Still reeling from the shock the strange screen brought him the door creaked open, it jolted him. What had him more unsettled was how slow the door was being opened, whoever it was on the other end really wanted to either make him uncomfortable or wanted to make a nasty entrance.
But there was no one in the lord's mansion who would dare do that, all except one...
Standing there by the open door was a young girl with long purple hair and glowing purple eyes, she was much better dressed and looked more appealing than the day he first encountered her.
Her skin still looked pale and sickly but all her scars were gone, she looked little and adorable, Aerith had heard she never said more than what needed to be said while he was still recovering only that she was a major factor in his full recovery.
He heaved a sigh of relief as he waves at her, his hand groaned against such action. He hated that he had neglected his own health for a while now, all he did was lay on the bed and be fed.
"Hey there", Aerith said casually as he called her over. She peered at him, her expression something between disdain and something deeper. He waited for her to respond or say something but she did nothing but stand there. It went on so long he started to feel awkward and thought she might have died standing. "Say something will ya."
She finally broke free from her frozen state, she opened her mouth very slowly to speak only to end up closing it back up. This infuriated Aerith but he knew better than to get angry at the one responsible for his recovery, or more precisely the woman who had killed off a number of grown men and drank their blood like it was fruit punch.
She started to walk towards him rather slowly, her small form approaching him made remember how little and harmless she looked. She was putting up a really mature look which made him snicker at her, she stopped right next to him giving him an annoyed look.
Aerith saw a cute girl with a very adorable face and puffy cheeks, she looked like a doll than a blood thirsty-fruit-punch-drinking witch. He tried desperately to keep himself from laughing but that proved near impossible with the way she kept glaring at him.
"Why does she keep looking like that, it's so damn funny." He thought to himself.
He was biting his lower lip to keep himself from laughing. The water broke when she spoke, "I see you're fully recovered now." When her voice failed to match the stuck up expression she had on her face it finally made him lose it.
Aerith erupted in laughter, his voice reaching the four corners of the room. He laughed to his hearts content. The little witch looked up at him in annoyance, "And what do you find funny."
Before she could react, Aerith reached out and grabbed her puffy cheek. It felt extremely soft between his thumbs and fingers, like jelly. It was warm, almost melting between his fingers. The little witch frozen when he touched her cheeks, for a few seconds it felt like her brain had turned off but when her senses returned to her she yelled at him, well more like a loud squeak.
Aerith continued to caress her cheek till he felt his body free, unable to move for a few seconds. "What on earth just happened?" He thought. "Did she just freeze my body?"
A second later his body could move but the young with was now a few feet away from him. She looked extremely annoyed at him, her cheeks burned bright orange so he guessed she must have been really angry.
"Why did you do that, you pervert!" She squeaked again loudly. "Don't ever touch me again."
Aerith smiled inwardly as he slumped back down on his bed, "Don't tempt me with does adorable jelly cheeks then." He thought.
He appreciated the much needed distraction but now his mind was beginning to drift back to his earlier struggles. His strange ability and the penalties tied to it, but his little companion yet again pulled him out of his thoughts.
"I saved your life so we're even, but a thought has been bothering me." She spoke confidently.
Aerith's eyes now focused on her, his gaze softened and his voice thinned as he spoke. "I watched you die, how did you... Come back?"
She walked closer to the bed, her form sleek and well reversed. She looked to be no more than ten, he could not begin to imagine the horrors she must have went through before she ended up on the wooden cross that day. When she reached the bed the surprised him by actually climbing into it and sitting right next to him, she made sure to give him a warning glare and he got the message.
"Don't touch the cheek, got it." He told himself.
But it was easier said than done, looking at her puffy cheek flashing their flag with great pride. He had to look away to avoid the temptation.
He could feel a sudden tension rising in the air as he waited for to speak, he could feel her kicking the heel of her feet against the bed corner. He wondered if she was anxious to speak about how she died.
She sighed lightly before speaking in a low tone, "Yes, I did die. It's not the first time, my first time was with my father. He did not want a witch as a daughter. As long as there's enough blood in the area I can come back, so far."
For a while he could not give her a response, he could only ponder on what she had done. "God, what did they do to this girl." He argued to himself.
"Don't think it took much, I understand." He tried to comfort her but only received a heated slap in return. He hissed out at the sudden outburst.
"What do you mean by that? Its not like you've died before." She looked away from him, hands crossed in annoyance.
Aerith felt like he had received an arrow to the chest. "You have no idea girl, I was actually killed over a story. Pretty dumb way to go if you ask me." He told himself.
She kept her gaze everywhere except his face when she spoke. "Why did you help me, and don't give me some noble cause. You were a cripple, you had no chance. It's been bothering me thinking about that."
Now that was a good question, it had also bothered Aerith a lot. But the answer always changed every time. Not the young witch was staring directly at him, with her eyes only inches apart he could see the rings in her eyes, he could feel her breath on his face each time she exhaled.
It added to the already induced tension in the air. All he could do was stare at her curious eyes, that searched for an answer in him.
He loud out a breath of hot air on her face as he spoke, "If it told you I know why I helped you I'd be lying." With every word he spoke he balled his hands into fists, just recalling what went down that day made him mad. He clenched his jaw as he spoke further.
"There was a lot going on then, I guess I just acted what I thought was right."
The young witch gnashed her teeth, and pulled him closer by the collar, her eyes started to emit purple sparks. She shed the image of a defenceless little girl in that instant and looked like a wild animal, it was no wonder those men saw her as a monster.
"I don't want that crap, I want an answer here and now." She said under gritted teeth.
In one moment his heart started to beat rapidly, was he anxious or confused. In truth he was neither and he knew it, he knew the answer all along and he refused to acknowledge it. Staring directly at her eyes she had the same look as back then, they called her a monster, a spawn of the devil, a witch but her eyes told a different story.
He could feel her chest heaving, he could feel her heartbeat, he could tell how fast it was beating. Because his heart had been beating the same way back then.
A moment later he spoke, low and clear enough for her to hear and understand him. "Why did I help a stranger when I was just a walking bag of bones waiting to crumble? It's because I was afraid.
"I saw the look in your eyes. It was afraid, I don't know if you needed someone but I know I was not that person. All I know was that I understood how you felt then and there, and you want to know how I knew that?"
She said almost breathless, "Yess."
Aerith replied her, "Because I felt the same thing then and there, I was afraid for you. So what if you're a witch, you're just a child." He tried to catch his breath as he finished speaking. "After I saw your eyes, I could not look away."
She stayed there breathing heavily, bathing him in warm air. He saw her eyes tremble in their sockets, the same feeling from that night was still there but it grew warmer. They locked eyes with each other for seconds, the curtains flapped against the wind, the world grew more quiet as if listening in on them.
The witch girl pulled away slowly, her face burning bright orange once more. She hid her face from him and said nonchalantly. "I thought you would say you were the devil or something."
Tha took Aerith by surprise, he nearly gasoed. "Oh really, that part was just me saying what came to mind."
She shrugged indifferent. "Still, I'm not impressed."
Aerith smiled as he leaned in closer. "Can I?"
She glared at him. "Don't even dare."
He smiled even more as he reached out to grab her cheeks, his fingers melted in them but she ended up paralysing him again. Aerith was more grateful than anything that she was safe.
It was ironic that she was the first reason he had felt happiness in this new life despite the circumstances at which they had met.