| Violet Feathers | Creeper x OC

The Echo

I do not own anything except for my characters (Vivica, Amon, Axel, etc), the Galileus (but sadly I do not own the creature design), Cryptsin, and Cryal.

Quotes and meanings below.
"Speaking aloud"
'Speaking telepathically'
Subconscious thoughts, deep in the mind and cannot be heard by others at all.

Chapter 50: The Echo

Within an hour, we were both settled in. Despite Axel's strong desire to remain awake, it took no time for him to pass out after his body hit the bed. The sight of him sleeping was quite accurate to how I imagined it would be.

The usual fierce and hard image he tends to cement onto himself had completely melted away into a soft, adorable and unaware sleeping form. He happened to fall asleep lying on his chest, his head on the pillow while uncovered. His wings had loosened, lying while folded beside each shoulder rather than against his back.

Despite being asleep, he still looks fully capable of snapping awake and instantaneously regathering his rough personality and killing something.

But for now, it seems as though he won't be waking up again for quite some time. From his type of personality and adaptability, I could bet money on him being an extremely light sleeper. Despite this, I have been moving around the room for the last half hour, he has yet to wake up or even move.

"...Poor guy..." I whispered, finishing up some minor bits of cleaning throughout the room.

My senses picked up the presence of Valentina beyond the bedroom door, her eyes on Axel through the small crack of the door.

Expecting her to speak, I am surprised to not hear a word from her. She may be too afraid to make any noise, fearing that Axel may not actually be asleep and attack her again.

Making my way over to the door, I open it the rest of the way, locking eyes with her, "...He is asleep. Don't worry...he has been out for about 45 minutes now." Deciding to step out of the room for her own comfort, I close the door behind me.

Valentina lets out a small sigh of relief, holding her arms across her chest, "...I didn't know he slept... Before you helped me escape from that facility, I thought he was dead...or frozen somewhere... For some time, I doubted he existed at all..."

Smiling a little, I giggled, "...Well, this is the first time in...God I don't even know how long, that he has been able to fall asleep at his own free will. He looks completely different when asleep...different than he did while hibernating, even..."

She nodded, "...It is strange. But seeing him with my own eyes...it's terrifying..."

Her words caused me to frown, "...Hopefully that will change someday...he is so stubborn in his belief that all Cryal are the same, and all deserve the same fate as your father does. It's just not true..."

Her voice was as weak as a whisper, "...How can you love a creature that cannot feel or give love in return...? At least us Cryal are capable of feeling sympathy and love..."

Furrowing my eyebrows in concern, her words threw me off, "What? What made you think the Galileus are incapable of feeling emotions like those?"

Her sapphire blue eyes drifted away from my gaze, "...That is what my father taught me...that the Galileus can only feel hatred, hunger, rage, and are the equivalent of demons...full of trickery, lies and pure evil..."

Her words caused my heart to ache out of both frustration and insult, "...He lied. The Galileus are capable of feeling the entire spectrum of emotions, just as we can. Each one is different in how they express their emotions, just like everyone else. Axel is one of those that requires a trained eye to recognize what he is feeling. He doesn't express his emotions most of the time, but that doesn't mean he can't feel them."