✔ | At Least We Have Forever

Chapter 44 - Waltz Of Blue & Silver

Kurama stared wide-eyed at the unconscious Riyainn in his arms. Soon after, he looked at the silver rose in the glass case followed by certain words flooding into his mind.

"You must find the one item which will become a trigger for those memories to return. And you must give it to her on the eve of this month's second full moon..."

"By the time she would call you by your demon name will be the day she would finally remember everything else that is connected to you and this war..."

After recalling those words said by Riya inside that illusion, he looked at the maiden with soft yet sad eyes as tears began to fall from them.

"So you finally remembered me..." he muttered before he gently embraced Riya. His body slightly trembled before he managed to stop his tears from falling.

Soon after, Hiei arrived with a slight confusion on his face at the sight that greeted him. It was later followed by the arrival of Yusuke and the others, particularly the Wielders who had immediately sensed the return of Riya's familiar power signature.

"What happened?" Yusuke asked.

Kurama just heaved a sigh as an answer and carried Riya after he took the glass case on the ground. The gang faced one another with confusion before Soujiro touched the gift wrapper on the ground and closed his eyes. Yumi remained silently watching the Water Wielder while the others were busy talking as they kept on wondering what could have happened. After a few seconds, Soujiro opened his eyes and faced the gang.

"I think we need to be with Mistress Riya right now," Soujiro said as he took the wrapper and the ribbon.

"Onii-chan, what's wrong? What did you see?" Yukari asked her brother.

"We'll find out once we get to her," Yumi said. "And don't forget to prepare yourself. This is where the true battle will begin..."

xxxxxx

A few hours later...

Riya found herself lying on the bed of her hotel room as soon as she opened her eyes and looked around. She sat up soon after and scanned herself. She wasn't wearing her gown anymore and her hair was tied loosely. Instead, she saw herself wearing a plain white sleeveless nightgown. No one was inside the room when she looked around even further. Sighing, she decided to get up from her bed.

But before she could even take a step, the door opened and revealed Mari entering. The maiden's eyes widened at the sight of her awake.

"My lady, you're awake!" Mari exclaimed and immediately approached her. "Are you alright? How are you feeling?"

Riya reluctantly smiled. "I'm alright, Mari-san. By the way, what happened at the party? I've been unconscious for hours, haven't I?"

"Don't worry. We devised a plan for your disappearance not to be noticed by your schoolmates, though the clan elders knew you're here and they understood."

That was when Riya sighed with relief.

"My lady, what happened for you to go unconscious? Kurama doesn't want to tell us about it and Soujiro-kun seems to have an idea but he's not telling us anything," Mari said in a worried tone.

It took a while for Riya to decide. She subconsciously held the side of her head before closing her eyes as she tried to remember what happened. Her mind was focused on remembering the events, that was why she didn't notice the others had entered the room. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see her friends, her mother, Kurama's family, her sister-in-law, her nephew, and her nieces. But what surprised her was when she saw Kurama's emerald eyes looking at her with worries, hesitancy, longing, and joy in them. He slowly approached her and slightly crouched down so that their faces were on the same level.