Ascending the tower with my SSS class

So, in the end, that light had turned out to be something imaginary—perhaps something like an ideal. Uriel honestly felt disappointed, because that light had been described as something so mystical that he had truly expected it to be something like a weapon. Still, in a way, it made sense.

"Well, what will you do when you find that light you keep talking about?"

"I’m going to take revenge."

The vibrations carried restrained anger. Soliel was angry—that much he was certain of.

"Does it bother you to see your people die?"

"Of course it bothers me. In the end, the only reason I began this journey is because of them."

Oh, so it wasn’t that she was indifferent to their deaths. That was good. Maybe the time he had spent alone had affected him mentally, but he still preferred people who weren’t psychopaths.

"Enough talking. Let’s rest for a while. The path ahead is still long."

Uriel was curious. Rest here? It wasn’t exactly the best place—it was cramped and unbearably hot. He didn’t mind too much, but Soliel would definitely feel it. However, Soliel suddenly began stepping backward, so Uriel assumed there was a reason for it and did the same.

"What are you doing? Stay still—I’m trying to make us comfortable."

He immediately obeyed her words. However, strange things began to happen—specifically, Soliel moving far too close to his body.

"What exactly are we doing? Why do you suddenly want me to hug you?"

Soliel’s actions were honestly strange. He never would have thought she was that kind of person.

"Isn’t it obvious? I know it’s strange to do something that only couples do, but it’s necessary to regulate our temperature. If we keep this up, we’ll end up with heatstroke."

Now that she mentioned it, Uriel noticed how his skin was slowly cooling from the contact with Soliel’s body, so it had to be true. But something else caught his attention.

"Something only couples do? I don’t really know much about that, you know... you said it yourself—I’m from another world."

Soliel’s vibrations came with a hint of intrigue. Uriel realized that they could transmit emotions along with thoughts, and the receiver could understand them, which was useful considering their lack of facial features for expressions.

"What is your world like, Uriel?"

That was complicated... Uriel could tell her many things, although it was hard to remember some of them after spending so long in the void. He felt the need to have Soliel be more specific.

"Well, I can tell you, but what do you want to know?"

Soliel paused for a moment, trying to phrase the question as best as possible—or perhaps choosing what she most wanted to know.

"I want to know... how do people live in your world? Are they happy?"

It was, in fact, a complicated question—though a somewhat unexpected one for Uriel. Honestly, with her obsession with the Light, he had expected her to ask something like what the sun looked like or what it felt like to receive its rays during the day. But he felt at ease knowing it was a question about the people of his world.

"Well, like anywhere, there are certainly people who are happy. You could say that a large part of the world lives without major concerns, beyond what they want to do with their lives. Although there are also some who live quite sadly, wondering if they’ll even make it to tomorrow."

Deep down, Uriel belonged to the latter.

"And as for how they live, it’s a bit complicated, but I suppose each of us just follows our heart... No, wait, forget that last part."

He was starting to hate that phrase—follow your heart. That was what the other Soliel had expected of him, but what could he do if his heart no longer told him anything at all?

But regardless of that, why wasn’t Soliel saying anything?

When Uriel looked at her, her face was fixed directly on him. A bit of her orb protruded, as her forehead had made some space, which meant she was watching him closely.

"That’s beautiful... In this world, we’ve never done anything but hide and survive the creatures that hunt us—always running from one place to another."

"And you didn’t like that anymore, right?" Uriel could guess that this was a world that was, without a doubt, violent, after witnessing the black mass with many hands.

"I hate hiding. I hate that my people live in darkness, in caves. Like I told you, I read the ancient texts—there were stories about how my ancestors ruled the surface, and also stories about how we had to hide after the sun disappeared."

Soliel said many things; however, this time, no emotions could be felt in her vibrations. Uriel knew this had to be something very personal for her—something she didn’t want to express, even though she usually did so willingly, without being asked.

"And the chilling stories about how we discovered our punishment in the depths of this place."

"Punishment? Why would your people be punished?"

However, Soliel didn’t have an answer to that either.

"I don’t know, Uriel. But spending our lives living like this... what else could it be, if not a punishment from something—or someone—that hates us from the depths of its heart? But that’s fine. It can hate us all it wants, because if something like that exists and did this to us knowingly, believe me—I’ll make it regret it from the very core of its being."

Uriel could sense a bit of the other Soliel in that statement.

"You’ve said my name a couple of times, but I don’t remember introducing myself."

"Oh, that? The other me told me as well."

Uriel suddenly felt curious. How much had she said about him?

However, that would have to wait, because he noticed how Soliel’s temperature was gradually becoming colder, and her movements stopped—even the smallest ones. Was this something like sleep?

Unlike Soliel, Uriel stayed awake.