Chapter 28 – A Song of Murder and Ice

Rain's mind is reeling from the shock. 

'A year!? She's willing to sit on this information for me, for a whole year!?'

Honestly, he thought that there was a 90% chance she'd just flat out refuse to wait, or give him a few days and some input. The answer he was desperately hoping for was something like a three months grace period and assurances that she'd try to not implicate him when she shared what she learned. A year though, that's...

'...so irresponsible! She would let the world keep getting fucked for a whole year over a promise to someone!? Crazy...but, still...' 

Profound gratitude starts blooming in Rain's chest as he looks at Bright, who is still watching him with a pained expression. Already awash with a warm appreciation for the beautiful Demigod, his feelings start to mix with remorse over her obviously strained emotional state. Seeing her pitiful state, and feeling these emotions, he feels the urge to comfort her.

Before he even registers what is happening, that urge erupts into something uncontrollable, and his body moves on its own – he throws his arms around Bright's neck and hugs her tightly. As he collides against her, she's barely moved by the impact, while he feels part of the air in his lungs forcefully expelled. 

'Goddamn...she's...so sturdy...'

While Rain tries to catch his breath, Bright lets out a small squeal of surprise. 

"Wh-...Rain, what is this!?" 

Embarrassed, but trying to act like he had any control over his actions, he chuckles before responding in a lighthearted tone. 

"Oh my, nobody has ever given you a hug before? That's very sad, you know...you probably shouldn't admit things like that."

Rain detaches from the hug and sits back, facing her once again, then gives her an amused smile. There's a dumbfounded look on her face, which remains there for several seconds before she responds in exasperation. Surprisingly, she doesn't even address his joke about the hug. 

"Wait...Rain...you're not...mad at me?" 

Her face remains slack-jawed, but her eyes study him with equal parts confusion and relief. Rain simply smiles more widely and shakes his head. 

"Mad!? Of course not! What I am is shocked. I mean, you were really going to give me a whole year!? That's insane, Bright! We can't wait that long...we have an ethical responsibility to help people, you know?"

Bright's expression slowly turns from a mix of confusion and relief, to one of heavy confusion and mild annoyance.

"What!? That's not what you said! You asked me to wait!" 

Rain scratches the back of his head and grins sheepishly as Bright directs an incredulous gaze at him. He waves his hand dismissively. 

"Oh, that? No, I didn't really mean that. I agree with you...as soon as we can safely and responsibly manage, we need to let people know that the Falling is probably the reason for Nether's previous inaccessibility. Of course, I want to try and do it as anonymously as possible, so we don't end up in hot water, but that's just details. Sorry for pretending otherwise, but...uhm...I needed to be sure I could trust you. Turns out that I can!"

Bright just stares at him in disbelief for several moments as he smiles awkwardly. Then, her expression slowly becomes annoyed, then enraged, then...eerily calm. A polite smile appears on her face as she looks at Rain sweetly, but her eyes...her eyes only seem to reflect the cold embrace of death. She speaks to him slowly, her voice dangerously melodic. 

"Oh, I see...you were testing me, hmm? That's so very clever of you Rain. Say, would you like another hug? A nice, firm one...right around your neck perhaps..."

If he had any doubts about the imminent danger he's in, they evaporate when the air temperature around him drops so fast that he feels ice crystals form on his skin. Without a second's hesitation, he launches himself off the bed as Bright's hands grasp the air where his neck used to be. He hits the ground and immediately rolls onto his feet, in time to see Bright rising from the bed with an expression that's somehow both polite and murderous. He quickly waves his hands in an attempt at a placating gesture. 

"Hey, Bright, wait a second! I'm not against you physically expressing your feelings towards me, but...uhm...this is not exactly how I imagined it going! Why don't we talk this out instead, yeah? Take things slow!"

'Goddamnit, I just couldn't help myself, could I?'

Bright's face suddenly morphs into a wolfish grin as she stares at Rain coldly. 

"Rain...you little shit...let's see you keep making jokes while I'm strangling you..."

Before he can do exactly that, she suddenly blurs towards him at an inhuman pace, sending displaced blasts of air against the surrounding walls and causing the furniture to vibrate. She's every bit as fast as the Curse he faced, and he's only able to register her closing in on him thanks to his newly heightened senses as a Champion. 

'Shit...'

As her hands are about to wrap around his neck, he takes a deep breath...and activates Uncertain Existence. 

He watches as her hands pass right through him, almost sending her crashing into the door. She catches herself, landing on her feet behind him, and he moves to face her once again. When she turns around, however, all of her killing intent has evaporated, replaced by pure bewilderment. She looks at Rain with a blank expression, speaking in a tone that's comically calm, given her previous state. 

"Rain...what the hell was that?" 

Rain, watching her nervously for signs that he'll have to evade again, responds in a lighthearted voice while flashing an amused smile. 

"Uhm...I could answer that...but wouldn't you rather I give you your apology present first? Then, we can sit back down and talk about whatever you want."

She stares at him in stunned silence for several seconds, then her expression seems to crack into one of exasperation. She hangs her head, letting out a long sigh. When she looks at him again, her lips are pursed in annoyance, but there's a hint of amusement in her eyes. She speaks in an exasperated tone. 

"You're giving me presents now, huh? Well while you're apologizing, go grab us some tea and something sweet from the cafeteria here, for while we talk. Restraining myself from killing you is proving to be hungry work."

Smirking externally, but breathing an internal sigh of relief, Rain nods approvingly to Bright. 

"Sure, no problem."

*****

A short while later, they are sitting on his bed again while Bright finishes off the last bites of Rain's slice of cake. Her own slice didn't last very long, and he knew better than to resist when she started eating what was left of his.

Savoring the last bite with an uncharacteristically happy smile, she sets the plate aside and takes a sip of her tea, closing her eyes in satisfaction as she does. Rain watches the whole scene play out with a great deal of interest. 

"Wow...I had no idea you like sweets so much, Bright. I'll have to remember that for the next time that I upset you. Anyway, feeling less...murderous...now?"

Bright's eyes open, glaring at Rain disapprovingly over the rim of her cup as she takes another sip of tea. 

"Hmm...a bit, though I strongly discourage you from ever pulling a stunt like that again, Rain. There's only so much that cake can fix."

Rain smiles and raises his hands in surrender. 

"I promise, that was a one time deal, and I only did it because it was the quickest and most efficient way to find out just how much I could trust you. For the record, my conclusion is...a lot...I was very touched by your response. In fact, I'm willing to tell you everything now. No more secrets. So...uhm...are we good? No lingering resentment that's going to ruin the lovely little dynamic we have going for us?"

She purses her lips, glaring at him for several seconds like she's thinking it over. Then, she sighs. 

"That depends on how serious you are about not keeping any more secrets. If I'm really going to get the unfiltered truth from you after this, then that's enough for me to put this behind us, no hard feelings. So, are you really going to quit being a tease and give me unabridged runic descriptions when I ask?"

Feeling no reaction from the ring, even though he still doesn't know what that reaction would be, he breathes a sigh of relief. He's glad he didn't alienate her. Turning his attention to her questioning gaze, he smirks confidently and nods. 

"That's right! As a matter of fact, that present I mentioned...I'm going to loan you a Relic I won in my Trial. To be specific, it's where I got the runic descriptions about Death, Nether, and the Falling from. It mentions other stuff I didn't tell you, though, and...let's just say you're going to be excited. You'll probably also have a lot more questions. However, please remember that it's a loan...I want your word that you'll return it before you leave."

Her eyes immediately widen in surprise, and she leans forward with a nearly crazed smile. 

"Okay, we're even...I forgive you! And yeah, yeah, I promise to return it. Now...hand over the goods!"

Chuckling to himself, Rain shakes his head in amusement, then prepares to hand over the Relic. Remembering the process, he suddenly freezes, and his eyes slowly track to Bright's chest. Clearing his throat, he looks away, embarrassed, and scratches his ear nervously. 

"Uhm...sure...but, Bright...I need to touch your...Mark."