When the void found light

Chapter 11: The Morning After

The morning sun pierced gently through the leaves, scattering golden light across the forest floor.

Birds began to sing, the kind of calm melody that made the world feel brand new.

Chris stirred first. His eyes fluttered open slowly, still hazy from sleep. The warmth against his shoulder felt… strange. Soft.

He turned his head—

—and froze.

Camellya was still asleep beside him, her crimson hair glowing like fire in the sunlight. Her head rested comfortably on his shoulder, one hand lightly gripping his sleeve.

Chris’s entire body went rigid.

(Wait… what—?!)

Before he could even think, Camellya began to move. She blinked awake, rubbing her eyes, her sleepy gaze lifting toward him.

“...Mmm? Chris?” she mumbled softly.

Then she realized it too.

Her eyes widened. Her face turned as red as her hair.

“W-WHAA—?! W-WHAT IS—THIS?!” she yelped, jerking back so fast she almost tripped over the campfire stones.

Chris, equally panicked, raised both hands. “I-It’s not what it looks like! You just—uh—you fell asleep! I mean— we fell asleep—uh, beside each other—uh—”

Camellya blinked rapidly, covering her face with both hands. “T-This is so embarrassing…!”

“I swear I didn’t do anything!” Chris said quickly, his face also burning.

“I-I know! It’s just—ugh, I must’ve been too tired after the fight…” she said, voice muffled behind her hands. “I didn’t mean to—uh—lean on you like that…”

Chris rubbed the back of his neck, turning away. “I-it’s fine… really. Nothing happened.”

The silence that followed was painfully awkward — until Camellya peeked at him from behind her fingers.

“You’re blushing too,” she teased weakly, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

“I—am not!” Chris snapped, looking away even faster.

“Sure, sure,” she laughed softly, the tension melting a little. “You’re cute when you panic, you know that?”

That only made it worse. “C-Cute—?! What— no— stop saying things like that!”

She giggled, the sound bright and warm like morning sunlight.

“Alright, alright,” she said, stretching her arms and standing. “Come on, healer boy. We’ve got a long road to the next town.”

Chris grumbled under his breath, packing his bag. But deep down, he couldn’t stop the small smile tugging at his lips.

As they walked out of the clearing, the mark under his glove pulsed faintly again — not with darkness this time, but with warmth.

> Maybe… this world isn’t as lonely as I thought.