88 Warmth after a long time
In the moonlit night, her deep, dark purple irises— that were lighter on the outside, but turned a deep bluish-purple shade near the pupils—stared blankly at the moon. Her eyes held a certain melancholy and yet simultaneously there was a stark absence of emotions in them as she silently watched the moon. Her partially submerged hair floated in the water, floating away from her, creating a rather fascinating picture.
It was a sight truly worthy of a portrait. I felt a deep desire to capture it, but having nothing like a camera on my person, I could only watch with my own eyes, saving it in my memory.
And as she continued to stare at the moon, I continued to stare at her.
Seeing her like this aroused a plethora of emotions in me, but the most prominent one I felt was… lust.
I quickly shook that thought away, not wanting my desires to take hold of me right now. Instead, I directed the feelings as a heartfelt mental compliment.
'Gorgeous is the right word for someone like her. Even in such a state, she looks stunning.'
[A melancholic beauty indeed. I completely understand your wish to paint or capture this scene.]
'Yeah… But I am going to disrupt it though. In the end…'
I kept watching the still girl.
'… it's only beautiful on the outside. The dark and unfortunate story behind the beautiful girl is too sad.'
I shook my head, shoving aside the grim thoughts, and started walking towards a boulder on the side, waiting for her to be done and enjoying the eye candy— I mean, to give her just a little bit more time… under my completely normal and attentive eyes.
Seeing her like this, and remembering her situation back in that cell, my determination had been reignited.
'I'll give you a better life this time, Aurora. You won't live a sad life in this world… Not when I am here.'
Though my reasons may not have been as pure-hearted and honest, in the end, I decided it didn't matter. The end result would be a better life for Aurora, and I'd get to have her as a partner in my quest and maybe more in the future… Hopefully more in the future.
Yes, it was a win-win for both of us.
"Aurora."
I called out, disturbing her moment.
***
[Aurora's POV]
She stared at the black-clad knight, trying to think back to the events when she first met him.
From him freeing her to helping her when she was completely and utterly helpless. He carried her in her most vulnerable state and saved her from being consumed by the monster she had become.
Her mind might have been hazy, but she had collected a few moments from the recent past. And in them, he seemed to be the only good thing to have occurred. The only one who came to her. The one who finally helped her.
"How are you feeling? Does it hurt anywhere? Or do you feel uncomfortable?"
His voice was youthful and caring, unlike the deep voice she had first heard. And his voice showed a hint of melancholy she couldn't quite understand.
She couldn't tell if it was because of her state or not, because she wasn't quite sure what state she was in herself.
"I… am okay. It doesn't hurt."
Indeed, it didn't hurt. Her body seemed fine. On the outside. But something was off and she couldn't understand what. It was as if a dam had been erected to hold back her emotions. But it was still not easily contained. The water had risen and threatened to break free. And yet the dam still held on. Barely.
"Good. Can you think properly?"
He questioned and she knew she couldn't. So, she replied honestly.
"No."
Her voice was no longer sounding coarse, but it still came off as a bit raspy.
"I see… It's because of the ring you're wearing. It removes the effects of mental corruption due to your magic's side effects. In your case, it had spread a bit too much. So, it might have such… extreme effects for the time being. Anyway, it'll take a little while for you to… well, fully get back to normal. But you will. Trust me."
He seemed distracted for some reason, but she couldn't quite tell what. He finally became normal when she asked him.
"Why did you help me? And… Who are you?"
Though her emotions and feelings were suppressed, her curiosity wasn't. She wanted to know.
So, in her limited state, she had asked the knight.
"My name is… Hans. Hans Theodore. I'm an adventurer by profession. Please don't ask me how I came to help you, because it's a complicated matter and I'll tell you some other time. But I couldn't just leave you there when I found you in that state. Regardless, now you're free. So, I must ask back."
She saw him still for a moment before he spoke again.
"What do you want to do now?"
"…"
She tried to think, but when she did, her thoughts tried to go back to something dreadful, only to be suppressed again. She looked at the source of it, the ring. Then she looked back at the knight.
In the end, she couldn't think of anything.
"I… don't know."
The knight nodded at her response, and spoke, his voice clear and… perhaps she imagined it, but it also sounded hopeful.
"Then, would you like to go on an adventure with me?"
The offer came suddenly and she had no reply again.
Aurora pondered, or at least tried to, but she couldn't come up with an answer. It was difficult to think properly.
"I… don't know."
"Right… I'm sorry for being so straightforward. You are probably not in the state of mind to think properly. But seeing you like this, I don't think you have anywhere else to go. After what happened, it'll be better not to return back to that place. Do you still think you want to go back?"
Her mind remembered the family she had lost in that town. A deep and painful memory started to scratch the barely healed wounds, only to be suppressed again. They still left a stinging pain in her "calm" heart.
Still, she knew one thing.
"I don't… want to go back. I have nothing left there. I…"
She had nowhere else to go either. The only place she had ever known was her home. Now it was gone.
The prison might have held her inside, but it was ironically the last place she knew. Outside, she had already lost everything. Wasn't that why she had dared to go against that horrid Baron of her territory in the first place?
"Then, isn't it fine to leave? If that place, that town holds no value to you, then you should leave. And I happened to be looking for some companions. You can travel with me and see the world. Maybe find another place you can call home and restart… I promise I'll take good care of you."
She would have noticed the strangeness in that last sentence of his. And yet, in her state of mind, she didn't. It was, for any normal person, suspicious. But for Aurora, it sounded like a ray of hope. A straw she could catch on to.
She didn't want to be alone. Not anymore.
The knight, after a short pause, spoke again.
"I meant, I can offer you safety and assurance. Nothing will harm or confine you ever again. You can live a good life if you're with me. So… would you join me?"
Indeed, there was something wrong with the way he spoke. It was as if he knew what she herself didn't know and offered her help with that in mind. But Aurora couldn't come to that conclusion at the time. She had something else in her mind after all.
"Can you show me your face?"
She was instead curious about the knight's identity.
The knight stilled for a moment—only a moment—and then nodded.
"Okay."
…
Was it the beautiful red hair or was it his sharp facial features that could easily be said to be very attractive? Or perhaps it was his stunning golden irises. The sharp and almost gleaming golden eyes seemed to illuminate along with the moon.
Truly, Aurora had never seen such an attractive face before. None of the men and boys she had seen before the accursed events happened could compare to his charms. Furthermore, there was a certain allure to him, something supernaturally attractive in his aura.
And yet, even though she felt it, she felt nothing. Feelings of love and attraction had died down long ago inside her. Now, she was more hollow than even she understood.
Her emotions had been numbed from the painful and gloomy years she had spent in that cell, and perhaps from the effects of the ring as well. She didn't know.
She just stared at him, taking in his rich facial features inside her bland and monotone mind.
I strange thought did emerge inside, though.
Maybe the brightness in those eyes could fill her darkness with some of their light.
And as if betraying her condition, she did feel something. Something very very minute, something she herself didn't realize at the time. They had created a spark inside her for the first time in forever.
"I have nothing left."
She spoke, breaking her stare and looking down at the ground becoming wet from the droplets tumbling from her body.
She was still naked; something which neither of the two seemed to question for the time being.
"I am alone. My family… they took my everything. So, I have nowhere else left to go."
The young man's now bare expression changed. She looked up and could see his face morphing into one of sadness.
… How long had it been since she felt someone sympathetic towards her? Towards her suffering?
The young man moved in closer, his towering figure quickly approaching her naked and vulnerable form.
The next moment, she was in his embrace. Her cold and wet body met his warm one. And she felt something else within.
She didn't realize it, but the armor he was wearing had suddenly disappeared, leaving him with just his casual clothing.
She didn't notice that because she was too preoccupied with the warmth she was feeling.
She closed her eyes, basking in this almost foreign seeming embrace, feeling the touch of what felt like the sympathy she had been starved for for so long.
Why was she getting this only now? Why, when she had secretly and openly craved for it for so long, during all those long, treacherous, and painful months and years of solitude and confinement.
"…"
She didn't speak. She couldn't think. Her body moved on its own, hugging him back. Her grasp was negligible at first, but as his warmth started to connect and settle in her heart, giving more strength to it, her grasp tightened and she clutched his clothes, not wanting to let go of the feeling ever again.
It was almost instinctual, desperate. Her body was no longer in control of her hazy and fleeting mind.
Once again, tears welled up and traveled down her cheeks. She was silent. But the storm suppressed inside her razed on, overpowering even the strong barrier of the ring.
The dam holding her emotions back was slowly cracking. And only sadness leaked out from it. No anger, no madness, only pure and utter gloom. The core of her very being was shaking.
All the gloom leaked out from within her heart and came out in the form of tears.
It was sent to his clothes, slowly dissipating into the nothingness from his brilliant warmth.
… Maybe it was because she had not touched a person and touched by a person with this much affection for so long, but truly, she felt addicted to this.
That's why she didn't let go for a very, very long time…
***
"Why did you save me?"
She asked, showing some emotions at last, even if it came in the form of silent tears and a weak shaking voice. She was still utterly and completely naked. She hadn't bothered hiding anything. And he hadn't bothered hiding the fact that his eyes had slipped toward her figure more than once during their prior conversation, though she had failed to notice it because of her state.
The memories of her recent actions were now somewhat clear. She was afraid of herself. Of what she had become and done in her madness.
"Because I wanted to."
He replied, his voice sounding genuine, and his grasp on her ever-tightening. Did he understand her desire for warmth? Because he himself didn't let go even after a while had passed with them embracing each other.
She didn't find the response satisfactory, however. It was only natural for her to demand more. That answer was way too short.
So, she asked back.
"Why?"
He probably noticed that too, so he immediately changed his reply. But the new one was just as short, albeit perhaps stranger.
With the most brilliant and pure smile, he spoke.
"Because I wanted you."
***
Aurora woke up from her dream, feeling disoriented.
Her mind felt somewhat clearer now. Though it was still not in a good state, at least there was a somewhat pleasant calmness.
She turned to look to her right, finding the figure of the young man sleeping beside her.
'A dream?'
She wondered while staring at the young man's, the previously armored knight's, Hans' face. In the dim light of the magic stone that illuminated the tent she was back inside, she kept looking at him, wondering for a moment why she had such a strange dream.
Did it mean something, perhaps? … Unfortunately, her mind couldn't come up with a reply.
Feeling a warm tickle, she touched her cheeks, only to find wetness.
She had been crying again.
Not wanting to feel sad again, she decided to fall back into slumber. The outside of the tent was still dark, so it was not morning yet.
But before she fell asleep, her body scooted towards her right and she slept while closely facing Hans, whose face—and by extension, body— was much closer.
He was warm.
Feeling the warmness, once again, she drifted into slumber.
[End of Aurora's POV]
***
I was alerted when I noticed the shift. It was Aurora.
'Is she awake? It's only been like an hour and a half since we fell asleep again though. Maybe she's not able to fall asleep?'
Wondering internally, I still kept my eyes shut for the moment. This was planned to be a sleepless night for me anyway. I couldn't fall asleep tonight with an unstable Aurora. Not because I feared her, but because I feared for her.
Of course, there was also the fact that most nights since 'that' day were sleepless, spent in anxiety and fear. It was getting better over time with I gaining strength and thus confidence, but it was not enough for me to be fear-free. Not yet.
The fear and uncertainty still kept me on edge, even though I didn't show it on the outside.
Once the motion settled down, I peeked with an eye and found the barely lit face of Aurora right in front of me.
Immediately, I fought an urge to take in a deep breath, fearing even a little noise might awake her.
'God damn it. Is she testing my patience? Not now, please, junior. I swear if you bothered me right now, I'll… well, just don't wake up!'
Slowly sighing and shaking annoying thoughts away, I fully opened my eyes.
After I had given in to my urge to hug her during our conversation, she stayed in my embrace for a long time.
I would have felt something about the fact that I was hugging a butt-naked girl if not for her shivering, cold form. She felt too weak, too frail, too… vulnerable.
Instead, I could only feel pity rising for her within me. Even my selfish feelings were not cold enough to not feel sympathy for the beautiful yet broken girl.
So, I too stayed there, trying to calm her down with gentle caressing and whatever soothing I could give her at the time.
She did calm down, and after a small awkward moment where I had to remind her she was still naked—she didn't seem to mind too much that she was naked. Must be due to her mental state— Anyway, I got her affirmation. She accepted to join me.
Not long after, we were back to the tent, and before I could speak more, she had somehow fallen asleep once again. She must have been tired after all the crying she did. The poor girl.
A thought brought the updated quest in front of me.
[Quest Tile: Revenge is a dish best served to the dead
Description: The cult tried to mess with you. And you clearly didn't like that. Now you have the opportunity to mess them up in return, by taking away their future precious pieces, and perhaps dealing further blows by taking out one of their ranked members.
Aurora Livingstone lost everything due to the greed and desires of those in power. She now desires revenge on them and she'll do anything to get it. Help her before she completely loses herself to it.
Objective 1: Stop the cult from recruiting Aurora Livingstone, the future Eternal Necromancer. (Completed)
Objective 2: Gain the interest of Aurora Livingstone. (Completed)
Objective 3: Kill the bishop of the cult who is watching over her and planning to "recruit" her once she snaps. (Completed)
Objective 4: Make her choose you instead of the cult. (Completed)
Rewards: Resistance to Necrotic mana, +20 Reputation from Aurora Livingstone, +10 Obedience from Aurora Livingstone, Increase the chances to get Aurora's companionship greatly, You get the chance to fuck her and the fucking Cult gets fucked in the ass instead.
Failure: You let the cult get its filthy hands on one of its important future members, further improving its strength. You will struggle harder in your next dungeon. You fail to exact your revenge. You feel like a sore bitch-ass loser.]
[Quest "Revenge is a dish best served to the dead" completed!]
[Skill 'Necrotic Resistance' unlocked!]
[+20 Reputation from Aurora Livingstone!]
[+10 Obedience from Aurora Livingstone!]
[+10 LUC gained from the whole ordeal.]
'+10 LUC? Nice.'
I smiled at the last and unexpected reward.
[Of course, you'll gain something for changing the future. Aurora played a big role in the 'The Evil God's advent' storyline in the DLCs. Her being with you now means an even greater increase in your chances of survival and flourishing in this world.]
'I see. I guess that makes sense. It's nice to finally have my lowest stat gain some extra points. Nice. Very nice. Speaking of, what does her <Observe> page say now?'
A quick <Observe> told me what I needed to know.
[Name: Aurora Livingstone
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Race: Human
---
Tier: 5(Foundation grade: Gold)
Talent: Necromancy, Puppetry
---
Affection/Obedience/Reputation: 25/20/40
---
Remark: Has found a new warmth after so long and craves for more of it, Is interested in you, Confused about her current state and you, Unsure about her future, Scarred by her own power.
---
Status: Confusion, Sadness, Unstable Mental and Emotional State, Mental State Suppressed]
Compared to the state she was in when I found her, this was a much-welcomed change.
'Hmm. Slowly, she'll heal. And then maybe I can help her with her powers too.'
I wondered if I could reforge the "Eternal Necromancer" into something even better now that I had cut her off from her original fate. But that was not my primary objective. It was to heal her first.
'Fuck, I shouldn't think like that, but…'
My own traits were screaming at me to do it.
'… I really want her. Haa… damn it. why am I becoming so weird and possessive? Stop thinking like that, me.'
Suppressing those thoughts, I tried something more wholesome to calm myself.
I scooted in a little and hugged her.
'This is okay. Just a normal hug. We both deserve a nice hug after all that. Yes. Evil thoughts begone! It's wholesome hug time.'
[*Sigh*… poor guy.]
'What was that, Iris?'
I thought I heard Iris mutter something. But due to my distracted state, I couldn't hear her properly.
[Oh, it's nothing. Good night, Alex. Though you're not sleeping.]
'Yeah… haha. So… Wanna listen to another one of my boring life stories?'
[You bet! How about that one time you were chased by a pack of dogs and jumped in the river?]
Amusingly, I had gotten into a habit of retelling Iris about some of the weird moments/recollections of my previous life during nights as a weird pastime. Even though she already knew pretty much everything given she had access to all my memories, she insisted on listening to my version of some of those stories she liked.
'Right, that one is pretty funny, haha. Though at the time I almost got a heart attack from it. Those damn neighborhood dogs. I swear they were crazy… but it still felt lonely without those bastards when they were taken away… Anyway, so, it goes like this. One day, when I was leaving for school on my bicycle as usual, I came across the neighborhood stray dogs…'
And so, I lay there externally quietly hugging my new captive—ahem, companion. I meant companion. I swear. And internally I told Iris of one of my boring life stories. Iris, as usual, was a good companion and supporter in my 'trying' times, earnestly listening to my amateur storytelling of my own past life. It was a quiet and warm night.
I could forget about my 'condition' for a while longer.
***
A/N: Please forgive the long delay. X( As an apology, here's Aurora's reference pics. :)
(Aurora's Reference Pics)
