that I could take a child - the more bothersome and unruly one I could find - and, through strict physical training and psychological conditioning, mould them into the ideal servant. The ideal child, mannerly, skillful and helpful, one that any parent would be proud to bear. That child just so happened to be you, Alice."
"So you wanted to turn a child into your slave?"
"Is that how you see it?"
"What do you think? Of course I do! You took away my freedom. Everything I did, I had to do it as you wanted me to, to please you. You never let me show emotion or nurtured me like a family would. I had to keep my feelings under wraps. It was obvious you didn't care."
"And what basis have you for thinking that? At what point did I hit you, or shout at you, or punish you for defying my expectations?"
"..."
"Exactly. I never did any of that."
"That...still doesn't mean you cared! Why didn't you say you did or make me feel good about myself?"
"Did it ever occur to you that I cared about you without having to vocalise it? Alice, despite what you may think, I am not a monster. Even if you think I took away your freedom and ability to show emotions, I still cared about you. I never hit you or berated you, yet you seem to also forget the times when I encouraged you and congratulated you for a job well done."
"Hey, wait, I..."
"You always see the worst in everyone, Alice. That's understandable - life in an orphanage can't be a very pleasant upbringing. Yet there is a point at which it becomes ridiculous and you shut yourself off from the world. Perhaps that is why you hid your emotions away: you were afraid to trust people."
"Why should I have trusted you? All I wanted was a family!"
"And did I not give you that? You would have remained in that orphanage for who knows how long, had I not adopted you as my own. Just because it wasn't the family you wanted doesn't mean you didn't have a family."
"..."
"Alice?"
"Why did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Turn me into this. I can't even walk down a hallway without keeping my hand on my knives, in case someone jumps out at me."
"Is that my fault? As I already said, Alice, you assume the worst of everybody. You think everybody is your enemy and that everybody you meet is intent on harming you or betraying you. Not everyone is your enemy, Alice."
"Just tell me why."
"Why? For your protection."
"...What?"
"You know as well as I do - perhaps more so - that there are bad people in the world who do want to harm you."
"But you just said..."
"There is a balance, Alice! There are good people and there are bad people. You assume there are only bad people, and it sours your view on the world and its people. Yet for those bad people that there are, I trained you so you could protect yourself against them. You just turned out better at it than I anticipated."
"..."
"What's the matter?"
"I...I only did my best because I thought it would make you proud...I thought it would make you love me..."
"Alice, don't be ridiculous. Love is unconditional - if I loved you, it wasn't because you were a good knife-thrower."
"But...did you love me?"
"I cannot answer that. I will let you decide that yourself."
"Mmmmmh...fine. The pocketwatch."
"Pardon?"
"What about the pocketwatch? Why did you give it to me?"
"Alice, you said it yourself: I was on my deathbed. I wanted to give you something to remember me by."
"But why can I...why can I use that weird magic thing it has, slowing time or whatever it is?"
"I am afraid I cannot answer that."
"Do you know?"
"Of course."
"Then tell me!"
"Why?"
"I need to know...!"
"So you can achieve some perverse form of closure? You won't achieve anything like that, Alice. You need to find out for yourself."
"Hey, I called you here for this! Now tell me, or I'll..."
"You'll what? You always say you'll use violence as a method of getting what you want, but I'm well aware that you rarely, if ever, mean it. You couldn't bring yourself to harm me, even if you did want to."
"Shut up! You can't say that about me!"
"Of course I can. I raised you, Alice. I know all about you. Isn't that how it ought to be?"
"..."
"Now, Alice, I need to ask you something."
"..."
"Alice?"
"What?"
"Alice, do you forgive me?"
"Huh?"
"Do you forgive me? I can tell you're not pleased with what I have told you. Do you forgive me for all you believe I have done to you?"
"..."
"Well?"
"I...cannot answer that. I'll let you decide that for yourself."
"Heheh...I understand. That's just what I was hoping you would say."
"..."
"Alice...Alice, are you crying?"
"What? No! Don't be stupid...!"
"It's alright to cry, Alice."
"Why, because you think it's okay now? Because I'm a child? Because I'm a girl?"
"No. Because you are human, Alice."
"..."
"Have you anything else to ask me?"
"...No."
"Then if that is all you have to ask me, Alice, I am afraid I must return from whence I came."
"...Don't go..."
"I'm sorry, Alice. I must."
"But...we were...I was..."
"This is not the end, Alice. I will always be with you, even if you don't want to believe I am. I will always be there for you."
"...Wait. Before you go..."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Your name...you never told me your name..."
"My name? It's Mistral."
"Mistral...is that really your name?"
"I'll let you figure that out for yourself. You're a smart girl, Alice. You can reach that conclusion by yourself."
"Okay...I understand."
"Goodbye, Alice."
"Bye..."
The spirit faded away into nothingness. Alice fell to her knees and, for the first time in years, she let the tears flow freely.