Chapter 376 - Warm Feelings

I don't get it...I don't understand this at all, he thought. 

He placed his hand over his face as his head began to throb; it wasn't pain, but it was as if his memories were resonating with something lost. 

A pain struck his heart as if remembrance reverberated through his body; a sadness erupted within him as he looked at the somberly smiling man. 

Why do I feel this overwhelming sense of nostalgia when I look at him…? It's as if I'm reuniting with a long, lost childhood friend, he thought. 

"...I don't know you--I don't recognize you at all, so why…? Why am I crying?" Ren asked as tears strolled down his cheeks. 

It was only for a split second as he blinked; a flicker of a memory that shouldn't exist--he saw the nameless man, kneeling down the same way on a pathway of stone as autumn leaves sprinkled down gently. In that momentary resurfacing of a foreign, yet familiar scenery--it wasn't just the two of them. 

There was a woman at my side...no, we were...holding hands? It looked like there were a couple others--it was so serene...what was that? He questioned. 

As he raised his hand to wipe the perplexing tears from his cheeks, he noticed a stray tear traverse the knelt man's fair face. 

Why is he crying…? He thought. 

"There is no need to rush it, my master. What matters is that you've made it to this point," the nameless, well-dressed man returned to his feet. 

It was starting to become hazy; the astral world subsidiary to reality. A flow of static hampered his outlook on the scenery as it felt to clump together. 

"...What's happening? You never told me where I am!" 

"Of all the things to forget, master, this is not one I expected…" the man answered, "look around once more, I implore you...perhaps it will jog your memory."

A sadness inhabited the tall man's voice more than anything else when it came to the question of where they stood. 

...Huh? What's he talking about--his thoughts fell. 

--His thoughts became stagnant, lost for a moment as he looked down at the ground. A field of flowers existed at his feet; shining white with a blissful iridescence that lit the abyssal domain. More than ever, nostalgia filled his heart at the sight of those flowers. 

Flowers? These weren't here a moment ago, right? He thought. 

"...It may only be in the darkest corner, but I believed if anything, it'd help return your memory if we met here. It's as you said; we're meeting in someplace...between dream and reality."

"Just what is it? I've never dreamed of something like this," he asked. 

Just as he imposed the question on the somber-expressioned man, the world around him became impossibly blurry as his consciousness began to flutter. 

Even the towering, unmistakable figure of the darkly-dressed man became a swirling blur to his fading vision. His question wasn't answered as the nostalgic figure stood there silently before speaking one, last time:

"As you are right now...you're incomplete. However, I will still assist you in any way I possibly can, my master. If you should truly require my service...with full intent, just speak the word: "Arrive",", the man spoke hushedly, "maybe not today, tomorrow, but when it's right...let us meet here once again...in the garden of the abyss." 

As smooth of a transition as could be, the moment the last syllables of the man's words graced his ears, he parted his eyelids--blinking a few times drearily as he stared up at the velvet, almost translucent curtain that loomed over the bed. 

For a moment, all he could do was lay there motionlessly, trying to piece together the puzzling dream that sat in his mind as a haze; a jumble of information that he desperately tried to make sense of. 

What was all of that?...It felt so real, he thought, I guess that's even more on my mind to think about...great. 

Letting out a brief sigh, he rolled to his side--surprisingly being greeted by the azure-haired girl's conscious self. 

"Good morning," Iris greeted,"...or, whatever time it is here...I don't know."

Rather than being shy, he couldn't help but chuckle at her awkward morning greeting, "Morning, Iris." 

--The question came to his mind for a moment how she could even tell if it was "morning" time, or more accurately: time to get out of bed. But, he found his answer when looking at the mirror stationed at the wall behind the bed. 

An almost seraphic, warm light flowed through the transparent panels of glass; seeing light like that, albeit not natural, his heart felt at ease. 

"It's really like we're back home, isn't it?" He asked with a smile. 

Following his gaze, she turned her sight to the light that mimicked the grace of the morning sun with her own, gentle smile, nodding her head. 

"It is, but somehow...experiencing it like this...it makes it feel even more far away, somehow," Iris responded. 

Hearing it from her lips, he couldn't help but recognize the feeling himself as he spectated the false morning alongside her. 

As he looked at the somber smile present across her lightly-pink lips, he reached his hand out to hers--stopping just short as he withdrew it. 

She's right; it's all a facade...but at this point, I'm happy to accept even that. Whether that's a good thing or bad, I don't know...maybe I'm weaker than I imagined, he thought, but none of that matters. She's not ready to accept it--that means I'm not either. 

"Iris," he said, mustering up the courage to take her hand. 

"Y-yes…?" She looked at him with flushed cheeks. 

For some reason, he was able to maintain eye contact while doing something so daring, he'd usually prefer to shrink away. 

"We're making it out of here," he told her with confidence. 

"I know," she replied, shying away from his gaze. 

A gentle squeeze of her hand brought her eyes back to his as he gave her the most genuine smile he could, "I mean it; I don't mean an eternity from now--not years, not months--we're getting out of here soon. We'll return to them: Sirius with his eccentricities, Sora and his loud mouth, Donatien's cold gaze, Tristan's uncaring, but warm attitude, Charlotte's adorable self, Natalia's snarky remarks, Lucas' bratty attitude, Fai's constant persistence to spar. That's home. They're waiting for us--worrying, no...they're confident we'll return!" 

His words spoken with utmost conviction, truly believing in what he told her, met her deeply as her bottom lip began to tremble before soon, a trail of tears journeyed down her cheeks. 

"As long as you remember that, there's no damn way you'll doubt yourself!" he assured her. 

"Mhm…!" All she could do was nod as the tears made it impossible to speak. 

--Though it was only a temporary boost of confidence as the moment his spiel ended, a cherry-pink took over his cheeks as he quickly let go of the girl's hand.