"Here's what's really going on here," Ryu began, Emilia awaiting the answers to her questions expectantly. "First, I'll start by answering your second question."
"What are those screens?" Ryu's floating body started vertically rotating mid-air as he sat cross-legged again. "Let's begin with the basics. What do you think this world represents?"
"Isn't this place supposed to be Ace's inner psyche?" Emilia replied with another question which made Ryu hum as he thought of what to say next.
"Okay. Let's switch things up a bit," he added, his body stopping its rotation upside down as he then raised his left index finger, though it pointed at the ground. "What do you think this map or area represents?"
Emilia remained silent, not knowing how to answer the question.
Nothing about this place they were in was familiar to her. The remnant signs that were attached to the now ruined buildings were written in strange characters that she could only identify as being an unknown language.
Ryu stared at her, the expression on her face making him sigh.
"Now what's with that face?" his words pulled out Emilia from her momentary slump.
"I really don't get ya," Ryu's body rotated once again, his position now upright.
Ryu's head rested on his right hand, his face held against his palm. He simply continued to stare at her, his expression a mix of boredom and exasperation.
As their eyes locked onto each other, Ryu's expression shifted to a playful smirk.
"Say," he began, making Emilia uneasy.
"W-what is it?" Emilia couldn't help but be unnerved, not knowing what question was going to come out of her interlocuter's mouth.
Ryu tilted his head innocently with his eyes closed for a moment as a small hum escaped him.
"Why did you even bother coming here?" he asked bluntly, making Emilia's eyes widen slightly in confusion.
"What do you mean? And besides, you still haven't answered my question," Emilia was slightly confused by Ryu's question before trying to get back on track of the matter at hand.
"I ain't answering nothin' until you tell me."
"Huh?" Emilia's confusion only continued. "Wha―?"
"It's just been bugging me, ya know?" Ryu interrupted her, now starting to gently and slowly fly around her like the wind as if he was simply lying on a bed or a couch.
"Don't you hate him?" Ryu's question cut the air like a knife making Emilia respond in dumbfounded confusion with a simple "Eh?"
"I… I don't…" her words and voice trailed off into silence.
"Hmmm…" Ryu's humming voice carried an unconvinced tone. "Are you sure?"
Ryu's face closed up on Emilia's, his eyes seeming to peer into the deepest corners of her heart.
"Even after everything you've been through. Everything you've endured. After all the things that happened, you're telling me you don't carry even a single hint of resentment or grudge against him?"
Before Ryu's focused, wide eyes, Emilia's voice got stuck in her throat.
"Well, if you say that then let me ask you another question. Why do you want to save Ace anyway?" Ryu backed off, but the tension around didn't dissipate.
"I doubt he deserves or even wants to be saved," he added, Emilia still remaining silent. "Especially by you of all people."
"So why do you want to save him?" his question lingered in the air.
"I don't know," Emilia replied, her head held down as her bangs hid her expression.
"Haha," she raised her eyes towards Ryu, the smile on her lips drowned in the pained expression that was etched on her face. "I… really don't know."
"Eh?" surprise filled Ryu's expression as he saw tears running down Emilia's face. 'She's crying?'
"Everything you just said probably is true. No, it is true," Emilia continued, her voice broken down in grief. "But what am I supposed to do about it? I can't go back no matter how much I want to."
Muffled hicks escaped Emilia's mouth as the tears continued to run down her cheeks.
Ryu sighed deeply, scratching his head as he seemed to be genuinely attentive to the grief behind Emilia's words.
"Then tell him," Ryu said his eyes and voice clear of any mischief or any other insinuations.
"Huh?" the surprise Emilia felt at Ryu's words had temporarily stopped her tears.
"When you drag him out of this place by the ear and finally see him in the mortal world, tell him everything you've been bottling up inside!" Ryu's voice came out like the encouragement of a coach to his players without any filters. "Hit him with it like belt to ass without holding anything back!"
"Pfft," though the wording could have been better, Emilia's tear-filled face was replaced by a laugh, something she had not experienced for a very long time.
Ryu seeing the result, only grinned widely. "Hehehe!"
"Hahahaha…" Emilia finally calmed, wiping off the tears with her sleeves. "Seriously, what's with that?"
"Before we continue, I'll be honest with you," Ryu started, his eyes staring into Emilia with clear intent. "This world is basically a neutral ground manifested from Ace's subconsciousness, just like how Akasha is the manifested realm of humanity's collective subconscious."
"With that being the case, whatever happens in here can be considered the absolute truth of what is happening within Ace's mind," he added, slightly coughing in his right fist before continuing.
"And so, same goes for that door. The reason why I needed your help to get in is because out of all the other humans who've been in contact with Ace, you're the only one to have managed to influence and connect with him, even if it's only subconsciously."
Emilia's widened as she heard Ryu's words, a question forming in her mind.
'Connect with him? What does that mean?'
"Wait!" Ryu gestured for her to stop even though she still hadn't done anything. "Before you ask anything else, let me finish."
His brow was twitching as if there was something bothering him, or to be more precise, as if he needed to mentally prepare himself to say the words that would next come out of her words.
"That ring is like a proof of that connection. You might not be aware of it, but a blood oath was formed between the two of you. I'd wager Ace was the one who initiated it by sharing his blood with you in one way or another, but he didn't set any conditions or make any vows to it. And so, he basically let full control of the oath to you. But there's a necessary condition for it to activate."
Emilia gulped, a premonition and possibility forming in her heart, one that continuously made her chest thump.
"One needs to fully accept the oath bearer or else it will fail. In this case, since the one who initiated the oath was the one who got branded by it, and you're the one who became its bearer, that means that for whatever reason, Ace was okay giving himself up for you."
"No," Ryu's head tilted to the side as he held his chin in thought. "I guess it's more accurate to say he felt comfortable being vulnerable in your presence even if he wasn't consciously aware of it."
"Then… then what does that mean?" Emilia, visibly shaken up by the revelation, tried to keep her composure.
"No idea," Ryu shook his head. "All I can say is that Ace's subconsciousness defined the rules by which this world operates. Those screens act as a reflection of that fact. Basically, like a worldview within his inner psyche."
"Now on the matter of saving Ace," Ryu continued, his next words seemingly enlightening Emilia like a hint. "You'll have to define what it means to save Ace. Since you're the only one he willingly let into his heart, you'll have to be the one to see things through to the end. From this point onwards, whatever choice you make, it will be all on you."
Emilia's mind became a bundle of thoughts as she took in Ryu's words. Thoughts of Ace that seemed to be linking together like threads to reach one single inevitability. One she couldn't fully name yet.
But amidst all of it, it felt as if she finally knew what she had to do. As if the fog in her mind had started to lift.
"Ryu?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm gonna save Ace," the dark and burdened shade that had filled Emilia eyes previously had been replaced by a bright glint. Almost as if she had finally remembered and regained something she had long since lost in the dark path she had been traversing in the past 3 years.
"Hehe," an excited grin stretched out on Ryu's face as a single reply came from him. "Aye, aye, captain!"