The stars guided them back to the familiar stone fortress they called home, as Elais crashed through the heavy doors with a loud thud. He carefully placed Yura onto the closest sofa as he flung his briefcase into his study room, with the contents secured with its rather sturdy clasps. The stinging persisted and the strength that surged throughout his body was quickly waning, as he stumbled over his own footing as he returned to the living room, almost collapsing into a sofa. He carried Yura once more, and headed to the staircase that led to her room when he felt her tug at his chest. 

“Can I.. sleep next to you tonight? I’m scared to sleep alone, after everything,” she pleaded softly. 

His light hair glowed under the yellow light of the lanterns. “Of course.” 

Elais sat her onto his bed, and kneeled before her. “I am.. Incredibly thankful that you’re alive.” 

He held her hand against his cheek, averting his gaze. “I thought I’d fail you, that I’d lose you too. I’m so sorry, Yura.. For not being enough to protect you.” 

Yura shook her head as she caressed his golden hair. “No, I should be apologising to you. I thought that you didn’t care about me, since all I’ve been is a burden to you.” She cupped his face in her hands, gently stroking his cheeks as he returned her gaze with softened eyes. “I’ve been selfish when everything you’ve done was for my sake. My life has significantly improved ever since you took me in. Thank you, Elais. I’m sorry I haven’t done more for you.”

Elais held onto her hands and lowered them from his face to hold onto them. “Do not worry, you’ve done more than enough, and are not a burden, nor have ever been. I apologise sincerely for not being more reasonable in your freedom, especially since we are capable of handling the dangers of your powers.” He rested his head on the side of the bed. “I do admit that I feared situations where I wouldn’t be able to protect you if harm came your way. That incident just now scared me to death. It was the worst possible scenario to come true.”

Elais drew a sharp breath. “I- I don’t ever want you to experience what I did. Hence I left to deal with the cult as soon as I could. I wish for you to live in peace, more than I ever had.” He averted his gaze as he closed his eyes. “I apologise for taking so long. I know it must’ve been unbearable for you.” 

Yura smiled softly, running her fingers through his hair. “It’s fine, I understand now.”

Elais straightened himself up, offering a pinky to her. “I swear to take you out more, whenever you feel safe.” 

They shook pinkies, forming an everlasting  and unbreakable promise between the two of them.

Elais returned from his bath dressed in a loose buttoned up shirt, Yura still drying her hair with a towel as she sat on his bed. 

“Elais? Can I ask about your other form? From the dungeon,” she asked as she detangled her hair, wearing one of the pastel pink lace shirts and matching skirts that Adrienne had made for her that Elais retrieved from her room.  “I just noticed that I’ve never seen you shift before.”

“It was from the experiment from long ago. It was forced onto me,” he explained, allowing Yura to dry his hair as he sat on the bed. “I don’t often rely on it, since it brings upon bad memories I wish to forget.”

“Which one is your true form, then?” Yura asked, placing the towel aside onto the bedside table.

Elais’ lilac eyes gleamed under the moonlight with a light glow that shined against his light hair. “The one you see now.”
“Good,” Yura replied softly, Elais immediately feeling a sharp pang of his heart by her response. She inched closer to him, her mouth forming a small frown as she gazed at him. “Because, that form looked as if it brought you a lot of suffering. I’d rather not see you shift again if it causes that much pain.” 

He was briefly taken back at her response, appreciating the concern she expressed. Elais sighed in relief, knowing that she didn’t find him revolting to look at, nor did she seem frightened by the form that had brought him a lifetime of misery and insecurities. His heart thumped heavily against his chest, feeling heat slowly rise in the tip of his ears. His heart felt warm, a foreign yet vaguely familiar feeling that soothed his worries. It had been the first time he’d heard such words, which felt incredibly relieving to hear. He averted his gaze from her, gazing out the window as the stars greeted him.

Yura’s head sank into the pillow and closed her eyes as she wrapped herself under the soft blanket. “Oh, Elais? Adrienne actually came over to visit before I went to visit you.”

Elais sharply turned his head upon hearing the name. “I was not notified by her about this.”
“She came over to fix Mr Foxy. He had a tear that even I wasn’t aware of,” Yura murmured. “I wonder how she knew. Maybe she has powers she didn’t tell me about.” 

“I see..” Elais scanned the room for any signs of the doll. “Where is it now?”
“It’s in my room on the bed I think,” she replied drowsily. “You can see my stitching on it.”
“Did she come to do anything else?” Elais asked, caressing her forehead.

“No, she left at the same time I did,” Yura mumbled, her voice becoming softer with each word.

Elais thanked her softly, as she closed her eyes for the night.

Elais groaned as he straightened up and left for Yura’s room, the stinging sensation still persisting through his body. He found Mr Foxy sitting on her bed, staring right at him as he entered the room. He observed that it’s backside was stitched lightly in a different coloured thread, noting that Yura’s handiwork was rather decent for a beginner considering its neat stitching. Elais held onto the doll anticipating to pick up some form of unusual magic on it as he stared back into its creepy eyes, but sensed no form of magic within it whatsoever. He pressed his fingers into it, feeling nothing but filling inside of it. Yet, for some reason something about it felt off, especially for Adrienne to make her way down to the fortress just to fix it. He placed Mr Foxy on top of Yura’s wardrobe for the time being, not wanting to deal with its soulless gaze and hoped that she’d forget about it for a while. 

He returned to his room, stumbling as he felt his body starting to overwhelmingly heat up as the stinging continued to flare throughout his body. He fell onto the bed after tearing his shirt from his body, the pain becoming rather immense, although it didn’t feel lethal. He couldn’t comprehend how this magic - dark magic - was able to affect his body this way, considering he was aware that magic had limited effects on him with years of self-harm attempts. Although this discovery back then would have made him delighted, he felt concerned for his own wellbeing for the first time in a while. He looked over at Yura, sleeping peacefully in his bed as she held onto the pillow. He truly hoped that she would not suffer the same fate as he did, and closed his eyes. 

***

The darkness loomed over the hooded sorcerers as they kneeled before the hooded figure by the regal throne. The click-clacking of their foot tapping against the floor brought a daunting break from the silence. “Your report immediately, please.” They rested their head against their hand as their elbow leaned on the throne’s armrest. “Something tells me things didn’t go quite as planned.”

The cult followers were stunned as they stood in their positions, with any word that they spoke being easily used against them.

“L-lord Puppeteer! We apologise for our failure,” the cult follower answered, quivering as they spoke. There was no use hiding their fear, and the effect of their anxiety was contagious.
“We couldn’t subdue him, but he took quite a lot of damage from our magic, so we know it’s working so far,” another said, trembling with each word. 

There was an eerie silence, before the loud slamming of the hooded figure’s fist against the throne’s armrest echoed and shook the entire room. “You should not withhold information from me. Keep it going,” the voice demanded. “Or else I will have to tear your limbs one by one.”

They shifted as they hesitated to voice themselves, fearful of the dire consequences. One shot daggers at the other, knowing that they would all be severely punished if they did not speak up at that moment.
“You see, we- I - accidentally threw the spear into the girl.” The cult follower refused to look up after they spoke, knowing their actions were incredibly dire. “I do not know how she fares as of now-”

“YOU ruined my life’s work spanning a millenia!” the voice boomed, a strong gust of wind blew against the followers as they struggled to resist its strength.”My life’s work, down the drain just like that… Now I must wait even longer thanks to you imbeciles.” 

The hooded figure waved their hands in a rigid motion, invisible threads wrapped on the fingers as they clenched their fists and pulled tightly onto the thread. The cult follower grasped for their chest, feeling their heart being pulled apart as the threads wrenched onto it as it continued to beat against it. They fell face first into the ground, their heart no longer thumping as their body grew cold against the steel floor as the silence grew more and more eerie.