"You think I have an ulterior motive?" Rhydian scoffed.
"Enough both of you... Please." My lips trembled. "I just want to get so rest." I broke out in tears.
Damon rushed to my right side and Rhydian to my left side.
"I’m sorry Aeris, I didn’t an to scare you. Stop crying." He gently consoled .
’Crying does the trick perfectly.’
"I just want to sleep." I rested my head on the wall behind . Damon stood by my side like a statue, he didn’t utter a word or leave my side.
"Sure, get so sleep. I’ll take the first shift guarding the entrance." Rhydian’s gaze lingered on for a second too long.
Then he rose to his feet, glaring at Damon before returning to the entrance of the cave.
I turned to Damon. His expression was unreadable. "I’ll go treat my wound. Get so rest." Without waiting for my reply, he walked past Alaric and Theo. Alaric rose and followed him further into the cave.
I sniffled, wiping my tears away. Golden who had remained inside my cloak flew out, flapping its wings slowly.
"Princess, are you hurt? Stop crying, you make feel sad too."
"I’m not crying anymore." I curled myself into a ball, lying down on the floor. The cold sent shivers down my spine.
Golden sat on the floor beside . "Okay..." it looked away. "Then, I won’t feel sad anymore?" Golden’s wings drooped slightly, like it were unsure if I’d say yes.
I turned my face to the side, my cheek pressing against the cold floor. My eyes stung, but the tears had stopped.
"Let’s get so sleep," I murmured, closing my eyes.
.....
(Damon POV)
I didn’t stop walking until the air around turned colder and the voices faded behind . My wound throbbed, but I barely felt it.
Footsteps echoed behind . I didn’t need to look back to know it was Alaric.
"Damon, what is going on?" he said.
I remained quiet, walking further into the cave.
"Can you at least talk to ? You have been very temperantal lately, which is unlike you."
I exhaled through my nose and kept my gaze on the jagged wall in front of . "You know, you didn’t have to tell her all that."
"What’s that? What are you talking about?"
"Don’t play dumb, Alaric. You know exactly what I’m referring to." A growl rumbled from my chest.
"Oh, now I understand."’ He held his hand behind his back. "I thought she deserved to know... I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I was trying to help her rember and reduce your worries."
I turned slowly. "By reminding her who Ember was? By dragging up mories she’s not ready for?"
"And how do you know she is not ready when you haven’t tried? You are the one who claims she’s Ember. Now you are getting mad at for trying to help?"
"Besides she is Ember," he snapped. "Pretending otherwise doesn’t change anything."
I clenched my jaw. "You think I don’t know that?" I narrowed at him. "I even tried to wake her mories with my bracelet, I found her room. The bracelet was mine, but the mont she touched it, I almost lost her for the second ti."
Alaric took a step closer, his gaze softening. "Really? Then why are you acting like Aeris is soone else entirely?"
"Because maybe she is!" I snapped. My voice echoed off the stone. "Maybe she deserves to be."
His eyes narrowed. "So that’s it? You’re just going to erase everything that happened before and start over like none of it mattered?"
I stared at him, chest heaving. "I don’t know if I want her to rember. Seeing her trying to rember, and collapsing. I’m wondering if it’s the right path for us."
The words slipped out before I could stop them. I hated how small they sounded.
Alaric blinked, stunned. "What?"
"I don’t know if I want her to rember anymore," I repeated, slower this ti. "Because if she does... she’ll hate . She’ll look at the sa way she did that day I..." I cut myself off, shaking my head. "I can’t go through that again."
Alaric’s voice dropped. "You think it’s easier to lie to her?"
I looked away, my eyes fixed on the flickering shadows on the wall.
"If I could just... make her fall in love with again, without the past weighing everything down on us. Then maybe we could have sothing real."
"You want her to fall for a lie," Alaric said.
"No. I want her to fall for ." My voice broke slightly. "Not the man I was. Not the monster she rembers. Just ."
"She has the right to rember both," Alaric said firmly. "And you don’t get to decide which version of you she loves."
I let out a bitter laugh. "You think I don’t know that?"
"Then stop running from it," he said. "You’re scared of rejection. We all are. But if you care about her at all, then you need to stop trying to control how this plays out."
"I’m not trying to control it," I said through gritted teeth. "I just... I don’t want to lose her again."
"Then face her as Ember. And let her decide."
I looked down at my hands, and they were trembling.
"You want a second chance," Alaric continued. "So do I. But we don’t get to rewrite what we did. We face it, and we atone for it. Or we will lose her forever."
Silence settled between us.
I ran a hand over my face, my skin burning from the tension I’d been holding in.
"I don’t even know where to begin," I muttered.
Alaric’s voice softened. "Start by being honest. Even if it hurts."
I dropped to the floor, resting my back on the wall. "Being honest? If we say anything that triggers her, she might not be able to rember again, or worse we might lose both sides of her."
I felt like an asshole for wanting her not to rember . I hated myself for it, but part of wished she’d stay Aeris forever.
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