Sylphid's Happiness Revisited

Chapter 11

Hey, before this chapter gets started, I just wanted to warn anime only watchers that there is a large spoiler for season 5 in this one. Just so everyone knows. -EG

Bell's eyes shifted open; his vision was unfocused. "Wh... at am I...?" It was slow, but eventually, his vision grew focused. He was lying in the bed Lady Astraea had let him borrow. The wooden beams overhead seemed to be shifting slightly. After a minute of concentration, they stopped moving and remained in a singular position again.

Bell tried to lift his arm but found it weighed down. He looked and saw the head of Ryu just poking out of the covers. She seemed to have a contented smile on her sleeping face, he couldn't help but let a gentle smile grow on his face. "When did I... go to bed." For the life of him, he couldn't remember.

He looked at the window, it was still dark outside, and there was no hint of light coming from the blinds that covered it. "Still night or did I sleep another full day?" He whispered; his throat burned as he spoke. 'Dehydration again?' He thought, trying to spare his throat.

He shifted his other arm and found it moved significantly easier than yesterday, it felt like three days of recovery happened while he slept. 'Strange.' His mind told him.

'I need to get some water...' He thought and glanced down to see how comfortable Ryu was sleeping. Her body was halfway draped over him, with her head placed in the center of his chest where his heart was.

He raced for possible options, but few came to mind, and none seemed possible as she was a level 4. 'So, no sneaking and I don't know if my strength would be enough for that endeavor regardless.'

He shifted his body trying to get a general feel for how much strength he had, to his surprise his body didn't protest with sharp needles of pain. Instead, it was like he was lethargic, he was clumsy, but his body didn't hurt.

He tried to shift himself upward, but the elf tightened her grip refusing to let her pillow leave. So, he sighed and contented himself with waiting. His body was beginning to burn, and the scent of long faded pine needles filled his nostrils. His heart rate slowly started to increase as he felt how tightly Ryu was holding him. It took a second to realize that her legs were wrapped around his leg.

He shook his head to try to clear his mind from the impure thoughts, but it didn't work. So, he focused on taking slow breaths and remembering unpleasant memories. It worked for a moment, but then his mind snapped to when they sat together by the stream, where he had held her so closely.

Ryu shifted to get into a more comfortable position, this was unfortunate for Bell. He felt every shift of her curves, this caused the slight blush he had to burn across his face. He forced his mind to think of other things, as the thought came to mind. 'Remember Ishtar Familia... how close you were to being assaulted. Remember that toad face looking at you as you were chained to the wall.'

He remembered it was something he never wanted to remember again, but he would deal with it if it helped him not act on impulse.

A change, not one with his body, but with the room. A soft almost invisible glow radiated from the door. His eyes snapped open, and he peered around the pointed ear. The glow was multicolored, but also translucent, it felt familiar, but he couldn't place it in his current state.

He craned his neck and whispered to Ryu, "Sorry Ryu, I'll be right back." With that, he made a plan and acted.

Shifting out of Ryu's grip was no easy feat but he managed. He could hear Ryu grumbling at the loss of her warm pillow. He wanted to chuckle but focused as the light faded.

He stood and nearly toppled over from the lack of balance; the lethargy was more severe than he expected lying in bed. But he grits his teeth and took a shaky step, the moment the first step was taken the light vanished.