Cirrus wasn’t so sure he believed in that prophecy anymore. A part of it had already ended up not being true, after all. In the prophecy Ruba had given him, it had been declared that he would one day rule the Udimeia side-by-side with his fiancée, princess Arcadia, who had already died a tragic death before he could even come to love her. It weighed on him, knowing that she was the one who had been prophesied to love and guide him at his lowest, but who was no longer there to do that. Of course, he didn’t feel as if he were at a low point in the current moment, but… what of the future? What of all these burdens that were now falling on his shoulders alone? Cirrus would never run from his responsibilities, but in turn, would they crush him? He feared sometimes they would. That was why, before Arcadia had died, he’d always greeted her eagerly, looking forward to the day he’d fall in love with her and make that prophecy of companionship come true.

But death is death, no matter how you look at it. Arcadia was not here anymore. Yet even though he’d finished grieving over her centuries ago, it still somehow felt like the space in his life he’d once been saving for her was now empty and hollow. Honestly, looking back, had he ever truly fallen in love with her in the first place? Probably not. He’d never known her very well, either. He had visited the girl every once in a while, but she’d always been sickly and was confined to her father’s estate because of her poor health. All he really knew was that her favorite game had been chess and she always beat him no matter how he tried to outsmart her, as she was an incredibly intelligent woman. And whenever her father, the King of Salaven and previous leader of the Central Domain Alliance, allowed her to come to official meetings and sit by Cirrus’ side, she always looked cold and demeaning, like she was critically judging everyone around her. She’d even been nicknamed the Ice Princess because of her cold glare that was said could freeze over hell with just one glance…

People didn’t know how to talk to her because of it, which Cirrus thought was sad even when he himself was no exception. She had always held a certain air of strength about her, but he also saw something that was incredibly fragile behind her facade. In nearly all of his memories of her, she'd always looked so miserable underneath her mask of apathy, and out of all the many years he’d known her, he could never remember a single moment where she’d smiled. For a time, he’d been determined to try and make that smile appear himself, but he’d never succeeded. And after hearing about that sad, fragile girl’s death… it hurt him more than he could bear. And it also led him to doubt the rest of Ruba’s prophecies, even though she’d never been wrong before that tragic day came to pass…

His grandmother had always said he would become many things, and that he would carry many burdens. But the only reason he’d so readily agreed to all of those expectations was because he’d been promised to have someone by his side who would love and support him throughout it all. Now that he was by himself, alone in such a grand and massive prophecy, he didn’t want his role in it at all. He would do his best to carry his burdens for as long as he could, but in the end, his only motivation to do so was because he didn’t want to let everyone down. They were all counting on him… if he ever decided to give up or run away, he would most certainly be hated by the entire world… even if it hadn’t been his choice to be in such a twisted prophecy in the first place.

No one knew about these selfish thoughts of his. He was stronger than anyone else his age, and he was talented and always praised for his leadership and intellect, but it led him to wonder… was he really going to be enough? When facing the collapse of reality, would he really be able to stop it all on his own? Even if he succeeded, would he make it through alive? Would he be okay with dying for a purpose he had never wanted?

Cirrus didn’t know the answers to those questions. And yet more questions only filled his mind whenever he thought about them. If Arcadia had never died, would he have fallen in love with her? Would he have received the kind of lifelong companion that would’ve been able to match him and stand beside him as his equal? Why had the prophecy gone so wrong in the first place?

In all honesty, even though it was a very foolish desire, Cirrus found himself hoping that this new miracle worker he was searching for could fill that hole inside him. He wasn’t necessarily looking for love, not anymore, as that didn’t matter much, but… just a companion to share his burden. An equal to have by his side. That was all he wanted. Yet even that felt like too much to ask, because, well… if he really was going to go down by the end of his hopeless war between the immortals and reality itself… then Cirrus didn’t want to bring anyone else down with him.