117 Together, They Are Without Bounds (1/2)

”Despite being spun out of nothing, it'd been perfect the moment came it to be. Without flaw or distortion. An immaculate reflection of the Creator's innermost nature. That was what it'd once been, according to what I've been taught by my master. Take my master's words with a grain of salt though, dear. It's nothing more than ancient folklore, I suspect.”

”Even our oldest records don't go as far back as the creation myth that my master spoke about and we've been around for a very, very long time, mind you…”

Long enough that we had been the first to venture out into the stars during our infant steps as a civilization. Before we realized the truth about our world…

He'd noticed that something was off, but couldn't put his finger on it. There was something about what she'd said that caused him to feel an itch on his chest. It… was calling out him, as if to remind him that it was still there.

Reed frowned and said, ”No… I'm pretty sure there's a grain of truth hidden within that myth, as much as I'd love to agree with you…”

He clutched his chest, summoned all the strength he could muster and then pushed what had tried to escape back down into the depths of his heart…

I reject! I will NOT do your bidding anymore…! I will choose what to do what I want with MY life!

It is not yours to do with as you please! I am no puppet for you to control! Begone and end my torment, poisonous wretch!

I am not YOU, nor will I EVER be, as much as you may wish for it!

It was not Reed rejecting a supposed call to adventure, but rather him defending himself from something claiming to be it. He knew it to be nothing more than a false pretender and a scheming bastard. It sought to use him as a tool for its own devices and had been consistently hounding him ever since he sealed his power away.

Lu'um immediately sprung into action when she noticed Reed's pained expression and said, ”Are you alright?! Is it happening, again?! Did the seal—”

”I-I'll be fine,” said Reed and started using the breathing exercises that he'd learned from his therapist in order to calm himself down. He took long, drawn-out breaths as he counted backward from ten until the pain finally subsided after what felt like an eternity…

”Don't worry… the seal's still intact, despite the wretch's continued attempts to break through it,” said Reed. ”…It's gone, for now.”

It had taken a long time for Reed to reach the level he was at now and a considerable amount of effort on both his and Lu'um's account. The events that had transpired during the Twilight War had taken a heavy toll on Reed.

Not in a physical sense; he was healthy as could be. His spirit, however, had not fared as well…

In the beginning, it'd started off as nothing more than a faint, indescribable feeling of unease in his heart, but then… it had progressed into something far worse.

Lu'um clearly remembered that first started happening sometime early during their first year in exile, when their relationship had finally started to get serious.

She'd been woken up by him in the middle of the night, out the blue. He had looked paler than death as he stood in front of their bedroom mirror. It'd been a heartbreaking sight for her as she watched the one she loved break down until he'd turned into a total mess.

Never before had she seen him so vulnerable and weak. He'd been drenched in a cold sweat, trembling like a newborn fawn when she'd woken up. Tears pouring out his eyes as he struggled to breathe.

After that night, she'd come to realize that he was not well and that he needed some serious help. Lu'um could heal flesh wounds, purify corrupting miasma and slay monsters, but she wasn't sure about fixing what afflicted her beloved.

She understood that wounds of the mind — a sickness that resided within the spirit — was not something to be trifled with. It was a serious affliction that would have to be handled by an expert on matters of the mind.

For the longest time, she'd known that he'd been afflicted something, even before night of his panic attack. That something had been eating at him from the inside as far back as when they'd been trainees in the Spire.

It took a lot of effort on both their parts, but after several months and many intensive therapy sessions, he finally began to move past what'd been haunting him — the self-perceived regrets, failures, and fears he had kept buried for the longest.

What he had unhealthily bottled up inside of himself as a result of not knowing how to properly cope and manage his negative emotions and thoughts…

It's not the same as back then, though. This was nothing more than a hiccup in comparison to what he was like before we started going to therapy.

Been months, maybe more than half a year since the last time he's had his last episode…