A Sunless Dream

The insidious movements of Revels shadow had changed as of late. It had only been a day since her last encounter with Orion however he continued to monitor her movements like a hawk since their last encounter.

On occasion, he would emerge from her shadow when she was alone to discuss with her various aspects of what it means to be human and why people have certain outlooks on the world. These conversations were pleasant, and she had grown quite fond of the powerful Saint as of late especially due to his hint that he may become an ally of the Song Domain.

Currently, Revel found herself sitting in her room gazing outside of her window as she enjoyed the quiet comfort of the winds rushing in and out of her room with restless vigour. Suddenly, the winds seemed to chill for a split second as a slight smile cracked her face. Orion was here.

Emerging from one of the shadows in her room, Orion sat down on her bed at a comfortable distance. He didn't say anything and instead chose to stare at her for a while, at first it was comfortable but quite quickly Revel grew curious of the source of his immense focus.

"What's wrong? You've been staring at me a lot" this shook Orion out of his stupor as he appeared to display nervousness sheepishly scratching the back of his head with an awkward smile "I've been going about Song domain and usually whenever I see two people who are described to have been...married they describe each other as beautiful."

Orion paused for a second, his pale face beginning to show slight hints of red on it as he continued "I went about looking at multiple different women, environments and even animals however they didn't seem to elicit the reaction the married individuals gave upon observing that which they deemed as beautiful." Revel raised an eyebrow at his assessment, now she was immensely curious "Oh? And do I elicit the reaction they give when observing something beautiful?"

Her tone dripped with curiosity; Revel honestly had no idea if she would suit the man before hers tastes. However, a part of her which she wished to ignore did. To her surprise, Orion turned bright red and looked away from her before mumbling a silent "Yes." Revel went red to match him as she fought a losing battle to hide a smile which quickly appeared on her face, "Thank you, Orion" she mumbled to herself in response.

Before she knew it, Orion had grabbed her hands in his own before gently leading her outside her window. Without wasting any time, he held her in his arms bridal style and jumped out the window before she could protest. Readying herself for the force of impact caused by hitting the ground, she found herself sitting upon a saddle of an immense creature.

It was a dragon; it wasn't imitated by the soul serpent as he knew his original would rather die than allow him to possess it. Instead, it was created simply by him fighting a dragon and studying it's anatomy only then replicating it using precise manipulation of shadows.

For most, it would seem like an impossible task to create a living creature based off only observing it with shadows, however, he was the lord of shadows, and his will was absolute. The world around him had no choice but to obey.

Gently placing Revel beside him, Orion ordered the shadow dragon to take off into the air. It's gigantic wings flapped once creating a small earthquake around them and in a split second they were in the air. "Why did we get on this? I could have just flown myself you know?" Revel asked curiously.

Orion turned his head to the side to look at her before responding "I wanted to do something...'nice' for you. Is it not customary for those who appreciate one another to do such things?" his innocent and curious voice made it hard to believe that he was one of if not the strongest human alive right now and it was so pure that it made Revel ignore that fact as well.

She nodded thankfully and searched around her for anything firm to hold on to, however, a hand snaked its way around her waist holding it firmly before pressing it onto himself. "I'll never allow you to fall" Orion said firmly before turning his attention to the sky before him.

Ordering the dragon to go upwards, Revel could see the stars as they flew with immense speed. "It's beautiful" she whispered to herself, right now, she wasn't focused on any of the war preparations being done to subdue Valor nor was she focused on improving her strength.

The moment was beautiful, and she knew too well not to focus on it.

Orion turned his focus away from the dragon, they were at such a height the dragon could glide for days without needing his control and so he made himself comfortable and faced Revel. "Revel?" he called out to her, prying her away from her awe at the stars to stare into his eyes.

"Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?" Orion asked quietly, the emotion that his body was displaying was...nervousness. The emotion was quite foreign to him, and he still had no way of controlling such a thing, however, right now, it felt like he didn't need to. He could speak freely.

"There isn't much to say, my parents were killed in some abstract dispute between awakened and I ended up an orphan. I lived a good portion of my life in poverty until I was taken in by mother, I owe my life to her." Revel's last words were said firmly as the resolve in her eyes lit up. Orion enjoyed staring into her eyes.

"Do you think, that in this war there will be more like you? More young children being killed and taken in only to end up being thrown into a life of combat they didn't ask for. How would you respond if you ended up finding the people who took your parents life?" It was a leading question; however, Revel didn't seem to notice as silent fury burned in her eyes.

"I'd kill them, I'd kill them a thousand times over and make them suffer all the pain I did." Her tone dripped with rage and the air around them seemed to get slightly thicker as Orion stared at her indifferently. "Don't you think that you could become them? You end up killing someone else's parents and they end up just like you are now. If you met such a person again, how would you respond?"

He paused for a second, studying her expression before continuing "It seems a bit unfair, no? The people who took the lives of your parents do not deserve the chance to fight back, they took the life of someone who did them no wrong and therefore forfeited their right to defend themself. Would it not be the same for you?"

Revel took a second to deeply contemplate his words. His words had merit and there was no way to deny the hypocrisy of her actions if she were to respond to such a person violently. After a moment of contemplation, she replied.

"That may be true, I may have forfeited my right to defend myself. But would you let such a person kill me?" Orion's eyes flashed with unbridled rage as he let out a firm "No" to respond to her question. Seeing this, Revel smiled at him. A warm, gentle, glowing smile which Orion had associated with her since they began speaking more.

"If I cannot fight for myself, if I cannot fight to preserve my life, I shall fight to preserve the peace for all those who care for me. It is no longer my life, but an integral part of the lives of many others who I would be affecting if I were to simply roll over and let myself die" she paused for a second, letting out a light laugh "It's a bit hypocritical as I reckon I would be quite annoyed if my parents killers gave the same answer. However, the emotions of people are never logical."

This time, it was Orion's turn to let out a laugh. His laugh was hearty, and a smile appeared on his face revealing his perfect set of teeth. Orion moved closer to her, his face a few inches away from hers before responding "Your eyes, the burning resolve in your eyes. I have seen many men and beasts alike declare their will to act however I have never seen resolve that burns as bright as yours."

He sighed for a second before smiling at her once more "Never let that flame die Revel." Before either of them knew what happened, Revel had leaned into him, pressing her lips against his. Orion opened his eyes slightly before returning the gesture.

After a moment he pulled back with his face burning red and a dumbfounded expression gracing his features. "I...thought such a gesture is only appropriate for those who are married? Why would you do such a thing?" Revel looked at him silently with a small smile gracing her features, her face was slightly red however she spoke anyway.

"Because I wanted to."