Varian sighed in relief as Sia slowly opened her eyes.
She looked at him silently and waited for him to speak.
He didn't.
Varian just stared at her in a daze. As he recalled the incident, he realized how dangerous it was.
Finally, Sia whimpered. "Angry?"
She lied that she was fine. And she hid the truth about the strange feeling.
"No." Varian shook his head with a smile.
But Sia was not relieved.
She shrank back into the bed and glanced at the clock with the corner of her eyes.
Six hours!
It was six hours since they returned!
Looking back at Varian's haggard face, a pang of guilt rose in her heart.
He was already exhausted from fighting the Raging Lion…yet he stayed with her for six hours.
As for why was she certain that he stayed with her for six hours?
…because she'd do the same.
"I'm sorry for lying about my condition." Sia finally said.
Varian rubbed her head and looked into her eyes. "I'm worried. You were bleeding when I found you. What if this happened when you are alone?"
He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "I…just don't want to imagine."
Feeling the warmth from his hand, Sia closed her eyes and hummed slowly. "Hm."
Yawning, Varian said. "No more lying from now, okay?"
Sia thought for a while and tried to get up. His warm hand pressed on her shoulder and stopped her.
"Nope. You're resting." Varian said in a tone that allowed no refusal.
Sia rolled her eyes. "I am full of energy."
"No lying." Varian poked her forehead.
Sia glared at him resentfully before pouting. "I have no energy. Did I lose all the blood in my body or what?"
"You did bleed." Varian shrugged and ordered the home bot to bring in the nutrient solutions.
Sia took the vials from his hands. Looking up at him, she muttered in a disappointed tone. "…I thought you were gonna cook me something."
"Sure, if you want to stay in the bed for a week." Varian got up with a smirk.
"Wait, wait! I love nutrient solutions!" Sia stopped him anxiously and gulped down the tasteless liquids.
"So…" Varian waited for her to finish and asked. "what do you have to say?"
Sia bit her lip and closed her eyes. Finally, she held the nutrient vial in her hand upside down. A light flashed in her hand and onto the vial.
The small vial was half-full. But instead of flowing down, the liquid flowed up.
Varian's eyes widened.
"…Gravity path." He muttered.
"I just awakened," Sia said with a nod.
Varian nearly stood up in shock. "…wait, what? How? Why?"
He lost his composure for a moment and wondered whether he was hearing things.
"You were a Dual Awakener from the start, right?" Varian asked with confusion.
Sia shook her head and looked into his eyes seriously. "I just awakened…again."
"…Impossible. Anyone awakens only once." Varian muttered in disbelief.
Then he looked at Sia's expression. She seemed like she seemed to want to say something more important.
"Is there something more?" He asked.
Sia nodded. "I…I have had a weird feeling inside me since I knew. It's like I was going to explode. There is something, a power or a force, inside me.
I try to keep it down. If I'm close to you, I can control it better.
But as time passes, the force increases.
Whenever it reaches a limit, I lose control over myself.
Today, it broke the threshold and I fainted."
Varian was shocked at this sudden revelation. But he patted Sia's hand and said. "Whatever happens, I'll be there with you."
Sia was visibly relaxed after hearing his response.
Perhaps she expected him to get angry for the fact that she was hiding about this for so long.
So she mustered the courage to reveal the final secret.
Before that, she covered herself with a quilt and looked to the side.
"I-I got a memory of sorts. It keeps repeating. It's not my memory. It's like an imprinted memory.
It tells me that I'm different. My origin or something, it's different from others.
It also says there are people like me out there. Special people. People that don't fit into a group.
The Hybrids. That's our name. We have another title. The heralds of calamity.
I…I didn't believe it, but my second awakening proves that I'm not…" Sia's voice went lower and lower until it turned into a whisper.
"I don't care." Varian gripped her hand and said.
"Huh?" Sia slowly turned her gaze to him.
Varian could feel her trembling from head to toe.
After confessing the deepest secret in her heart, she was scared.
What if he broke their ties?
What if he called her a liar?
What if... he hated her?
"I mean, I don't care whatever you are. You might be special, you might be not. At the end of the day, nothing will change anything between us." He stated with conviction.
Sia raised her head and locked gazes with him. Her golden eyes gleamed and she gave the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen.
Looking into her bright eyes, Varian took a deep breath and confessed the secret in his heart. "I have a secret too. But first, never disclose your second awakening to anyone. Not even to mom. Is that clear?"
Sia nodded and motioned for him to share his secret.
Her ears perked and her eyes were filled with curiosity. It was like she couldn't wait.
Gritting his teeth, Varian said. "I'm afraid…I'm afraid that if I don't awaken, I'll lose you."
He decided to share the burden he was carrying.
"I know you stop the people at school from commenting on me. I saw what you did on the bus.
I know you've been helping me all the time.
I…I just feel like the distance between us is increasing.
Not in the sense that we're becoming strangers, but the width of our futures.
After we grew up, we might never be together.
And…with the specialty showed today, I'm even more afraid.
I've tried, I am trying and I'll keep trying to awaken.
But my deepest fear and secret is losing you someday because I am not strong enough."
Sia covered her mouth and stared at him silently.
After realizing he spoke everything, Varian avoided eye contact with her and looked at the ceiling.
He must have looked like an insecure fool.
"Fool."
He was right. He was really a fool.
"I'll never leave you."
Eh?
Varian looked down and saw Sia's eyes were puffed.
She extended her left pinky finger and said. "Promise?"
Varian threw his head back and laughed.
He recalled the promise they made when they first met.
'Whenever we get into fights, we'll understand the other's reasons and only act after knowing the whole truth.'
Now, it was time for the second pinky promise.
Varian hooked his finger with hers and asked. "Promise?"
"Hehe. Unless you ask me to away, I'll never go. And that's a promise." Sia chuckled.
Varian smiled widely.
The world started to crack and Varian found himself back in the familiar interior of the ghost ship.