Chapter 80

  Laura’s voice echoed from the other room, reminding the twins—again—that hot water wasn’t infinite. Victor complained. Albert tried to sneak ahead. Alessandro disappeared down the hall with a towel over his shoulder, already half-lost in thought.

  Raime knew that he couldn’t avoid it anymore, Alice lingered near the doorway, arms crossed, jaw set. She hadn’t said much since they got back. That alone told him more than raised voices ever could.

  And suddenly it was quiet.

  Too quiet.

  Raime still near the window, was watching the last light drain from the sky through the little space his father left in the stone coating the external layer of the house. The town looked different at dusk now—darker, sharper, edges defined by threat rather than comfort. He could feel Alice’s presence approach behind him without turning. Her emotions were loud, even without trying to read them.

  “You scared me today,” she said.

  He turned slowly, leaning back against the wall, careful to keep his posture relaxed. “I know.”

  That didn’t help.

  “You always say that now,” she shot back. “You know. You always know. But you don’t—” She stopped herself, dragged a hand through her hair. “You didn’t even look worried.”

  Raime watched her closely. The tightness around her eyes, the way her shoulders stayed lifted like she was bracing for impact. She was still coming down from adrenaline. From the fear he caused.

  “I was,” he said quietly.

  She scoffed. “No, you weren’t.”

  He didn’t argue. He couldn’t—not honestly.

  She stepped closer, close enough that he could smell sweat and soap and the faint metallic tang of blood that clung to all of them. “You threw those monsters at us like it was nothing. Like they were… disposable. Like you knew you’d stop it if it went wrong, so it didn’t matter how scared we were.”

  Because I did know, he thought. And because fear teaches faster than anything else.

  But he didn’t say that.

  “I pushed you all hard for a reason,” he said instead. “I’m sorry, but it is necessary.”

  She blinked, clearly not expecting that. “That’s it?”

  “For that,” he said. “Yes.”

  Her mouth tightened. “And what about everything else?”

  Raime stayed silent.

  She laughed, sharp and humourless. “There it is. That look. That… distance.” Her voice wavered despite herself. “You came back from that Rift and it’s like you left something there. Or maybe you brought something back that pushed everything else out.”

  She stepped away, pacing now, energy spilling over. “You don’t touch me anymore, not even a caress. You don’t look at me like you used to. You haven’t kissed me once since you came back, Raime. Not once.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment.

  Before the Rift—before the System rewrote the world itself—he’d already felt it. The subtle shift. The quiet questions he never voiced. He’d cared for Alice deeply, genuinely, but love… love had started to feel more like a habit than the passion it should be. Comfort. Familiarity. Something warm but not consuming.

  Then the Rift had burned everything else away.

  Weeks of survival. Pain. Transformation. Neimar’s voice echoing in his mind. The weight of responsibility settling into his bones. He had been stripped down to purpose, and when he came back, there was no space left for uncertainty.

  Looking at Alice now, he still saw her beauty. Her strength. Her sharp mind. He cared—Gods, he cared enough that it hurt.

  But the feeling that used to pull him toward her wasn’t there anymore.

  And that terrified him, because now he wandered if he could ever feel it again.

  “I did change, didn’t I?” he said slowly.

  She stopped pacing. “That’s not an answer.”

  “It’s the only honest one I have.”

  Silence stretched between them. From down the hall came the muffled sound of running water and Victor’s voice raised in complaint.

  Alice folded her arms tighter. “Do you still love me?”

  The question was quiet. Bare.

  Raime didn’t answer immediately.

  If I tell her the truth, she leaves. The thought came unbidden, sharp and certain. She won’t stay out of pride. Or anger. Or hurt. And she’s not ready. Not yet.

  He saw it clearly—Alice setting out on her own, determined to prove something, taking risks she couldn’t yet manage to face. The world outside wasn’t kind to impulsive courage.

  And if she dies because I was honest…

  His jaw tightened.

  He opened his eye and met hers.

  “Yes,” he said.

  The word tasted strange. Not like a lie exactly—more like a promise deferred.

  Her shoulders sagged, relief flooding her face so fast it hurt to see. She stepped forward without thinking, pressing her forehead against his chest. He hesitated only a fraction of a second before wrapping his arm around her, pulling her close.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Her body fit against his like it always had. Familiar. Safe.

  I will protect her, he promised himself. Even from the truth, if I have to.

  “I thought you came back… hollow.” she whispered.

  He rested his chin lightly against the top of her head. “I’m still here.”

  Not a lie.

  Just incomplete.

  They stood like that for a while, breathing syncing, tension easing inch by inch. Raime forced himself to soften, to let his grip linger, to brush his thumb along her shoulder the way he used to. He could do this. He would do this.

  Affection wasn’t the same as love—but it could still be real.

  Eventually, she pulled back just enough to look up at him. “Then don’t shut me out. Don’t decide everything on your own. I don’t need you to be invincible. I need you to be here.”

  He nodded. “I can do that.”

  And he meant it.

  She pulled him down a little and kissed his lips softly, the warmth of the gesture made Raime nearly flinch. But he leaned into it and just let it happen.

  For now, he will play his role. It’s not that he didn’t feel physical attraction to her anymore, I just don’t love you… I’m sorry Alice.

  Later, when she went to shower and the house fell quiet again, Raime sat alone in the dim living room, staring at nothing. His core pulsed steadily, Thread humming faintly as if aware of the weight pressing on him.

  This isn’t forever, he told himself. It’s just for now. Until she’s strong enough to be safe without me.

  When that day came, he would tell her the truth.

  What the fuck am I doing? “Haa… ”

  Outside, the night fully claimed the sky.

  He took a moment to just let his emotion run unchecked.

  Then rained them in again, he settled into a rhythmic breathing, a pattern he learned from one of the first thought-knot he used still in the temple. He calmed his mind and refocused on what he had to do, he will prepare a training regime for each tonight, he will meditate and study how to proceed with his channels endeavour first.

  Then in the morning he will start to eliminate all the monsters by the portals around the town, he’ll have to coordinate with his father and the survivors to start working toward the tutorial quest, then…

  Alice came into view from the stairs, hair still damp, and wrapped around a towel. “Stop brooding and come up with me,” She said, a smile lighting up her features.

  All his planning was for naught, but he resigned himself to play the part so he smiled back and followed her upstairs, she scraunched her nose when he approached, “I think it’s your turn to take that shower mister, I’m not going to let you touch me now that I’m clean.” Alice said playfully.

  He raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly, then a small laugh escaped them both at same time. “Understood…” He leaned in to give her her a peck on the forehead, even on a higher step she was still shorter than him. Then they went up and he proceeded to take a shower, the warm water and a deep scrub did wonders to his mood, when he looked at the mirror he saw a strange man looking back at him, it’s left eye was empty, but healed already, he would need something better than a strip of cloth to cover it though. Another task for tomorrow.

  He used a flash of energy emitted from his whole body to evaporate instantly all the remaining water on him, then took a clean set of robes from his spatial ring.

  Well, let’s do this. He exited the bathroom and proceed to go to his room.

  He didn’t get too much sleep that night.

  In the early morning though, he managed to sneak out of bed and start preparing for the day, he must have tired his family out extensively with his training for them to sleep so much, even his father who usually was an early riser, got up late.

  As everyone assembled for breakfast, exchanging good morning and complaints about muscle soreness, and sleeping too little, sunlight filtered through the narrow reinforced windows, turning dust motes into lazy sparks drifting above the table.

  Victor was the one who broke the rhythm of clanking cutleries and the sound of munching food.

  “I had a weird dream,” he announced, spoon hovering halfway to his mouth.

  Albert immediately perked up. “Was it cool or lame?”

  “Lame,” Victor said, nodding solemnly. “But also… weird.”

  Laura glanced up from her coffee. “Weird how?”

  Victor frowned, searching for the right words. “I was in a forest. Like, a big one. Trees everywhere. And I knew there was a girl there, somewhere. I could feel it. She had an axe and she was cutting down trees, like—really big ones. But every time I tried to get closer, she wasn’t there anymore. I could hear the chopping and screaming sometime, but I couldn’t see her.”

  He paused, then added, thoughtful, “I don’t know why.”

  The table went quiet.

  Not dead silent—but the kind of quiet where everyone suddenly found their food very interesting.

  Laura and Alessandro slowly raised their heads at the same time.

  Their gazes slid—unmistakably—toward Raime and Alice.

  Raime, for his part, did not look up. He was on his third serving already, calmly stuffing his plate with eggs, bread, and what remained of the cured meat, as if the dream had nothing to do with him, reality, or anything beyond the urgent need to consume calories.

  Alice, meanwhile, shrank in on herself like a guilty cat.

  She hunched slightly, eyes fixed on her bowl of cereal, cheeks faintly pink.

  Albert noticed the looks. “What?” he asked, confused. “What did he say?”

  “Nothing,” Laura said quickly. Too quickly. “Just… interesting dream.”

  Victor squinted at her. “You’re doing the thing.”

  “What thing?”

  “The thing where you pretend nothing’s happening.”

  Alessandro cleared his throat loudly and took a long sip of coffee. “Dreams don’t mean anything, Vic. Especially after everything that’s been going on. Stress does that.”

  “Yeah,” Albert chimed in. “Maybe there was a monster outside last night. Like one of those screechy ones. That messes with your sleep.”

  Raime seized the opening immediately.

  “Could be,” he said, finally speaking as he finished loading his plate again. “There was movement on the outskirts overnight. Wouldn’t surprise me if something wandered too close.”

  Laura narrowed her eyes at him.

  Raime did not notice.

  Or rather—he pretended not to notice with professional dedication.

  Victor shrugged. “Huh. Still weird though.”

  “Maybe a bit,” Alice murmured, still staring into her bowl.

  Laura shot her another look.

  Alice attempted to become invisible, and failed.

  Raime swallowed a mouthful of food and pushed on before the moment could circle back around. “Speaking of the outskirts—Dad, I need you to organize a meeting in the plaza. Today.”

  Alessandro straightened slightly. “About?”

  “We need to start acting like a city,” Raime said evenly. “Not a group of survivors reacting to fires as they start. We need to build a wall and establish controlled kill zones near the rifts. I’ll clear the monsters, but it has to be their job to keep the portals from flooding the streets again.”

  Albert’s eyes lit up. “Like guards?”

  “Exactly,” Raime nodded. “Everyone who wants to live here long-term needs a role.”

  “For the other requirements?” Laura asked.

  “We hunt everything inside the perimeter,” Raime replied. “Fulfil the conditions. Lock the safe zone. Once that’s done, things will get easier. People could form teams, go out and earn levels without the fear of getting eaten in their beds.”

  Alessandro nodded slowly, already shifting into problem-solving mode. “I can get people together. Rinaldi, some of my old colleagues, a few of the ones who’ve been organizing patrols. It won’t be smooth though.”

  “It doesn’t need to be,” Raime said. “It just needs to start.”

  “And you?” Laura asked.

  “I’ll clear monsters for a few hours,” Raime replied. “Thin the numbers. I’ll be back by midday. We meet in the plaza, then home for lunch. Training after.”

  Albert and Victor practically vibrated in their chairs.

  “Yes!” Albert pumped a fist.

  Victor grinned. “Special training montage!”

  Laura sighed. “You two are going to be the death of me.”

  Raime finished his plate, stood, and stretched. He leaned down briefly, pressing a light kiss to Alice’s cheek.

  She startled, then flushed even harder.

  “See you later,” he said quietly.

  She nodded, still not trusting herself to speak.

  Raime grabbed an old map and a pen, then grabbed a block notes too and put everithing in the ring. Stepping outside, he closed the door behind him.

  The air was fresh and crispy.

  Inside instead Victor watched the door for a moment, then looked back at his parents. “So… the girl with the axe—”

  “Eat your breakfast,” Laura said firmly.

  Albert snorted.

  Alice hid her face behind her mug.

  And somewhere outside, Raime lifted into the air, already scanning the surroundings for the next portal.