The Forbidden Light [BL] Chapter 10: Nightmarewalker

"Miss Aya," Maldie said as she entered the room, "Prince Shion asked to take care of you today."

The room was dim and stifling. Dust floated in the air, visible through the narrow beams of light that managed to seep in.

Maldie drew back the curtain. Aya didn’t react at all.

"Miss Aya, are you really okay?" noticing the dark circles under her eyes.

"Oh, yes, don’t worry..." Aya replied, her tone as if she had just returned from another world to reality. "Could you do sothing for ?"

"Of course."

"Bring Haru here. I want to talk to him."

"All right. Just don’t move anywhere..."

"Like I wanted to in the first place, heh," Aya said with a bitter smile.

After a few minutes, Maldie brought Haru, who had quickly thrown on whatever he could find. This ti, it was a loud pink kimono with white flowers on it.

"What’s going on?" he asked, looking worried.

"How are you feeling?" Aya replied with a question for a question.

"Thanks for asking. I’m fine now, all thanks to Maldie," he said with a smile.

"Oh, stop it, or your old Maldie will blush," the maid joked.

"Haru, give your hand," Aya said, her voice weak.

"O-okay," Haru replied hesitantly. "Sorry if this sounds an, but... what do you need it for?"

"No, I get it. I tried to dive into Shion’s dreams. I almost uncovered the truth, but I had to escape. Sothing... was watching . I couldn’t shake it; I felt like I was being followed. And as if that wasn’t enough, I had the feeling sothing truly horrible was right on my heels, ugh..."

"I’m sorry, Aya. But can my hand really help?" Haru asked, still confused.

"You have no idea. Your energy is my lifeline. Like I told you before, I can see the future. I know the key, you, has a power that needs to awaken. But I don’t know when or how it will happen. For now, your energy works as a cure for Shion’s pain and... a protective charm against the evil in my dreams. No matter what happens, don’t let go of my hand while I sleep, got it?"

"All right," Haru said with determination.

If I can help even like this... if it ans Shion gets that mory back...

... then I could sit here until the end of the world.

"Now that everything is settled... goodnight," she said, closing her eyes.

"Huh? You’re going to sleep in the middle of the day, milady?" Maldie asked, surprised.

Aya’s only answer was a soft, half-asleep breath. The maid sighed.

"I’ll bring so food. She should eat sothing; she’s been in bed since morning. Keep an eye on her, Haru."

"Sure," he said, nodding.

Once Maldie left, Haru looked at Aya’s face, wondering what she was dreaming about.

Aya found herself in Shion’s lost mories. She was in the middle of the scene where Shion saves Haru.

The Wind God, in the form of a swan, glared at her with anger and suspicion, as if he was aware of her presence.

When Shion killed the goddess who almost suffocated Haru and fell into the abyss, Aya spoke to the Wind God:

"Leave!" she shouted with fury. "You’ve already brought us enough pain. The Exchange for the Fla of Eternal Love?! Don’t make laugh. We both know such a fla doesn’t exist, and curses can’t be harvested from soone’s soul at the cost of their life. You awful liar! I can’t believe Shion trusted you!"

As she spoke, she thrust her hand forward. It shone with golden light and drove the Wind God away, blinding him.

In a cruel twist, the Wind God could not control his flight because of Aya’s light. The winds tore him apart.

On a day that never existed, two gods died.

Aya turned to Shion and Haru. When Haru kissed him, Aya looked at Shion’s hand.

She exhaled with relief – the mark had disappeared.

But sothing was off.

Right after the kiss, Haru vanished, as if dissolving into the air. The horizon and sky slowly turned a hellish red.

"So, we et again," Shion said, not in his own voice, smiling demonically. His eyes turned pitch black and started to bleed.

Aya’s whole body shook in fear.

"W-who a-are y-you?" she asked, terrified.

Whatever had taken over Shion began to laugh. Her brother lted into red clouds.

Then the mountain Aya was standing on cracked, shattering into a million pieces.

Aya looked down. There were no clouds... only a million teeth. An open maw larger than the sky.

The monster stared at her with enormous, bulging eyes, scattered chaotically across its slimy, strangely-limbed body.

Aya felt as if it snapped its jaws behind her and swallowed her, then looked at her mockingly and with superiority.

Aya’s dream ended with a loud gnaw – the monster’s jaw closing.

And then there was only emptiness.

A black void with nothing and no one, not even herself.

Aya slowly felt a pale-golden, pulsating light of the Key gently drawing near...

*

Aya shot up, screaming in fear. She gasped heavily, her eyes reflecting agony and terror, staring into the distance.

She moved so violently that she scared Haru, who nearly fell off the chair next to her, startled by the sudden scream.

"What happened?!" he asked, worried and terrified. "Are you okay? Aya, can you hear ? Aya!"

Returning to reality, Shion’s sister slowly turned her gaze toward Haru. Fear hadn’t left her face, which made Haru even more scared.

"I... I’m sorry... that being... I tried... only... but now..."

Calm down! Rember what you learned. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale... damn it I sounded like a total lunatic. Get it together. Haru has to know.

Haru held her hand tighter.

"W-what happened? You didn’t recover Shion’s mories?" he asked in a trembling voice.

Aya let go of his hand and then placed it on the bed. She turned her head away, looking at the blanket with a sad, gloomy gaze.

"I broke the Wind God’s seal. Shion killed the goddess who tried to kill you, and I killed that mischievous bastard... but suddenly sothing appeared that I can’t describe. Sothing... follows in my dreams and visions, and I have a feeling it’s sohow tied to the curse. I wished I didn’t know, and now that I know what hunts , I definitely won’t be able to sleep without fear..." she said, shivering. "Haru," she spoke sorrowfully, as if apologizing. "I... I failed. That day was deleted from existence forever, along with those two gods, which ans, for now, you’re safe, but..."

"...that mory won’t co back to Shion," Haru finished in a voice shaking with emotions. "H-he’s lost it forever."