Volume 1: Awakening – [Awakening Arc]
Chapter 7: Smile in Blood
It may feel cringy or annoying or anything you may feel, but hang onto it, this is my first time writing this type.
...
When he saw Uriel again, a wave of relief washed over him like a long-held breath finally released. He had been overwhelmed and shaken by what he had just witnessed, unsure if the hallucinations were done tormenting him. The thought that Uriel might also be caught in something terrifying twisted his insides. But seeing her safe, standing just beyond the last turn of mirrors, filled him with a fragile calm.
He lifted his right hand instinctively to wave, only for Uriel to tilt her head and frown slightly. "Cael, you're looking the wrong way. I'm over here," she called out, her voice firm but gently amused.
"Oh, sorry about that; I couldn't properly hear your voice," Caelus replied with an awkward smile as he turned around. His senses of sight and smell were razor-sharp, but his hearing was permanently dulled after the Park Massacre. The explosion that tore through that place years ago had damaged his ear, and though the rest of him had healed, his hearing never did. That made pinpointing voices a challenge, especially in echo-heavy spaces like the Mirror World. And his thoughts were still lingering on that fleeting reflection of a younger version of himself, which only made it harder to hear Uriel's voice.
"It's okay," Uriel said as she stepped closer, wrapping both her hands around his and resting her cheek against his knuckles. Her warmth reminded him that he was still here, still human.
He blinked, then asked softly, "Did you see anyone on your way here?"
"No, why? Was there someone else here?" she asked with a crease forming between her brows. Her expression twisted slightly as she puffed out her cheeks in frustration. "I told them clearly no one should enter while we're inside."
"I thought I saw someone," Caelus murmured, eyes drifting to the mirrors behind her. "But maybe it was just a visual trick, an illusion meant to scare us."
Suddenly, the lights flickered once. Then everything was swallowed in blackness. A hush fell over the space.
The hum of the machinery died, leaving only silence. Caelus tensed, eyes darting around, heart quickening. "Uriel?" he called out uncertainly, but before he could take a step, the lights turned back on.
Tiny golden orbs lit up one by one along the ceiling, casting a gentle halo around them. They stood now beneath a ring of soft illumination, the reflections catching the glow like stars blinking into existence.
Uriel stood a few steps ahead, her silvery platinum blonde hair catching the light like flowing silk. She turned slowly toward him, her almond-shaped eyes glowing with vivid gold irises, glimmering with nervous expression.
Her lips parted as her fingers clenched at her sides.
"Caelus," she said, her voice trembling ever so slightly, "I have something I want to tell you."
Her golden eyes were soft yet unwavering as they held his gaze like a lifeline.
Seeing her so still and serious, Caelus felt his cheeks flush with warmth. He looked at her, hesitant but quietly flustered, and asked, "What is it, Uriel?"
Uriel took a gentle breath, and her fingers trembled slightly before curling into her skirt. She met his eyes with a quiet intensity.
"Caelus, we've been friends for a long time. I know it's hard for you to remember anything from before you were thirteen… but I do. I remember everything, from the very beginning."
Her voice quivered with emotion, her lashes fluttering as she continued. "You were the only one who never looked at me for my wealth or my father's power. The only one who made me feel like I mattered for just being me. You just made me laugh when I was sad, and you gave me peace when everything else was chaotic around me. And that's when I started to have feelings for you… I couldn't stop wanting to be near you. I love you, Caelus."
She smiled as her cheeks turned a faint rose pink, her hands clutching the fabric of her dress as if trying to hold herself together.
Seeing all this and hearing Caelus, she looked at him with a surprised expression, but then she felt an intense sadness. 'I am going to die in ten years; if I say I love her right now and accept her confession, she is going to have a hard time if I die, and I don't want that to happen. Rather than her getting hurt, I would rather cancel her confession.
I should just bury my feelings for her deep in my heart. Even if this situation affects our friendship, I am okay with it anyway. Even though I want to be with her at all times, if I can't stay alive for long and die, it will only leave me with regrets.
Even if I don't confess, it will only leave me regrets. I don't know what to choose between these two. I need to sacrifice my selfish desire of being her lover, and saying no is the ri—' As he was thinking, Uriel called out to him once again; she noticed his expression shift from surprised to happy to deeply sad.
His heart ached so deeply it felt like it might split in two, but then Uriel spoke again, breaking the silence between them.
"I know," she said softly. "I know about your condition; I saw the report of your healthcare. I know you only have ten years left to live, and I don't care. I don't care about any of that. As long as you're alive, even for a little while, that's enough. I'll do everything I can to heal you. And even if that's not possible… then I'll die with you. So you won't ever be alone."
Her voice trembled at the end, but her smile never wavered. She gave him a tiny, hopeful wink.
Caelus's breath caught. His vision blurred with tears he hadn't realized were falling. And as he looked at her, the light in her eyes and the strength in her words made his heart beat louder and stronger, like it was trying to hold on just a bit longer.
"Uriel, I love you too. I didn't harbor feelings for you until you helped me crawl out of that pit of despair after my parents died. Without you, I wouldn't still be breathing. As the days passed, my feelings changed about you, changing from that of a friend to that of having a crush on you. Right now, I feel love toward you. I thought I would live this life numb, that I would die without ever expressing these feelings. Your words make me afraid, not of you, but of what you'd lose if you stayed with me. The idea that you'd give your life for me hurts even more than anything I've faced. I… I don't know what to say anymore—"
Before he could finish, Uriel suddenly stepped forward and closed the distance. Her arms wrapped around him tightly, her chest pressing softly against his, grounding him.
She lifted her face, locking her eyes onto his with her vibrant gold irises, seeing the expression of Caelus shimmering with stubborn tears and love.
"Cael," she whispered, her voice shaking with fierce clarity, "I don't care about my life as long as I get to spend it with you. That's enough for me. If you say no… I'll be shattered. Do you want to see me marry someone else? Some stranger? Do you want to see me live each day knowing I had to let go of the only person I've ever truly wanted? I won't survive that. I'd rather end it myself than live a life like that. Do you want that to happen to me?"
"No," Caelus answered without hesitation. The word slipped from his lips like instinct.
"Then take me," she said, voice trembling. "Be my boyfriend and marry me when we're old enough to get married."
Caelus hesitated. "But your father… he won't agree to this."
Uriel gave a small, determined nod. "I'll handle him; don't worry. I'll also talk to my mother to convince my father, or I'll do everything I can. Just… just stay with me... Please."
He looked at her, eyes red from emotion. His voice cracked as he whispered, "If you say so, don't regret your decision in the future…"
"Even if I live hundreds of lifetimes, I won't regret what I said." Uriel immediately said without a hint of hesitation.
"Then take care of me." Caelus couldn't stop his dialogue from coming out of his mouth when he heard her voice as he said.
Uriel's smile widened through her tears as she leaned in. Their faces drew closer, noses nearly touching. Her warm breath mingled with his, and for a suspended heartbeat, at this moment Caelus felt like everything else ceased to exist. All that remained was the space between them, and that was so thin it could shatter at any moment.
Just as their lips were about to meet, the lights above dimmed suddenly with a low hum, then blacked out completely.
Darkness swallowed the moment whole.
Caelus froze. He couldn't see anything now; he could still feel Uriel, but for some reason her body was slipping away from his hands. He couldn't catch Uriel in time, as a thud sound was heard.
Then—CRASH!
A deafening shatter echoed across the room. It was as if every mirror in the entire structure exploded at once, the sound slicing through the darkness like glass cutting flesh.
Panicking, Caelus called to Uriel as he shouted with all his might, but there was no response.
Slowly, the lights flickered back on. One by one, dim golden bulbs lit the shattered ruins of the Mirror World. The reflections were gone, with only fragments of glass remaining on the ground.
And that's when he saw it: blood under his feet.
He moved his eyes from below his feet to forward as he saw a corpse, not just a corpse. A mangled, horrific shell of what had once been a person.
It lay in a heap, pierced by hundreds of jagged mirror shards. The shards jutted out at sick angles, impaled through the torso, the legs, and the arms. Holes were punched through the flesh as if the body had been used for target practice by the gods. Some wounds were so deep they pierced through completely, leaving tunnels of gore from one side to the other.
The abdomen was a lattice of torn muscle and ruptured veins, the internal organs either flattened or half-visible, slipping through the gashes like raw, oozing meat. Her arms were twisted behind her, elbows bent the wrong way, bones protruding like cracked porcelain.
Brain matter was spilling from the back of her cracked skull, the bone fragments jagged like broken eggshells. Her lips were torn. Her nose was crushed. Blood ran in thick rivers down her neck and pooled beneath her like ink on soaked parchment.
And in the blood, there was a hairpin made of a butterfly in a gold color with half blood mixed on it hanging onto the string of hair that is filled with blood.
The face...
It was half intact.
There was a smile on the face with blood on it.
The left eye was missing, replaced by a ragged hole that bore straight into the skull. The other eye, wide open, stared into nothing. And yet Caelus recognized the corpse, and that is due to the eye, which resembles Uriel, and the butterfly hairpin, which she also wore, was the same.
Caelus fell to his knees, the world tilting, spinning.
"No..."
His breathing started to become ragged, and his perception started to become blurry as blood poured out of his nose.
[End of Chapter 7]