Kyrie opens his eyes when his mind gets awoken by the sunlight coming into the room. He sits up with his pupils shaking and his heart throbbing.
He looks outside of the window, watching the branches of the trees swayed by the wind. Images of his memories flash in his mind again after dreaming about them, his eyes trailing Ian's features and his hand running through Ian's raven hair. Slowly, he savors his feelings that come back in waves when Ian looks back at him from his touch. The sound of waves hitting the shore and birds crying echo in his mind.
Kyrie lifts his lips as he remembers their first date by the lake after going to the temple in the Kingdom of Ethern.
Ian goes into the room to see Kyrie peacefully watching outside, lost in his thoughts with a smile on his lips.
"Kyrie?"
Kyrie's daydream gets interrupted, turning his head back to Ian.
"Good morning, Ian."
Ian's eyes widen when Kyrie calls him by his first name with the affectionate tone that he remembers, and he remains standing by the door frozen, choked by the words he wants to say.
"Ian?"
"G-good morning, Kyrie…" Ian's voice trembles.
Kyrie widens his arms, and with some beginning hesitations, Ian stumbles at his steps. However, once he sees that the arms are still open, he fastens his pace and meets the embrace, hugging Kyrie, burying him into his arms.
They stay in the embrace for a while, exchanging the warmth from their hearts.
"Did your memories come back?"
"Hmhm… Some of them…" Kyrie says, knowing that there are more to fill inside the few empty spots in his mind. Those memories are still foggy.
Ian loosens his embrace to look at Kyrie, and slowly, they find each other's lips. This time, Ian guides the kiss, his lips kissing more profound, his longing slowly releasing into passion. Kyrie grips into Ian's shirt as he accepts the rougher and deeper kisses, trying to breathe under the intensity.
They eventually collapse on the bed, yet their lips have never left each other. Kyrie's arm falls to the side, letting Ian's hand trail through Kyrie's arm to find his hand. Ian interlocks his fingers to Kyrie's, grasping tightly. They continue to kiss as they feel electricity run through every inch of their skin.
When Kyrie starts to tremble, unable to catch his breath, Ian finally lets go of Kyrie's lips. He opens his eyes to see Kyrie's lip bruised. Ian runs his thumb over Kyrie's swollen lips and gives another peck before laying on top of Kyrie. He spoils himself as he places his head on the groove above Kyrie's collarbone. They can sense each other's chest moving in unison as they let the moment sink into their heart.
Ian breaks the silence after a long while, "Breakfast will be served soon…"
"Hmmm…" Kyrie feels like he just wants to lay in bed since all the energy has left his body.
Ian lifts his body, casting a shadow on Kyrie.
"Let's go… We can't let mom and dad wait," Kyrie lifts his eyebrows in surprise when Ian calls his parents like that.
"Did they get worried?"
"Yeah. They were nervous that you went back into a comatose state, but Imogen said that you would wake up since you are not in the same condition as before."
"Same condition?"
"Yeah. She said that the energies inside you are now fluidly running."
"Kyrie…" Ian sits up, "Why is your body hosting so much essence? Imogen told me that the essence is not even yours."
Kyrie stares towards Ian with silence before answering, "It's Phanes's."
"Goddess Phanes?"
"Yes… She made me the inheritor of her essence."
"Wait… When? I never saw Phanes giving her essence to you!"
"It's because she made sure you didn't, and I never got the chance to tell you."
Ian tries to think of a reason, but nothing could come to mind. Why would Phanes give Kyrie her essence when they have barely gotten to know each other?
"I thought she was dead. Why would she give you her essence?"
"She told me to find her. There might be two possibilities, either she died unexpectedly, or she is truly somewhere in this world."
[But if she has separated herself from her reserves like Imogen, wouldn't she be a mortal? She would have most likely died. Unless she does not know how far from the future I am and makes a mistake.]
Ian grabs Kyrie's arms and looks at him solemnly, preventing him from spiraling deeper into his thoughts, "Kyrie… Never tell Imogen about this. Not even Laurel."
"Why?"
"Imogen seems to have a deep connection to the gods and even to the fallen one. She was a demigod who lived in the god realm before she turned mortal. She was always in search of something in all the loops but never found it. And Laurel… I am sure you know why."
"Yeah..."
Kyrie gets a little bit nervous when Ian suddenly turns serious. Although Ian and Imogen are companions throughout the loops, Imogen always somehow would kill Ian in every loop. The odd thing is that Ian would regain his memories, yet he would always follow back to Imogen.
They both have a similar objective - to save the world. However, Imogen does not care anything about the actual world, unlike Ian. They only operate together because of their similar purpose but often conflicting values.
Ian's caution is reasonable. Imogen has always done things with only her goal in mind. Even though Ian could see some differences in this loop, he would not trust everything at face value.
"Sorry… I don't mean to scare you," Ian runs his fingers on Kyrie's hair.
"No… I understand," Kyrie takes Ian's hand and puts it on his cheek.
"Okay! Then let's go to change," Ian leans in for a kiss before taking Kyrie's hand, lifting him off the bed.
Ian pushes Kyrie towards the closet.
Once done, they walk toward the dining room when they pass by two maids returning to gossip once they greet them.
Kyrie stops and turns around, shocking the maids, thinking they have said or done something wrong.
"Sorry ladies for shocking you… I just want to join your conversation since it sounds interesting. I have been away from home for so long that I don't know what is going on…"
Kyrie blasts the maids with his signature practiced smile, and the maids blush, fidgeting while looking at each other as if they want the other person to be the one giving the news.
One maid gets frustrated and decides to gossip, "Young master, we just heard some gossip from the delivery men that deliver produce and milk to other noble households."
She pauses to place her thoughts in order, "We heard that those households' young masters and misses had lost their souls, and now, everyone is getting afraid that they are next because they thought that those cases were only happening on the poor streets of the city."
The other maids nod, "Yeah! At first, we thought it was just some kind of sickness from the homeless and people who struggle to get by. Still, the cases increased all the way to wealthy households, affecting the young masters and misses."
"How do you know they have lost their souls?" asks Ian.
The maids look at each other to find an answer from each other, but they both shake their heads.
"We actually also thought the young master lost his soul," the other maid hits the one who spoke mindlessly.
"Watch what you are saying, Nao!"
"Sorry, young master… I…" Nao whimpers as she retracts her neck.
"It's fine, ladies," Kyrie lets out his blinding smile again, "I am okay now! Thank you for telling me. Keep up the good work."
The maids smile brightly at Kyrie's encouragement, and they both fiercely nod.
Kyrie and Ian continue to walk towards the dining room.
The maids watch their young master and the prince walk away, and they hold each other's hands and squeal!
"Oh, my good Vita! Did you see their lips?"
The other maid nods energetically, and they fangirl again!
"Our young master has found a passionate love!!! Such a passionate kiss!"