Light

Raziel seemed to be bothered by never-ending nightmares.

His nightmares were eternal torture. He was living a life that had the same ending.

Death.

In every single one, no matter what he did, it all had the same outcome. He would fall into the same dark abyss and never see the light of day, time seemed to flow differently, minutes felt like days, days felt like weeks, weeks felt like months, months felt like years.

Each time he fell into the abyss, he could feel something disappear within him. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it was something important to him. He struggled, fought back, only to keep failing over and over again.

"Why...?" Raziel spoke. He couldn't see anything, he couldn't hear anything, but he knew that he was talking, or at least he thought he was.

The abyss was mysterious. It made him doubt his actions, whether he was actually doing it or not.

Raziel could feel another nightmare creeping into his mind, forcing him to re-live that wretched scene of his falling again and again. He didn't want to, but he knew there was nothing he could do.

"Alice... who...?"

It was the last words he muttered before he was consumed into the darkness of his consciousness.

"Wake up."

"Mmm..."

Raziel could feel someone tugging on his shoulder, he groaned in discomfort as his eyes slowly fluttered open. The light from the sun immediately blinded him, making him swiftly cover his eyes in pain.

"You're finally awake," he heard a familiar yet unfamiliar voice behind him.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, staring into the figure of the person. He didn't know whether it was his vision or something else, but to him, the figure was shining, just like the sun.

"Beautiful," he unconsciously mouthed.

In front of him was a young girl that seemed to be around the same age as he was. Her fair skin seemingly reflecting the light coming from the sun, her pink hair flowing freely from the wind, with glowing red eyes captivated Raziel almost immediately.

The girl looked at him with apathetic eyes, seemingly emotionless, but her expression was of curiosity.

"Who are you? How did you end up in the river?"

Her voice was somewhat monotone, but it sounded pleasant to his ears.

"I'm Raziel. I was fighting a magic beast and fell into a deep abyss, that was the last thing I remember after I fell..." Raziel rubbed his head in discomfort.

"Something's wrong," he thought.

The young girl eyed him with even greater curiosity. "Why did you fight a magic beast? And how could you survive something like that?"

Her tone changed from monotone to skepticism. No one would believe that a child around her age had the ability to kill a magic beast.

Hearing her question, the former's lost expression immediately turned into a prideful one.

"I'm the most talented swordsman in my village," he explained, seemingly oblivious to the fact that a big grin had appeared on his face, seemingly shouting the word "ego."

"Oh, please," she obviously didn't believe a word he said. "What village are you from?"

"I'm from the village of-" Raziel paused midway his sentence and started to quiver on the spot.

"Are you... are you alright?" The young girl looked at him worriedly.

Raziel raised his head and stared at the blue sky with tears emanating from his eyes.

"I can't remember where I came from, or anyone from there."

...

"Are you sure you don't remember where you came from and your previous companions?" The young girl asked.

"No matter how much I try to remember, I don't recall anything."

Raziel sat in the same spot, pondering for hours, trying to recall anything from his memories, only to get the same answer over and over.

Nothing. There was absolutely nothing he could remember. He knew there was something, but no matter what he did, he couldn't remember. He didn't know if he had any family or friends, a place to call home.

He silently sulked on the riverside, the disposition opposite of his attitude earlier.

Raziel didn't have the energy to be as cheerful as he was earlier, knowing that he had missing memories didn't exactly help either.

The pink-haired girl stayed with him instead of leaving which confused him. What kind of young girl is bored enough to watch him stare at the skies for hours?

"Don't you have friends or a family to go back to? Why are you still here?" Raziel asked, seemingly highlighting the words "friends and family."

"I don't have any friends. And my family is in a place far, far away," she replied.

Raziel immediately felt awkward and in the end, could only give out a small "oh."

"Hey, I just realized I've never asked for your name," said Raziel.

The former took an unnoticeable peek at him and spoke, "I'm Tsukasa. Tsukasa Tsukuyomi."

Raziel smiled for the first time in hours. "You have a beautiful name. Thank you for saving me as well."

Tsukasa noticeably blushed from the compliment as she looked straight into his eyes.

"If you want to thank me for saving you..." Tsukasa paused for a moment and continued, "Then how about you marry me someday?"

Tsukasa looked at him with a mischievous smile on her face, her eyes seemingly glowing.

Raziel thought she was joking, laughed, and immediately accepted. "Sure, I'll marry you someday!"

"Swoosh!"

A red thread permeated the air and was sanctioned into both Tsukasa and Raziel's chest, connecting and disappearing at the same time.

<Heart Link Connected!>

<Raziel Auserwalt and Tsukasa Tsukuyomi>

"Y-you have a source?" Tsukasa stared at Raziel in shock.

"I do?" Raziel scratched his head in confusion. Did he also forget that he had a rune orb?

Seeing his confused expression, she immediately knew what was going on and gave a short sigh.

Then her eyes widened in surprise and shock as she stared at Raziel. She muttered a few words Raziel couldn't hear but the last part.

"This must be fate..."

"Hey, Tsukasa," he successfully garnered her attention and continued, "What's a heart link?"

"It's the sign of our marriage," she mischievously smiled.

"Eh?"

...

A year later.

"Tsukasa! Hurry up, we're gonna be late!"

"Coming, dear!"

During the year that they were together, Raziel and Tsukasa were mostly only building up their relationship. They wanted to know more about each other, but Tsukasa seemed unwilling to discuss her past and family, while Raziel had lost a part of his memories, making it even more awkward between them.

He felt that it was a little strange that she accepted their "childish" relationship so easily, but he didn't see anything wrong with this fast-paced budding romance of theirs. It was quite interesting to see children having such a serious relationship, albeit a bit strange.

He'd find out she had been living by herself in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere for quite a while since they first met. She was a talented mage, especially in the element of water, easily able to cast small spells and heal with them.

"Tsukasa, are you ready?" The two were getting ready to head towards a nearby town for supplies. It was a monthly chore for Raziel, but Tsukasa had wanted to come with him this time.

The town nearby was small and simple. At first, when Raziel and Tsukasa had visited it, many had thought that their relationship was somewhat comedic.

For two young children to be out there all alone, some tried to adopt them or asked to live with them, obviously, both of them decided to stick together and stay in their home.

Tsukasa brushed her hair sideways and gave a gentle smile. "You don't have to worry so much, dear. I'm sure we'll get there in time."

Raziel looked at her with a wide smile plastered on his face. His partner had matured in the physical, emotional, and psychological sense.

Her extraordinary beauty had matured over the year they were together, her monotone personality when they first met was just a mere facade, hiding beneath it was a shy and curious girl. Sometimes, Raziel felt like he was relying on her too much.

"I guess you're right," he sighed. "But still, we should arrive there early."

"Let's head off then," Tsukasa adjusted the hem of her dress and nodded in agreement.

"Off we go!"