Iryz stiffened at the sight of him, slumped on the floor. She was jolted awake at the sound of what seemed like books falling onto the floor. When she rose, she saw that Zeres was gone and her room's door was wide opened. She rushed downstairs, afraid that something bad was going on just to find this. Him. Alone. And slumped over as though a disaster had struck him.

She then saw how he suddenly stiffened when he sensed her presence, but she could not make herself turn away anymore. Not after seeing him like this. Not after hearing him say out those words… The sound of if coming out so broken and forlorn just triggered a surge of sympathy from her heart. This beautiful man was so lonely and shattered.

Her feet moved and approached him with measured steps. Before she could reach him, his deep voice echoed inside the quiet and dim bookstore.

"I'm fine. Go back to sleep." He said, removing his hands from his hair now and acting like nothing had happened at all. But Iryz did not stop and when she reached him, she squatted down.

He whipped his head towards her and snarled. "I said go back upstairs, damn it!" there was venom and threat in his voice and Iryz could not help but blink and flinch back a little.

But the next thing she did was…

She lunged forward and hugged him.

Zeres' eyes widened in shock and his entire body stilled. It was obvious what she did was the last thing he expected her to do at all.

"It's okay," her quiet voice echoed out in the dark as her slender arms wrapped gently around him. Then she started caressing his back gently.

Her actions only made Zeres feel even guiltier. A bitter smile curved on his face as he shut his eyes tightly closed. 'If you knew what I was about to do to you… you wouldn't be here, hugging me right now. No, you wouldn't even want to look at me anymore.' he told her in his mind. He wanted to push her away. He did not deserve her comfort.

But he could not make himself touch her to peel her off him. "Let go now, Iryz." He said and her hand on his back paused in its movements.

"But –"

"No buts. Just listen to me."

"You're not okay –"

Before she could finish whatever that she had wanted to say, she became limp and fell onto him because Zeres had put her to sleep with his spell without warning.

"I'm sorry," he uttered then he used his magic to teleport them both back into her room. He did not touch her again and just used his magic to tuck her back into her bed again.

After that, Zeres closed her window and locked her door. Then he left the house to go and distract himself. He wanted to go see Alicia, thinking that if he sees her and her spirit's condition still did not get worse, he might feel better. To him, nothing would make him feel more at ease than that.

It was around 2AM when Zeres arrived at Ezekiel's building. He did not enter Kiel's suite, knowing that Alicia would not like it if he appeared there out of nowhere. She might think that he wanted to expose her to Kiel. However, a fight with Alicia was the last thing he wanted to have it happen right now. So he deliberately advertised his presence upon materializing at the rooftop. He knew Alicia will feel his presence once he did that.

A while later, Zeres felt her coming and he uttered the spell.

"Did something happen?" she asked immediately but Zeres did not answer as he was busy breathing out in relief. Nothing changed so far since the last time he saw her. It was only a few days but the fact that she did not became even more transparent was enough to make him breathe with ease.

That last time when he noticed that she was fading had scared him to his core and that was why he was unable to relax at all, fearing that she would continue fading as the days went by. Gladly, nothing had seemed to change so far even after a few days.

"Zeres? Are you listening to me? What happened?" she was just a step away from him now.

"Nothing happened." He finally replied, taking a step back. "I just came to see if you're good."

She blinked. "Huh? What do you even… I don't think so. There's definitely a reason why you're suddenly here –"

"I'm going back now, Alicia." He said as turned around.

"Huh? Wait! Zer…"

And before Alicia could even find out what it was that he had come here for, he was already gone. Alicia could only bite her lip and then take in a deep frustrated sigh. However, a flash of worry crossed her eyes as she stared at the space where he disappeared from.

…

Zeres did not return to the bookstore immediately. He materialized a few blocks away from the bookstore because he wanted to take a walk. It was already 3AM and the streets were empty.

Just as he expected, he felt a little better after seeing Alicia. He felt like he was allowed to take a short breather now as it seems he still have time left on his hands. That was such a great relief to him as of right now, he felt the chaos in his mind and soul settled a little. It would be fine for him to go back now. That girl would be safe from him at least for now.

But as he reached the old house, his relaxed expression quickly dimmed at the sight of the bookstore's door. It was left slightly opened. Zeres had locked that same door before he left!

He immediately disappeared and materialized inside Iryz' room, only to find out her bed was empty.

"Iryz?!" he called out and then he rushed downstairs. "Iryz!" He searched the house as fast as he could, but…

She was gone.

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