MILAINE'S POV
In the darkness, I felt at peace. A warmth that was different from the scorching heat that always follows me when I use the flames. The sun rises over the window, casting golden light across the room. I look at the fertile fields where people are working. Birds chirp in the distance, and a gentle breeze carries the scent of flowers and nature.
'What? Wasn't I in Vulkris? I don't—' A door slams open to the room. A little girl with long blonde straight hair appears. She was wearing a small cyan blue blouse and a white skirt that covered down to her feet. The girl runs toward the room, jumping and dodging a couple of toys that were on the floor, landing on the bed. The girl crawls to me and hugs me.
"Mommy! Daddy made breakfast! Come on, wake up!" The girl with emerald green eyes smiles at me with her pinkish cheeks. "Mooooom, hurryyyyy!" she pokes my face as she waves her little feet against my thighs.
'No, not again. Why does this dream happen again?' I hugged the little girl, my daughter, my little Dami, against my body. The tears left my eyes, and I held her tightly in my arms, not wanting to let her go. Not again. "O-okay, honey, I'm going, okay? Go tell your dad, yes?" I bit my lips and did my best to try to smile as the tears fell from my eyes.
"Mom? Why are you crying?" she said, mimicking my face. I smiled at her and wiped the water from my eyes.
"I'm not crying. I just remembered something funny. See?" I lied. "Now go with your dad, okay, Dami?" I said as I caressed her hair. "I'll change and I'll go, okay?"
Dami looked at me with her big eyes, now mimicking my smile, and then nodded. "Okay!" She started to free herself from my arms. But my body betrayed me, and I instinctively held her, not wanting her to leave. There in the light where the golden rays of the sun hit her small, beautiful face, her eyes glowed. She shines. Like a flame.
"Mom?" she asked me, tilting her head with confusion.
"You have something in your hair. Let me take it off for you," I lied again as I put my hand on her hair, caressing her blonde hair one more time before finally letting her go.
She touched her hair multiple times, checking if something was there. She made a serious face as her cheeks inflated. Finally, she nodded to herself with a triumphant smile. Then she jumped from the bed and ran laughing as she jumped again, dodging her toys on the floor. She was playing with them last night. I forgot to save them.
I couldn't help but smile looking at my girl running and laughing. But when she left, the warmth of my body disappeared. I sat on the bed for a couple of seconds. Then I grabbed the pillow and screamed with all my might, burying my cries and gasps in it. After I didn't have anything left and my voice was hoarse, I stood up from bed, already knowing what comes next.
I left the room and walked through the manor's hallways. This was one of the rewards my husband and I had earned through sweat and blood. Passing the windows, I gazed out at the green fields as the sun rose over the horizon. 'Ah… I missed this view,' I thought, before stepping into the kitchen.
There he was. Tall, with long and loosely tied brown hair, wearing a white linen shirt, loose at the sleeves, open at the chest, framing the lines of a lean body, right next to the stove reading the recipe book I had gifted him yesterday. At his side, the pan was simmering, tomato sauce bubbling with three eggs resting in there.
He didn't notice me. Not until Dami saw me and tapped her cutlery on the table, calling me. "Mommy!"
He looked at me with his green eyes, the same as my daughter's and smiled.
"Leo," I whispered.
"Morning, Milly. I bet you don't know what I cooked," he said as he turned off the pan. "It's from the recipe book you gifted me. Try to guess."
I bit my lips as I forced a smile. "Shakshuka," I said, already knowing how he loved anything from Earth.
"No way, how did you—? Wait, Milly, are you crying?" He quickly turned off the pan and grabbed me in his arms. "Hey, what's wrong? Your eyes are red... Don't tell me... another nightmare?" he asked as he lifted my chin.
"I... I..." I couldn't speak. I didn't want this to finish. Not yet. Leo, who was holding me with his forehead against mine, suddenly raised his head and looked at the window of the kitchen.
"We gotta go, NOW!" he said, quickly rushing to Dami, raising her in his arms.
"Dad?" Dami asked as Leo grabbed two swords and handed me one before breaking the wall of our manor with a kick, revealing the fields.
"MILAINE!" he yelled at me, but I didn't move. I just smiled at the sight of him and Dami. When he saw me, he stopped, then looked at Dami, then again at me. "What is it this time?" he asked. He knew. He always knew.
"The whole planet," I broke into tears and held my heart as I knelt. "It's because we quit, Leo." He put down Dami and walked close to me, kneeling.
"So, how many times?" he asked me as he took my hands. "How many times did you live this, Milly?"
"I-I don't know," I started hyperventilating. "E-every time—I-It's the same w-when we quit." He hugged me, and I buried my face in his neck, not being able to breathe.
"L-Leo... W-we can't quit," I said as I noticed how the fields started to collapse in the distance. The world started to crumble.
"Then we stop quitting. We go and finish this stupid game. Okay?" He looked at me straight in the eyes. Dami also walked to us, she didn't understand what was going on, but she understood the danger. She tried to hide in our embrace as the manor started to crumble.
I took a huge breath, then looked at him and kissed him, I left my soul in that kiss. Then I looked at Dami and caressed her hair. "Don't worry, sweetie, everything will be okay. We will meet again, just the three of us. I promise." And as I whispered to both of them:
"Milaine, wake up," a voice said before everything became black.
[The effect of your Flaw: Immortal has ended]
"MILAINE, PLEASE WAKE UP!"
As I opened my eyes, I noticed Livia was yelling at me, her face contorted with tears. I also noticed that my field of vision was reduced. I felt an abnormal pain throughout my body, but especially in my head and my right arm. 'Right, Vulkris.'
[The Innate Ability: Willpower has evolved]
I moved my right hand, but stopped. I didn't feel anything. I moved my head and noticed that my arm was not there. 'Right, Vulkris,' I thought as I moved my left hand toward where my shoulder should be, closer to my clavicles.
[The effect of your Gift: Flame has changed to healing]
I clenched my teeth as I seared the wound shut. The pain of the flame was the worst of all, but at least it drowned out the pain everywhere else.
Livia gasped and let out a genuine smile of relief. "You are alive!" she said before looking behind her, then looking at me again. "Let me help you. Leo—" I shook my head.
"The worm," I rasped, my voice hoarse as I forced myself up, only to realize my body was worse than I'd thought when a trickle of blood slid down my face. I pressed my hand to the hollow where my eye should have been."Help me get there."
Livia glanced behind her. That's when I noticed Eleonora, lying near the worm, probably dead. Livia grabbed me and helped me walk. She said something, but my mind was not there. I couldn't comprehend what she was saying and just focused on getting to the worm. When we arrived close to Eleonora, Livia tried to make me kneel, maybe to heal her. But I just ignored her and walked wobbling to the worm.
When I arrived at the massive worm, I dropped to my knees clutching one of its rings. I lifted my head, parted my lips, and sank my teeth into it. Then I started biting and chewing it. Devouring it.
[Your Gift is evolving]