To say things have gotten better would be exaggerating. Nonetheless, things aren’t as hostile. It’s mostly due to the fact that Zye is trying his hardest to keep his own temper and irritation in check. There’s no sense taking it out on anyone here. He has a plan and he’s going to follow through with it.
Enjoy what he has and take it slow. There’s no sense in rushing. Not when the pursuit of happiness is a forever chase. He just has to be content for now and try to think he’s good enough for this chance
It helps that Orion has been treating him more as an equal. Missions are quick and easy, yet slowly gaining in difficulty. He doesn’t feel like a complete burden, at least. To the point where Orion allows him to do small missions on his own and return with the jewel.
Zye feels good to be able to do something. He might not fully understand everything, but the objectives make sense. And the least he can do is get to know those he should rely on now. Even if that’s easier said than done.
Coming back from a solo mission, he plans to cleanse and relax. There’s a possibility that Orion is back and he’ll be given another task as well. Yet as he steps through the portal and into the mouth of Orion’s hallway, he’s yanked backward.
“T-the hell?”
Ilista grins at him from where she’s latching onto his arm. “Come with me?”
“You could have just messaged me.”
“But you can’t message back.”
Zye glares at her. “Sensitive subject. You still could have, I would have gone to your room instead.”
The smile grows as she lets go. Poking his cheek, she turns on her heel. “Yeah I know,” she replies in a sing-song voice.
In hopes of not garnering attention from anyone that might be in range, Zye hurries behind her. Not that it helps in the slightest. He sees a familiar head of blue hair in the distance. More accurately, he feels the gaze of the man scrutinizing him. Zye tries to ignore it— maybe Aster isn’t all bad if he just got to know him.
Together they hurry to her room and slip inside where they’ll have privacy. It’s needed considering he hasn’t seen her in days.
“Where have you been?”
Ilista shrugs while moving further in. “Hey, hey, I have missions to do too.”
“And I heard Orion grumbling about you ditching them lately. Is something wrong with Xerxes?”
A faint blush dusts over her cheeks at that. “Well, um, no not really. He seems a little lonely. No real friends I’ve heard about. Oh! He’s turning twenty-six this year!”
“And?”
Ilista drops onto the couch with her arms splaying out over the back. “I’m just having fun. Your world is nice.”
“Thanks. But that’s—”
“He’s fine, Zye. We’re just hanging out. It’s only been a few weeks. Although it does suck that I have to lie that I live there. That building is so boring on the inside. No way you’d catch me there normally.”
A sigh slips from Zye’s lips. “So he’s fine?”
“He did mention his sister. Apparently, she got married and moved away. Not much else really. He’s into this new game that just came out. And, Zye, when you said games I was thinking something totally—”
“Ilista, focus.”
What he doesn’t expect is for her to fall silent and stand. She strides back up to him. For a moment he hates how she looks into his eyes. Hates it more when those strong arms tug at him and pull him into a hug.
“Relax, he’s doing fine. He has a fancy new job and should be moving soon. He’s doing his best.”
Zye lets his chin rest on her shoulder. It’s futile to try and get away. Bent over to let her hold onto him, he huffs. “And you’re going to keep visiting?”
“I…well…yes? Just in case. Unless you don’t want me to.”
Shaking his head, he pushes away from her. He holds onto her shoulders for a moment before letting them fall away from her as well. “It’s fine. I wouldn’t stop you anyway. You being around him won’t attract Nether right?”
“It shouldn’t. In fact, he’s safer. And when he moves, I’ll let go. That way it’s not long enough to where I accidentally let him know I’m not exactly alive. Ah! But wouldn’t that be romantic?”
She draws the back of her hand up to her forehead, faking a swoon as she moves back to the couch. “Falling in love with someone you shouldn’t be with? Terribly romantic.”
A pain pierces through the back of his head and he takes a step back. The slight wobble goes unnoticed. What does is that he’s not following her. Ilista glances back and notices the furrowed brow.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Gonna go cleanse. It was a long day today.”
She doesn’t pry and he’s thankful. As kind as she is, he doesn’t want to talk about his problems. It lets him hurry out to the hall and stumble once he’s at Orion’s door. It takes far too long to get in and shut it behind him. Back to the door, he reaches up to feel for the wetness on his lips.
Dripping blood.
Looking at it, he’s unsure. It’s not red, not what he’s used to. It’s orange— bright and shimmering like it’s under a brilliant light.
Slowly, he sinks down to sit while wiping his sleeve across his face. Anything to make it stop or go away. He doesn’t notice it smears onto his cheek.
“Dammit…” he hisses to himself. “Why does it hurt so bad when I can’t remember you…”
He’d been doing so well. Push it away yet still keeping it close lest he forgets it too. However, this is pushing him too far. There’s already a sense of disorientation and heat that’s rushing up his back. It’s as if he has a bad sunburn and someone is touching it constantly.
There’s no true pain— not really.
It’s simply overwhelming every sense and thought he has.
So much so that he doesn’t notice the curtain swishing and Orion coming into the room. He had just finished cleansing when he heard the door shut. It leaves him in nothing but his pants, t-shirt, and a towel in his hand as he rushes over to Zye.
The first thing he does is grab Zye’s arm, stopping him from wiping at the blood. He moves the towel up to wipe at Zye’s face and keeps it pressed to his nose.
“Zye? Tell me what’s happening.”
“Nothing,” he grumbles as he tries to ignore how the world tilts. “I’m fine.”
“Zye, don’t…I need you to tell me what you were doing or thinking when it started.”
He tries to push Orion away as well as the damp towel. He’ll try anything to prove to Orion he’s fine. He just needs to get into bed and rest.
“I’m serious. I’m just a little tired.”
“Is it another memory trying to surface?”
Orion stares into the purple and blue eyes, waiting for any hint of his magic to kick in. He lifts a hand to Zye’s forehead. To Zye it’s as if Orion is trying to take his temperature, no different than what his mom would do.
“Your hand is cold…”
The other hand lands on Zye’s shoulder in hopes of steadying him. The one on Zye’s forehead begins to sport a glowing outline. He focuses for a moment and that’s all it takes.
Zye can’t try to remain conscious any longer. The chill beats back the heat that’s smothering him. As it calms his temperature, it lulls him into a deep sleep. To the point where he slumps forward with a small mumble.
“Jace…”
Orion has to move quickly to hold onto Zye as he remains collapsed there. Zye’s head rests against Orion’s shoulder with the remainder of his body held there in Orion’s arms. Causing Zye to fall asleep might not have been the best idea considering he’ll have to haul him to the bed.
Closing his eyes, Orion huffs to himself. He holds onto Zye as he tries to calm himself.
“I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this up. But I can’t let him have you either. Maybe death is safer for you after all.”
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41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9hYlFpAg4
The last thing Callua wants is to be the one to deliver a package— the package. She has half a mind to expect them to try and kill her. Not that it’d surprise her considering what’s in the small box is one of those blessed tools.
It doesn’t help that she doesn’t know a thing about them. Jace hasn’t gotten back to her about them, yet, and all she has are whispered rumors among the Dark Surge. They’re powerful, she knows that. Rare, that’s obvious. What they do she has no idea.
That’s the scariest part to her.
Nervous and unsure of who she’s going to be meeting, Callua is sure to keep her mind open in case she needs to send a message to Jace. He’d drop everything and anything to come to her if she was in trouble. It’s the only solace at times when she has to do work for Soren. Aside from getting information on those that don’t want to be under his thumb anymore.
There’s a part of her that wishes she could simply run away with it. Even though she knows it wouldn’t work. They’d hunt her down and kill her without a second thought. Not even Jace could keep her safe if she pulled that off.
Torn from her thoughts, she watches as a young woman comes around the corner. The last person she expects is a Keeper from Noctis. The sight of the swirl of a pink and purple dress alongside pale blonde hair is shocking.
Vespera.
Callua tries to keep a neutral look on her face. Not quite scowling, but not smiling either. Inside, she wants to throw up. Why would a Keeper be here? Is it a trap? Or is it worse and she’s here for her own gain? If so, she’s the weak link in the Noctis chain.
Holding out the box as Vespera nears, Callua repeats the warning Soren told her to give. “Don’t put it near where it can be on you until you’re ready to use it. And don’t touch the amulet.”
Vespera gingerly takes the box from Callua’s hands. She frowns down at it before taking a step back. Callua notices the look— she’s conflicted. It tells her that she’ll get out of here just fine. No one else knows Vespera is here and the secret plan can continue.
“I’ll send word when I have my end of the deal.”
Watching her leave, Callua swallows hard. She wants to collapse or run to Jace. This isn’t good and it leaves too many possibilities. She doesn’t know what she can do.
Callua begins further into the alleys of the city. The bright sun above barely makes it down to where she walks. The overhangs of the buildings and the skyscrapers in the distance cast too great a shadow.
She doesn’t care at the moment. She just needs to get around another corner to spot Adrian waiting for her. He flicks the paper stick to his finished lollipop to the ground. Something that makes her scoff.
“That’s littering.”
“And?” He smiles at her. “Shouldn’t you be worried about bigger problems?”
“Thank you for coming and being a lookout, but it’s fine. Nothing happened.”
Adrian shoves himself away from the wall. It makes it easier to see the tail that shifts behind his legs. He doesn’t care if his power shows— shows what he is now. “Hey, I said I’d repay the favor you did. But shouldn’t you be more careful? You’re getting deep into things.”
“You should be careful, too.”
A hearty laugh echoes through the alley. The smirk he flashes her shows just how confident he is. “I don’t need to. I have a friend in high places. A Keeper at that. As long as I give him information, he makes sure my ass can keep doing it.”
“From Noctis? Which one?”
“That will cost you.”
“It’s Aster isn’t it?”
Adrian rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. “Was it that obvious?”
“From what I know, he’s the only one that would work with you. I don’t see Ilista being the type and you’re obviously not with Vespera.” She waits a moment. It’s been bothering her. The lack of information. “Adrian, do you know anything about those two that hang around Soren?”
A hum slips from his lips as he brings a hand up to his chin. The toe of one sneaker begins to tap against the concrete. He’s the one to go to if someone wants dirt on another. Yet, the fact that he’s taking so long tells her that even he can’t get what she needs.
“Well, you see,” he starts, “they don’t really hang off his arms. They do whatever he asks. I know one has ice powers and the other is a mystery. Their names I’m not sure. They must have been around before me. Wouldn’t you have known them?”
“No…I don’t train everyone. There’s too many and it depends on the type of magic you get or what weapon you’d like to use instead.”
“Huh, I guess I’ll take that as payment for what I can give you.”
Callua spins toward him, hands on her hips and a brow raised. “Why are you being so friendly?”
“Because I learned a lot from you and I know you’re not stupid.”
“Think you know me, huh?”
“A little. You did tell me to enjoy this afterlife as much as I can. Do my job, make friends, and have fun like I couldn’t the first time. That says a lot.”
“Enough, Adrian. Tell me what you know.”
He takes a step forward and lowers his voice. “Well, you know Vespera is acting out of turn.” She nods for him to continue. “Wanna know what’s worse? Orion apparently knows it and he’s waiting for her to make her move.”
“That’s…a bit ominous. It sounds like someone is going to be in danger because of her.”
Adrian reaches into his pants pocket and pulls forth another piece of candy. This one is wrapped in plastic; small, round, and bright orange. He begins to unwrap it while summoning up a portal behind him. Walking back toward it, he shrugs.
“Right? I mean, what could she possibly want that she doesn’t already have as a swanky Keeper?”
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41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡopeWdk9xfa
Returning to Noctis tends to be the downside. It usually means there’s nothing else to do even when he still has plenty of energy to spend. At least while he’s out his mind is occupied.
Together he and Orion step back through the portal and into the dimension of perpetual night. As they do, Orion is nodding to Zye’s question.
“Yes, it’s possible for there to be more than reported. Dark Stars usually encounter Nether while doing their jobs. Some have the ability to take care of it. Others will report it and that information is then sent to us.”
“So I can’t just pick a place and search for them?”
Orion gives him an incredulous look, “That’s wasting time. We can’t afford that when you could be doing something somewhere else.”
“I…I guess so. Wouldn’t it be smarter to send both sides out in teams or pairs?”
That seems to end the conversation before it can go any further. Orion steps toward the stairs. “Regardless, you did well. Being able to understand your abilities will make you more proficient. Speed can be more powerful than raw strength. You’d do well to hone that.”
Zye isn’t stupid. He touched on a subject that Orion doesn’t wish to speak about. Not that it kills the curiosity. It only makes it worse.
However, Orion turns back to him. “Hand me the necklace.” He does as he’s told and in a moment Orion is handing it right back. “I’ve given you a location if you’d like to do another mission until I’m done.”
“Is everything okay?”
Orion is already beginning to climb the stairs once more. “Celeste and I are researching a way to get your memories back. What you’ve told me so far is good, you remember quite a bit of your early memories.”
“All I did was tell you about my childhood,” he replies while pocketing the necklace. “But…thank you.”
“No, it’s a good sign. It means you won’t lose any more at least. I’ll let you know what we come up with.”
“See you later then.”
Zye watches him mosey up the stairs. There’s renewed hope in the pit of his stomach. Of course, it rivals the anxiety of getting these memories back as well. It figures that the second he’s okay with letting them go, there’s a path toward retrieving them.
A sigh slips from his lips as he turns around. What he doesn’t expect is to run straight into Vespera. The shorter woman slams up against him and nearly falls backward. His arm wraps around her waist. Yanking her close, he keeps her from tipping over.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to run into you,” he says softly.
Slowly, Vespera tilts her head up. From beneath the fringe, he can see a reddening face. The second her eyes meet with his, she shoves away. Even as she does she acts as though touching him to push away burns.
“Tch, you should keep your eyes in front of you more.”
“I said I was sorry.”
Iris steps around them both. Her ears are flattening to her head with a furrowed brow above her worried eyes. “Sorry, we have an emergency to get to. Did you finish your quota?”
Vespera rights herself, “Iris, we don’t need help it’s fine.”
“Yeah, go on. I have one more to do. Good luck out there.”
She doesn’t stop until she’s almost at the portal she summons. Right at the edge, she glances over her shoulder. Zye is standing there. One foot moves to take him back to Orion’s chamber. His hand is already clutching at the jewel. Part of him wants to try on his own, get his mind off of things.
Vespera holds up a hand to her Guardian. “Actually, Iris, do me a favor would you?”
“What do you need?”
“I’m worried about that one. Go keep an eye on him. I can handle this on my own.”
“Worried?” Iris can’t help the question that rolls off her tongue. It’s strange for Vespera to worry about anyone else here that isn’t on a mission with her. “Ah…sorry.”
“You see, you’re the only other Guardian here. Go spend some time with him, show him how we do things.”
“If that’s what you’d like, I can do it.”
“Very good. Inform me when you’re done.”
Iris nods and is already turning. She waves back at Vespera, “You too!” She doesn’t slow down either, she hurries back in his direction. “Zye, wait up!”
He lifts his head at the mention of his name, hesitating as he stands before the mirror. The jewel is in his hand and held out toward the glossy surface— the only way to trigger a portal should he wish to take the mission.
“Yeah? Did you need something?”
Iris smiles up at him as she skids to a stop beside him. “Did you want company for your next target?”
“Uh…sure?”
“Well, get the portal up, and let’s go!”
The last thing he wants to do is keep her waiting. The mirror reacts to the gem and calls up a portal. It allows them to slip through and onto the beginnings of a mountain trail. Their shoes sink into the fresh snow.
Zye glances over at Iris, concerned about her being cold despite them not being alive anymore. After all, he feels chilly now and then. Not that it seems to bother her in the slightest. Even in a thin lime green dress that leaves a bit of skin to display between the bottom of it and the tops of her knee-high boots, she seems fine.
They’re the same pale green color as the skin-tight, detached sleeves that are held in place by a single buckle under her collarbone. It crosses over the slim straps that hold her dress up. She spins toward him and has the dress flaring out around her.
“Right there!”
She points toward a shack at the base of the trail going up the mountain. It seems well taken care of save for the snow that’s building up around it. In fact, the Nether almost doesn’t look out of place considering it’s not currently snowing.
Well, aside from the fact that the plant’s arching branches and leaves are black as night. They drape over the roof to land on the snowy ground. There the vines continue to snake over the ground to reach the path.
Zye can only imagine it’s so it can feed off of those that need to take the trail. He tries to look for the core or sense anything from it at all. To say it’s good at hiding that part of it is an understatement. It feels like every petal on the blossoming flowers on the vines is the heart.
It doesn’t help that the vibrant blue shows itself on the stamen. The center of each flower shines with a blue glow— something Zye hasn’t seen before. Then again, he hasn’t seen many different types.
“That doesn’t look good. It must have been feeding for a long time to get this big.”
“Do you think there’s anyone inside?”
Iris shakes her head and calls forth her weapon. He doesn’t expect one that’s nearly as tall as her. The scythe’s long, arching blade only proves that it has to be heavy. A jewel matching the color of her dress divides blade from handle. A handle that shimmers like the night sky filled with thousands of stars.
Holding it with both hands, she nods toward the Nether. “We’ll have to be thorough with this one. But no, I don’t sense anyone inside through the presence of the Nether.”
“Meaning there could be.”
He summons his sword and pockets the jewel. Doing so has that familiar yellow light scattering through the area. Grip tightening on the hilt, he turns to her.
“You’re more experienced, can you tell where the core is?”
“No…it’s as if it’s everywhere.” Pink eyes narrow as she takes a cautious step forward. The Nether doesn’t react. “Be careful.”
Zye moves away from her in a pinching attack formation. It’s better to keep it between them for now. Iris moves up along the trail to come up to the back of it. Zye continues to the front. Each step he takes is watched. The last thing he wants to do is step on the flowers.
It’s nothing like the Nether he’s fought up to this point. They attacked at the first sense of their presence and made it obvious where to hit them. This one is either dormant or patient. As he comes around the side, he notices the light inside the building.
“Shit. Iris, I think someone’s in there!”
“I’ll get its attention first and try to draw it toward me. See if you can find any openings.”
Huffing to himself, he hates that he can’t respond back unless he shouts out loud. Not that it deters him. Forward, he steps around and over the vines full of flowers. From the other side, he can already hear the whistles through the air as her scythe begins to cut at the Nether.
As predicted, it begins to slide— if not crawl— over the roof to where it can send more of its body toward Iris’s assault. Doing so allows Zye to see the door that was previously obscured. It’s nothing special and it’s not locked either. Tugging at the handle, Zye heaves it open and slips inside.
The building itself is small. It’s big enough to house a cot in the corner to his left, a pot over a food pit in the center, and a desk in the opposite corner. Finally, there’s a scruffy man slumped over in his hair.
Zye takes a tentative step forward. From the looks of it, he seems to be asleep. Getting closer proves something far different. His breathing is haggard and shallow. It seems as though he’s passed out in the middle of something if the pen in his hand is anything to go by. Ink pools across the paper, staining it until half the page is wet and dark.
Scouring for any source inside proves fruitless. There’s no sign of the Nether inside at all. Not that it doesn’t feel any less oppressive. The air could be sliced with a knife and the pressure on his shoulders is only growing worse.
His senses prickle, urging him to look back just in time. A vine is crawling forward into the building with flowers blooming every inch or so. At first, it starts toward the mortal until Zye puts himself between the two.
The Nether stops. The flower bobs and tilts until the blue center is pointed toward him.
That’s when he understands.
All the flowers are the eyes— watching and waiting for victims. Still, there’s no sign of a center anywhere in here. It’d have to be where the vines are thickest. What makes it worse is he can’t tell her without getting out of here.
Zye stabs his sword into the vine that begins moving toward him once more. It stops and wiggles helplessly against the blade before it begins to dissolve into glimmering dust. Tugging it out of the ground, he levels the sword in front as he moves back to the door.
His hand braces against the doorframe as he looks out. He can still hear Iris hacking away at the Nether; grunts and swishes of a blade through the air. He scours the area before him, hating that he can’t see as well in the dark like Orion can.
Another little quirk his existence comes with. Another thing that’s not right.
The tell-tale blue glow tells him most of the vines are on the other side of the building with Iris. All he’s left with is what dangles over the roof. He swats at one with his hand that brushes against his head.
It has him leaning against the building more, fingers gripping hard at the frame. Part of him doesn’t want to leave because it always means leaving this man. Will he be alright on his own? Would the Nether use him for its own gain and put his life at risk further?
He slowly steps out and begins to shut the door. Zye isn’t watching the way his hand glides over the wood or the glow undertone to his touch. He’s too focused on hurrying back to Iris. The second he lets go of the building, he feels a bit tired.
Chalking it up to being because of the Nether touching him, he runs around the side. As he does, he can see that the Nether is sliding off the building and crawling toward Iris.
Zye tries not to look too closely. It’s strange to watch since it’s not something that should move like that. Especially not with all those flowers swiveled toward her like she’s the sun. The slight drag to his steps is visible, yet he pushes harder.
His heels dig against the Nether as he begins to stomp across the trail of vines instead of the snow. All the while he’s dragging his sword across them, slicing along the flowers with each step.
Ahead of him, Iris is twirling the scythe around her body as if it’s a dance. It reminds him of Ilista. Yet this weapon is much different. The wide arcs cut and splice through the Nether at a fast rate.
As they work to get closer to each other, Iris allows her swings to slow. Her eyes briefly lift to meet Zye’s, “Where it’s thickest, hit.”
She doesn’t have to tell him twice. He stabs down into the bulbous center closest to him. It has to be close to the core from how the Nether writhes beneath him. Vines shoot up to where flowers pop off, floating up before vanishing.
The Nether itself hurls itself upward and sends out movement throughout the full of its body. The wave of momentum sends Zye slinging backward with nothing to stop him.
He can’t think fast enough. There’s no focusing on Orion’s lessons when he’s hurling back toward the building. The shield he should be able to project around his body barely flickers to life before his back slams into the wall.
Iris isn’t rushing for him. She’s sweeping her scythe through the core of the being and finishing the job. It’s the most important part. Not that it takes long for Zye to shrug off the pain that shoots through his body. To say it hurt would be an understatement.
As the Nether vanishes, Iris is jogging over to him with snow kicked up all around her. “Zye! Are you alright?”
“Yeah? I think so.” He pushes away from the wall and begins to stand. A glance over his shoulder and he can see the crack in the window he hit into.
It’s a small detail. One that slowly begins to mend as the yellow light from earlier sparkles and vanishes.
“Don’t worry. The barrier will repair anything we disturbed. By the way, what did you do to drive the Nether away from here? All of a sudden it rushed me when it had been ignoring me.”
“Uh, I didn’t do anything? Maybe it didn’t like I was near the person inside?”
Iris shakes her head and begins to open a portal. “I doubt it…But maybe? I’ll cover the report for this and let a Dark Star know they need to look at this area. That Nether was rooted in and there might be more nearby.”
Zye stretches and glances around. “So that yellow thing that went out when we got here was?”
“Oh, Orion must have it set up for you to do that. It puts out a veil to keep others from seeing or sensing you. Mortals anyway. Afterward, it’ll repair anything that got destroyed. If not the energy released from the Nether can take care of it, too.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
“You did well, by the way. Your power output seemed steady.”
“That…uh…thanks.”
A soft giggle slips from her as she gestures to the portal. “I’m saying you’re controlling your power well. I had a hard time when I first became a Star. It was so hard to adjust to fighting. Some Stars remain in training for what seems like forever. Others give up before their power even manifests fully.”
“They train you for that long?”
“Typically. Orion told us you were a special case.”
He tries not to focus on that. He’s tired of being the “special” case. A reason as to why would be nicer to have. “I take it you didn’t know how to fight when you were alive?”
Iris pushes the toe of her boot deeper into the snow while her tail huddles close to the backs of her legs. “No. I was just a seer for my people. I didn’t do anything aside from sitting and scrying.”
“Huh… I didn’t have anything like that in my world. I mean, if we did it was usually people getting ripped off.”
“That’s horrible!” Her ears perk up and she turns to him, large eyes locked onto his.
“Well, there’s always someone trying to do that to someone else no matter where you go.”
“I suppose you’re right. Not everyone is kind…”
The way her ears begin to flatten back down against her curly hair has him feeling bad. He could have said anything else to not make her upset. A quick diversion is all he can think of.
“Do you miss it? Your home?”
At that, she rocks on her heels a bit before stepping toward the portal. “I do, very much actually. I’ve gone back a few times just to see what’s changed. Oh, especially the gardens. The flowers that get planted change over the years.”
“Wait,” he stops her, one hand reaching out as if to visibly draw her back to him, “I thought we weren’t allowed to do that.”
“Vespera doesn’t mind. She can be a bit rough around the edges, but she’s very kind and returns any favors I owe her. Still, she does only have Celeste on her mind these days.”
“Really?”
Iris gives a hum at that. “You didn’t know? I figured Ilista would have mentioned it. Or even Aster.”
“I don’t care to talk to him…yet.”
“He can be hard to talk to, so I can understand that. He’s very sweet, though.” She shakes her head. “Anyway! Vespera loves Celeste so much that it nearly broke her when Celeste got hurt. I thought she was even going to quit.”
He’s heard her say it before and yet this time it clicks. “You can…quit?”
“Mhm, sure can. And she was going to do it until Celeste stopped her. I mean, love isn’t easy, right? Especially if it’s one-sided.”
Love isn’t easy…
A pain arcs through his head. It’s like a sharp, hot knife sliding through butter— the back of his head at that. It hurts, yet it seems to settle down after a second. At least, so he thinks.
“Zye? Your, um, your nose is bleeding?”
“Ah shit, not again.” He swipes his sleeve against his nose in hopes that it does the trick. He’ll just have the Mark clean his clothes when he gets back. “Did it stop?”
Iris nods her head and they step up to the portal. “Do you know why that happens?”
“Nah. Orion hasn’t said anything and, at this point, I bet he doesn’t even know. I guess it’s because of how I died and why I can’t remember much.”
“I’m sure he’ll tell you when he knows.”
Stepping through, gone is the brisk air of the living world. As they do, Zye spots Ilista returning from what he assumes is Aster’s hallway. He lifts a hand to wave at her as Iris smiles up at him.
“Next time you’re free I’ll take you there, to my home. I’ll show you the gardens. I think you’d like the. Especially during the beginning of summer. That’s when the biggest flowers bloom!”
The excitement is sweet and endearing. It almost has him missing the whisper of a voice that tickles his ears— his mind— his chest.
“I didn’t realize you liked flowers that much.”
“I’d like that. I think I’ll head back. See you next time?”
Zye wants to tough it out. The last thing he wants to do is drop like a sack of potatoes in front of her. Not that his willpower alone can keep his knees from wobbling. He stops himself from reaching up, hand halfway to try and hold at his head.
“Are you…alright? Does it hurt from the attack?”
“N-no I’m fine, really. Just gonna go lay down. Thanks for helping.”
Iris hesitates and for a moment, he thinks she’s leaving. At least, until her small hands are grabbing onto his arm. “Then let me walk you back. It’d make me feel better if I did.”
He doesn’t want to tell her no. It’s the look in her eyes that reminds him so much of Xerxes. The determination to help is a sight to see. Zye can’t dare deny her that. He straightens a little and begins to walk.
“Alright.”
The short walk is in silence. Considering he’s trying not to groan at how bad his head hurts, it’s a miracle it’s quiet at all. He expects her to leave once they get to the door. Instead, she ushers him inside and through Orion’s room to his. Once he’s plopping onto the edge of the bed, she finally takes a step away.
Except he doesn’t realize that no matter how bad he’s blinked them back, his eyes are still rimmed in red— the unshed tears. The pain begins to drift from his head to his chest. If he had a heart, he’d want to rip it out. He looks away from her, gaze falling to his hands and how they grip his knees.
“Hey…Iris?”
“Yes?”
“Would you tell me more about your world? Maybe if I think about something else it’ll help.”
“I’d love to!”
She moves a step back while waving her hands. “So, to start, I lived in this huge cathedral. When the sun hit the windows just right it would paint the hallways in a rainbow of colors. They’d all mix together and bring the place alive!”
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