CHAPTER 10: 1,741 years
A hammering torrent started pouring from the sky encircling the
I-I see… Never heard of any n-name like this before. V-very unique! Haha!”
Naqeera was utterly flustered.
She lowered her head, crimson spread across her cheeks, her heart racing like a marathon.
Zalchys saw Naqeera losing her composure. Pursing his lips, he barely managed to hold his laughter.
Then he went near the and sat down. Leaning his back against the closing his eyes, he thought,
‘I… got to know some things about myself, but… whenever I try to focus on remembering them… I feel like something is missing, and end up not remembering anything at all. But… some things feel like instinct.’
He opened his eyes.
His gaze fell on Naqeera who had her back turned on him.
At this time, his eyes were shining with a strange light.
…
‘W-what the…!? Just what is going on here!? I-Is this even anything naturally possible!?’
Naqeera looked at her surrounding areas, her eyes widening, she saw–
Heavy rain pouring from the sky, encircling the
A few moments ago she could sense the area becoming isolated from the rest of Nysia. But now, those scenes from before changed so quickly as if their original condition was exchanged.
The storm raged everywhere, yet not a single drop dared to touch the The rain stopped precisely at its borders, not even crossing a single centimeter.
Naqeera extended her hand beyond the line. Instantly, icy rain struck her skin. She pulled back, and within the territory, there was… Nothing. Everything was calm and peaceful.
She was flabbergasted. Never in her life had she read, heard, or seen anything like this. Taking a slow, shaky breath, she searched her memory for the exact moment when it all changed.
‘When he leaned close to speak in my ear, it was still stormy just around the But then…the instant he told his name, lightning fell, striking the I was caught up in the heat of the moment with him, becoming dazed for a while, when I looked again… everything had changed’
Realizing the truth, she froze.
Slowly turning around she found–
Zalchys was looking at her with shining eyes.
Then.
A look of disbelief appeared on her face.
And
Just as she was about to faint, teetering on the edge of collapse, suddenly Zalchys appeared before her, catching her in his arms and preventing her from hitting the ground.
“..."
“..."
Naqeera's eyes shot open as she found herself in Zalchys’s arms.
Zalchys helped her to stand up and said in a calm voice,
“I figured as much, you can't handle it."
"...”, Naqeera was still silent as she kept staring at him, her mouth agape.
Zalchys saw her staring at him and asked softly,
“Are you alright?”
Hearing this, Naqeera seemed to have come to her senses as she nodded vigorously.
Zalchys went back to his previous location and closed his eyes, sat down. Then said,
“You… Still haven't asked your third question.”
“...", Naqeera still kept staring at him without saying anything.
“...Naqeera? You okay?"
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“H-huh? Y-yeah. Right, t-third question.Um—give me some time to decide!”, she stuttered at first then took a deep breath and managed to keep her composure.
‘This person… How could it be? Is this what they call If I didn't leave Nyx yesterday, would I have not found him ever? Or was that just now my imagination?’
Naqeera thought while walking towards Zalchys, then she sat down not too far from him.
‘No, it shouldn't be. Because… this is not the first time he caused me to faint.’
Reaching to this point on her train of thoughts, suddenly her heart skipped a beat and cheeks reddened.
A very recent memory clouded her mind. This time, rather than resisting, she embraced it, trying to recall it more vividly in search of anomalies like those of now.
Then she closed her eyes to concentrate.
…
A few minutes before her first encounter with Zalchys.
‘Argh… this pain… I can’t even think straight. How did I end up like this?’
‘M-My head… I feel lightheaded…’
‘Aahh… what is this? Something bone-chilling is spreading through my entire body… from my head…’
‘Ugh… my heartbeat… it’s slowing…’
‘ARGH! I-It’s unbearable! W-What is this!? Am I… being petrified alive!?’
She couldn't sense any parts of her body.
‘If this continues… I’ll die here… but I can’t die… yet. I still have to find the from my dreams..for the sake of… Nyx.’
Two drops of crimson tears slipped from her closed eyes as she found the situation utterly
‘I… can’t die like this…’
‘Please, … Please don’t let me die here…’
‘Is there no one…?’
‘Someone… please… save me…’
‘Anyone…’
‘Please…’
Then.
The sound of a door opening hung in the air.
Someone's footsteps echoed around the area.
Dried leaves cracked under the step.
The sound of something closing instantly followed.
‘...?’
She was on the verge of losing herself entirely.
A few minutes passed.
‘...!’
She vaguely felt something warm caressing her cheeks.
It was the left hand of a man.
And
She felt someone's breath, very close to her face.
‘A-ah…!?’
Suddenly her whole body trembled violently.
A few more minutes passed.
‘This… what is this feeling!? I can feel something warm spreading across my entire body… from my…eye areas?’
Soon, her heartbeat returned to its normal state but then started beating faster than normal almost instantly.
She felt like she was exchanging breaths with the
And then the person slowly wiped her blood-tears with left hand.
She felt a pair of strong arms lifting her up carefully as she lost the feeling of the ground.
At this moment, she felt a mixture of emotions, for being alive, because this was only her first day out of the but she already had a near-death experience, for the who just saved her very life and also because of the same
What if she was saved by him just to be made use of?
What if she actually had a fate far worse than death?
These types of doubts were forming in a tiny part of her heart.
But she eventually gave up on wasting time to think about those emotions.
Because right now, she was at her lowest.
Because right now, she was…
She just wanted to pass through this part of her life.
So… She decided to leave everything to her
She felt her being gently placed to the ground.
She slowly started to come to her senses fully as she started to feel very…
Then she slowly opened her deep-blue eyes.
Bright moonlight came to reach them but she somehow lifted her right hand to block the light from blinding her vision.
Then she found herself sweating from head-to-toe. Her black robe was totally drenched in sweat.
Suddenly, a strong grip held her right hand and put it down.
She saw the slowly leaning towards her.
A glimpse of moonlight came from the sky and gently touched his face as the face partially shone before her.
She finally saw the who just saved her life.
It was a youth with pitch black hair, sharp nose-jawline, eyes like swords, pale but flawless skin.
She saw theslowly closing the gap between them.
His face reached hers, only an inch away from touching their lips.
Then.
Their gazes met for the first time.
A pair of were locked in a pair of
They were both breathing heavily and soaked in sweat.
A encircled them like a barrier due to the constant process.
Separating them from the outside world.
She thought about resisting for a second but then she saw the slowly placing his left hand on her chin and pulling it up as her lips went even closer to his, only a centimeter away this time.
Their eyes still locked on each other.
A sudden wave of scarlet flooded her face as her heart skipped a beat.
Her chest heaved with each breath.
She felt as if she was melting under this
Without realizing why, she gave up on any thoughts of resisting.
And
She subconsciously to the
She felt a new type of taking its root deep inside her.
During her twenty two years of life, she never had any type of interaction with an unknown person of the opposite gender, she only knew a handful people from the palace and secretly ventured across the kingdom from time to time with her grandfather.
She had never felt anything like this before in her life till now.
Her heart raced wildly like a marathon.
It was an emotion.
Just as she was about to lift her right hand andhis face–
The before her suddenly shivered and turned his head eastwards instantly.
Her hand stopped midair. She unknowingly felt bitter at things abruptly turning out like this but put down her hand and didn't say anything or move as she still didn't have any strength.
She heard the sighing with relief. She frowned and saw the slowly turning his face towards her.
But then.
Replacing the frown, a look of disbelief appeared on her face.
Her eyes widening, she saw a pair of shining eyes looking down at her.
And at the next moment, she lost consciousness.
…
Naqeera's eyes shot open and she took a deep breath.
Then she looked beside her and found Zalchys sitting not too far from her with closed eyes.
‘Ah… I don't have any doubts anymore.
It IS him! I'm one hundred percent sure! It's just that… when I left Nyx, I mentally prepared myself for a journey of at least a few years. But who knew had other plans in store.’
She smiled wryly as she thought, ‘Who would have thought that things will turn out like this… Undoubtedly, even grandfather didn't see this coming.’
Her eyes became soft as she thought aloud,
“I had never imagined… such a heavy pressure would be lifted this soon… too soon.
I never even considered the scene where I would be sitting just beside that
She subconsciously pronounced the name times, as if she were in a daze.
Beside Naqeera, Zalchys heard her calling out to him.
He opened his eyes. A pair of brown eyes.
Then looked in her direction and found two drops of dripping across her from her
“Hey! Naqeera! Are you alright!?”
He shouted in a worried tone and went near her in a flash.
Grabbing her by the arms he saw her eyes dimmed and gazing into…
“H-huh? Oh... yeah… it's nothing. I just realized that…I—”, she didn't finish her sentence and pursed her lips, lowered her head towards the ground and couldn't hold back her tears anymore.
Her long black hair slid down from the corner of her ears and tried to hide her weeping face, but in vain.
She started to shake involuntarily and continued in a raspy tone,
“I-I realized that… f-from now on…I've become… u-useless. There's no m-meaning left to my l-life anymore.”
Zalchys didn't understand why, but Naqeera's scene caused him to feel a sting of pain in his right chest.
He instinctively embraced her with his long arms and held her gently in his chest.
“M-my only m-mission has ended!",
She embraced him back tightly with all her might, looking as if she didn't hold onto him right now, or will take him away and she would never be able to see him again.
Her eyes-swollen, nose-reddened, she cried and cried.
She cried for about half an hour.
Her tears of grief and sadness soaked both her and his body all together.
Zalchys thought about comforting her with words, but didn't know what to say. So he simply held her warmly, close to his
Suddenly he furrowed his brow. Because, right now he remembered something–
‘Ah… I don't know why. But this feeling feels familiar… As if I've experienced something similar before… but with And somewhere unknown…’
He took a pause on his thoughts and a cold glint flashed in his eyes. His lips curved up in a malicious grin.
‘I see… that makes sense. It can't be helped, huh? Since it's fault that I've been for the past 1,741 years…’
hopeless and author, THE NON-EXISTENT ONE! (?╯?︵?╰?,?)