[Happiness really is fleeting with such things, but his relief endures, even as the reality of what brought him here starts to sink in. Her question strikes more deeply than he might have imagined - had the entity done something to him, as he slumbered? Had even more been taken from him? Had it succeeded in removing the memories it had tried and failed to take from him before?
He recalls what brought him to the shrine. His stomach turns with it, in fact. He'd felt on the verge of madness with the sorrow of having lost Himeka and Abel to the Kenoma, still reeling from the entity's assault on his mind. He'd left the safety of the lodestone in a frenzy, desperate to find something, anything, that he could do to make it feel like he wasn't utterly helpless to save them.
He'd hoped to capture a Kenoma, to do whatever it took to draw from them the information he needed, and he'd failed. Instead, he captured Meteion, free of the darkness that had once burdened her. Still scrambling for purpose, he'd come upon the idea that led him here: he would bring Meteion's shard to her kin, and in doing so, implore the entity for its help in repairing the damage it had caused.
...The answer he received was predictable, in retrospect. Yet, he still remembers his pain. He remembers what he lost, and it makes him believe the entity's hold on him is not yet complete.]
...He is here, aye. Fool that he is...
[The euphoria of being free is fading, his expression falling to something more somber. Yet, there is a certain shine in his pale eyes, at seeing her so close. His brow furrows ruefully, his fingers tightening around hers.]
I... had thought to challenge it... the entity... to demand its contrition...
[He finally begins to shift. His body feels lethargic, like the aura of the shrine still wishes to hold him in place. Yet, somehow, the spell binding him has been broken.]
Yet 'tis I that must needs ask for forgiveness... had you not arrived... I would still be its prisoner. Thank you, Hayame.
[From the expression on her face alone, he can tell this wasn't easy for her.]
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He recalls what brought him to the shrine. His stomach turns with it, in fact. He'd felt on the verge of madness with the sorrow of having lost Himeka and Abel to the Kenoma, still reeling from the entity's assault on his mind. He'd left the safety of the lodestone in a frenzy, desperate to find something, anything, that he could do to make it feel like he wasn't utterly helpless to save them.
He'd hoped to capture a Kenoma, to do whatever it took to draw from them the information he needed, and he'd failed. Instead, he captured Meteion, free of the darkness that had once burdened her. Still scrambling for purpose, he'd come upon the idea that led him here: he would bring Meteion's shard to her kin, and in doing so, implore the entity for its help in repairing the damage it had caused.
...The answer he received was predictable, in retrospect. Yet, he still remembers his pain. He remembers what he lost, and it makes him believe the entity's hold on him is not yet complete.]
...He is here, aye. Fool that he is...
[The euphoria of being free is fading, his expression falling to something more somber. Yet, there is a certain shine in his pale eyes, at seeing her so close. His brow furrows ruefully, his fingers tightening around hers.]
I... had thought to challenge it... the entity... to demand its contrition...
[He finally begins to shift. His body feels lethargic, like the aura of the shrine still wishes to hold him in place. Yet, somehow, the spell binding him has been broken.]
Yet 'tis I that must needs ask for forgiveness... had you not arrived... I would still be its prisoner. Thank you, Hayame.
[From the expression on her face alone, he can tell this wasn't easy for her.]