The iron mask had always been heavier than it looked—not just in weight, but in what it represented to her. Cold metal pressed against her skin, biting at her cheekbones and brow, its breath tasting of rust and old restraint. For years, it had defined the shape of her world: forgotten, muffled, anonymous.
She stood still for a long moment, fingers trembling as they hovered near the seams. Fear rose first, sharp and familiar.
The mask had been protection once. It had hidden her, contained her, kept the worst of her fears at bay. But beneath that fear, something else stirred—quiet, stubborn, alive.
Determination.
She inhaled slowly, grounding herself in the sound of her own breath, her hands closing around the iron. The sound was small—a dull snap—but it echoed like thunder in her chest. The mask slipped free and fell into her hands.
And for the first time in years, she could feel the warmth of the sun on her face again.
…
Nevaris sat there, stunned. When he had thought she would remove her 'mask', he merely was speaking figuratively. He hadn't thought she would literally remove the mask from her face.
But the sight before his eyes was hard to process.
Honestly, he hadn't known what to expect under that cold iron. Maybe she was heavily scarred or even had a curse of some type that activates when seen.
Did he think she was ugly? Never once.
Her body was simply too alluring to belong to a woman that wasn't perfect. Even with the concealing dress she wore, those curves weren't hidden in the slightest.
But the face that appeared from behind the mask gave him a feeling of deja vu. As if she was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
Her face was ethereal, the emerald scales covering her cheeks shone with a subtle luster under the sun like polished jade. Her eyes were pools of sea-green, reflecting light like the sparkling waves of the sea. Her lips curved with quiet grace, neither smile nor frown, but something gentler and more dangerous in its serenity.
When she lifted her gaze, it felt intimate, reverent–as if all she held in her view of the world was him. Her beauty rivalled that of Lilith, his mother, and even the crazy blood-sucking anarchist that follows her around.
As he continued to appreciate the Magnus Opus of Creation itself. His vision began to blur.
"Ugh!"
For a second, a brief pricking sensation pierced his mind as he looked at her. But just as suddenly, the sensation vanished as if it was just an illusion.
Before he could understand what had happened, he fell into a dazed state as he felt something trying to invade his mind with violent force.
…
The situation inside of Nevaris was calm.
Within the depths of his newly reconstructed soul, a large barren planet rotated slowly with an isolated section of soul space.
Floating outside of that space was a black cube of unknown material. It floated in silence, but every so often, its surface would shift and rotate like a kaleidoscope. And every shift, the surface would ripple like a stone had been dropped on the calm lake of its surface.
The cube, of course, was Nevaris' definitely-not-a-system guide in this new world. It seemed to have been lost in thought for a while now, replaying, analyzing, and trying to understand its new host and his motives.
As it sank into its thoughts, Nevaris' earlier words echoed in its mind.
'Nice working with you, partner.'
Cue's surface rippled slightly as the word partner stuck out clearly in its memory.
Cue's voice was still as emotionless as before, but somehow its voice didn't sound as linear as it did before.
Just then, a violent tremor tore through the space around it.
Before it could react, an eerie gray mist began pouring into Nevaris' soul space from all directions. The mist billowed outward like a devastating voidstorm, its very presence beginning to leave tears within the space.
But Cue's train of thought was once again derailed, as the entire space fell into darkness. It felt as if reality itself had been engulfed in darkness for a moment before it vanished.
Cue's entire structure had fallen silent. If someone was looking at it closely, they would see it trembling slightly in what appeared to be fear.
Then as if someone up above had turned the lights back on, the darkness receded like a tide. The surging gray mist completely disappeared along with it. Cue floated listlessly as it stayed completely still.
The planet beside it continued to float in space as if nothing had happened. As if the darkness that had drowned out existence never existed.
Outwardly, Cue's cube stayed motionless, not disturbing the quiet surrounding it. But within its internal structure, its thoughts were going haywire.
Cue felt as if it was about to blue screen. The implications of what had just occurred, even it, as a creation of old, didn't conceive to be possible. Just then, its senses began to blare loudly.
A sense of impending doom settling over it. Without a second's hesitation, Cue disappeared from that section of Nevaris' soul and reappeared outside of the soul space.
A drop of liquid bathed in iridescent light formed above the barren, cracked world. As Cue watched, a violent mixture of disbelief, excitement, and fear filled it.
At that moment, the liquid dropped. From Cue's position, the speed felt as if it was moving in slow-motion, but inside the soul space, everything happened in an instant.
When the liquid touched the world's surface, a blinding white light erupted from within the soul space, covering the entirety of Nevaris' soul.
One last thought crossed Cue's mind before its own vision went white.
…
A shiver rippled through Nevaris' body as his dazed expression faded in an instant, replaced by a grim alertness. With an unpleasant expression, he realized that something had just tried to devour his memories and invade his mind.
Just as he was about to fly into a rage, Ana spoke.
"So you really are the one?"
Her voice, filled with a desperate relief, stunned Nevaris. His previous rage shifted into confusion before something dawned on him.
With a serious tone, he asked, "What just happened?"
Seeing his cautious, guarded expression, Ana let out a bitter smile.
"That was my curse. The chain that has been controlling my life from the moment I was born. I'm sorry if that scared you…" As she spoke, the hurt in her voice stung Nevaris' ears.
Nevaris felt uncomfortable from the wounded expression on her face, but his posture remained tense as his grip on Lilith tightened involuntarily. While he could gleam that what had just happened wasn't intentional from Ana's side, it was clearly a power she had no control over.
And a power that was that dangerous, left unchecked, was an indiscriminate bullet waiting to be fired at their backs. Even knowing that Ana wasn't directly at fault, the danger that she posed was very real. Nevaris understood that at moments like these, feelings needed to be placed on the backburner.
Just then, a warm hand pinched his cheek, bringing his attention to his chest. Nestled there, Lilith's face was a furious red as she smiled up at him.
"Lilith?" seeing her not say anything, Nevaris was confused by her pinching. Then as he watched her face turn from red to purple and her pinching growing more urgent, he realized he had been crushing her.
"*COUGH, COUGH* *GASP*"
"Sorry, sorry! I wasn't paying attention to my strength." he apologized sheepishly.
After taking a moment to greedily suck in air to reinflate her deflated lungs, she shot him a withered glare before wrapping both hands tightly around his neck with a crushing force.
"You crazy bastard, are you trying to kill me? HUH!? I get it now, you dumb reptile! You want to kill me and run off with some other woman, is that it!? You're trying to abandon me and Ana so you can marry some slut out there! Fat chance! You're ours! You belong only to me and Ana! Your body, your soul, your entire existence belongs to us!"
How Lilith took his protectiveness of her as a sign of him wanting to leave them and run off with some mystery woman, Nevaris would never know. But seeing the obsessive desire and threat in her eyes, he was finding it harder and harder to deny his growing attraction for yanderes.
The sudden shift in mood left Ana speechless. She sat there numbly as she watched Lilith straggle Nevaris while shaking his head back and forth. And that look in his eyes…was he enjoying it?
It was then Lilith's bloodthirty eyes whipped to Ana, the bloodlust…or maybe actually lust on second thought?...making Ana sit ramrod straight.
"Ana, what are you doing?" Lilith asked in a voice so calm it sent shivers down her spine.
Ana gulped as she asked back, "W-What do you mean?"
Lilith, her hands still tightly locked around the suffocating Nevaris, tilted her head in that scary way she always does before continuing.
"I mean, why aren't you over here teaching our husband a lesson with me?"
Ana froze at those words. She looked up at Lilith sharply, her gaze a mix of surprise and apprehension as she asked, "Y-You don't find me scary?"
Lilith put on an annoyed look. "What the hell are you talking about? How can you be scary?"
Flustered, Ana responded, "B-But my curse just tried to erase your memories!? If it had succeeded you would have been an empty shell, or worse, you would have gone mad."
With that thought in mind, Ana seemed energized as she spoke further. "Matter of fact, how are you not affected at all!? I understand hus–Nevaris, not being affected by it. But how are you okay?"
Lilith looked a bit puzzled before looking at Nevaris and back at Ana. "Isn't it obvious?"
A vein bulged on Ana's head, as the normally shy and sweet girl fought back a curse, "No, it isn't. Please enlighten us."
Lilith placed a finger on her chin thoughtfully before speaking in a playful tone.
"You mentioned that husband is immune to whatever curse or affliction you have, right~? Well then the reason is simple~!"
Without waiting for them to question her again, Lilith grabbed the collar of Nevaris' shirt and lowered it over his shoulder. Ana's face turned slightly red as she raised her hands to cover her eyes, but stopped mid-motion when she noticed what Lilith was pointing to.
Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared fixedly at his shoulder.
"You didn't…"
Lilith let out a triumphant grin.
"I did indeed~"
Nevaris was in the dark, his head shifting between the two with a questioning look in his eyes. Lilith giggled at his expression before brushing her hand over the clear bite mark on his shoulder.
"I gave him the animas mark~!"
Now it was Nevaris' turn to be stunned. This crazy man-eater just tied their very souls together on the first day.