“It’s not working… Did I do something wrong? Did I miss something”

  “It seems it’s not time yet.”

  How many times do I have to say this? What is the deal with “death” always sneaking on me!? Actually, why am I always caught off guard by her?

  “Hi there Miranda, you sure are a sneaky one, aren’t you?”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  She tilts her head sideways by a little bit as she says this with a confused tone of voice. I still cannot see her eyes and what they might hide but, I can somewhat say that she does look genuinely confused to what I said and while she asked that question, she also leaned just a little bit forward towards me almost as if she’s also curious to what I mean. She brings both of her tender hands backwards, probably embracing each other while doing so. God damnit she looks so cute while doing this… How can someone that resembles the “reaper” look this cute? Or is there something wrong with me? Actually, there might be.

  “You left me all alone without a single warning and then appeared out of nowhere. Do you know how lonely I was feeling?”

  Alright, I have no clue what’s going through my head at this precise moment but for some inexplicable reason I decide to tease her as with a rather exaggerated look on my face and of course body movements, I try to express how lonely I was feeling without her. Yeah, you can guess it, my tone of voice is one akin to a mischievous one all in an attempt to exaggerate the situation even more but, what happens next is something that I never expected to happen or in other words, I will be eating everything that I said in an instant. More so, shoved down my throat.

  “You were feeling lonely? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

  “Eh? Wait-No-I mean!”

  Her tone of voice is sincere and genuine as she says this. It’s also for the weak side, still cold though but not in the normal way, almost as if her “regret” for leaving me all alone is somehow bringing the temperatures up, making her natural voice seem less cold than normal. She quiets down a few notches as she apologies, facing down towards the ground as she does so while at the same time, bringing both of her hands towards the front, embracing each other. What have I done? The words are not coming out of my mouth, my mind is going berserk, trying to find a way to turn this around. My heart is beating faster than normal as the vivid image of her being sad is somehow making it race in such a fashion, it almost seems to be this close to burst out of my chest and towards her, all in an attempt of cheering her up. What should I do? Should I go back on what I said? But, why do I feel so reluctant to do that? No, I have to stand my ground! Ye-Yeah! She’s always messing with me now, it’s my turn! Ah screw it, just go with it!

  “Cough! Yes, while I was not directly alone since I had a few Shadows here and there to dance around with, I cannot deny that I felt lonely without you.”

  If for some reason she understood my “teasing” and acted in that way then, take this! I’m not backing down! Though, if for some inexplicable reason she actually means it then… There is no turning back now.

  “Yo-You did?”

  “Yes-”

  I get closer to her as I confirm her real intentions, as I get deep into this charade that by the second, seems to be getting more and more real as my mind seems to be slowly blurring the line from playing around and being serious. My body is starting to feel hot-no, my face is the one at such. However, what makes this worse is the thoughts that are appearing in my mind. The desire followed by said thoughts, a type of desire that I haven’t felt in a long time since I lost her. Am I actually this lonely? Is that the reason for-

  Why do I want to hold her hands? Why do I want to remove her mask and see her face? But, underneath her elegant mask why do I think that she has the most beautiful eyes ready to be seen?

  “Uhm…”

  Now the words are not even coming out of my mouth and yet, I still got even closer to her as I feel an incompressible force pulling me towards her. I’m not close enough that I can feel her breath for example but a few mere 20 or so centimetres separate us and let me tell you something, she is quite small. I mean, she’s not that small, she’s the average size I would say but funny enough, we have close to 20 centimetres of difference in height, roughly the same distance than what we have between us at this moment. I have said it before but her mask really is quite elegant and extremely well done, I can only image how her eyes might look like underneath it but if I follow the “design” of the rest of her face, one that is extremely attractive, feminine and of course beautiful, I’m going to say that her eyes are also a sight to be seen. The veil on her head, how it hides her hair makes me wonder how she would look without it, how smooth and silklike her hair seems to be even though the majority is covered.

  ……..

  ……

  …

  Complete and utter silence consumes the entire scene. In this situation not even the wind dares to blow and because of it, the simple act of breathing is auditable to us. However, the serenity that is being created by all of this makes me reminiscent of the past, at a time when she still was by my side or more so, I was by her side. All of those nights where we spend time together, enjoying each other's company in complete silence, allowing only for the sounds of the “night” to be heard. These are the memories that are surfacing in my mind. I really miss her, don’t I? She raises her face, staring at my own face, making me focus on her instead as I did have a distant look on my blue eyes. She noticed this, didn’t she? Her rather voluptuous lips open but quickly close the very next moment as she tries to say something, as her thoughts try to escape but her heart stops them on their track. To be honest, I might be the same way as I have no clue on what to say but, I know well that I’m fighting against my own desires.

  Why do I want to touch her face? Why are her lips so attractive? Why?

  I’m about to lose my mind but it seems fate has different plans for the two of us. Though, I’m quite grateful for it as I was about to do something that would change our relationship. Maybe for the better or for the worse but it would definitely change.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  But while my Hero might be relieved for what’s about to happen, Miranda on the other side, she’s not happy at all. Just like him, she was going with the current, not aware of where she will end up but much more so confused to why she’s feeling the way she is.

  Bump! Dump! Bump! Dump!

  “(Why is he getting closer to me? Why am I feeling so nervous and anxious as he gets closer to me?)”

  Incomprehensible, that’s how she would and will describe what she’s feeling, the current thoughts that are appearing in her mind. A set of thoughts that she’s losing control of them as they slowly seem to be transforming into desires, ones that she cannot fathom why they are behaving in such a way. Her heart however, fully embracing those illogical desires of hers, forcing her to accept them even though her logical side is trying its best to make them disappear into the void.

  “(Please, don’t get even closer to me… I-I don’t know what to do.)”

  She’s panicking, her rapid heart is somehow beating even faster than before, almost to the point it wants to get out of her chest and towards him, allowing for its desires to be met. Her pale face is getting hotter and hotter by the passing of time, as he gets closer to her. Her cheeks gently gain a strong shade of red to them but the same can be said about the very tip of her sharp nose and also the tip of her ears, ones that unfortunately for him, are covered by the vail. She brings both of her hands towards her chest, but thanks to her incomprehensive emotional state and her rapid beating heart making it worse, she tightly grabs her clothes all in an attempt of at the very least calming her heart down but of course, failing to do so. Because of this simple phenomenon the rest of her body also suffers the same consequences as in her face, getting hotter and hotter by the passage of time. Both of her feet gently drag themselves towards the inside, staring at each other because of this simple movement of them. Her lips however, distance themselves from one another as they seem to be desiring the company of someone else but, she’s none the wiser to such.

  “(Why is it so quiet? I can hear him breath because of it…)”

  In reality, the place was always for the quiet side but since her focus is unable to escape him, it’s making said quietness even more drastic to the point that her mind is unconsciously ignoring any other sound as her heart forces it to only focus on him and only him. Because of this and the fact that he also has quiet down, this silence is creating a tranquillity that has no equal, at the very least to her as in his case, it’s bringing old memories back to the surface. Her life has been chaotic, ever since her “creation” the only memories she has is the battle that set the events for her being created and even though said battle ended in a manner that none could expect, ever since that fateful day she has never rested. Desperately trying to find a solution for her Empress problems but ones that also belong to her. But none compare to this unfair situation that he’s currently causing to her, as she’s being compared to someone else, someone that is extremely important to him and someone who’s this cruel world took it from him. He’s not doing it on purpose but she does notice that he’s no longer here with her even though he’s right in front of her. It was based on a “sixth sense” as she unconsciously looked up, towards him, staring at where his eyes should be and wondering something that he would never expect…

  “(I wonder how he looks like.)”

  Indeed, while he carefully looks at her, gently notices every single detail on her face, as her beauty is perfectly appreciated by him, she on the other hand, wonders what he looks like. If he was being unfair by comparing her to someone else, she on the other hand, is being quite cruel to him but just like in his case, she’s not doing it on purpose. Just an unfortunate state of hers that he has no clue about.

  ROAR! Magic noises!

  Several Shadows spawn out of nowhere or if there were indices of such, it went well above our heads and to be honest, in this case, who wouldn’t happen the same? As anyone can guess, this simple event breaks part of my heart but at the same time gives relief to him while the other parts burn with pure rage and anger. This of course, forced the both of us to back off from each other rather quickly, facing the Shadows that decided to surround us or more so have decided to walk to their graves. They don’t leave us much time to react as several of them are about to throw a few Shadow Balls at us though, judging from the ominous aura that is currently surrounding Miranda, it seems I won’t have to worry about it, nor will I have to do anything. I will actually just step back, put a barrier around myself and the device. I kind of do not want it to get blown into pieces because, you know, it’s the only way to open the door. At least the correct way that is. Ah poor Shadows, I would not like to be in their shoes however, it will be nice to see what Miranda can do.

  “These little rats…”

  Yep, she’s pissed.

  Her magic energy shoots through the roof so much so that you can legit see an aura surrounding her entire body, one that is completely black resembling the abyss itself or in this case deeper than it, even if it has a few soft shades of golden to it. It still is quite ominous to look at but thanks to those shades of golden, it makes a terrifying beauty to be seen, a forbidden object that should only be appreciated from afar as otherwise, it will consume you by entirety, causing imaginable pain but also sending you to the abyss. However, looking at it for too long and it will make your stomach turn around because it really seems like you are staring at the abyss and you know what they say about it? Stare at it for too long and it will stare back at you. But in the case, you are far too stupid and actually try to sense the monstrosity of magic energy on her, the sheer quantity will make you throw up while the density will force you to pass out afterwards. I have no problems either sensing or seeing it but, I’m someone whose strength is at Hero level, your average A rank adventurer for example, he will suffer this. Actually, she’s using a little too much magic, don’t you think? I mean, these Shadows are basically the same as before or in other terms, they are quite weak compared to us. Why is she going this far-

  “Shattering Mirror.”

  Magic noises!

  It was in an instant. I have no clue what she did, what magic spell she used but, in an instant the Shadows shattered like they were made of glass, disappearing into the world mere moments later.

  That was Black Magic, right? Well, a type of it I would guess. While her voice was calm, the tone of it was beyond cold, far colder than the temperatures up north and what she did to those poor Shadows, it is something that I cannot even begin to describe as I have no clue what happened. Alright, calm down and think for a few moments… Shattering Mirror, that was the spell she used, a Black Magic spell, I think, at least the properties of it are similar to Black Magic. The Shadows that were surrounding us in a moment were fine, growling at us, ready to consume our lives while a few of them were this close to shot Shadow Balls at us. The very next moment it seems they have turned into glass, shattering the moment her spell did its job, and perfectly at that if I may add. Her energy levels reached the upper S rank, close to S+ and as anyone can figure out, it is a tremendous leap compared to the measly C+ of the Shadows. Maybe that’s why this happened? This entire area was “contaminated” by her magic and I was able to sense that because of her aura. Maybe that’s why she was emitting to the world that much magic energy? Maybe she surrounded them with it, causing them to be “infected” and then by using the spell, she was able to shatter them like they were made of glass? That seems like a possibility, but at the same time, I think this is only possible because of the massive difference between their strength. I doubt she could do this to me even if she used all of her magic energy, not only that, I will also dare to say that Cerberus would be in the same position. Hmm, I might be wrong on his case as if she decided to use the full extent of her powers, ones that seem to be in the SSS rank realm, maybe there’s a chance she could shatter him just like she did with these Shadows. Now, now, this got my curiosity up but I have a feeling that for now, I shouldn’t bother her at all. Yep, just stay quiet and wait for her to say something.

  ……..

  ……

  …