you let out a breath you've been holding since you set foot in the main hall towards the wizard king's office.

'alright.. i can do this. just act as if nothing happened.' you thought.

you took in another deep breath and opened the door, coming in and closing it while looking down.

once you raise your head, there the two stood.

···

"..what?" you ask yvane to repeat what she had just said, you heard her clearly, yet you can't seem to settle with this information.

"the wizard king wants you in a mission with the captain.. it seems to be another important one." she says.

you groaned and dropped your head down again.

"when will it be?" you ask.

"he's asked to summon you tomorrow.."

"tomorrow?!" you sit up again in surprise.

"i'm sorry to bring such news right now but it seemed to be an urgent one, knowing it's you and the captain who he has assigned and rushed to be summoned right on the mission."

yvane looks down and you could only sigh once again.

"i don't have a choice then."

···

"i've heard you summoned me?"

julius gives you a smile yet you only looked at him in a straight face.

'if we're going to do this, do it quickly.' you thought.

the emperor was a little suspicious of this greeting and the comfortable atmosphere before you entered turned into a gloomy one.

"i have. assuming you're aware that this is a bit of a special mission, considering i've set the mission for the both of you.

a strange fast amount of knights i've sent to that particular village had been missing for two weeks, and i cannot turn a blind eye on.

the reports had mentioned unusual fog every after sunset and people who's outside of their homes disappear."

julius summaries the situation.

".. and the knights you've sent must've been caught in the fog aswell." you continue.

"i've figured so, i trust that you two will bring our comrades back."

you and your captain nods at this. after saluting, you exit the office and went on your way with you riding amihan's chariot and william deciding to use his broom.

the ride was quiet, no words exchanged and definitely no good atmosphere.

by the time the two of you reached the said village was on a afternoon, the village was lively and vendors with different stalls were lined up in the main circle.

"what a lively village." you mumble.

the two of you lands infront of a building far enough not to get the citizen's attention on you.

"stick close if you may, it's still early for the fog to arrive and it's better if we don't lose each other." william finally speaks.

you didn't give him a reply yet still followed him around until the sun had almost set.

the doors and windows of the villagers started slamming closed.

from the looks of it, even if you were two knights ready for action, it doesn't look like a good plan to stay in the fog and wait for anyone to possibly attack you.

"i don't think it's a good plan to stay in the fog and wait for something to come at us." you speak your mind and william nods.

"let us find shelter, there we may wait and observe the fog safely."

he grabs your wrist and ran while pulling you along. your eyes widen at his sudden boldness in contact but decided to run along and catch up with his pace.

the man stops infront of a tall building where the lights are still on and he pulls you in as you both swiftly enters.

william closes the door behind, his arms still wrapped around you and the silence felt awkward.

you tug his arm and he finally pulls away as your heart beat faster than usual while he still had his  composed figure.

it's sometimes annoying, 'does he not feel emotions at all? stupid.' you thought.

"welcome, welcome." an old lady greets the two of you behind the counter with a warm smile.

"good evening madam, may we ask for two rooms for the night please?" william says.

'two rooms? is this some hotel? how did he know?' you thought as you stood there like a lost child.

"ah good sir, i'm afraid we only have one more room in spare. the town has been lively this week and our rooms are full." the lady responds.

william took a glance at your still confused face and nods at the lady with a smile, "we'll take it." 

"we will?" you ask him and he only gave you a forced smile.

"enjoy your stay." the lady hands over a key, william takes it and mumbled a "thank you" as he did.

···

"you may rest if you'd like." william says.

you didn't understand how staying in one room is fine for him, or maybe it's just you assuming this sounds wrong.

"we're in a mission, not a vacation, captain." you respond.

william ignored it and went towards the window.

and you went to the other on the opposite side of his.

silence lingered in the air, it wasn't a comfortable one yet from how much you're aware, the argument that started this whole situation isn't much of your fault.

you stood there and focused on the fog outside, waiting for any sort of movement.

william felt pressured about how you were acting. never in his life had he's been in a position to apologize for something he did that's so stupid.

he didn't mean to ask what were your position in his life, he was glad you were in his life.

he was glad and angry to the fact that he doesn't see you as a friend, nor less than a friend.

thinking of you as his friend only hurts, and somewhere deep down felt like his life wouldn't be complete if he hadn't met you.

your current situation being uncomfortable and silent was nowhere what he was used to, you were the only person who has saw him in his happiest and you were the only one who made him the happiest.

he was ready to apologize yet he didn't know how, he didn't know what to say nor when to say it.

'a simple apology would be fine.. right? right now is also a good moment for it and a simple start wouldn't be too bad now.' he thought.

once he's made up his mind, he calls out.

"Y/N i have something to-"

"there." you say suddenly, cutting the man off.

just then he remembers you were on a important mission, the situation between you two had completely made him lose focus the past few minutes and it wasn't doing him any good at all.

he was affected by it yet he didn't want to admit.

he rushed to your side and sees figures moving around the fog, right when he's just about to cast a broom out, you had already jumped off the window, calling out your pegasus while falling as amihan catches you right before you hit the ground.

the man sighed and threw his broom up, jumping onto it and following you while you followed the shadows' movements.

you reach the forest and the fog started to dissipate, a very gloomy aura of the path ahead didn't look so welcoming.

"the shadows disappeared into the forest." you inform your captain who finally catched up.

you jump off of amihan as liviana comes out of your shirt, "be careful." she says in a serious tone.

the two of you continues on towards the forest.

"an abandoned house?" william gestured at a house which looked like it's been standing there for years, centuries to be exact.

you walked towards the house, as each step you take, the more intense and creepy the atmosphere grows.

william had a glimpse of your trembling hand, he pats your shoulder as you slightly flinch.

"i'm here." he says and held your hand.

"i know." you respond, you were too occupied with the creepy situation to mind about a simple gesture from william.

the two of you continues walking towards the forest and at the end of the pathway, you catch a glimpse of a man in black.

"Y/N stop." liviana warns and you do, william still held your hand and your sudden pause made him stop aswell.

just when you were about to ask why did you stop, the man infront speaks.

"Y/N Diana, or shall i say.. 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝒉𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑛."

your breath hitched, a unfamiliar and sudden rush of unusual emotions floods you.

"what are you-" you were about to question what he meant when he throws a box, william was first to catch it and it took your attention.

for a split second, the man was gone.

you pulled away from william's grasp and ran forward in hopes to catch up with the man, yet he was nowhere to be seen.

you inhaled and sighed it out deeply. you felt devasted, confused, nervous and frustrated for some reason you don't know yourself. it wasn't this easy for you to lose your calm, yet with what that man called you..

"Y/N! watch out!" liviana yells as she shot the branch coming your way with a star blast.

you looked at her confused, that branch was familiar. too familiar.

"captain-!" just when you were about to turn around to william, another branch comes your way and grazes your cheek, blood splurting out.

you groan from the pain and held the bottom of the wound, it felt deep.

if you hadn't dodged in time, your head might've been cut off by now.

just then, another attack from behind you comes rushing, it's speed was unbelievable and you had yet to collect yourself.

you summon your whip from your grimoire and starts cutting the branches that came towards you in a fast pace.

'... it's never ending-' you thought, dodging another attack.

"Y/N! there!" liviana points above where william was standing on a branch of a tree, his vines and tree roots all coming towards you.

"william! what are you doing?!" you yelled, but he didn't reply, nor did he move or showed any signs of sense.

"liviana cover me!"

you rushed towards your captain's figure yet it seemed almost impossible to pass by his vines.

"Celestial Magic: Balm Of The Night Court."

purple smokes covered the whole place in almost an instant and you disappear on william's sight.

you ran below his magic's roots, making sure not to make any sound while doing so.

you reach behind the tree he's standing at and you finally had a clear view on him yet you couldn't observe him clearly from behind, before you could think of a way to approach him, he had already noticed you and started attacking again.

one branch hit your sides as you lose balance and stumbles down, hitting the ground hard.

"Y/N!" liviana yells and rushes over to you while dodging the vines coming after her aswell.

"get to your senses idiot! your captain's eyes is glowing bright red, he's being possesed and he's not himself. we need to find a way how to knock him out of it!"

you groan and as liviana touched you, you became one.

'i'll help you heal by using Moon's Radiant Light, find out how we can snap him out of whoever is controlling him.' liviana speaks in your mind and you nod.

you jumped up and faced your captain again, his eyes did glow bright red and the color did not fit him.

you start defending again but this time, you tried going in closer to attack and attempt to knock him out.

you jump back and pulled out Sagittarius' Bow, casting Balm Of The Night Court within the arrow and shooting it right towards his head.

yet to no avail, the arrow crumbles before it could even hit him. your smokes were supposed to make him fall asleep yet the smoke didn't hit him at all.

'how do we knock him out of whoever is controlling him? my arrow didn't work.' you thought.

'he's like in a deep sleep and dreaming of this situation right now, in short, it's as if we need him to wake up.' liviana answers and from that you had an idea.

you dash towards him again in a attempt to get close, you didn't try hitting any of the branches and roots coming your way anymore and just dodged while some of his attacks still managed to hit you.

your arms and legs got grazed yet you didn't stop running towards him.

'Y/N these attacks have poison- i know i said i'll heal you but atleast try not to die!' liviana says in your head, you weren't even aware that his attacks had poison.

you tried your best to dodge yet your body has already been feeling tired and your eyes started to blur.

'a little bit more..' you thought.

just when you were behind the tree your captain is standing on again, you jumped towards his figure with your left energy and spoke.

"i'm sorry, i love you."

with that, you fall into unconsciousness.

⋆*･ ﾟ ☾ ﾟ ⋆*･

-lexi