A World Between

Cael felt like he had been run over by a truck. His eyelids were heavy and sore, his limbs leaden, his throat dry and raw. Every inch of his body screamed in protest as his eyes struggled to adjust to the dim light that surrounded him.

"Ugh," he groaned, forcing himself to sit up. "What happened?"

He rubbed his temples, trying to clear the fog that clouded his mind. He was in some sort of room, though it was hard to tell where exactly. It was also rather dark. Rain pattered against the single window that seemed to open to the outside, but the curtains in front of it had been drawn closed, making it hard to discern the time of day.

He tried to recall the events that had led him here.

Right. He'd carried Val up from the depths of the cave, ran from some irita, used the steam crystal to create a diversion, then collapsed in exhaustion.

How had they gotten here, then? And where was Val?

Cael took a deep breath, steadying himself. His body still ached, and his muscles were stiff, but he forced himself to rise.

He looked around. The walls were made of wood, and the floor was covered with a thin layer of dust. He was on a bed with a thin blanket, and there was a small table in the corner of the room with a single chair and a lit candle on top of it.

Hm, that was strange. A candle? It'd been a little while since he'd seen one of those. He'd gotten so used to the light crystals that he had nearly forgotten about other forms of light.

"Where am I?" he muttered to himself, his voice echoing slightly in the small space. "Val? Where'd you go?"

There was no answer.

He frowned. This was odd. Val's ankle had likely been twisted or sprained, so she shouldn't have been far.

Suddenly, the faint outline of vaguely humanoid apparitions emerged from the corners of his vision.

His muscles tensed despite their soreness and his heart spiked. Crap, this wasn't good! Were these monsters?!

"…" However, after several seconds of nothing happening, confusion started creeping in instead. He didn't feel any malice from them—in fact, they seemed almost peaceful and welcoming.

Their outlines seemed to grow brighter as he noticed them, almost as if they were trying to communicate.

"…from this world…?"

Cael's gaze darted around the room as words faintly echoed in his mind.

What was going on?

Now that he was looking closer, everything seemed somehow… ethereal. It was hard to put a word to it, but it felt like the lines of things were just barely blurred, and the air was… thin—mist-like. It was like he was seeing things through a veil.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

Something was very wrong here.

But then, just like that, everything snapped into focus, and Val was instantly beside him.

"Cael! Cael, are you okay?!" She asked frantically, her voice trembling slightly as she shook his shoulder. "Please, answer me!"

His mouth gaped open and closed several times before he could even begin to formulate a coherent response. His vision swam as he tried to process the situation.

Where had those strange figures gone? What just happened? Had it just been a nightmare?

"I-I'm fine," he managed to say finally, his words coming out hoarse. "I'm just a little confused… Where are we?"

Her shoulders slumped in relief. "Thank goodness. When you woke just up now and didn't react, you had me very worried."

Cael's eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"

"I-I'm not sure how to put this, but it was as if you weren't really there." She shook her head. "Never mind that though, I'm just glad you're okay."

She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his neck.

He blinked as his brain still tried to make sense of it all. However, the soft, warm sensation of her embrace was enough to ease him slightly, and he hugged her back.

"…Yeah," he said finally, taking a deep breath. "I'm okay now, Val."

She nodded, pulling away from him after a few more seconds.

"After you passed out, I did my best to drag us over to this place." She gestured around. "I've only explored a little bit of it because of my ankle, but from the looks of it, it's some kind of small shelter."

"Huh, that's… convenient." He glanced around, taking note of the various items strewn about. There were some basic tools, a fully stocked bookshelf, and a few boxes stacked in one corner. It looked as though it hadn't been used in a long time.

Then, his eyes flickered over toward the candle. Strangely enough, it wasn't lit anymore. The only light source in the room now was the dim, ambient light that trickled through the curtained window from the rainy outside.

"Did you light the candle earlier?" he asked curiously. He could've sworn that it had been lit when he'd first woken up, although maybe that'd just been a hallucination.

"A-a what?" She glanced over in confusion. "Oh, that? No, I haven't. I mean, I was considering it for a while but…" She trailed off before sighing. "Something is strange with this place. The light crystal isn't working—none of them are, really."

"The crystals aren't working?" He looked over at her. "Wait, oh no. Don't tell me that they've somehow become affected by Suppression already?"

His poor heart couldn't take it if that was the case. All of that effort, all of that planning and nearly dying…

"N-no, I don't think it's that," she said, shaking her head as she readjusted herself on the bed. "It's similar, but it's more like they just aren't reacting at all." Her hand fumbled around for their light crystal and she presented it to him.

"See?"

She waved her hand over it, and he watched as its surface continued to remain inert. He furrowed his brow, taking it from her hands and examining it himself.

She was right. It was nothing more than a pretty rock now.

"That's strange," he muttered. "What could've caused that?"

"I-I'm not sure. It could be something unique to this location, because I've found I can't use my magic in here! N-not even a little." She suddenly held out her hand toward the table and chanted "Vas!"

But nothing came out of it. No spell, not even a sound.

Cael rubbed the back of his neck, trying to think of what might be going on here. This was completely out of his wheelhouse though. He had no idea how to even start thinking of an explanation.

"Well, regardless, might as well settle in." He looked around at the rest of the room. It was small, and there wasn't much to look at, but it seemed safe enough.

"A-are you sure? It feels so strange here. And while I don't think it's Suppression since magic works just fine again outside, it's still a little scary." She bit her lip as she fidgeted with the light crystal in her hands.

He gave her a reassuring smile and patted her on the shoulder. "It's probably fine. Besides, I don't exactly think either of us are in a state where we can resume traveling, especially with the weather."

"Y-yes, but—" Val stopped herself and took a deep breath. "You're right, I suppose." She stood up carefully, leaning against the bed for support. "I just wanted to finally change out of these dirty clothes and take a bath. I'm so cold and uncomfortable!"

Cael's lips twitched upward slightly at her complaining. It was rather cute, even if the circumstances weren't ideal.

She did seem like she needed it though. The seat and bottom of her dress was covered in dirt and mud, and her hair was disheveled and tangled.

An idea occurred to him.

"Hm, do you know what the range of this 'no-magic' area is? And is there a bucket somewhere?"

***

The rain continued to pour down, and the wind howled loudly through the cracks in the windowsill, making Valera flinch every now and then. She was currently in the bathroom of the shelter, which consisted of a simple porcelain tub, a wooden sink, and a toilet. The crystals for each of them were of course unresponsive, but nonetheless, she was currently staring at a tub of slightly steaming water.

Cael had been ferrying buckets of water from the bath crystal to and from outside. It was slow since Cael was still extremely sore and tired, but Val could only marvel that Cael had even decided to to go outside at all in that horrible storm.

She shivered as the flash of lightning heralded the booming of thunder, her eyes following the shadow of the droplets that cascaded down the glass of the window. She absolutely hated thunderstorms.

Her chest tightened, and a sense of dread crept through her. These moments were always the worst when she was alone. The cottage would always creak and groan with each strike of thunder, and her mind would play tricks on her. It would make her think monsters were coming to get her. Or, worse, that she too would somehow disappear from this world, just like everyone else.

She shuddered, wrapping her arms tightly around her dirty clothes. No. She wasn't alone anymore. There was someone else here with her. Someone kind and caring. Someone who wouldn't leave her alone, even when it was dangerous.

The creak of the door sounded as Cael quickly entered carrying two more wooden buckets that sloshed with hot water. He kicked his boots off by the entrance and hurried over into the bathroom with her, pouring them out.

"Whew, that should be the last of them. You're all ready, Val."

She nodded, a grateful smile crossing her lips at the high water line. "T-thank you, Cael. I truly appreciate this."

Cael gave her a lopsided grin and shrugged. "Eh, well, you did more or less offer the exact same solution before we came out here." He chuckled. "Plus, I'd say you've earned a nice bath."

Val blushed and averted her gaze, her fingers subconsciously playing with her hair. It really was so very sweet of him.

"Alright, well now I'm going to go pass out again. Do enjoy your bath, Val, and don't forget to rewrap fresh bandages once you're done." He turned to head back toward the bed, wringing out his shirt. It was drenched with rain.

"Ah, wait!" Val cried out.

"H-huh? What is it?" He turned to her.

"Y-you're soaked!"

"E-eh? Well yeah, it's a pretty bad storm out there."

"Y-you can't sleep in wet clothes! A-and I can't have you getting a fever or anything. Especially when you're still recovering."

"Val, it's fine. I'll just take them off to dry and use one of the blankets we've brought. Even if it's a little cold, it's nothing new—"

"Bathe with me."

The world went silent for a moment before thunder clapped again outside.

Cael sputtered, his words trailing off as his face flushed. "V-Val, I-I don't think that's—"

"I-I know how it sounds, but think about it." She grabbed her own dress to demonstrate. "You say it's nothing new, but you've been drenched. You definitely need to soak in warm water more than I do!"

He nervously laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Ah ha, great joke, Val. I don't think that's really an option anymore given how you… know about the implications now. Plus, don't you remember the shower back in the cavern—"

"Stop!" Her cheeks heated at the memory. "N-no! Of course I haven't! But I believe preventing you from falling ill takes priority over modesty! Plus, we are romantic partners, aren't we? "

"Erm, yes. But Val—"

"Don't 'but Val' me! We are in an emergency situation. We can't afford for either of us to get sick!"

Cael was silent for several moments as the rain pattered down against the windows.

Oh wow, she'd gotten rather heated. Val bit her lower lip and looked away, her cheeks burning.

"W-we can just keep our eyes closed," she suggested quietly. "And even if not, it'll be rather hard to see anything in the dark, right?"

"…"

Val began shrinking into herself. Had she gone insane?! This was a proposal that might've flown had it been from past Val, but how could Cael ever accept it coming from present her—

"…Okay."

"O-okay?" Val's eyes widened. "R-really?! Oh, um, if I'm pressuring you too much—"

He raised up his finger to silence her, his expression dead serious. "No, you're right, Val. We can't have either of us getting sick. And I'm admittedly pretty cold. So…"

"…"

He started tossing aside his drenched clothes, hanging them up on the nearby rack. First, his shirt and his pants, then his socks, and then…

"W-wait, C-Cael?! I take it back. Please forgive my misplaced boldness!" Her voice rose to a squeak as she turned away, her eyes clamping shut.

"I-it's already too late for that. I'll look away until you get in the bath. But hurry please. It's freezing!"

"…"

Val's heart hammered in her chest, her face bright scarlet. She steeled herself as she peeled off her dress and undergarments, tossed them in the sink, then hopped into the tub naked.

Several seconds later, her eyes clamped shut as she felt the water splash around the tub upon Cael's awkward entry.

Once things settled, the tension in the air was thick. They both sat in the tepid water, their bodies just centimeters apart, and Val could feel his warmth radiate through the water.

She silently cursed the hubris of her past self and her horribly timed ideas.

This was what she had offered to subject Cael to back at the cottage?!

No wonder he'd been so eager to get a new bath crystal.