Heartless | A Powerless Fanfiction Novella

Chapter 17: Corrine

As soon as consciousness dawns on me once again I don't open my eyes, remaining still and unmoving in the same position I wake up in. One of the first nights without a nightmare ironically enough: it seems my mind either has a sense of humour or is only preparing me for the worst to come. A deeper scar than ever before carving its way through my memories setting a trap with a futile escape, it's helpless to resist such torture. That surge of power that ended in death last night is now a haunting feeling over my skin, prickling its way over my body and that sensation is enough to make me regain movement in my hands.

The moment my fingers move against material my eyes snap open. A faint heartbeat drums underneath me, a citrus smell enveloping me, my cheek resting on a solid chest. I jump up in turn forcing Kitt Azer to open his eyes and meet my wide ones.

"Take it easy Corrine," His voice is soothing as he raises half of his body in a standing position and yet I don't move off him fully.

"You let me sleep on you?! Do you know how inappropriate that is?!"

"I didn't have much choice,"

"What?"

He doesn't respond and only looks down to his shirt, where my fist is still clenched on his shirt. Plagues. I release the material and back away on the bed. 

Wait, the bed?

"I figured you were at least somewhat fond of me to not let go all night, maybe just maybe you wouldn't kill me when you woke up." He gives me a half smile instead of the usual smirk, "I took my chances."

"What am I doing in your room?"

"I took the liberty of moving us to a more comfortable place unless...you wished to sleep with the horses?"

The words come out before I think, "A horse might be better than you,"

His face lights up faintly, now a full blooming smile on his lips - even that looks princely, almost as if he is painted in the most intricate style imaginable.

"I'm glad to see your humour returned. I missed it, Lowes."

The feeling of dried up tears on my face is suddenly in my focus, making me back away further to leave his bed but as soon as I get up he catches hold of my wrist bringing my attention to the white uniform he is grasping. Right, I hadn't even changed from last night - the clean canvas stained with nothing but pain and mourning over those two children. Those two early flames snuffed out by me drowning their world in darkness rather than the light of life they should have thrived in.

"Corrine you're not alright, I know."

There's no more tears to spill, my voice quiet but bitter, "What could you know, prince? You've never even shed a drop of blood."

Kitt's expression changes in the slightest, as if only now realising how beneath him this feeling is for him, "No, you're right I haven't. I have my brother to thank for that, Plagues it's not like I wished that on him. But I have mourned, Corrine. That's not something I forget lightly." He pulls gently on my wrist and I take a step closer to him still sitting at the edge of the bed, "It hurts. It will last longer than you wish. It will never go away."

"I thought you were supposed to help," I say with a scoff, my voice threatening to crack.

"But," Kitt tugs me even closer until his knee touches mine, "You'll learn to live with it. It becomes part of who you are and will be. You can't turn back time, but you will embrace it."

"You speak of it as if embracing this is only the beginning to this 'new me'." I shake my head, "I don't like this new me, Kitt. I don't want this...this monster to be me."