Morvane hesitated, his thoughts a swirling chaos of doubt and fear. He couldn’t et das’ piercing gaze, knowing that his friend would see right through him.
"What are you hiding, Morvane?" das asked, his tone heavy with suspicion.
Morvane shifted uncomfortably, his mind racing for an excuse, an escape. His body betrayed him, his palms damp, his heartbeat a steady drum in his ears. Finally, he forced a nervous laugh, waving off the tension.
"Ah-ah, my body is just tired—after everything we’ve been through lately, I feel like I’m still out of shape. It’s nothing more than that," Morvane said, his voice too light, too casual.
das narrowed his eyes, unconvinced. "Then tell whatever Hiraya told you."
Hiraya, standing beside them, nodded solemnly. Her translucent form shimred faintly, her expression both patient and insistent. "If you can’t let possess you to say it myself, that’s okay," she said softly. "But tell him. Tell him about my regained mories."
Morvane froze. The weight of Hiraya’s words pressed against his chest. He glanced at das, whose sharp features were tense with expectation, then back at Hiraya. Reluctantly, he sighed.
"Hiraya... she said she’s regained so of her mories," Morvane began, his voice strained. "The night she was killed... she rembers two unknown n. And—"
"And what?" das interrupted, his voice taut. "What else?"
Morvane hesitated again, his stomach twisting. He clenched his fists, bracing himself for the impact of his next words.
"She also told that... you were awake at that ti. Right before she was stabbed."
The air seed to freeze around them. das’ expression crumbled into shock, his lips parting as if to speak, but no words ca. His mind raced to refute the claim, but the seed of doubt had been planted.
"What?" he whispered, his voice barely audible. "That... that can’t be. If I was awake, I would’ve protected her. If I was awake, I would never let anyone kill her!"
Hiraya stepped forward, her spectral form rippling like a fragile reflection in water. "das, I don’t rember everything yet," she said softly. "But I know what I saw. You were there. Your eyes were open."
das staggered back, shaking his head. "No. That’s impossible. I... I couldn’t have—" His voice broke, and he clutched his head as if trying to force the mories to surface. "I didn’t fail you. I couldn’t have failed you..."
Morvane watched helplessly as das struggled to process the revelation. He wanted to comfort his friend, but guilt anchored him in place. He hadn’t told das the full truth—the part where Hiraya hinted at sothing darker, sothing that tied das to her murder in ways even she couldn’t explain yet.
"das," Morvane said hesitantly, "Hiraya don’t know the full story yet. Hiraya’s mories are still incomplete. There’s no need to jump to conclusions."
das’ head snapped up, his eyes blazing with a mix of fury and despair. "You think this is just a misunderstanding?" he spat. "She’s saying I was awake! Awake, and I let her die! Do you know what that ans, Morvane? It ans I failed her in the worst way imaginable."
Hiraya reached out as if to touch him, her ethereal hand passing through his shoulder. "das, please—this isn’t about bla. I need you to help uncover the truth."
das took a deep, shuddering breath, his shoulders trembling. He turned away, staring out the window of the grand hall. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the floor. For a mont, silence reigned, heavy and suffocating.
Finally, das spoke, his voice low and filled with resolve. "If I was awake, then I’ll find out why I didn’t stop it. I’ll rember, no matter what it takes."
Morvane opened his mouth to speak, but das raised a hand to silence him. "And if it turns out I’m responsible," das continued, his voice hard, "I’ll accept the consequences. Whatever they are."
Hiraya’s form flickered, her expression unreadable. "We’ll uncover the truth together," she said softly. Even if she knows das couldn’t hear her.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, its light fading into darkness, Morvane couldn’t shake the feeling that the ties binding them were beginning to unravel. The truth, once uncovered, would change everything.
And he wasn’t sure if any of them were ready for it.
Morvane froze as das turned back to him, his eyes narrowing with a sharpness that made Morvane’s chest tighten. The atmosphere grew heavier, and the fading light in the room seed to dim even further.
"Morvane," das said slowly, his voice laced with quiet nace, "you still have so explaining to do."
Morvane’s heart sank. His instincts scread at him to deny, to deflect, to run. But he knew das wouldn’t let this go. He never did.
"I gave you days," das continued, his tone calm but brimming with a restrained fury. "Days to recover after what happened to Drace. I didn’t push because I wanted to believe in you. But now—" He took a deliberate step closer, his telekinetic presence brushing against Morvane like an unseen weight. "I keep replaying what I heard that night in the forest."
Morvane’s throat went dry. "Oh... ye-yeah?" His voice cracked under the weight of das’ accusation.
"Yes," das said, his gaze boring into Morvane. "You talked about being evil, didn’t you? About being tasked to do sothing. Sothing with Hiraya."
Morvane’s stomach twisted into knots. He opened his mouth to respond, but no words ca.
das stepped even closer, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "What’s that sothing you need to do, Morvane? What’s so dark, so vile, that it makes you call yourself evil?"
Morvane’s hands trembled at his sides, but das wasn’t done.
"And don’t think I forgot the rest of it," das said, his voice hardening. "You didn’t just talk about being evil. You said you killed Drace."
Morvane’s blood ran cold. Goosebumps prickled his skin as the weight of das’ words settled over him.
"Explain everything to ," das demanded, his voice echoing like a judge’s verdict. "Right now."
Hiraya, who had been silent until now, hovered beside Morvane, her ethereal form flickering with unease. "Morvane," she said softly, "you need to tell him the truth. You can’t keep running from this."
Morvane’s breath hitched, his mind spiraling with the weight of his secrets. He wanted to deny it all, to convince das that he had misunderstood. But deep down, he knew there was no escaping this confrontation.
"I... I didn’t an for things to happen this way," Morvane began, his voice trembling. "It’s not as simple as you think."
"Then make it simple," das snapped. His telekinetic aura pulsed faintly, a warning that his patience was running thin.
Morvane clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. "I was tasked to do sothing with Hiraya," he said finally. "But it wasn’t out of my mind, it was a duty given to . I—" He hesitated, his voice breaking. "I was told about a prophecy and that it can ruin the whole kingdom, at first I didint believed it."
das’ eyes narrowed. "What is that duty given to you?"
"That you and her shouldn’t be together thast why I was tasked to kill one of you and ultimately it was Hirayau," Morvane admitted. "She was targeted one since you were the king at that ti already"
Hiraya gasped, her spectral form flickering violently. "You were supposed to kill ? So you were the one who killed ?!" she whispered, horror etched across her face.
"Uhmm!" Morvane shouted, his voice raw. "That was never my intention. I was only trying to—" He stopped himself, his gaze darting to das, whose expression had darkened dangerously.
"And who told you this prophecy?" das pressed, his voice cold. "You followed that prophecy?"
Morvane flinched, his breath quickening. "It was a blind man with ability to see the future," he said weakly. "He also let Hiraya know about this prophecy, Hiraya knows that she will die before she got killed."
"You killed him," das said, his voice devoid of emotion. It wasn’t a question—it was a statent.
Morvane’s silence was answer enough.
The room fell into an unbearable silence, broken only by the faint rustle of the wind outside. das stared at Morvane as if seeing him for the first ti, his expression a mix of betrayal and fury.
"I trusted you," das said finally, his voice trembling. "I stood by you, defended you, and this—this is what you’ve been hiding? You’ve been lying to all of us!"
Hiraya’s spectral form floated closer to das, her face a mix of sorrow and anger. "I rember more now," she said softly. "I rember how I felt when I saw you standing there, Morvane. I trusted you, too. And yet..." Her voice cracked. "You were sent to destroy ."
"I didn’t want to!" Morvane shouted, his voice breaking. "I was forced into ths. Don’t you see? None of this is what it seems. There’s a larger ga at play, and I’m just a pawn."
das’ hands clenched into fists, his knuckles white. "If you think I’m going to let this go," he said, his voice cold and dangerous, "then you don’t know at all."
For the first ti in his life, Morvane felt truly cornered. The fragile ties that bound him to his friends were unraveling, one by one. And as he looked into das’ eyes, he realized that he might have just lost him forever.
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