Chapter 510: Hide It Or No Choice
“Endearthians have been tormented by the Knulls since they could remember, you know.”
“How many people have been lost to the previous Knull War?”
“Millions? Billions? And more are being lost in this war, too.”
“Part of these people are someone’s father, someone’s brother, someone’s uncle. They’ve been hurt by the Knulls, scarred by them, and now, their hearts may be filled with nothing but hatred for the Knulls.”
“So much hatred that they will never be able to accept that they’re friends with one who bore even the slightest affiliation with the Knulls.”
“There is a possibility that their hatred for the Knulls clouds the fact that you are important to them.”
“And I just think that’s something you need to know before you reveal to anyone that you’re a Knull.”
“I don’t have much hatred for the Knulls, nor do I wage any battle with them. I’ve only read about them and have, of course, come across some of them in the past, but I don’t have a personal grudge with any of them.”
“Perhaps that’s what made it easier for me to accept the fact that you’re one.”
“If one of my family or someone I care about had been taken by the Knulls or something, then it might have been a bit hard for me to easily accept the fact you bear an affiliation with one, wouldn’t it?” she asked, as Ryuk’s eyebrows furrowed.
Her words held their truth.
“But what do I do then? What do I do when they ask if I’m a Knull? Do I keep telling them no?”
“Would they not feel even angrier when they find out I lied to them about what I am and kept such an important secret for so long?” Ryuk whispered out, as Aster furrowed her eyebrows before she exhaled.
“I don’t know what you can do. I’d also feel pain if I knew you were a Knull and you were hiding it from me. Especially if we’re more than… just two people doing a business deal and trying to stick to their words.”
“The only thing I would say is, try and keep it down. Don’t tell anyone you’re a Knull—at least not until they would argue to the death that you’re not a Knull, even if they saw you transform into one.”
“Or if they desperately need to know, or you feel like it can no longer be hidden from them.”
“Then, it would make sense to come clean. If they’re that desperate to know you’re a Knull, they must have already concluded what being a Knull means and have accepted that.”
“If someone loves a monster enough, they would lie enough to themselves to believe that he or she is not a monster, even if the proof is right before them.”
“If they know that knowing you’re a Knull can make them lose you, yet they still want to know, then it just means they’re already ready to lose you. And it’s better to just lose them right then and there…” she said, as Ryuk simply remained silent, looking into the distance.
It was already starting to get really dark outside as Ryuk turned back, his hands reaching for Void, who was already asleep on the bed, and he placed him back into the pet world.
“Thanks for catching me up on everything, Aster. Goodnight…” he said with a smile before he reached for the doorknob.
“Wait. We can…” she tried to say, but was met with the sound of the door shutting closed and Ryuk’s footsteps receding.
Aster looked at the door where Ryuk had disappeared, and she remained in that position quietly for a while before she turned back to the view.
Her hands stretched outward as she tapped on the glass, the glass fading into a color of black and hiding the majority of light that was entering the room, before she hopped onto the bed, burying herself in the covers.
______
Ryuk stood above the roof, clothes flapping from the breeze at such an altitude.
Aster’s home was a penthouse, located at the ultimate top of a building about 500 meters high in the air.
Standing on the building itself, there weren’t many other buildings around that tall, and Ryuk could see through all the other structures surrounding him.
His eyes moved around in a circle before they settled on an area.
A large monument with the words “Eclipsed Citadel” written on it.
His hands moved to his heart, feeling its thumping, as Ryuk looked at the monument.
One thing he wanted was in that place, yet… yet…
He felt so much fear.
So much fear, he felt paralyzed.
He could guess Morgaine would already know about her mother’s bounty on his head, and of course, her reasons, which were that he was a Knull.
So if he appeared before her, her first question would be simple.
____
“Is it true, Ryuk? Are you really a Knull?”
____
That question was something Ryuk didn’t know how to answer.
The reason wasn’t because he had lost his vocal cords.
It was because, if he said yes, there was a chance of losing her.
And that was what he was most afraid of.
Her rejection.
Her saying “No. I can’t live with you. I can’t live with a Knull.”
He could move right now and meet with her. She was just a few minutes away from him.
But no matter how hard he tried, he could never move a single leg forward toward the castle.
“Tch,” a groan left Ryuk’s lips as his hands clenched tightly within his palms, nails scraping against his metallic hands, but in the end, his eyes relaxed as he turned to look up at the starlights in the sky.
“I’m not ready yet, Morgaine.”
“I’m not ready to lose you yet… so, I’ll leave it for now.”
“Maybe, I need to make sure you know I’m not a Knull in the sense of what your people think, before I can come clean to you,” he muttered to himself, as he turned away from the Eclipsed Citadel, facing another direction.
“I wonder how you’re doing, Isha. It’s been a long time…” Ryuk mused to himself, a smile sneaking its way through his lips, and in the instant, he elevated off the building before instantly zooming into the distance, becoming a light beam that quickly moved into the horizon.
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A/N:
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In and Out_SnowySmoos