Night Sky

(Gayle's POV):

I woke up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare. In front of me was Jay soundly asleep so I left the bed without waking him up. I looked around and noticed the beautiful night sky in the window. I still remember you, your gentle glow and kindness...

I went out to the roof of the palace while bringing a sketchbook and some art materials in this virtual space. I'm pretty glad that everything is possible in this space since it doesn't stop me from continuing to do some art.

I started drawing the night sky and got absorbed for a very long time. Because of that, I failed to detect a presence that somehow showed up pretty surprisingly.

"Can't sleep?" - ???

"Wha!!!!?"

I simply panicked which made me drop my pen from off the ledge of the roof. It started to fall but the person who called me out jumped down and caught it pretty easily before coming back up.

"Y-you startled me!"

"Ahahaha~ My bad, my bad. So, what's are you doing here at this hour?" - Denzel

It was Denzel, and he's speaking in a more casual tone. I started thinking about my excuses for staying up at night but I just considered telling what happened.

"I... Had a nightmare..."

"I see, that's quite unfortunate... What about the others?" - Denzel

"They're asleep, out cold... What about you? What are you doing out here at night?"

"Ah well, I was trying to work on Robin's Stardust Claymore since it needs a lot of detailing." - Denzel

"I see... Feeling better?"

"Yep, though there's still something clouding inside my body." - Denzel

I continued drawing the night sky after Denzel returned the pen to me. Both of us just sat down on the roof while Denzel made it easier by using his crystals to form a nice table for me to draw.

"Coke? It's worked up to your sweetness." - Denzel

"So it was you after all!"

I had my guesses with the person experimenting on creating coke but it's pretty much Denzel who was working on something like it.

"Ahahaha, is it fine to share the bottle? If you want to I can grab two glasses glasses downstairs." - Denzel

"No need, it's fine."

"Drawing the night sky huh... That's nice, I wish I was able to draw something." - Denzel

"Want some lessons?"

"Nah, I feel dumb whenever it's about art." - Denzel

"Even though you're the one who made this entire palace?"

"Well, without their help I wouldn't be as artistic as I am. I still suck at drawing. Anyways, I've heard... You managed to deal some damage on Robin." - Denzel

"Eh?!"

I stood up and noticed that the sketchbook flipped to another page. Denzel immediately saw a drawing of him working on Mysteria.

"T-this is... Me in the forge right?" - Denzel

"Y-yeah..."

"This is seriously impressive though. But aside from that, I'm really impressed with your performance against Robin. You may have some flaws with your clumsiness but you're still extremely dangerous to fight against." - Denzel

"It's thanks... To Mysteria... The weapon you made..."

"Well, speaking about Robin... He does tend to take things LIGHTly." - Denzel

Wow...

I chuckled a little bit to the pun that's not exactly funny. I'm sure Denzel made the pun to mess around with Robin but we'll see. We laughed for some time but when I looked at the night sky, I started to remember something a little bit from my past.

"You know... The night sky often reminds me of someone I once knew... A gentle glow and a serene atmosphere... I had forgotten who that person was already but... I still kept my promises to him..."

"Reminded of someone huh... The only thing I remember when staring at a sky like this, would be nostalgia..." - Denzel

"Nostalgia?"

I read Denzel's mind and I started to see something in his head where his life was constantly in darkness. There was no light in his life for a very long time.

"Hmm, do you have something against Lester? Seeing how he acted I don't think he'd fit the criteria of the person you remember." - Denzel

"Yeah... But it was a very long time ago... Back when I was a child... I don't even know if that person still remembers me..."

"What about Lester now?" - Denzel

I stayed silent for a while until Denzel noticed and called me out...

"Gayle?" - Denzel

"Ah... He was nice... At first... Or when we're completely alone... But that's about it..."

"I see..." - Denzel

I read Denzel's mind once again and he seems to be planning something against Lester.

"Since you can read my mind, don't think of stopping me, once he breaks a rule here then I might as well deliver severe punishment." - Denzel

"Ah... Well... I can only hope for you to hold back... He's still my boyfriend after all and I'd hate to see him get hurt..."

"Don't worry, it's just a minor level of suffering where he'll be kneeling down with a full block of obsidian on his legs... For ten hours with only lunch and dinner breaks." - Denzel

"Hey!! That's not fair... Why were we the only ones to get thrown off the roof?"

"There's a difference between violence at night and playful violence at day." - Denzel

"Playful violence? We were at each other's throats and you call it playful violence? I like the way you think."

Denzel laughed a little bit before continuing to tell what's on his mind.

"I guess some of it is just the mindset built into me, or something that involves almost dying multiple times against Seymour during spars." - Denzel

"Real life?"

"Yep." - Denzel

Now that I think about it, what's his past?

"Question, are you suicidal?"

"Yep, can I show something?" - Denzel

"Sure?"

Denzel started rolling up his sleeves in which I never saw him sleeveless. I then noticed that he had multiple cuts all around his arms. Some looked deep, some are even considered to look like actual stab marks...

"Is this proof enough?" - Denzel

"Lucky you... One of those promises involve me not harming myself... And here I am just waiting for the sweet release of death..."

"Uh... I don't think you should get yourself killed... Since the promise involved not getting yourself harmed... The person you promised wouldn't be happy... Maybe one day you'll find him again..." - Denzel

"It's not that I'm trying to get myself killed... Maybe a disease or so... Or get hit by an incoming vehicle or something..."

"Then you should be careful... Understand that the person who made you promise that doesn't want you to die..." - Denzel

"Yeah... It's funny... How the only thing that kept me alive for some long is because of some dumb promise... With someone who probably doesn't even remember me... Speaking of which... What was your side like?"

I started to ask Denzel about his past in more detail. It seems like he doesn't want to tell too much.

"Well in my case then of course... Both my parents died... You can read my mind so I'm sure you know who murdered them..." - Denzel

A taunt like that made me read Denzel's mind, which gave me a surprising answer... He murdered his own parents?

"Yeah..."

"Want to know the reason? It's something about leaving me here to rot... Escaping my behavior and starting anew... And there was something about allegations of some affair or so... My relatives didn't accept me either..." - Denzel

"So that's why you can't handle being betrayed..."

"Mhm... The first thing that comes to mind is to kill the traitor... Despite how much I loved that person... Eventually, I would get betrayed anyway... Honestly, I could just live them to the fullest, before I lose them completely..." - Denzel

"I don't understand everyone's logic... So this isn't any different... But why do you choose to enjoy now and suffer later?"

"Well, life is limited... Every single second is important so adding chaos to your time can just break you... Suffering in the end means that I had finished my part... It's goodbye after that point..." - Denzel

"It's reverse for me... Suffer now for a better reward later..."

"I see... Regardless, I will always maintain my personality to be kind to everyone... Until the very last second..." - Denzel

"Aren't you worried they'll betray you in the end too? Or take advantage of your kindness?"

We talked a bit more about his lifestyle and it gets a little bit sensitive... Even if Lilith is there for him he knows for a fact that Lilith will be leaving him soon. It's a somewhat similar situation to Grace and Terrence but they know that Denzel murdered his parents...

"Well, I now pretty much understand if I end up alone in the end..." - Denzel

"I see... Fuah..."

"Sleepy?" - Denzel

"Mhm... I'll go back to bed..."

"I'll accompany you, just in case." - Denzel

"Thanks..."

I returned to my room while Denzel accompanied me. He waved a little bit and pat my head before going back to the sky floor while greeting good night...

I managed to sleep well through the night without getting any nightmares this time... Before I noticed, I was actually smiling for some reason.