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——She was sitting directly over him, her face completely frozen in shock. Her clear gray moonstone eyes grew clouded as they stared directly into his deep, vast blue irises that held an hourglass-like pupil. Her own eyes wide and trembling as if she were looking at a ghost. The silence in the empty room stretched on for what felt like minutes but in reality only lasted a couple seconds.
"Veyle are you okay—?"
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『 The savior had completely disappeared—— 』
"Does your head still hurt really, reaally badly——?" She stammered out in a concerned flutter.
『 ——Entirely so 』
『 ——There was no longer any proof of that savior left to protect that person. The hero had vanished from the girl's world and the only dim light keeping the boy from drowning had completely diminished. There was not even that of a slim chance of those saviors still being alive buried deep within the people who sat ahead of eachother 』
"Did the attack——" she paused for that of a singular moment, as her tone softened into a plea "——did that Eris knight really hit your head that hard back then? You know why I wanted to hear your voice first, yeah? You ha—" Maia's voice raised in pitch for that of a singular moment, voice cracking as if she was being hit with a punch to the chest. "—ave to know——"
"I—I——" Veyle was frozen to the bone, as his vast blue eyes watched a single unperceivable crack form on her very soul.
——It was an unforeseeable crack.
——A crack that only appeared deep within the sanctuary of her own ■.
——The quiet stretched on endlessly forever. And yet he wanted to reach out, to soothe the crack that lay bare across her entire soul.
——But he was nothing but an intruder standing amidst beautiful rubble of life that didn't belong to himself. And the more he stared into those clouded eyes——
——The more the singular crack began to spread outward.
"Do you really, truly, not remember——?" she whispered out. With a voice so soft, it fully melted his ■. Tears almost fully veiled her cloudy eyes, but in retaliation she blinked many times. Holding in and pushing against the tears as she bit her lip. "——The night you broke through those huge and towering gates. You took my hand and stole me away from that life I never wished for in the slightest, from that awful father who set up a marriage without informing me, away from my caring sisters too. You came in like my absolute knight in shining armour. Sat atop that stray Forefallen, one that you insisted was a massive struggle to catch at that moment's notice, whilst laughing endlessly." She leaned in closer, the sweet and creamy scent of her mixing with the second one of blood within that room they layed within. "So do you seriously not remember what you said to me——?"
"I said your voice was the only thing that was calming in that moment. But do you truly not remember——?!" Looking at her like this, trying to stay strong whilst on the verge of tears, his heart twisted in the pain of such called agony.
And as such, The final sense had awakened——
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☆☆『 ——Really? Because the only thing that's keeping me like this is your voice—— 』★★
『 ——I promise I will always be there for you, and if it calms you that much whenever anything is too scary, just hold on tight and listen closely for me. I'll always answer to you my lady~ Oof feels weird saying that when you're normally the one princess carrying me 』
Sitting on the back of a creature as such——
The girl's face was coloured a deep and bright red as she let out that of a light chuckle––
★★ 『 Ahh, is that so——? 』☆
——Such a unique creature that hadn't been given a name within that person's fragile memory
『 Yeah, of course it's right——!! I think everyone will still love you half as much as I do.. from me to you consider this a promise. We'll have destiny be our witness for it. The rest of everyone else have worked so hard and pushed so far beyond their limits just for me, so it's my turn to pick up the slack and make a little wager too—— 』
A creature of such speed, that the world outside turned into nothing but a mere singular unrememberable and unimportant frame.
『 ——This Promise will be my wager with fate——!! 』
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Veyle's mind was racing impossibly at seven thousand miles per hour. For this was a romantic memory belonging to a man, whom of which was no longer in control of his own body, and yet despite that——
——it didn't feel anything like a memory at all. Rather it could be called closer to that of being placed within someone elses memory as if he was physically there. The most accurate depiction Veyle could think of was a vision, a vision of another man's memory. One whose body he had accidentally stolen in his bottomless greed for death.
『 ——a script had been handed to him on a silver platter. 』
He had to say something. He had to say anything. He had to do whatever it took to fix this right here and now.
『 All he had to do was repeat the phrase. Recite the exact words that were currently playing throughout his stolen brain. 』
「 I'll always answer to you 」
If he spoke those words as such, the cracks in her clouded eyes would stop. The crack in her heart would heal over, sealing away the ugly beneath an even uglier lie. He could play the part of her knight in shining armour. He could bask in the love meant for 『 someone else 』a love he had deeply craved while sinking into the deep, deep, deep dark..
——And yet Veyle Othuris was a witness to their destiny.
——he was the audience.
——a role not even close to that of the lead. Fitting his role as such, his empathy refused to let him steal a man's name in his current situation. That would be a vile move, one of which only that of an unredeemable human being would pull.
"H-huh——!?" Veyle's eyes flew open vide as goosebumps crawled up across his entire back, for he had let out a gasp full of nothing but panic. His hands flew upward to grab at his throat as tears broke free from the corners of his vast blue eyes, as if a wild animal escaping from the cage of captivity. falling down his cheeks as he lightly shook in a sudden fright caused from being placed within anothers memory causing an intense overstimulation.
「 Why... 」
"V-Veyle——?!" Maia squeaked out. Her hands moving to pat his back quickly, in a motion that was as if she was scared to lose him. "Veyle, Please, just breathe——"
「 Why are you being so nice to me.. 」
Veyle couldn't see her, the beauty of her face was blocked by that of the tears that filled his eyes to the very brim. "Hk——" Veyle's throat scratched, forcing a cough to pass throughout the entire room as he cleared his throat against the insufferable burning. "I.. don't remember that, sorry——" Veyle stated softly.
「 ——I don't get it. 」
Nothing followed his words as that of a dead silence had stretched on endlessly for many moments. Her deep moonstone eyes fully focused on his face, the star pupils within them shaking not so violently as before as she stared into his vast blue eyes. "——Enough about that, focus on breathing, okay?"
「 I told you that I don't remember his memories. The man who wagered his destiny for your ears.. he's missing, Dead, Lost, Bleeding, Buried, Drowning, Falling, Empty... gone. So why—— 」
"There, there.. just stay steady——" Maia whispered as such. Her voice much calmer now... "——Don't force yourself to talk. Don't look at me if it makes your head hurt. Just focus on my hands." ——And then, the space in-between those two people who cared for eachother as so, had completely vanished, as if that of a magician pulled the space away into their hat.
Maia did not pull back from the stranger occupying her savior's body. Rather, instead, she moved behind him. For she brought her front and pressed it as such against his spine.
——It was a warmth that felt completely unearned.
——A place of peace built for dead man.
Her arms slowly wrapped tightly around his chest to pull him backward into the light known only as herself. For the sweet and creamy scent of her completely drowned out the smell of blood that rested within that of the air that occupied the room they lay snuggled up together in. She brought him close, fully burying her face into his neck. She was holding the pieces of his life together, touch completely empty of any malice.. something he hadn't come accustomed towards. Her hands resting on that of his chest to feel the beat of his heart. Her touch stayed delicate as if she was pulling the parasite deeper into the body of where he did not belong.
——and yet...
"I've got you.." she whispered softly against his neck. "I've got you. So just listen to my voice.. this one time."
「 ——Why... does it feel so warm.. 」