29.

Encasing Walls, Enclosing Thoughts

Reyna wanted to walk over to Verden and the rest. She wanted to stand with them, be a part of their swarming concerned faces. They were her new family and friends, and she should share in their endeavors and emotions.  

But she has her memories now.

Instead she stood still, watching Michael and Diorela eye Ayame with hesitant happiness. Reyna could tell the two teens knew her situation. Anna was the one that was unconcerned with anything and was saying something to the Spirit, but Ayame was looking at Verden. He held her eyes too. The calm on his features was there as if to tell her to take her time.

A frenzy of emotions overtook Ayame's face, each one pushing out the other as fast as they came, but she never took her eyes off of Verden. Reyna guessed she was trying to put together so many memories in her head. Ram had said all their memoires from past lives awaken here, and Reyna knew of two she had lived—Ayame and Sakuya—in addition to her "life" as a Spirit.

Reyna could only image how overwhelming, confusing, and probably frightening that could feel. Ayame was in the process of literally picking a life and donning its accompanying personality, emotions, past, and family. Assuming it worked that way.

Reyna noticed everyone had stilled, waiting to see and hear what Ayame would do and say. No doubt the actions of an awakened Spirit would be something to see. Not to mention the awakened Spirit was her.

"You are all way too serious." Ram cut through the silence with a laugh. "Don't worry too much about her. What's she going to do? Die?" Another giggle took him.

Mundus glared at him, but to Reyna's surprise he didn't say anything. Other than that, she couldn't tell what he was feeling. She looked up to Dante and he glanced down at her.

Ram's sigh tore through the stillness again. "Come on." He walked up to Reyna and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her away from her spot.

"Hey!" Dante protested and reached for her other arm but his hand phased through it. He blinked.

Reyna dug her heels into the ground, but it was too smooth to grant any friction. She saw Dante and Gahn chase her, but every time they would try to grab her arm, clothes, fingers, anything, their hands would go through her.

"Stop trying. It won't work," Ram said, but when he pulled Reyna by Mundus, the demon tried anyways.

He attempted to grasp her arm as well, but instead of passing through her skin, a barrier stopped his touch. It shot up from the floor. Reyna locked eyes with Mundus and she saw the alarm in his face before it was replaced by the ascending wall. Three more rose around her and Ram and one of them spat a ceiling over them, incubating them in a cubicle of white. 

"Cozy, huh?" He grinned at her.

She pulled free from him. "What—?"

She couldn't finish her sentence and instead kicked at one of the walls. It felt strong and solid enough, but she also felt if she still had her Magika it would've fallen.

"Come now, Sister. Don't break things." Ram tisk'd at her.

Reyna whirled to him. "It didn't break! Just...what the hell do you want? What are you playing?"

"Playing? This is no game, Sister. This is all real, including the death you will all experience if I fail to help you." He laughed.

She bared her teeth. He laughs way too much.

Reyna shook her thoughts away. "Help me?"

"Help all of you."

There it was again. His face softened and his eyes wavered with...guilt? Disappointment? Sadness? It was always hard to tell. There was a black marking the fell under his left eye and curled up to his temple and disappeared into his hair. It seemed like he was crying tears that escaped up into the sky. Reyna looked up. There was no sky here though.

 "There is time now. We have to take it," he said. Even his voice sounded different. It was calm but melancholy was etched in it too.

 Reyna looked at him in silence, each second that ticked by gave him a saner light. "Ram?"

He beamed at her saying his name though she spoke it with hesitation.

She sighed, leaned on the wall behind her, and slid down to sit on the polished floor. Ram took it as an incentive to sit in front of her.

"I'm sorry, Reyna" he said.

"Ram," she said slowly, "what do you mean about helping us and there being time now?"

He pushed his hair out of his eyes with his black hand. "There has to be as much harmony between you all as possible. There can't be any distractions among you when you return. There is time now, I don't know how much, to help solve any...distress between you all."

"Distress? Are you going to sit us all in a circle and have us hold hands and talk about our feelings?"

He laughed. Reyna noticed it was softer too. And gentle. It was the same laugh she had heard from him when she first met him at her school. When he had pretended to be a student so he could talk to her. Reyna remembered she had liked his laugh.

"You all are going to be forced to talk to each other in private rooms like these. I know it sounds strange and even stupid, but I believe it's best to get things out and find closure. It reduces risks." He let out his word with a heavy exhale.

She gave him a look. "Risks?"

"Reyna."

She stiffened each time he said her name. For some reason, it scared her more than "Sister".

"In this realm, all is seen. The past, the present, the future. But they are all never certain. Even glimpses of pasts that could have been float in this realm. Everything is a gamble and it is never clear what will happen until it does, and even when that occurs, the other possibilities still float on."

Reyna leaned away from the wall and looked at him. She was surprised to see the pleading gloss in his eyes.

"You're serious," she whispered.

"Of course, and there's something I want to tell you. Something that I hope will help you and ease your emotions. Something about Mundus and you."

She bristled. "Mundus?"

He nodded. "Did you ever wonder why you fell for Mundus so quickly? Why you all of sudden felt so attracted to a demon that you met out of the most odd of circumstances?"

"I..." Her chest heated up with a familiar sensation, but it wasn't quite right. Maybe it never would be.

"And did you ever wonder why he fell for you just as quickly? Why he spared you your life and sanity when he hated being trapped in your body more than anything?"

Reyna dipped her head. She had wondered such things before, mostly that first month she had been in Auronmar's castle. She had wondered if it had all been a dream or a deception. If she had been a fool. Her fingernails dug into her palms.

Stop. I had buried all that deep inside me.

"I can see events, but emotions are trickier, yet the stronger they are, the more I can decipher them. Reyna"—he licked his lips—"I think the reason Mundus came to love you was because you initially reminded him of Ayame."

She was waiting for her reaction, but nothing came to her.

"And because you and Mundus were connected emotionally when he was in your body, I think his emotions for Ayame spilled into you and you believed them to be your own towards him."

Her responses finally kicked in but words still failed her. Was this a trick? Another sick joke of his? Why were his eyes so full of pain, free of their usual crazed taint?

"But I...what I felt...it had to be real," she said.

He frowned. It took Reyna a moment to recognize the pity on his face. She almost laughed. Ram was pitying her?

"It was real in a sense," he said. "Probably what you eventually came to feel for him was real too, but what sparked it wasn't real in the sense that it was you that initiated it."

What made this madness worse was that it made sense. Reyna was now back home, in her memories. Mundus had always been talking about "her" and how Reyna reminded him of her. How much Reyna was like her. How he had loved her.

It felt like someone had toyed with Reyna's emotions, twisting them without her consent. She felt violated, but at the same time, regardless of what Ram had said, Reyna cherished what she had experienced with Mundus. Even though it had led to what it did—pain and destruction and maybe a preventable war—a small, selfish part of her did not regret it.

But I don't feel for Mundus what I did before. Ram's words filled her head again. If I ever did. I know I cared for him, but...

She felt relieved. It hit her so suddenly, she didn't recognize it at first.

Reyna laughed but the tears that stung her eyes confused her. "That means what I felt, what I feel right now, for Dante is more genuine than what I had with Mundus?"

Ram lifted his hand and looked like he wanted to place it on her shoulder but thought better of it. "That is for you to decide. I showed you all the possible futures you could've had, with either one of them and even without them. With someone else entirely. It's up to you."

"Then why tell me this?" she snapped.

He recoiled. "I thought it would be something a caring brother would do."

Those words hit her harder than anything else he had said.

He grinned, and it was all gone again: his softened features, his kind eyes, and his caring gestures. His warmth had evaporated, replaced with cold insanity.

"Dear Sister, you are such a bad person," he said and shook his head mockingly. "Do you love one? Do you love the other? Did you ever love him in the first place? Is it guilt that has driven you to love the other in pity?"

Reyna wanted to punch him but knew her fist would only go through his face. Or maybe it was the truth in his words that kept her hand by her side.

He stood up and smiled down at her. "Don't worry, Sister. We'll settle this right away."

The wall behind her felt soft like clay. It began to suck her in and wrap putty fingers around her body. Reyna tried to sit up, but the melting wall had her and was drawing her deeper into it. She saw Ram wave at her, his grin unfaltering as the wall devoured her. Reyna saw a moment of darkness before she felt something hard under her.

She noticed Dante's eyes first. His face was hovering over her own. Déjà vu settled on her at the familiar sight. She remembered, from long ago and not so long ago, all the countless times she would wake up to the concern in those green eyes.

"You okay?" he asked.

"My butt kinda hurts," she said as she stood up.

She found herself in a room identical to the one she had been in with Ram only it was just her and Dante in it this time.

"How long have you been in here? Were you alone?" she asked him.

He frowned. "As soon as Ram took you into that room, other walls shot up and around us. We were separated from each other. I couldn't see if everyone had one room to themselves, but I did, and your brother came and talked to me."

Her stomach knotted. "What did he say?"

"Stuff. He mostly said that we should take the time to settle any 'distress' we have against each other. He said for us to not be distracted by emotional baggage."

"He told me that too. And other stuff."

He grinned. "Yeah, the stuff part was interesting."

"What exactly did he tell you during your stuff part?"

Dante shrugged. "Just stuff."

"Right," she said and pushed her hair behind her ears. "Did anything else happen?"

"Aside from him disappearing and the wall spitting you out, not much."

Reyna shook her head and sat down. The room seemed less intimidating that way. She didn't lean against the wall this time though. Dante took a seat next to her.

"So are we supposed to talk now?" he said with a tease.

"Sure, Dante, but what could possibly be wrong with us?" She regretted her question, caught in the joke's fun, but she turned to find Dante still grinning.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out, surprising herself.

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "For what?"

She stared at him. "I'm not sure."

He laughed, his eyes lighting up.

Reyna smiled. He looked so cute when he laughed.

"How long are we going to be in this room?" Dante said as he stood.

She watched him as he walked around.

"I bet I could've smashed through all these walls."

"Yeah, I thought the same when I kicked them, but my foot still hurts."

He sighed and crossed his arms, eyes studying the ceiling. Reyna's own gaze was drawn to the floor. Ram's words from earlier buzzed in her head. So I only liked Mundus 'cause his feelings for Ayame were so strong they influenced my own?

She drew her legs in and wrapped her arms around them. It made sense however stupid it sounded. What disappointed her the most was all the time she wasted trying to get over Mundus. If only he had had more control of his emotions, she wouldn't have to have gone through months trying to convince herself she needed to forget his face. Maybe she never would have come to care for him at all. Never care enough to have helped him.

He had offered her an escape, she remembered, through the use of her Uncle Amon's Sight. He could've made her forget about Mundus. About demons and Magika. If only she had had that when she actually needed it.

But then if I had never come to care for him, would he never have gotten his body?

The thought made her more uncomfortable than she cared to admit.

Dante's grunt brought her eyes up to him. Even though his Magika was gone, his muscles were still intact, proving his bulk had been achieved naturally. Unlike her pathetic strength that mostly came from her abilities.

His back was towards her. He could see the definition of his muscles outlined on his shirt. Each time he moved, they tightened or loosen accordingly. It was hypnotizing as it was sexy. Her chest tightened but it was because she was holding her breath as she tried to calm her fluttering stomach. That happened way too much when she looked at him.

Reyna thought she couldn't possibly like Dante. It had just been the guilt gnawing at her. How convenient now that Mundus was gone and Dante was the only one around that she started to develop feelings for him, but those emotions still didn't go away even when they moved into House Verden.

Reyna had several distractions there whether it be Diorela's craving for details of the human world, Anna's desires to paint her face or spike her hair, Michael's questions about basketball, Abran's shy smiles, or Jean's scolding and cooking lessons. Reyna even had the closest she could get to a Mundus clone living with her. True, she had almost kissed Verden the first day she met him, wishing him to be Mundus, but that soon went away. Verden was Verden even though he was almost all Mundus in appearance.

She remembered one time she was watching him play with Anna. She had imagined his grey eyes as black. Verden's clothes transformed into Mundus' usual long coat and baggy pants. When he smiled, fangs were present and when his hands danced with Anna's, claws raked the air. Reyna had felt nothing, and that was when she knew the budding emotions she had been feeling—and suppressing—for Dante were real.

"What would you say if we started dating again?" Reyna heard her voice saying the words, but she didn't remember giving the order to do it.

He turned around and looked at her like she was crazy.

"Well?" she probed. Might as well.

"What about Mundus?" There was venom in his voice.

She straightened. "What about him?"

"You still have feelings for him, obviously. Though I have to admit, I thought you were having feelings for me at some point too, but I don't know anymore. Every time I wanted to ask you about it, you would leave."

Reyna stood up. "You're right. On everything you said. I'm pretty sure I will always care for Mundus, but I don't want to be with him, and I don't like him as much as I like you right now."

He lifted an eyebrow at her. "Right."

"It's true! All this time we were together, the butterflies in my stomach would multiply each time you'd look at me. I would find your smile more adorable each time I'd see. Even your shaggy hair and stubble is hot. Plus you're all sexy with your muscles."

Real smooth there, Reyna. Nice way to spill your guts.

"I thought I was wrong in liking you. That it was just me guilt–tipping myself, and I know that sounds terrible, but then I had you and Mundus in the same room together, being told how our worlds are going to end, and all I wanted was for you to hold my hand." Reyna's mouth opened, amazed at everything that came out of her mouth.

Dante's mouth was agape as well, eyebrows high over his eyes. The two stood staring at each other with the same gawking face. Reyna closed her lips, cheeks reddening with each passing second.

"I don't know what to say," Dante spoke.

She gave a faint laugh. "Yeah, I figured. It's okay."

"I mean. You always throw the Mundus card at me. How can you say all that about me when you still have feelings for someone else?"

"Because I like you, and I want to build on what I have with you and because"—she choked on her words as her blush crept down her neck—"I saw us getting married."

Pink brushed his cheeks. "You saw that too?"

"Yeah."

He looked away. "That doesn't mean it's going to happen. I saw other things too with other women."

A twinge of jealously tore through her and she wanted to tell him about the future she saw of herself with Mundus but decided not to. "It made me happy," she mumbled instead.

That seemed to take him by surprise. A shy smile crept on his lips. "Really?"

Reyna played with her fingers. "Yeah."

He smiled. "It was cute seeing that, but wasn't it also a bit creepy?"

"Dante! You're not helping."

"Oh. Sorry. Would you rather continue talking about how awesome I am and how much you like me?"

If at that moment she had received a burst of Magika that only lasted for a second, she would've wasted it on punching him instead of the wall. Then again compared to what he's gone through, this teasing is nothing. Not even close.

"Reyna." His tone was serious. "You can't be unsure about what you just said. You have to really want this. You have to be true to me and to yourself, so I'm going to ask you. Are you sure about this?"

She met his eyes. "Dante, my heart is in my throat right now as I'm looking at you and all I can think about is kissing you, so I don't know what else to say except that."

He closed the gap between them in two, quick strides. His lips smashed onto hers and his stubble scratched her chin. It felt good. It felt rough. He gripped her hips and she pressed herself against him, encouraging. She felt his hands go up her waist and trail her arms to her hands. His warmth seeped through her clothes and skin. Still kissing her, Dante pushed her up against the wall by the wrists, and Reyna swore Ram would die all over again if the wall took her away into another room.  

Dante pulled away, a huge grin on his lips.

"What?" she asked, flustered but also frustrated.

"I think you need time for yourself," he said. "Think about some things."

"What?"

He shrugged his massive shoulders. "You say you like me, and I believe you. I really do, but I don't think you should jump in a relationship with me just yet, especially not after what Ram told you about your emotions in connection with Mundus and his with Ayame."

"So Ram told you about that too?" she whispered.

"Yeah, he said he wanted to be a good brother to you and tell me and Mundus the truth to help you." He rubbed the back of his neck and gave her a look that told her the whole ordeal had been awkward.

So Mundus knows too.

"You should probably talk to that demon asshole too and get your own feelings straightened out. Give it some time and then we'll see. If you want to be with me, I want it to be without any doubts. I have no doubts about you." He smiled.  

"So...no?" Reyna asked, astonished.

"I like to think it's more of a 'no, not yet' than a complete 'no'."

She shoved his shoulder but only succeed in bending her fingers. "So then why did you kiss me?"

His smiled widened. "When the girl you love says she wants to kiss you, you kiss her." 

Reyna rolled her eyes, but the kiss was still hot on her lips and his grin was too adorable. "Fine. I only hope everyone else is having better luck with working out their 'distress'."

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Author's Note: Eeeeep! I wonder how many people hate me right now...Please don't hate me. There is much more to come. ;___;

Dedicated to Albeano for all your votes and support on my story. ^-^

Drawing: Mundus and Verden being cool brothers by DeerAzeen from deviantart -  deerazeen.deviantart.com

Thank you all for reading. ^-^