Chapter 93: Awakening

Kyrie glances over to Cynthia, who smiles back at him, and his eyes return to Sil.

"Kyrie… You should have just accepted my offer when I was still nice…"

Cynthia stabs her sword into Ian's flesh, and she begins to feel from her sword the trembling from Ian's body on her hands. Yet, she cannot hear a single scream of pain. She twists her sword, trying to make it more painful from the stab, but Ian stubbornly does not let his voice out.

Kyrie cannot withhold the despair in his eyes as he watches Ian bite his lips, holding his voice from coming out. 

[I have led him to this…]

Sil frowns, looking at Kyrie's expression. His mouth starts to taste like blood from sinking his teeth into the wall of his mouth.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" 

"You gave me no choice…" Sil cups Kyrie's face, but Kyrie jerks his face away from Sil's hand.

"Is forgiveness what you wish for? I have forgiven you long ago!"

Sil pales at the revelation. He grabs Kyrie's hair, pulling him so that they can meet their eyes. Kyrie jolts in shock; he can hear his hair snapping from the tight grip.

"Is that the reason why you have forgotten about me so easily?" Sil's eyes widen, and the veins of his temples bulge.

"What?" 

"I haven't forgotten a single day. So I was the only one stuck?" Sil voice heightens, and a smirk appears on his lips.

"F-Forget?" Kyrie lets out a scuff. How could he just forget so easily like those memories are under his command to just say disappear, and they will disappear? 

"Don't forgive me, then! Hate me! Never forgive me, Kyrie," Sil's eyes reddens as all of the muscles from his face trembles from a deep-seated rage. Sil holds Kyrie from his face and directs him towards Ian.

Sil sends a hardened stare towards Cynthia. Cynthia understands the cue and raises her sword. With all her strength, she hammers her sword into Ian's arm, cracking through his bone, completely separating Ian's arm off his body. 

A groan comes out of Ian's mouth as he grinds his teeth. Kyrie's scream echoes in the chamber, giving Cynthia shivers from the adrenaline rushing inside her veins.

Kyrie pushes Sil away, and he forces his legs to stand up. 

[Stand up!]

He slams his fist on his thigh.

[Stand up!] 

He punches again. Against the odds, Kyrie pushes himself to his feet and manages to get his feet moving. 

However, he falls meters away. Although his entire soul could start to plead for anyone or just anything to help Ian, who can hear his request? Even his purest intentions to save the only person he ever wished to save can result in such a bent outcome. 

Just how is this fair? Just how much should one sacrifice for anything to be fair? Did he have to hold his heart, to gnash his teeth, and let Ian go through his tragedies for this kind of wretched outcome not to happen?

Was he wrong to want to save Ian from that pain that will carry on throughout his life, haunting his dreams, haunting his days, and taking away the happiness that could normally come?

Kyrie knows he did not do wrong, but this kind of outcome...

"I am sorry, Ian… I… I am sorry…" 

He watches Ian looking at him with a forced, weak smile.

"Kyrie… Don't cry…"

Ian's forehead is covered in sweat.

"Don't cry…"

Sil grabs Kyrie from the arm and pulls him up. He drags him to lean on a row of rocks and stares into Kyrie's eyes. He forces open one of Kyrie's hands and puts the flask of potion in Kyrie's hand.

"Now… It's all your choice… Choose Kyrie… Choose wisely…"

Hidden, Imogen stops Laurel from entering the chamber. Laurel stares at her in disbelief. 

"Why?" Laurel whispers, barely able to voice out some words.

Imogen coldly stares at her and shakes her head.

Laurel presses her lips as she tries to hold her sobs from coming out. Tears begin to flow down because she cannot hold them anymore. She cannot believe she is doing this to them.

Ian looks at the potion that Sil has given to Kyrie. His head remains fuzzy as he watches the scene.

"You seem awfully quiet about this…" Cynthia eyes at Ian, amused.

Ian has no idea why Cynthia is telling him this. Ian faintly hears the words that come out of Cynthia's mouth, but the pain slowly takes his consciousness away.

"You seem not to know what that potion does…" Cynthia chuckles, "Sil is using that potion not to pry anything from Kyrie... He should be using it to wipe his memories away. Most likely about you…"

Immediately, Ian widens his eyes and his body tenses. 

'Wipe Kyrie's memories away?' Ian's eyes shake.

Cynthia senses Ian starting to resist the illusions that rendered him immobile. His body starts to jerk from his resistance.

Cynthia steps on Ian, pushing him hard on the ground. 

"And YOU gave that same potion to that man too!" Cynthia laughs. She finds those turns of events quite amusing. Plus, she was able to pass it to Ian so well through the Collector.

Her smile fades a little bit, "Although I wanted you to do it, that would be more fun to watch… It seems like Sil has also gotten his own without my knowledge."

Cynthia presses Ian's body down as Ian continues to struggle. 

"Aren't you a selfish one… You finally react when you find out that he will forget all about you."

Her foot on Ian stops moving.

"What? You finally realized?"

Cynthia giggles, "You think you love him, but you love yourself more! All these things that I see from your fears… It seems like you are just afraid of losing someone who gives you affection…"

Ian's eyes shake as he listens to Cynthia's words. Does he? 

When his eyes meet Kyrie's, he knows Kyrie has made his decision. Mana starts to steam out of his body. Sensing the mana, Cynthia is familiar with the magic that is pouring out from Ian.

Magic of darkness.

She squints her eyes as she becomes aware that Ian is starting to awaken his magic attribute to darkness.

Cynthia lifts her sword once again to finish with a fatal blow, but her body stiffens when a voice suddenly echoes in her mind,

"You are wrong! They love each other just the same… There is no wrong in wishing love!"

A childish voice then fades away, freeing Ian from the captivity of her illusions. Cynthia senses another crack running through the gem on the ring.

She regains her mobility and continues her strike towards Ian's heart. However, a shield activates as soon as her sword is just centimeters away from stabbing.

Then, her attack gets interrupted when Imogen appears in front of her like a ghost, moving her away from Ian.

Laurel quickly tries to bandage Ian's arm tightly from bleeding out and manages to pour a potion that could stop Ian's bleeding temporarily. When she tries to give Ian a mana potion, a shadow strikes her. She quickly defends herself, but her mana potion rolls away.

The earth trembles and an intense green glow blinds Laurel's eyes. She redirects her eyes towards where the green light came from, and she sees Kyrie floating up in the air. 

He has drunk the potion.