Act 1: The mysterious stone tablet - Chapter 5 (I)

Much like its exterior, the inside the of the king's tomb was completely barren and devoid of decoration. Nothing had been buried with him, and the tomb was empty, safe for a lot of dust and a crude, simple stone coffin in the center.
With a gulp, Kyusaku took out his notebook, ready to take notes as he asked his partner to open the coffin. His heart was starting to beat faster and he had to resist the urge to look away as Miyaji put his hands on the heavy stone lid and pushed it open, slowly revealing the disfigured face of the deceased king, the mummification process making it look even more horrifying.

Unconsciously, the elf took a step back, before steeling himself and forcing himself to look.

The king's body was extremely well-preserved — at least compared to other corpses he had the chance to observe during his career. The damage done by the disease was clearly visible, and not just on his face. Just looking at it made him grimace.
The Archivist fought his uneasiness and stepped closer to the coffin to examine the body, taking notes and even forcing himself to sketch what he saw. He envied Miyaji, who was looking at the rest of the tomb instead.

When his gaze finally met the corpse's, a sudden and sharp pain in his own eyes had him clutching his face with one hand, notebook and pen slipping from the other and falling to the ground with a clunk that echoed in the tomb as he staggered back with a groan.

"Kyusaku, what's wrong?"

Unable to find his bearings in the darkness, he cautiously looked for the nearby stone coffin with one of his hands before lowering himself to the ground, where he felt slightly safer.

"I'm fine," he finally replied after taking a deep breath as the pain felt more bearable, but his heart was still racing.

"Are you alright?" His partner asked as he rushed to his side, his warm hand hesitantly brushing against his face. "You're bleeding! What happened?!"

He felt his heart beat a little faster as images of his nightmare came back to him. It can't be... Miyaji's hand left his face, coming back a few seconds later with a cloth to wipe the blood. Though the pain had subsided, his distress only grew stronger, and he couldn't stop his hands from shaking – he tried to hide them from Miyaji.

"Nothing happened!" He exclaimed, panicked. "I just looked at it when my eyes suddenly started hurting... Don't tell me it's that stupid curse?!"

"Can you try opening them?"

The elf nodded, and forced himself to open his eyes despite the pain that surged all of a sudden and the blood that started dripping on his face again as he gritted his teeth.

His breath caught in his throat. It felt like time had stopped and for a moment all he could hear was his heartbeat getting louder and faster.

"Miyaji?" He called, his trembling voice echoing in the darkness.

His trembling hands searched hesitantly in front of him, until his partner grabbed them, twining their fingers together. Relief washed over him, but that didn't stop him from clutching his partner's hands like his life depended on it.

"I... I'm here."

"Miyaji, what's wrong with my eyes?"

He didn't reply right away, which only made him more anxious; his heart was pounding, to the point it was the only thing he could focus on. He had to call out his name multiple times to finally get an answer, Miyaji's fingers twitching in surprise between his.

"You've been cursed. It's my fault, I didn't take it seriously..."

Kyusaku could tell he was making an effort to keep his voice from shaking. Miya is not usually the one getting scared. He wasn't used to seeing – or, well, hearing – him so nervous. It was always him jumping in fear when he accidentally got too close to a corpse, hiding behind his back when exploring ancient tombs, and waking up screaming because he dreamed of the dead.

He took a deep breath before replying with a shrug and a big smile. "It's okay, I didn't think twice about it either. I made a mistake as an Archivist. Well, statistically, lots of Archivists get cursed! It's a miracle it never happened to me before. Curses can be countered anyway," he added. "I'm sure we'll find a solution."

The more he rambled, and the more he calmed down, though he couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy in the darkness. I can't see Miya.

To his surprise, his partner suddenly let go of his hands and brought him into his arms instead, holding him almost too tightly. Held in his arms like this, he could tell how anxious his partner was, and immediately regretted his foolish actions. I worried him too much lately...

Feeling a lot calmer now, with a sigh, he stood up, using Miyaji's shoulder to steady himself. If Miyaji was anxious, then he needed be strong. He couldn't worry him more than he already was.

Miyaji followed his movement, one of his hands lingering on his arm.

"I'm sorry, I should have been more careful. With my eyes like this, I won't be able to do much, but I'll do what I can to find a solution."

"No, it's too dangerous!" Miyaji refused. "We're almost out of food too. We should head back to the Archives for now..."

Although the situation was frustrating, he knew his partner was right. They couldn't afford to stay here any longer. Miyaji picked up his notebook and placed it in his hands before leading him out.

"I promise you, I'll get your eyes back."

In the end, he returned to the Archives after Miyaji bandaged his eyes, not really knowing what happened to them. For some reason, Miyaji refused to elaborate on their current state. He completely lost his sight and there was still blood dripping down whenever he tried to open them, but at least the pain was manageable, so he decided not to bother his partner with this.

In fact, more than scared, anxious, or in pain, he was mostly annoyed. Left with nothing to do but ponder over his own stupidity while he waited for his partner to find a way to break the curse. There was nothing he could do but wait, and his room had never felt so empty before. It's so quiet... I miss having Miya here.
Even if he did nothing but read a new romance novel every time he hung out in his room, it still felt a lot more lively when he was here. With his partner gone, and his eyes gone as well, the elf had just been spending his days sprawled over on his bed, feeling incredibly bored.
Not being able to work or even do anything to entertain himself was simply insufferable. In fact, he didn't even know what to do outside of work, and couldn't remember when was the last time he took a break. Have I even taken a single break these past eighty years?

There weren't many things that could keep him from working. Thinking about it, the last time he was in such a state was probably during his childhood, when he was still recovering from his injuries.
Unconsciously, he rubbed his fingers together as he tried to remember what he did back then to keep himself busy. Though it was barely noticeable, the skin of his hands was slightly different to the touch than the rest of his body, and that feeling somehow appeased him. Come to think of it, Miya never asked about my scars, even though we've been working together for so long...

... How did I come back to thinking about Miya? He wondered as he started to realize that no matter what he was thinking about, his mind always wandered back to his partner. The elf could picture his face perfectly, down to every little detail.
He was struck by a sudden desire to see him, to be with him, and had to refrain from jumping out of bed, remembering that he'd definitely hurt himself if he tried to look for Miyaji in his current state, and that Miyaji wasn't even here anyway.

Why do I miss him so much? He wondered with a sigh, rolling over onto his side. It's not like we're that close... He thought, at the same time thinking that Miyaji had become a much bigger part of his life than he realized. Yet, despite being so important to him, they really weren't that close.

Sure, he might trust Miyaji with his life, but he didn't even know what his favorite color was.

He teased him about his age, laughed at his jokes, didn't mind sharing a bed with him when needed, and trusted his abilities enough to fight without looking back; but he didn't really know him as a person. He couldn't even think of anything he liked apart from romance novels. He never took the time to ask him about himself, or to hang out with him. He would call him a friend, but were they actually even friends?

... I'm kind of an asshole, aren't I... The elf thought as he rolled over again to lie on his stomach, burying his face in his pillow in shame.

Kyusaku didn't really have time to blame himself, as his door swung open all of a sudden, his partner's overly cheerful voice calling his name.

"Kyusaku! I found how to break the curse!"