Zeice remained seated within the confines of his seventh universe, his thoughts lingering on the words he had just spoken.
His three companions had long since departed, vanishing into the symphony of raindrops that drummed against the earth.
Daniella, who had been quietly listening near the edge of Zeice's world, stepped closer and settled herself before him once more.
"Your command of language… it's extraordinary. You truly embody the spirit of a literature student," she remarked, her voice carrying a note of admiration.
Zeice inclined his head in gratitude, "And you too…" he began, his words trailing off.
A glimmer of curiosity flickered in Daniella's eyes as she searched his face.
"Me?" she prompted, eager to unravel the meaning beneath his words.
He nodded, a faint smile curving his lips, "Your ears… they are remarkably keen," he replied.
A soft laugh escaped her, "I'm thankful they still serve me well."
Sensing it was time to depart, Zeice stirred, his voice low and deliberate, "Everything… Four…"
Daniella's response came swiftly, yet enigmatically. "Nothing."
A shadow of perplexity crossed his face, "Hm?" he murmured, as though the weight of her words eluded him.
With a gentle nod, her expression softened into something deeper, an emotion unspoken yet palpable.
"For my love, I would give my life," she said quietly, before rising and making her way back to the cashier's desk.
For a moment, Zeice lingered, her words echoing within him like a distant melody.
Then, with a breath drawn deep, he rose and stepped beyond the borders of his universe.
Each footfall carried him into the embrace of the rain, now falling heavier, until he was but a shadow dissolving into the trembling heart of Zonner.
From behind the misted glass, Daniella's gaze lingered on the retreating figure of Zeice, growing ever smaller, swallowed inch by inch by the thick, restless shroud of rain.
His outline wavered, a shadow dissolving into the grey embrace of the storm, until nothing remained but the echo of his presence against the trembling earth.
"Love...
"A fragile bird with broken wings..."
"Half-soaring, half-fallen, caught between sky and earth..."
"Your right wing, a testament to the struggles you've borne..."
"Yet the left, an echo of what is still missing, still unsaid..."
"You, who have walked through twenty-four moons of silent ache..."
"And I, through the same stretch of time, chasing a hope that refuses to fade..."
"We are but two halves of a forgotten dream..."
"Drifting, waiting, for the wind to carry us whole..."
Tears welled in Daniella's eyes, slipping free and tracing fragile paths down her pale cheeks.
Cheeks tinged with a natural blush, soft and untouched since the day she was born.
"I linger still…"
"Though the hours grow heavy and the night forgets my name..."
"Though the cold fingers of fate draw nearer, brushing against a heart that once dared to hope..."
"What am I, but a shadow in the wake of your memory? A fleeting breath, lost in the spaces where your touch no longer lingers..."
"Yet, if mercy lives within your heart, if even a fragment of tenderness remains, let it fall upon me..."
"Not as a flame, burning bright and cruel, but as a whisper… soft and unseen..."
"Let me be held, if only once, in the warmth you gave so freely to her..."
And then Daniella....
THUD!!!
"Blimey, What was that?!!"
"What the...!!!"
"Daniella... Daniella..."
"Can you hear me... Daniella..."
"Tracy... Call an ambulance, quickly...!!!"
*****
The incident that had befallen Daniella stirred unease among all the staff at Drost Café, but none felt it as deeply as Tracy, whose soul seemed to be struck by an unseen storm, shaking her to the core.
A foreboding sensation gnawed at her heart, like a fierce wind carrying ominous whispers of an unavoidable fate.
Without wasting another moment, Tracy felt an urgent need to contact Zeice, though she had no idea how.
The young man who, only moments ago, had sat with Daniella in the Seventh Universe, the man who, in some inexplicable way, seemed to hold sway over every beat of Daniella's heart.
Tracy rushed to the cashier's desk, her fingers dancing across the phone screen, searching through the café's system for any trace of him.
The customer records revealed a sequence of numbers belonging to Zeice, as though fate itself had left a hidden clue for her to find.
Zeice, an enigmatic figure etched into the café's collective memory, frequented the place often, coming and going like a shadow that lingered long after his departure.
With trembling hands, Tracy clutched the calling device, as though it were a vessel of hope she had to deliver without delay.
And with a single tap, the string of numbers connected across the airwaves.
Daniella, limp and motionless, gave Tracy no chance to quell the rising panic that gnawed at her nerves.
For a brief moment, she stood still, her gaze fixed on Daniella's unmoving form, as though time itself had ground to a halt.
The air around them was eerily silent, as if even the wind dared not whisper.
Only the sound of Tracy's pounding heartbeat echoed in her chest, a relentless drumbeat of fear and urgency.
She closed her eyes, struggling to steady herself, to find the words she would need to anchor Zeice to this moment.
"Please, let him answer," she whispered to herself, her hope suspended in the stillness.
With anxiety coursing through her veins, her eyes remained locked on the screen, willing the call to connect.
Each drop of rain that fell outside felt heavier, a chilling reminder that she might already be too late.
As the ringing filled the air, all Tracy could do was pray, pray that this time, her voice would reach Zeice, and that she could make him understand the urgency of Daniella's fading strength.
At the edge of the storm, Zeice's small device rang softly, but his body had already moved far beyond the café, his steps quickening as he was swept away by the relentless downpour.
His pace grew faster, as if carried by the tide of thoughts swirling within, a torrent of unresolved burdens pressing against his mind.
The device buzzed again inside his pocket, vibrating insistently, yet no sound seemed to pierce the veil of his distraction.
Zeice remained trapped within a world far larger than the faint ring of an electronic call.
Back at the café, Tracy, unaware that her voice had yet to reach him, kept calling, again and again, as though sheer persistence might bridge the ever-growing distance between them.
"Zeice… please, hear this…" she murmured softly, her voice a fragile whisper laden with hope.
At last, the device connected across the invisible airwaves, and from the other end, a quiet but firm voice emerged.
"Whose number is this?"
Tracy drew a deep breath, gathering her courage, "It's Tracy… from Drost Café. Something's happened to Daniella…"
A brief silence stretched between them before Zeice spoke again. His voice, though calm, held a trace of concern.
"Daniella? What happened to her?"
Tracy bit her lip, unsure where to begin, "She… she suddenly collapsed, Zeice."
"We're all panicking. I've called for an ambulance, but… I thought you should know first. She's unconscious."
Zeice fell silent, absorbing her words. When he spoke again, there was an edge to his voice, a tremor of unease.
"Daniella… unconscious?" His tone grew heavier, the weight of his worry seeping through. "What exactly happened?"
Tracy exhaled shakily, struggling to maintain composure as fear gnawed at the edges of her heart.
"I'm not sure, Zeice. All I know is… she just collapsed out of nowhere. Something feels wrong, terribly wrong."
He drew a long breath, his voice quieter but laced with urgency.
"I was just leaving," he said, as if speaking more to himself. Then, after a pause, "What… what should I do?"
"Zeice, please come quickly," Tracy pleaded, the strain in her voice barely concealed. "I'm scared… scared something worse might happen. You know how much she means to all of us, but especially to you."
A beat passed before Zeice responded, his words steadied by a resolve that belied the turmoil within.
"Alright, Tracy. I'm on my way." His voice hardened with determination. "Get her to the hospital. I'll be there as soon as I can."
The call ended, leaving behind a myriad of unanswered questions.
"Who was that, Zeice?" Fleurine asked the moment the connection was severed from the airwaves.
"Tracy," Zeice replied curtly. "Her friend, Daniella… she's not doing well," he added, his voice heavy with unease.
"Daniella...? The cashier at Drost Café?" Fleurine pressed, her curiosity piqued.
Zeice gave a hesitant nod, "She collapsed… just like that."
Fleurine fixed her gaze on him, a glimmer of suspicion flickering beneath her delicate features.
"And what does that have to do with you?" she asked, her tone edged with something unspoken.
Zeice turned his head away, hoping to dissolve any misunderstanding brewing in the heart of the woman before him.
"The same thing… that binds you to me," he answered softly.
Fleurine drew a deep breath, struggling to extinguish the flames of jealousy that burned fiercely within her.
After a brief pause, she spoke again, her voice calm, yet laced with an undeniable weight.
"Go to her. Pray that fate does not steal her away from this world. Hold on to her soul… before regret finds its way to you."
Zeice listened, absorbing every syllable as they fell from Fleurine's lips, words that echoed far deeper than their sound.
"Fleurine… you…"