𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒' 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐃𝐎𝐆 | 𝘷𝘢𝘥𝘵𝘥 𝘹 𝘔.𝘺/𝘯 |

(41) The Cause Of An Unspoken Ending.

"........," 

"You," He declared, his voice firm.

"Huh...?" I stammered, my mind scrambling to catch up.

Winter took a deep breath, his gaze unwavering.

"It's about your brain injury. You don't remember, do you?" He asked gently. "The accident where the chandelier crushed your head?"

My mind froze.

'Callisto mentioned something similar,' I realized with a jolt.

The brain injury.

The pain, the darkness—it was all a distant, foggy memory, like a nightmare long forgotten.

"Winter,"

I whispered, my voice trembling.

"That was so long ago. I... I don't remember everything."

It was an excuse, a feeble attempt to shield myself from the truth.

I hadn't been there, hadn't experienced the horror firsthand.

It wasn't me, and I don't wish it was.

His expression turned distant as he continued, his voice filled with a raw pain.

"The sharp end of the chandelier turned your brain into a mess... There was so much blood, and pieces... scattered on the ground. It's a miracle you survived as a child."

His voice shook, and I could see the stress etched on his face as he relived the memory.

A cold shiver ran down my spine.

"But... I don't remember any of that,"

I managed to whisper.

Winter ran a hand through his hair, his face etched with weariness.

"Neither do I, not completely," He admitted. "The details are hazy. Perhaps the Emperor knows more. He was there."

"The emperor..." I murmured, my mind racing.

The mysterious figure that was mentioned just once in the game yet never appeared.

His Majesty.

The Emperor Of Eorka.

"Yet, what does that accident have to do with any of this?" I asked, confusion swirling in my mind.

Winter set down his teacup, his gaze intense.

With a flick of his wrist, he shattered the cup into countless fragments, suspending them in the air with his magic.

"That's what happened to your body the day of the accident,"

He explained, his voice low.

He slowly reconstructed the cup using his magic once more, piece by piece, until it appeared whole.

But the cracks remained, faint scars marring the surface.

He poured tea into the cup, and the liquid seeped through the cracks, dripping onto the table.

"You're like a broken vessel now," He said, his voice heavy with sorrow.

"Even though your body healed thanks to the magic you possess, it wasn't fully repaired. The magic held you together, but it couldn't make you whole," Winter explained.

I wasn't entirely surprised.

The pieces of the puzzle were slowly falling into place.

Many things I've seen and heard hinted at this exact moment.