Chapter 419 The Return (1/2)

Chapter 419 The Return

In the spiraling network of cocoons in a lonely, grey plane of existence, one cocoon, just one out of what could have been an infinity, shuddered Unbeknownst to the vast majority of sentient life, that was the first a cocoon had ever moved in a number of years that would have been incomprehensible to the human mind

At the very least, none of those orbs of cosmic silk had shook like that since the birth of the star that created the sol system

A black clawed hand jutted out of the silk, tearing through its weave Another hand followed, and together, they pulled, tearing open the cocoon

Valera eed In this colorless realm, her eyes stood out the most in its redness But it was a faint red, one that hearkened to the light of a dying ehly tired She had drained al that went deep down into her very bones, in her flesh that felt like it was ready to tear apart at a moment's notice

Gone was her ar her naked

Despite her situation, she sed fully from the cocoon, she did so with Aldrich on her back

Aldrich's ar her for support He was not conscious yet, but he was alive - and to Valera, that

The cocoon sealed back shut, for a solid surface upon which Valera rested Aldrich down on, though she kept her hands under his head and back in case there was a chance he could slip back in

She had alain

Aldrich, too, had been stripped of his ar him just as naked as her

Normally, Valera would have been flustered at the bareness of their bodies, but now, it made her feel closer to Aldrich It let her feel the chill of his undead body closely

The vulnerability made her more starkly aware of what she could have lost

Aldrich opened his eyes They flashed bright green in this colorless real a hand to his forehead

"Are you alright, Aldrich?" said Valera She tentatively put a hand on Aldrich's back

"I lost…everything," said Aldrich Memories of an entire lifeti the perfect world he had drea in a way he never could have Love for a partner Love for a daughter Love he thought his mind, hardened by hurt and loss, was never capable of

And the loss of all that -

It was unbearable It would have driven an ordinary man insane several times over

A tear trickled fro down his face in a crystal clear trail

But then, Aldrich felt his mind calm Chill Where the human mind broke easily under pressure, the undead h-infallible

"I'm sorry"

Aldrich looked up He saw Valera, tears bri in her crimson eyes

"I'm sorry I had to do that to you," said Valera "I tried to talk to you down there, in that other life, but h All I could do was stand there and let that world crumble

I sa happy you were, Aldrich I saw the wohter you raised At first, I was jealous - intensely jealous But the ht for them, the more I saw of them, I realized you were happy there

Truly, truly happy

Happy in a way I never saw before Happy in a way that I…I don't think I could everto wipe her tears away, but more just replaced them