It started with a sneeze.
A soft, innocent sneeze during morning class, followed by a sniffle and a faint flush on Lysia's cheeks.
"Bless you," Caelum whispered, handing her his handkerchief.
"I'm okay," she said, trying to smile.
But by lunchtime, her head was drooping against her desk. Her voice had grown raspy. Her eyes unfocused.
The teacher noticed first.
"Lysia, sweetie," Miss Aluna said gently, placing a cool hand on her forehead. "You have a fever."
Sent Home
By noon, her mother had arrived to pick her up.
Lysia didn't protest.She could barely stand.
As she was being guided out, she paused at the door.
Her eyes found Caelum.
She raised her pinky in the air, wobbly and slow.
"Wait for me…"
He nodded.
"I always do."
Then she disappeared down the hallway, pale and trembling.
Caelum's Fear
The rest of the school day passed in a haze.
He didn't speak.Didn't eat.Didn't write a single word in his notebook.
Because his thoughts kept spiraling.
She said she'd be fine last time, too…
And then she died.
No.
No.
This world was different.
He'd made sure of it.
But still…
Still, his chest ached like the first crack in a glass heart.
The Visit
That evening, against all expectations, he knocked on her front door.
He held a small tray: warm soup his mother helped him make, a wet towel folded in a wooden bowl, and a tiny charm necklace shaped like a rabbit.
Lysia's mother blinked in surprise.Then smiled. Softly.
"She's resting… but I think she'll be happy to see you."
The Sickroom
Her room smelled like mint and honey.
Lysia lay under soft quilts, cheeks flushed and hair damp with sweat. Her stuffed animals were gathered around her like silent guards.
She opened her eyes when he stepped in.
"Cael…"
"Don't talk," he whispered. "Just rest."
She tried to smile. Failed.
He knelt beside her, wiped her forehead gently, and placed the soup on the nightstand.
Then, reaching into his pocket, he pulled out something else:
A charm made of braided string and bits of glass — crude, but carefully tied.
"For you," he said. "To keep bad dreams away."
Her fingers curled around it slowly.
"Thank you…"
The Lullaby
She drifted in and out of sleep.
At one point, her breathing became uneven.She whimpered softly, clutching her pillow.
Without thinking, Caelum reached out.
And then—he began to hum.
A melody.
Soft.
Familiar.
A lullaby she once sang in another life.
And as he hummed, something… shifted.
Her fingers relaxed.
Her breathing steadied.
She smiled in her sleep.
And whispered, eyes closed:
"...I know this song…"
His heart stopped.
Tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.
He kept humming.
His Vow
That night, long after she fell asleep, Caelum sat by her bed.
The system pinged him.He ignored it.
Because she was warm.
Alive.
Breathing.
And he realized something terrifying:
Even in this world…Even with all his power…He was still afraid of losing her.
He leaned forward.
Pressed his forehead gently to her hand.
And whispered:
"Even if this world ends…Even if time burns again…I won't let go.Not ever.Not this time."
System Log — Memory Connection Spiking
[GENESIS CORE SYSTEM – OBSERVER MODE]— Emotional Event: Illness / Proximity / Music— Memory Trigger: [Lullaby Recognition ↑↑]— Subject LYSIA GREY: Fragmented Recall Detected— Soul Synchronization: 6.9%— Alert: Dream Memory Integration Possible Within Next 2 Events
"Creator… she is beginning to remember you."