In the tower house, Morwen walked down the spiral steps yet again.
A soft glow of light cascaded through the stairwell, turning her vision into a foggy, dreamlike haze. It felt warm—each step soft beneath her feet. She was in her human body again, wearing the robes she had worn before.
But the further down she went, the heavier her steps became. Her breath, once controlled, grew ragged and sporadic. The clear, limpid aroma that had been flowing through her nostrils shifted to something thicker, harsher—faint with rotted blood and decaying flesh. The spiral stairwell's foggy, dreamlike glow dimmed gradually, swallowing the warmth that had come before.
Reaching the bottom, she entered a grand hall. It was dark, dimly lit by purple candles mounted on each wall.
She looked down, gasping. Bodies and blood were strewn everywhere, the room trapped in an eerie silence.
A click of footsteps echoed through the hall.
She snapped her head up, eyes wide, glaring at a cloaked figure waltzing joyfully around the bodies toward the front door at the other end. Its shadowed back faced her, moving with unsettling grace.
Gritting her teeth, she shouted, "WHO ARE YOU! AND WHY—"
A touch, damp and heavy, grabbed hold of her leg.
Morwen looked down and saw a woman with half her body missing, intestines hanging from the ragged end. The woman dragged herself closer, painstakingly pulling with her remaining arm, fingertips scraped raw at the ends. She managed to place her other hand on Morwen's leg and looked up.
Her eyes were slowly fading as she whispered, "Did... you... forget?"
In that moment, Morwen's anger drained away. Her body softened. Her eyes widened, pupils losing their focus as her body began to shake. Her face twisted into a frown.
The woman's face suddenly contorted into a maddeningly grotesque grin, the ends of her mouth curling wickedly as she began to cackle. "DID YOU REALLY FORGET WHO I AM?!" she shrieked, lashing out at Morwen while tightening her furrowed fingers around Morwen's leg in frantic, manic laughter.
Morwen's face tightened, now seething with anger as she looked up at the figure still waltzing away. Aghast with rage and realization, she shouted his name: "ZERO!"
He stopped. But he didn't turn.
"I SHOULD'VE KNOWN IT WAS YOU! GET OUT OF MY HEAD NOW—YOU DON'T BELONG HERE!"
The woman's laughter continued, her cackles growing even louder as she threw her head back in hysterics.
Zero didn't move. He just stood there, his back still facing her.
Morwen began to break down, smiling crazily. Her body—unknown to her—transitioned to her ethereal, ghost-like form as her voice rang across the room. "DID YOU HEAR ME, ZERO? I GOT PAST YOUR LITTLE MIND TRICK LAST TIME, HAHA! AND I'VE ALREADY SEEN EVEN WORSE THINGS FROM YOU—THIS CAN'T SCARE ME! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, MONSTER!"
Zero remained in still silence.
The woman's cackles filled the room, growing louder as she writhed in ambiguous laughter.
Morwen's red eyes twitched in annoyance at the mocking woman. She raised a hand and, with a swift telekinetic blast—
The woman's laughter ceased.
Blood splattered all over Morwen. Her ethereal body was now covered in crimson.
Morwen looked at her hands. A great sadness washed over her as she began to cry. "What am I doing... look at me, I'm a damn mess." She tried to weep, but the tears came out dry.
"Dammit, I can't even cry!" Her body was fully in spirit form now.
Her ethereal form raged as she yelled at Zero, her spirit burning with fury. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?! I JUST WANTED TO LIVE THE REST OF MY LIFE PEACEFULLY! I JUST WANTED TO READ WITHOUT BEING DISTURBED—IS THAT SO HARD?! WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE JUST LEFT ME TO DIE THERE, OR LET ME DRIFT ALONE IN THAT ABYSS?! WHY TORTURE ME?!"
Zero remained silent, but the room thrummed as silence filled the atmosphere. Morwen pressed further.
"Damn you! ZERO, ANSWER ME!"
Zero turned around slowly, his face unseen at first. But as he turned, a black void reached out from behind him, covering the whole room in deep, empty space.
Morwen straightened herself in confusion, looking around. What?
The room slowly filled with streaks of purple, turning the space into a deep hue of darkness as they continued to appear and disappear.
Zero lifted his head slowly. His grin was wider than the mocking woman's—tense and cruel. His eyes narrowed to only purple glints that shone directly at Morwen from the other end of the room.
His voice echoed through the void.
"That's a simple question, really..."
Her eyes widened as Zero appeared in front of her. He bent down, getting close to her face.
Whispering directly to her, he said, "It's because..."
His finger pressed up against the bottom of her chin, slowly lifting her head closer to his. He maintained his grin, his purple irises visibly steady and knowing.
Fear rose in her chest.
"You belong to me."
Fear slowly wrapped itself around her, destroying all logical reasoning in her mind as his words clamped down further. Zero's form shifted, becoming larger than her—or so it seemed in her eyes—as her own form receded until she was looking up at him from his palm. His voice remained measured, a mere whisper.
"You... everyone else... belongs to me."
His palm slowly began to close around her. She looked around mindlessly, locked in place by fear.
"So no matter how far you get, or what you say, you will always be mine, Morwen."
As his palm closed, Zero said, "You're nothing special. You're just mine."
He snapped his palm shut.
Everything went black.
Then she reappeared, vomiting miasma into the black void. It floated there, the miasma slowly disintegrating. Still held by her fear, beads of miasma sweat ran down her temple.
Zero walked away, back turned, arms spread. "Plus, it's fun. All of it is just fun, isn't it, Morwen?"
As Zero disappeared, everything in the void began to disintegrate. This included Morwen. She slowly disintegrated, screaming, "NO! I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU, ZERO!"
As it reached her face, everything went dark.
She woke up, opening her eyes to see the sun on the horizon. Looking around, she saw lush blades of grass and a sky of warm orange fading into the colours of a somber, yet rising sun.
Still in somewhat of a shock, she muttered to herself, "I'm glad that wasn't real."
A voice spoke. "What wasn't real?"
She looked to the side, seeing Zero. Her orb form jumped slightly. "It's you!"
"Yeah, obviously it's me, Morwen."
She gazed at Zero's expressionless face.
Zero moved on from the conversation and instead looked forward quietly as he rode a bone horse. With each gallop, his messy short hair blew behind him in the wind.
Morwen's soul glowed. "I sense something off."
Sensing him again, she realized: I can't feel any mana from him. Did he run out? That would make sense—I remember he did look a bit weak coming off that last resurrection spell. But the question is, why would he allow me to be here?
Morwen's soul vibrated as she realized: This just confirms it! He must still think I'm suppressed—that's why he's allowing me to be present while he's completely weakened. This would be the perfect chance to kill him... but doesn't it feel way too easy? It's way too good to be true. This is the same guy who took out five towns, three cities, and walked into my town and killed eight E-ranks—including me—and then a D-rank without breaking a sweat. Yeah, it's way too good to be true.
So then, what could it be? she thought.
Memory glints appeared in her mind.
"The kid told me—as I was interrogating him—that the check-in had told them of your exploits, Master, and that's how they were prepared. But he had left shortly after that."
"Yeah, I know. He got caught by the Droggers outside the city."
Wait. Then why are we in the tower house?
He never answered.
So if the Droggers already killed him, there must be a reason why we were there.
Her soul glowed in realization, then dimmed. He must've already known at that point and was most likely using the check-in lie to confirm his assumption about me breaking free.
And that means I gave him his answer. Dammit! How could I miss all those connecting dots?
That only leaves me with one question: if he truly had known all this time, why is he being so bold about everything?
His voice struck in her mind: ...You belong to me...
Her soul shivered.
If I can just figure that out, then I can win this game of wits.
Zero spoke. "Hey, Morwen. You've been acting really different lately. Are you okay?"
Morwen simply glowed. "Yes, Master. Just been on edge lately. That last battle was intense, along with the nightmare I just had—it hasn't been easy."
"Huh." Zero put his hand to his chin, pondering. "An undead having a nightmare? Never heard of it." He laughed.
"Well, I guess you learn something every day, Master. I guess even someone as great as you doesn't know everything." She tried to play it off.
A smirk played on Zero's lips. "Morwen, I know more than you—that's for certain."
You'll see, Morwen thought. I'll play it all off for now as if I'm still ignorant of the truth, until I figure this out.
They both looked forward to the next destination: the provincial capital.
Several hours later...
Zero had arrived at the provincial capital, sneaking in with Morwen's aid. They traversed the alleyways, looking for some clothes, until they stumbled upon a shop.
Zero stood in front of the counter with no clothes on his body this time—the only thing holding his dignity together was a garbage bag wrapped around his crotch area. He was talking to the shop owner, who had balding patches all over his middle-aged scalp. He wasn't in the best shape either. Along with all this, he wore a wool brown apron over a normal shirt, pants, and boots.
"HEY, I SAID NO! STOP TRYING TO CONVINCE ME!"
"Ah, come on. Are you sure you can't spare me some garments?" Zero queried.
"You just said you have no money on you—'spare garments'—when you asked for the most expensive cloak in the whole store? Then, to top it off, you said you have no money on you!" He scoffed. "I'm sorry, kid. What do you think I'm running here? A charity or something? You've been trying to convince me for the past hour, even though I actually said—seeing your poorly state—I would spare some garments for you free of charge..."
Zero looked over at the rags next to the expensive cloak he'd chosen. "No, but I want that one," he said, pouting.
The store owner scratched the back of his head with a sigh, a vein popping on his neck as he crossed his arms, pouting back at Zero. "Listen, kid. It doesn't matter what you say or what you do—you're not going to change my mind. This is a business I run, so either you've got money or you don't."
Zero stared at him, now also visibly annoyed. His face grew slightly tense, his eyes narrowing as his toe began to tap with impatience.
The shop owner didn't fret. He stared right back at Zero. "It's simple. If you did have money—even a little—I could perhaps make a compromise for something way cheaper, or just find you something in general. But I'm not just giving something away for free. Especially this expensive? No way!"
The shop owner continued. "So if you've got nothing else to say, I suggest you take the garments and get out of my store now. If you ever think to come back, bring some money next time, kid."
Zero's face darkened. He started to reach behind his back toward his staff.
"That's okay..."
The man looked at him, visibly annoyed. "Alright, good riddance, dumb kid."
But an eerie blue presence manifested from Zero, slowly forming into a transparent, ghostly figure. The man's face grew increasingly horrified as the figure opened its gaping mouth, teeth fanged. Before he could let out a scream, it lunged at him, phasing into his body.
He began to wobble around. His eyes opened sharply—now red.
Zero's face lightened in confusion as the owner smiled at him. "Can you give me a minute, kid? I just remembered something."
Zero nodded in confusion. "Sure..."
The store owner went to the back of the store.
He came back a minute later, eyes closed, scratching his head and smiling brightly.
"Hey, kid! You're going to love to hear this—I just checked, and it turns out I won't be needing this anymore. We have too many of them in stock already."
Zero's eyebrow raised. "Are you sure?"
"YEAH, HAVE IT FOR FREE!" the owner said, smiling nervously.
"Okay, but are you completely sure? Because you were pretty adamant about not giving this expensive cloak to me for free."
"YES! It's just because I had just remembered that I got a lot delivered in stock, so I went to check if that was true first." Miasma sweat started to bead down his temple.
Zero stared as tension grew. The silence filled the room, interrupted only by faint noises from the bustling capital outside.
The silence continued, but the owner broke it. "AND YOU KNOW WHAT? LET ME GET YOU A WHOLE SET!"
He reached under the desk, grabbing boots, a leather belt, a shirt, underwear, pants, and socks—he had it all. He then sprayed it all down with a lovely fragrant aroma before walking around the desk and handing it toward Zero. His smile faltered, his eyes avoiding Zero's direct gaze.
As the clothes entered his grasp, Zero smirked, ripping off the pieces of trash bag he'd wrapped around his dignity. The shop owner shielded his eyes and blushed in secondhand embarrassment.
Zero put all the clothes on in the middle of the store. He giggled and ran out.
Inside, Morwen overwrote the owner's voice as she slammed the table. "Dammit, that was intense..." She breathed hard. "Why was it so hard, by the way? Maybe because this guy is so against giving away that cloak that even though I could easily possess him, the will of his soul—though weak—still persisted against it. He really didn't want that cloak gone."
He didn't even say thank you, something reverberated through her mind. Well, at least you're safe. If I didn't intervene, he would've done more than just stolen... I saved a life. Maybe I can save more people.
First, a moment of silence. Then a feeling of good relief washed over her... followed by a sudden great urgency.
"Wait, where did he go?!"
She zipped out of the man, phasing through the walls. The owner passed out on his counter, slipping off it and falling to the ground as she left him.
Zero walked through more alleyways, holding Galela's fae spirit in his hand.
"So, where oh where is she?"
The spirit of Galela glowed brighter the closer he got to her.
Until he heard noises.
"COME HERE, YOU BLIND PRIVILEGED SCUM!"
"NO! Let me go! Please, DADDY, help!" a girl screamed.
Zero smirked. "That's it!" he said excitedly, barely containing himself as he rushed forward, pushing Galela's soul into his chest.
As he reached the end of the alleyway, he found the opening, stopping just shy of it.
He saw a wide back alley, and in it—
"Wait, that's her? I thought she would be a bit funnier..." Zero muttered, dissatisfaction in his voice.
A ginger girl was getting harassed by two delinquents.
Both were twin half-elves with rough but tall, slender features. One had longer hair and a skinny body; the other was bald with a slightly more defined look.
The longer-haired one grabbed the girl's shoulder with scissors in his other hand as she tried to get away from him. "STOP! AHH!" she screamed.
"STOP RUNNING FROM ME, DAMMIT!" he said, struggling to keep her still.
"No, no! Let me go!"
He darted his tense eyes to his confused bald twin. "Fernard, hold her!" he said, frustration in his tone.
He pushed her toward him. "Yes, brother Lance!" Fernard furrowed his brows, grabbing her, then flipping her around to face his brother. He held her tight by the shoulders, then lifted her off the ground. She screamed, kicking her feet and squirming, trying to break free.
"DAD, WHERE ARE YOU?! DADDY, I NEED YOU!"
But Fernard's grip held even firmer around her shoulders, almost crushing her. He whispered, "Your dad's not here to save you, little miss!"
"That's right! And after your father humiliated my uncle at the last check-in, I promised myself I would find a way to mess with you! to get even with that arrogant warden Hehe, you're all mine now, Freya. I'm going to cut away all that hair you hold so dear, leaving you with nothing left... It's sad because it would be much more enjoyable if you could see this happening, Freya!"
Fernard said nothing.
"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO LAUGH, FERNARD, YOU IDIOT!"
"Oh yeah... haha—"
"It's too late! Just hold her tight, dummy."
"Well, that's a letdown. She's truly pathetic..." Zero muttered again to himself.
Freya continued to try and fight back as Lance's steel scissors touched her long ginger hair...
Until a voice cut through the tension.
"Hey, you two! Your time is up. It's my turn!"
Zero walked forward, his face serious.
Everyone shifted their attention toward him. Freya's head followed the sound; the others darted their eyes.
Lance looked back at him. "Huh? Get out of here, kid, and pretend you didn't see any of this—or I'll cut you too."
He waved Zero away as he began to snip. Everyone went back to what they were doing.
But Zero didn't move. He just stood there. Fernard noticed this. "Hey, big brother, that kid's not moving..."
"Huh! What did I tell you, kid?"
Lance's attention now on Zero, he walked over, towering over him with his 6-foot slender frame.
"I told you to stop. I need the girl now, so move along," Zero said, his face uninterested as he tried to walk past. But he was stopped by Lance's hand grabbing his cloak before he could take another step.
"KID!"
He pulled Zero closer. "Who do you think you're talking to? Do you know who my uncle is?" Zero remained quiet, unflinching.
Lance continued to talk in Zero's face, spit flying out of his mouth.
"He is the Shallow Warden. No one messes with him—not even the council."
"No idea who that is," Zero replied calmly.
"Do you live under a rock, or are you simply blind to the world like that girl over there?!"
Zero didn't reply, his eyes drifting toward the girl, the other elf twin Fernard, and the surrounding area.
Lance explained to Zero: "He is the warden of the great city of Meridia, but the thing that makes him different from a normal warden is that he's an important man. And important men like him have many connections. So that means if you mess with me, you mess with him and every one of his people. Don't even think for a second to stand against me, little guy—or you'll have whole armies of warriors and mages after your head."
He then let go of Zero, turning to walk back. But then Zero, unflinching, took a step. A vein popped on Lance's forehead. He turned back, hearing Zero step forward, his silver steel scissors swiping just shy of Zero's face, snipping a thin strand of hair. But Zero stayed composed—not once did he recoil, even as Lance's scissors slowly lowered to his forehead.
Lance's scissors hovered at his forehead as he started to scan Zero's clothes, smirking. "Oh, you know, these are some nice clothes. Where did you steal these from, huh?"
He slowly lowered his scissors, dragging them gently down Zero's new cloak.
"I don't care. I'm giving you one more chance—leave the girl with me or face punishment."
Lance twitched in annoyance. "Punishment? Me? The great Lance? You are a fool! Fernard, come here! We're going to rob this fool!" he said while simultaneously thrusting his scissors toward Zero's stomach.
Zero grabbed his wrist, stopping the weapon from reaching his stomach. He pulled Lance down toward him, muttering, "Pathetic trick." His fist flew toward Lance's face—
But stopped just shy of it.
Zero's eyes glanced behind him, gleaming purple as he thought: She's coming now...
Zero remained stuck, glancing behind him.
Lance, shocked at first, saw Zero's distraction. As Zero looked back, Lance roared and punched him in the face, knocking him back to the ground.
Fernard, who was late to respond, shouted, "YES, BROTHER LANCE!" He threw Freya to the ground with such force that she crashed into a couple of empty canisters as they fell on her.
He rushed over, stopping just beside his brother. Both towered over Zero.
"Fernard, help me!" Lance shouted as they both stomped and beat Zero.
Zero just lay there and didn't defend himself as he got beat.
"Take that!"
After some time, Lance tried to puncture a hole in Zero's stomach with the scissors again, but it failed. Zero's eyes gleamed as he skilfully whacked it away with his hand.
They both backed away in shock.
"What's wrong with this damn kid?!"
Fernard remarked, "He's really tough, I'll say that." Lance added nothing.
They watched as Zero stood up almost effortlessly with little to no bruises—mostly dirty. He slowly reached behind his back for his staff.
They both looked confused as he held it in the air, about to swing it.
But then something blue phased into Zero from behind, causing him to stumble forward and drop it. As he did, the staff hit the ground, breaking it and cracking the area around it.
As they both saw this—
"WHAT THE—!" They both ran away immediately.
"Go, go, Fernard!!!"
"What about your scissors?"
"Forget that!"
Lance pushed Fernard to run faster.
"Dammit, what was that?" Zero said in annoyance as he started dusting himself off. "They were going to pay for hurting me!"
"Good thing these clothes are durable, though."
He picked up his staff and put it behind his back. His eyes darted toward the girl still on the ground against a wall, small canisters fallen on her body and around her.
"Morwen, pass me those scissors." They flew toward him.
Zero walked over, his face darkening.
...
Zero loomed over the girl, holding the scissors over her, gripping them tight as familiar words echoed through his mind...
Zero, I trust you.
I know that you're not completely evil...
He raised the scissors high in one hand, about to stab her.
Muttering, "You were wrong to ever think—"
But something touched Zero's free hand.
Zero turned, a surprised shiver running from his hand. As he looked, he saw Freya's face right near his. His eyes widened, his breath heavier and quicker as her soft fingers found their place between the bridges of his fingers.
She leaned in closer.
"Thank you for saving me... no one's ever done something like this for me except my father." Her eyes looked past him, but her smile and tender voice—which spoke with such childish eloquence—was directed toward him.
Zero said nothing. He just looked at her, his eyes open. Her face had freckles on each cheek. She had long ginger-brown hair that went down past her shoulders, with faded emerald green eyes and a smile that was so pure. Her skin, unblemished, even shimmered faintly.
Feeling his breath on her face, she stopped, realizing. "OH, I MUST BE TOO CLOSE!" She backed away immediately. "Oh, I said that out loud!" She blushed and backed away, burying her head in her hands.
Zero didn't react, nor did he move. He just continued to look at her, still in the same position, his hand still out as if she were still holding it.
"Come on, Freya!" she squealed, shaking her head side to side.
He saw her long turquoise sundress reaching down just below her knees, and finally her brown leather sandals, which wrapped from her shins then down, covering her feet. He even noticed her cheeks flush red as she backed away in some sort of embarrassment.
Then her gentle touch crept onto his hand again. She looked at him the same way, this time with distance, slightly pulling him toward her direction.
"Would you like to come somewhere with me?"
Zero was slow to speak, his words muffled, but then his head just slightly nodded.
Freya smiled. "Brilliant! Come, follow me."
She pulled him by the hand, letting the scissors drop, and led him down many alleyways. As they ran, Zero's eyes stayed trained on her—shifting toward her hand holding his, watching as she effortlessly traversed the alleyways as if she could see. A smirk touched his lips as she ran with full confidence in her sense of direction.
After a while, they reached the end. The sun blurred their vision for only a moment as Freya shouted, "This is it!"
What appeared was a coastline—the sand gold, and beyond it lay water that sparkled within each ripple and wave, reflected sunlight dancing across its surface.
She ran forward, prancing in the sand, smiling with her arms wide while cheering.
Zero looked at the hand she had touched. "What is—"
Freya shouted Zero over.
Let me just give it a chance. And see it through.
He walked forward, looking at the blinding sun on the horizon, and stood beside her. Then he looked at her.
She embraced the atmosphere as the soothing wind brushed through her hair and flowed briskly past her skin.
Zero continued his gaze for a moment-more as the sun graced her, making her features ever more vivid and real to him.
Then Freya spoke. "Do you feel it?"
"Feel what?"
"The warm breeze."
Zero just looked at the sun but didn't try to embrace it. His face remained straight.
Freya looked toward him, sensing something off. "I have the feeling that you don't smile very often, so I'm going to make you smile today!"
Zero remained quiet.
"First, I need to know your name." She raised her hand up to him. "My name is Freya Vind. What's yours?"
Zero replied, "It's... Zero."
"That's a cool name. Anyway, nice to meet you, Zero."
Zero nodded as they shook hands.
She looked toward the sunset, twirling her hair.
"So, Zero, have you ever been to a coastline like this before?"
"No, I haven't."
"How about a beach?"
"No, not really. This is actually my first time in Viscura. I've only been here for a month and a few days."
"Oh wow, where did you come from?"
"Kam."
"Interesting. Well, I'm not sure what they do in Kam. All I really know is that they're pretty strict. I'll show you what we do over here!"
She stood up. "Come and help me collect some rocks." she said excitedly
Zero stood up as they both did so, finding rocks and piling them just before the water's edge.
Freya grabbed a rock and threw it. It skipped on the water five times.
Zero looked on, his face still straight, as he picked up a rock, copying her. He threw it, but it just plunged into the water.
He looked surprised he couldn't do it.
Freya heard the plop. "Oh, you missed! Try again, Zero."
He picked up another one and tried again, but it just plopped in the water.
Annoyance with the game started to boil up as Freya would get many skims while he would always get plops.
Until Freya's hands touched Zero's arms, guiding him.
Zero looked at her gentle smile as she guided him to throw the rock. This time it skimmed ten times before plopping in the water.
Zero looked at Freya, confused.
Freya smiled at him. "That was better, wasn't it? You got ten skims before a plop—that's higher than me, Zero! Well done."
Zero was just stunned.
They continued to play games like building sand castles, creating art, finding items in the sand, and a plethora of other activities. Zero didn't do well at first, until she gave him guidance.
Then finally they stopped, but Freya hadn't gotten Zero to smile once.
As they sat down, her hair slanting over her shoulders, she watched Zero break the large sandcastle they had just built.
He scratched his head.
She giggled softly as she turned her face toward the setting sun.
"You know, Zero, it's been fun. I haven't shown anyone this place... I mean, it's not a secret, but whenever my dad's away for his meetings, I always come here to play by myself—where it's quiet and peaceful, where I can do what I want without being watched or judged. And since we are nearing the end of today..." She paused as the sun lowered. "I want to show you one more thing. This is something I haven't even showed my dad."
Zero continued to look at her, quiet.
She looked back at him and smiled gently.
Then, raising both her hands up, air accumulated into a tiny sphere. Water floated into it from the sea, making a small, jagged jade-like shape right in the middle. Sand crept onto it, swirling around the whole thing and solidifying. Finally, she raised it in front of a streak of sunlight, which set it ablaze—but not for long, as it quickly fizzled out. Now what remained was a glass marble with a swirling spiral of water that was clear but, when reflected in light, appeared red and blue. The rest of the inside of the marble was sand-like gold. But the outside remained pure glass.
Zero looked, his eyes widened.
She then said, "Your turn, Zero!"
Zero tried, but as he gathered wind, the tiny orb went spiky as he tried to fit it into a shape. He struggled.
Internally, he thought: Why am I struggling with this? What's going on with me? Today I can't do a thing...!
A hand placed itself gently on his shoulder and another on his hand as she moved in close to him, her head next to his, beside him, guiding him.
Zero's eyes darted toward her, then back at the magic at hand.
He muttered, "So beautiful."
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
Freya smirked as she backed away.
Zero marvelled at the marble in his hand—purple and emerald colours swirling within it. She didn't comment. Instead, she grabbed the marble. "Give me that."
Zero, full of expression, said, "Wait, what?!" trying to get hold of it again.
Freya giggled, giving him hers as she dropped it in his palm.
He looked at its colours—blue and red.
He smiled at it, then his eyes raised. "What is it for, though?"
"It's a remembrance marble. It's to remind us of each other, no matter how far we go..."
Zero looked over at her as the last glimpse of sunlight graced their faces. Freya leaned toward Zero, looking at his eyes, her expression genuine.
"Zero... promise me... you will keep it with you and that you never let it go."
He just looked at her for a second. His surprise—Zero could see it all written on her face. Everything rushed through him. Out of all the things he didn't understand today, he understood this.
Zero chuffed, slumping his head low, thinking to himself: You win, Galerius.
Then, looking at her anew, his eyes firm in his decision, a genuine smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.
Freya's face flinched as she felt a difference in Zero.
"I will, Freya. I promise."
Her face softened. "Zero..."
Zero leaned into her. Freya felt his closeness, but before she could react, Zero's arm came around and tapped her temple gently.
She fainted and fell into his arms.
He held her as a memory echoed through his mind—Galerius's desperate cry for his daughter's safety, left lingering.