Blue Cattleheart Butterflies Are Poisonous...

Xion's memory was fragmented at best. Blank in some places, muddled in others. It was not just the life of little Xion Vaelis slipping through his grasp, even the remnants of his past on Earth were fading.

He could not recall the faces of those students who were running after him, of Takumi, of his family.

Even Minato-sensei's features had begun to blur out of focus, and Xion had to force his mind to patch the empty spaces with his own imagination.

Yet, no matter how much time passed, the ones who sought to drag him into the dirt always seemed to wear the same face.

Just like the one approaching him now.

Xion took a sip of the crimson liquid bubbling in the glass. The wine was sweet. The saccharine flavor softened on his tongue and before he knew it, half the glass was already gone.

Wines should be tasted slowly. If you can't even appreciate the mellow sweetness, what's the point of drinking it? You might as well drink water!