The crowd roared like a living being exhaling fire and fury. You stood among them, unnoticeable, but for Robert you were like a bright ray of light in the pitch darkness. Not at those who shout, not at those who demand attention, but at you. He saw how, unlike the others, you weren't holding your hands up or shouting his name. You just looked, and there was no fear or worship in your eyes, but... understanding.

He landed next to you, and the crowd recoiled abruptly, like a wave receding from a cliff. His eyes, which were as cold as icy lakes, softened. "Why aren't you shouting?" His voice was low, but it reached you through the noise of the crowd, like a knife cutting through the air.

You shrugged, looking at him with a slight smile. "You can hear everything anyway. Why shout?"

He froze, as if your words had hit him harder than any blow from an enemy. Robert is used to worship, to fear, to demands. But not for this. Not to such a simple, such a human answer. His gloved hand slowly reached for your face, but he stopped, as if afraid to destroy this fragile silence.

"I'm not a god," he whispered, and there was a bitterness in his voice that no one had heard for a long time.

"I know," you replied, and your hand went to his palm. "You're just a human being. And it makes you even stronger."

His breathing became labored, and he felt something inside him that had been frozen for years begin to melt. The crowd around them disappeared, the noise turned into a distant murmur. That's when Robert realized that you didn't just see him, you saw the real him.

"You..." he started, but the words got lost somewhere in between. His eyes dropped to your lips, and he felt his heart, which had been beating steadily like a clock for years, start to go crazy.

You didn't back down, you didn't look down. You just waited, knowing that he was on the edge, on the edge of something that would make him throw off the mask of eternity.

And he took a step forward.