Lovely (Ruby x Dyrroth)

twenty-four

In the blink of an eye, five days had passed since the time Dyrroth passed Ruby, Kagura and Harley's message to Lesley, and the long-awaited day to escape had come. 

Despite that Ruby knew sleep was vital, especially today, she hadn't been able to get a wink of sleep the night before. Though, to be completely honest, although she'd hardly slept, there had never been a day where Ruby had felt more alive. And scared. 

Two days ago, she'd gone to visit her friends in the middle of the night again, and they'd gone over the entire plan one last time. Just to be sure the plan wasn't too flawed.  

At two in the morning, which was when Dyrroth had said the demons would be leaving to invade Eruditio, Lesley would be arriving with a bunch of friends who could fight, and Dyrroth would hand Ruby the keys to her friends' cages while the other demons were distracted with their battle preparations. Then she'd escape her room, go to her friends and get them out of theirs too, and they would escape the building with the directions Dyrroth had given them, which all three of them had memorized. It wasn't too simple nor complicated, and Ruby was glad for that.

After the sun had set and the moon had risen to replace it, Ruby sat in her dark room staring up at the sky through the tiny window at the top of the room, gazing at the night sky and the narrow beam of moonlight spilling through the dusty glass. Since she didn't have any method to tell the time accurately, she would have to rely solely on her hunter instincts.

And, of course, it wasn't at all lost on Ruby that after tonight, there was hardly any chance she would ever see Dyrroth again. Which was why, despite that she had never felt so filled with life, she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so hollow, either. 

She couldn't believe she would be leaving him so soon. Although Ruby had always thought she and Dyrroth had spent way more than enough time in each other's company before, she now felt as if the exact opposite were true. She hadn't spent enough time with him, talked enough with him yet. And yet, in such an awfully short time, she would have to say goodbye. To him, the only boy she'd ever loved so much.  

How Ruby hated goodbyes. 

The hours ticked by, one at a time. 

After what felt like two hours to Ruby had passed, she gazed up at the window once more. She felt her face come alight, but along with the glimmer of hope came a subtle pang of dread and sadness. 

It was time. 

---

Dyrroth didn't show up till after around five minutes later. Though, of course, Ruby didn't mind that much. He was already voluntarily helping them escape, and without him, the plan would have no chance of succeeding. What more could she and her friends ask of him? 

Besides, there was no guarantee that she'd ever get to see him again, so she was going to cherish the remaining time she spent with him to the fullest. And nothing was going to stop her. 

'Hey,' Dyrroth said when he peeked his head in from outside the door, shooting her a quick grin. He entered the room and closed the door deftly behind him. If it weren't for the odd stiffness of his shoulders, Ruby wouldn't have noticed his anxiousness.

For a moment, neither of them spoke, nobody moving a limb despite that they both knew the reason he'd come was to pass Ruby the keys to her friends' cages. Then, after a long silence filled with nothing but both of them staring straight at each other, the prince sad quietly, 'So, you're leaving today.'

Ruby didn't know what to say, so she merely responded with a stony 'yeah'. 

Once more, mere silence filled the room for several minutes. Ruby knew that if they were going to have a conversation, they would have to hurry up. Time was running out, and her friends needed them.