My eyes widen as a shadow suddenly looms beside me.
The colossal old man kneels down, his body creaks with every movement like a rusty car, yet I never even heard him get up from his seat.
His presence suffocates me, as though I have to ask for his permission to breathe. My body now matches the girls, as it violently trembles.
"What are you apologizing for, Saturn?" The old man's words are a whisper that spoke only to my bones, causing my body to instinctually shiver. "We all make mistakes, a wrong turn, a misspoken word, a misstep. What determines the severity of the mistake is not the action, but the consequence."
Reaching his hand out he grazes the girl's face, his flaking gray skin is stained a dark red from dry blood. "From what I see, there was no consequence for your mistake, so why do you apologize?"
"I- I-"
"Unless perhaps, you did miss one? Did you, Saturn?"
Their breath hastens, "No sir!"
...
