"You somehow remind me of my twin brother" she said to him out of the blue. Ephemere face then shows amusement and surprise. She realized that he has gotten paler and paler this days.

"well what a coincidence, I as well have a twin brother"

"Oh? What is he like?" Ethna asked out of curiosity.

"He's abundantly different. A carefree person who is always fond of new things. But he's much more rational than me."

" Where is he now?"

Ephemere gave a fond yet distant smile and then turned around as they are continuing their walk.

"Somewhere, possibly exploring the world."

There a silence stood. Ethna who is walking behind Ephemere now see how lonely his back looks.

"Do you... miss him?" Ethna asked as if those words are fragile.

Ephemere stopped. Seconds passed by but it feels as though eternity. He then gave a sigh.

"I miss all of my family, but it does not matter. Our paths are already diverged, be it life or death, immortality or mortality, places to be or not to be. That is just how it meant to be"

Ethna then feels ungrateful, she still has family, yet she feels that she's not appreciating their presence enough. Ephemere seems to notice her distress and turn to smile towards her.

"Enough of this depressing thoughts, we ought to explore this place as it seems to have no boundary, even I haven't found it yet"

"Have not found it yet?"

"Yes! Isn't fascinating? This realm is basically as if yours but we can explore it without any danger whatsoever!"

Ethna gave a small chuckle and that made Ephemere smile fondly at her. And there they stared at each other with silence.

"Have people said about your beautiful eyes?" she asked.

Ephemere made a slightly shocked expression, though the slip up is only for a moment and his mask was on a second later.

"Truly odd. What kind of perception do you see about my eyes?"

Ethna wondered about his strange question but proceeded to humor him anyways.

"It's as if a mirror, beautifully reflecting all colors. Colorless yet magical"

Ephemere then is in a deep thought. Ethna then gathered all the courage to ask him.

"Why do you ask that?" she asked.

Ephemere seems to contemplate whether to tell her or not and this makes Ethna regrets her decision.

"Ah If you don't want to answer then it's al-"

"- Though it is said that Lucis' eyes are magical, it's noted that only selected few can see the true form of those irises. Most people will see their own eye color on our eyes. That's why it's curious why you could see it. The last one I know could see it is my father."

Ethna froze. After that she looked to the ground. How could she see it? Why her?

And the way he said 'father' is very sorrowful, Ethna could tell his father already ascended to the heavens.

"They said though, if they took my eyeballs out of the socket, everyone would be able to see the true form."

And isn't the last sentence he said very disturbing? Ethna thought. If so that's probably why his mother made this place in the first place. It could be that his father's death could be related to the fact that everyone wanted his eyes. How could anyone do something so inhumane?

"Enough about my eyes, let's talked about your hair instead. I found it very beautiful. Dark and silky, alluring as the night." He said and that made her very red. She wondered how Ephemere could say it easily but then she realized it's not easy for him at all as she sees how his ears turned rosy. Probably it's just to change the topic, an awkward way of it.

He reached out for her hair and got closer. That made Ethna paralyzed. They stood in that position for a while but then Ephemere went away.

"That was out of the line, forgive me." He said with his back turned towards her. She wants to reach out to him because he looked very lonely but she stopped when he proceeded to say something.

"Also, that was embarrassing, wasn't it? A little tad to creepy?" the loneliness that had embrace Ephemere was quickly replaced by his self-consciousness.

"It was romantic, though you could say that people does not do it occasionally. So, it is a bit odd, maybe creepy" Ethna replied with a chuckle.

"Perhaps I've been here for too long, common sense seems to fade along time"

"Then, you should go out sometime."

"Hmm.." Ephemere was considering. Ethna realized something from what she observed. Ephemere hated to be restrained in one place. He hates to stay in some routine, he dislikes losing his goals. He wanted to go out from a cage that bind him yet he likes predictability.

"Ah, there's good news for you, my powers are charged, I could bring you back within days."

Ephemere decided to change the subject.

That sentence break Ethna's dream away, waking her up to the reality. She puts her hands back down and forced a smile.

"That's good then"

With that, Ephemere walked back to his house as she trailed behind him. Ephemere has pushed her away. She knows and probably it's for the best. Since their path maybe already diverge long before they met anyways.