Eva's breath stuttered in her throat. Ink spilled down her cheeks like blackened tears, trailing across her chin and dripping onto her hands. Her voice trembled, so thin it sounded like it might break.
"...How do you know my name?"
Ren's heart dropped into his stomach.
"Eva—"
She flinched at the sound of it again, scrambling back further until her shoulders pressed flat against the wall. Her breaths came in short, fast bursts.
'Those eyes...' Ren thought, taking a step to her. 'Don't tell me the plague has reached her?!'
"Please stay back," She whispered. "Don't come closer."
Ren's voice softened, raising his hand to her.
"You...don't remember me do you?"
It wasn't even a question. He already knew the answer the moment she looked at him.
'It's what I feared most...The Line had taken me from you. You've lost me, and I've lost you.'
Eva's breath stuttered, fingernails clawing into the floorboards. She didn't answer him with words. Just a small, terrified shake of her head. The sight stung his heart.
"...Okay," He murmured, lowering his raised hand. "That's okay..."
Eva's ink-blurred eyes flicked toward him, uncertain.
"I'm not here to hurt you. I promise." Ren said with gentleness. "I just need you to breathe. Can you do that for me?"
Her breaths were still fast—sharp inhales, trembling exhales—but she didn't shrink further.
It was a start.
"My name is Ren," He kept his voice low and calm. "We've met before. And we've been through a lot...together."
Eva's hands trembled, leaving smears of ink along the wooden floor.
"I don't…" Her voice caught, thin and hoarse. "I don't remember."
"That's to be expected..." Ren forced a steady breath. "You don't have to remember. I just ask for you to listen to what I have to say right now."
"How?!" Eva whimpered. "How can I trust you?"
"Before...you could sense emotions. Mine. Others'. You could tell when something was off." Ren continued, voice barely more than a whisper. "Can you still feel it. My emotions..."
She didn't look at him—didn't dare—but he could see her shoulders tense as she focused inward. Like she was bracing for incoming pain.
"…I don't feel danger," She whispered, voice raw. "I feel...warmth?"
Ren didn't move or speak, giving her space to figure it out.
"But that man's voice was soft too...How are you any different? What do you want from me?"
"Nothing..." Ren shook his head. "I just want to stand by your side again."
Silence fell upon them.
Ren's eyes fell on something. On the floor, that handmade gift from the kids.
"Do you remember this?" Ren asked, picking the piece of wood.
Eva's eyes flickered between Ren and the piece of wood in his hand.
"No...I don't. When I came to, it was just in my hand."
"The kids made it for us." Though it was a struggle, Ren forced a smile. "The ones from the village we sheltered at. They seemed to take a liking to you, always following you around."
Eva's lips parted, disbelief trembling in her expression.
"I still can't trust you," She whispered, voice cracking like thin ice. "I can't trust anyone."
"You don't have to," Ren replied, slowly walking closer to her. "Trust in yourself. That feeling you have right now, even if it scares you, trust it."
Ren knelt next to her, keeping his hands visible and his posture unthreatening.
He extended the wooden gift to her, letting Eva choose to take it or not.
She hesitated, then let her fingers brush against the corner of the wooden gift.
"Will…will you…stay here?" Eva asked, voice barely audible. "If I…if I…try…to remember…"
"I will..." Ren responded in an instant. "We made a promise. That whatever we would come across, we would face it...together."
Eva's fingers curled fully around the wooden gift, holding it like a shield and a comfort at once. She brought it close to her chest, her ink-streaked hands trembling. Ren's eyes flicked to her face, then to her closed eyelids.
'Good...she's calmed down.' Ren thought. 'But the ink has reached her? Her eyes are—'
"Eva, your eyes? Do you feel okay? The ink outside. Has it reached you?"
Eva's fingers tightened around the wooden gift.
"There was that man...he spoke to me. I was pleading for the fear to leave my mind. He said he could take it. But...in exchange, he asked for every source of happiness I could feel. I...I said no. I wouldn't."
'She's made contact with the overseer? If she rejected him...then how is she still infected?'
"Have you made contact with any sort of ink?" Ren questioned. "Any type of dark liquid?"
Her hands froze around the wooden gift. Her head shook slowly, almost imperceptibly.
"I don't know what you are talking about. I've been in this room all along..."
'Then how did the plague reach her? That doesn't make any sense. If she rejected the bargain, and has made no contact with ink...then how? I thought I had it figured out.'
"Well, that's good to hear..." Ren exhaled slowly, letting his shoulders drop. "But there is a bigger reason for us being here...Eva, that man you spoke to. We're taking him out..."