“Dong, dong, dong, dong.”

The sound of massive church bells resonated through the city, announcing the passing of time into the late afternoon. The sound echoed through the streets, losing its sharp edge as it moved further away from its source. Now all that was left was a soft whisper of what once was a thundering clash between metals as it moved into the room.

The now soothing sound reverberating through the living room caught my attention, and slowly my heavy eyelids began to open. It took a few seconds to get used to the warm orange glow of the afternoon sun shining through the big windows. The light reflected off the wooden floor, making the room feel like the most welcoming place on earth.

My mind was still foggy, but I noticed the weight pushing against my right. From the corner of my eye, I saw silver hair, and I felt the shallow breaths from the person leaning into me. It made me feel at ease, calm even.

Should I take my sister to bed if she is that tired? I thought as I tried to slowly turn around to face her.

What?

I tried to move, but my body stayed still. Frozen in time, no matter how much I willed my body to move it would not let me.

What is going on? What is happening to me? My body was tense, my mind felt the hint of panic start to rise.

My mind raced to find answers when, suddenly, from my right, the sweet voice of my sister reached my ears. The words were enough for me to dive into a full blown panic. Desperation would not have been far away.

Without notice, my world went black in the blink of an eye. It was a fraction of a second that felt like an eternity. Suddenly, I was blinded by the bright sunlight shining into the room at maximum brightness. It took me a few seconds to get my bearings and calm down from what I could only describe as a nightmare. I started to relax a little, though I could still feel the panic linger as my body felt like it was still recovering from the heat.

Looking to my right, I saw Amber still tucked onto my shoulder. She had twisted her body towards me in her sleep which made me more aware of her and every movement she made. With every passing second, I became more aware of her every breath, every heartbeat.

Damn, that was a tough one. But still, I have to save her. I tried to close off the nightmare and worry about my current situation.

Looking at the clock, I saw it was 2 PM, which meant I had probably slept for about three hours. It was highly likely that Amber had no sleep at all last night, and as I looked at her, my head turned red when I saw her face so close to mine. I tried to shake off this awkward feeling by being practical.

I think it would be best for her to sleep in her own bed. But how am I going to handle this?

Thinking about the ways to go about this, I realized I had to pick her up and bring her to her room at some point. I couldn’t leave her there in the living room.

No, that would not work at all. I thought, while I noticed a sweet scent coming from, what I assumed to be, Amber’s perfume.

In my previous life, I never had a relationship. It wasn’t really something that bothered me, and the women I knew either considered me good friends, put me in the friendzone, or worse, the family zone. Now, I suddenly had a beautiful girl leaning into me while she was fast asleep.

Does she really trust me that much that she can just fall asleep like this?

My head had just returned to a normal color when I tried to look at her face.

In all my life, I haven’t met any girl that was as cute and beautiful as she is. But I… uhm… wait hold on…. isn’t she way above my status? I…

My shyness and uncertainty rushed back but before it could take a hold on me, I snapped myself back. Blood drained from my red face again, leaving me with a, somewhat, calmer mental state.

I need to stop that. That was my previous life; This is now. Stop being such an idiot and just bring her to her room god damnit. It’s not that hard!

Mentally slapping myself in the face, I tried to gently twist off the couch and slowly lower Amber onto the couch on her back.

I took a step back as I watched her sleeping. Not a sound from anywhere around. The maids had a day off and seemingly disappeared completely. Thalia was here before but probably relaxing somewhere else. Lucian… no idea.

My body tensed again. My mind racing.

Ok Zeph, how are we gonna do this? Can I just pick her up? Will she be mad when she wakes up? Will she hate me? Am I even allowed to touch her?

My body felt paralyzed from even thinking about the consequences of my actions.

But still, I can’t let her just lay here on the couch.

I knelt down next to her and with reluctance and fear for our friendship, moved my left arm underneath her knees. My right arm carefully moved under her neck as I gently lifted her, shifting my arm to her shoulders.

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She wasn’t really that heavy, that much I could see, but as I had never picked up a girl before—pun intended—she was surprisingly light. Having a solid grip, I started lifting her off the couch.

Ok, Zeph, keep your mind at ease. You are responsible for her now. DON’T… DROP… HER…. I know it was a silly thought.

I moved towards the entrance door of the living room that was never closed completely and just slightly opened. This made it easier to open with my right foot.

As I entered the main hallway, I found it completely devoid of life. Looking around you would almost say that we were completely alone in this massive mansion.

I started climbing the stairs to the first floor when Amber moved a little in my arms. She twisted her head slightly and pulled up her arms as if to snuggle into my chest more closely. Then she slowly opened her eyes in a way that made clear she was definitely nowhere near awake enough to notice that I was carrying her right now.

She tucked her head even closer to my chest as she murmured softly.

“Please don’t leave me alone. Stay with me.” Her voice was almost inaudible, but because she was so close to me, the words hit me clear as day.

She must really have felt alone all those years without her parents. Even if she isn’t showing it.

She didn’t say anything after that as I reached her room.

Opening the door I was greeted with a spacious room that felt awfully empty. The room had furniture and big frosted glass windows that let in lots of light. There was a desk underneath the windows in the center of the wall and a closet against the right wall facing the relatively small bed that was positioned against the left wall. The bed was nothing fancy either, which I did not expect from someone of her status. Although I had to say, she never behaved like someone of nobel status either.

I laid her down on the bed slowly so as not to wake her up. She didn’t wake up, but for some reason, she never let go of my shirt when I tried to move away from the bed. Sitting there on the right side of the bed, between her and the massive windows, I tried to decide what to do next.

Well this is awkward. Should I pull free or stay here?

A small twinkle of light caught my attention and as I looked at Amber’s face, I saw a tear running down the right side of her face.

I feel like I am the cause of this, but maybe in a good way?

Remembering my days on earth, I was always interested in psychology. The way the mind works and how people think, trying to place yourself in someone else’s shoes. Figuring out what decisions someone might take in certain situations. THIS however, had all the hallmarks of some personal trauma or locked-away emotions rising from deep within.

Must be because we are here now. She is experiencing what it is to not be alone anymore. Or, at the very least, with people of her own age.

I felt sorry for Amber, even though I basically had gone through the same thing. We both lost our parents at an early age, had to go through life finding a way to survive and take revenge on the killer.

Looking at Amber I saw how her face was showing that, whatever she was dreaming about, wasn’t pleasant. A tear ran down her cheek every now and then, a winch in her face showing her struggling with her emotions.

A realization dropped at that moment. A realization that hit me like a hammer to the head.

Losing our parents isn’t the only thing we had in common; we both were lonely.

We both lost the ones we loved dearly. The gap filled by someone else.

For Amber, it was Thalia. The one who probably served as her surrogate mother and did everything for Amber to have a great life. Sadly however great Thalia could be, she would never live up to Amber’s real mother.

For me, it was the alternative version of myself in Zephyria. I never had anyone to talk to but myself. Sure there were people around me but for years until the disaster in Silverdew Valley, I was alone with myself. Coping by talking to myself in female form.

My own eyes started to water a little. Energy left my body as my mind was racing through my past experiences, realizing how alone I have been. All the ‘fun’ I had with Zephyria was fake. All the experiences I had with her were with myself. There was no one there for me but myself.

This realization was depressing but I felt like I understood more about Amber now than before. I knew what she was going through now. I knew how lonely she must have felt before we arrived. There was only one thing I could do and that is help her through. Even if it would not be appreciated by her or anyone else.

I grabbed her hand gently and pulled it away from my shirt. Her hold strengthened for a little bit but it wasn’t tight enough to hold on to my shirt. Now that her hand was free, I grabbed it with my own and held it. Hoping that it would give her any solace to help her through her bad dream.

Her skin was soft and warm, and as I moved my fingers in between hers, I felt her grasp strengthen again. It almost felt like she was holding on for dear life and she needed someone to help her.

“Stay, don’t go. Don’t leave me, please,” Amber murmured again.

It reminded me of my own nightmares about my parents and the fires around our house. It kept me awake for months until a village elder helped us to calm down and finally get some rest.

Is this what they call falling for someone? Is this what it feels like?

Looking at her face once more, I saw she calmed down a little, though her hand was still firmly holding mine.

“Calm down Amber, I’m here to stay. I’m not going anywhere,” I whispered to her as I made myself comfortable against the headrest of the bed.

The room before me felt even more empty than it did when I walked in. Apart from the furniture, there was hardly anything else decorating it. No plants, no paintings, just empty walls with two lights on either side of the door. It felt a bit cold, even with the sun shining through the frosted glass, spreading the warm rays of sunlight throughout the room.

This left me with just my thoughts. I started thinking back at what Jack said earlier.

So if I think hard enough about our days with dad and talking about Ignisara, maybe that fond feeling of our homeland will return, and Sis will pick that up? It’s definitely worth a try.