Frey was about to speak, but she blindsided him with a quick embrace, seemingly unable to stop herself .. so he fell silent.
"I’m all right, Uriel. There’s no need to worry," he said, patting her back and holding still for a moment.
"I thought you weren’t going to wake up... especially after seeing the devastation your last fight left behind."
Hearing that, Frey let out a small, helpless laugh. Even he hadn’t expected to survive at one point.
"I’m here. I’m still alive .. and I don’t plan on dying anytime soon. So don’t worry."
Despite his reassuring words, Uriel’s expression tightened. She didn’t believe a single word.
He had recovered from a cataclysmic battle against an enemy none of them even knew by name. Judging by the aftermath, he’d faced a cursed monster beyond their comprehension .. of that she was sure.
And she was equally sure that Frey would head straight back to the front to fight again .. against enemies even stronger. He would do it even if it meant standing alone.
Knowing his damned nature, she couldn’t believe him at all.
Frey realized his words wouldn’t reach her .. especially when his actions so often contradicted them.
So, instead of speaking more, he simply slipped his arms around her in return, letting his head sink for a few seconds against her shoulder, near her neck.
In this bleak, filthy land of the Ultras, being this close to Uriel .. overflowing with the power of life ..was a blessing. The warmth of her body, the clean scent that teased his senses ..none of it belonged in this cold land of death.
So he took the gift as it was and let himself rest for a while in her arms.
She was different from Sansa; she carried a maturity his demon friend did not.
Uriel was five years older than him ..twenty-four now and fully grown. That, in itself, held a special kind of magic.
They say a single, mature woman can pull a man out of the pit of despair in a single night. Frey had heard that saying many times long ago; he didn’t know how true it was.
But he was certain Uriel could do it with ease.
The moment of peace didn’t last. Neither Frey nor Uriel moved beyond that embrace before they were interrupted.
"My apologies... it seems I’m intruding on something," said Seris as she stepped in to check the place .. drawn by the sense that Frey had begun to stir.
On the other hand, Uriel slowly drew back as Frey let her go.
Frey had nerves of steel; even being caught by Seris like that didn’t rattle him. Uriel, though, couldn’t control her embarrassment .. she averted her eyes, unable to meet Seris’s gaze.
Fortunately, Seris was even cooler-headed than Frey himself. She didn’t overreact and moved on immediately.
"I’m glad to see you awake again, Frey... but forgive me .. I have to trouble you, even though you’ve only just come to," Seris said, sincerely apologetic.
"It’s fine. I know there’s a lot that needs explaining," Frey replied.
He rose slowly .. then realized his clothes had been reduced to nothing in the last battle. With a frown he sat back down, letting the blanket cover what needed covering.
"Could I have some clothes first?"
"Of course," Seris sighed lightly, flicking a look toward Uriel—the one who’d insisted on caring for him herself and thus was in charge of such things.
Uriel gave an apologetic glance and hurried out to fetch something, leaving Frey and Seris alone for a time.
The air was awkward for a moment, but they broke the ice quickly enough; talking wasn’t hard for them anymore.
"Mm... how long was I out?" Frey asked, not wanting to waste time.
"Not long. Barely a day," Seris answered.
"Ah. Better than I expected."
For a moment it had felt much longer from his point of view. A single day after that battle .. far better than he’d hoped.
Since he’d asked first, Seris didn’t hesitate to voice what had been weighing on her.
She wanted to know what had happened—who Frey had fought .. but there was something more urgent.
"Frey... what happened to them? To our comrades whose signals vanished?"
That was what she most needed to know.
"When we arrived... we found no one but you, lying in the middle of a massive crater. I searched myself, swept the area over and over .. there was no trace of them."
Seris fell silent for a few seconds.
She had been composed the whole time .. even when they first reached the battlefield. She helped Uriel, did everything required of her.
But despite scouring the entire area, she found nothing, and the worst possibility forced its way into her mind.
"Are they... Already—?"
She asked the only question that mattered.
Among the missing were people close to her .. especially Frost Moonlight and many members of her house. Frost was the current lord of House Moonlight; if he was dead, the title would fall to her. She didn’t want that .. and losing Frost would be a heavy blow, especially now that he had matured and become a dependable leader.
Frey didn’t intend to hide it. He shook his head quietly and apologized.
"I’m sorry. There was nothing I could do."
"So that means..."
"They’re dead. All of them."
He answered firmly, lowering his head a little.
"It was their misfortune that set them before a monster .. a monster that shouldn’t exist in this world."
Then he let out a thin, joyless laugh.
"No... it would be hypocrisy to blame luck now. Most likely they died because of me."
Seris didn’t understand. "Because of you?"
Frey nodded.
"The one who did that to them was targeting me from the start. They were just tools he used to draw me out. So... you could say I’m the reason this happened to them."
What he said laid bare his fractured, fragile nature .. a man who had shouldered most of the war’s horrors alone and was ready to take the blame for anything that happened around him. It was true Zibar had been after him; still, the reason Frost and the others died was Zibar, not Frey. But in his current, broken state, Frey wouldn’t accept that.
"For now... I want to hear everything .. exactly what happened," Seris said.
"I promise I’ll tell you .. and the others. I’m sure they all want an explanation," Frey replied. There was no point hiding it any longer.
Seris didn’t reproach him, but she didn’t comfort him either .. not when she didn’t yet know the facts. That was simply the kind of person she was, and Frey didn’t dislike it. In fact, he found it fitting.
But first, he had a different question.
"Since I woke up, I spread my aura and checked the area... but I can’t sense him."
Everyone was here .. except one.
"Where is Snow?"
That was what Frey truly wanted to know—something Seris didn’t quite know how to answer.
Snow Lionheart... was missing.