The Riddle Of Magic

Chapter 33: Miasmic Consequences II

If this was what came of falling out of love, Charlie hoped she'd never love again.

This was worse than Seviathan. Far, far worse. But how was that possible? The words in both exchanges were practically the same, granted this had actually been in person rather than over the phone.

Did humans die from this ache?

She could barely move, hardly breathe from weeping.

She'd lost everything.

A knock came at her door, too heavy to be Vaggie.

It took effort to compose her breath and lift her head from the pillow, and she called for the visitor to come in, her voice cracking from her misery. It wasn't as though she could keep out anyone who wanted to come inside - not in the state she was in. Her face fell back to the tearstained pillow with a soft thud.

The door opened, then closed again, and she could practically smell the magic that locked it.

"I did warn you, my dear." For his part, there didn't appear to be any humor in the Radio Demon's voice.

"...I know," Charlie murmured, her face still buried in her pillow.

His footfalls come nearer. "And to think, a perfect evocation of Reversal! I'm terribly disappointed I didn't get to witness it! It sounded like quite the spectacle."

She felt the mattress shift as he sat beside her. "I w-wasn't-" Charlie paused, trying for a steadying breath as she leaned on her elbow to look up at him. "I didn't mean to."

"Ah, sweetheart, that's not true," Alastor's hand brushed an errant lock of blonde from her face.

"But-"

"Unless you're telling me you didn't mean to repair that ornament. In which case you would have just been showing off." She chanced a glance up, and saw that the red of his eyes was so bright a magenta they practically glowed white. His smile was tight enough that his jaw could have snapped off his face. "So, my dear, which was it?" his voice pitched lower, his usual tone vanishing with a growl of static. His claws lingered in her hair.

He might actually kill her.

Of course in the end she would find a way to lose them both, wouldn't she?

"It was - I didn't-" she sniffled, still reeling from the earlier confrontation with Vaggie. "I wasn't... even thinking about it." She folded back into the pillow, yearning for the void as she wept openly.

Let the Radio Demon do what he wanted; if ending her existence made the shattered feeling in her chest vanish, then so be it.

"I can't even describe it; it was so fast. It was an... instinct. Like sneezing at dust, or coughing at smoke." She'd wanted to help, had known what she needed to do, and could do it. And so she had, without hesitation, because she'd pitied the poor sheep-demon who had put her trust in her, and lost so much. "I'm... so sorry, Al."

"I see. So then, there's really only one question that remains," the Radio Demon said, looking toward the window.

"Y-Yes?" Charlie cringed.

"Why exactly are you apologizing to me?"

The princess blinked in confusion. "W-what? What are you talking about!" She felt her temper beginning to flare, indignation rising at his feigned incredulity. "You said I'd be punished if this was found out!"

His hand went to her cheek, his thumb brushing at the corner of her eye. "And haven't you been?"

Her rose-colored eyes widened in shock as she drew in a sharp breath. "But you- you said-" Charlie sniffled, a wave of emotion coming over her as fresh tears welled up. "There'd be consequences!"