Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 36: Phantom Heart

Author's Note: I split this chapter into two parts so it isn't as lengthy. I might be doing the same for other chapters that go past six thousand words, but for now, enjoy!
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Chapter Thirty-Six: Phantom Heart

He came to on the floor with Ella kneeling next to him.

Her face hovered over his own, and there was an uncharacteristic tenseness in her full lips that lent itself to a worried expression.

"What'd I miss?" he asked, blinking blearily as he sat up; his temples were pounding, though from what he didn't know.

"You were sleep walking," Ella said, staring at him through narrowed eyes, "and dreaming all the while. I followed you here to the tree."

"Tree?" he asked, groggily looking around in confusion; then it all came back and he jumped. "Wait... you mean... that was all a dream? It felt so real! Connie came to my room and led me here, and--"

"You started talking to someone by that name when you got here," Ella interrupted him, "but when I tried to wake you, I somehow got pulled inside your head."

"Huh?" he asked, feeling confused. "What...?"

"You heard me," she muttered, scowling at the ground. "I tried to rouse you, but even though you turned and looked at me, it was almost as if you couldn't see me. I was right in front of you, too."

"You were pulled inside my head?" he asked, voice thick, "how?"

"I do not... understand how," she carefully muttered, sighing. "I'm ill-experienced when it comes to things like magic... but I think, when you summoned your power, you pulled me in. It was around the moment your body began to glow that it happened."

Xaphile was quiet.

He didn't know how to process what he'd just been told.

"Thank you for saving me," he finally muttered. "I... don't know what would have happened if you hadn't."

"I told you I would," she snorted; her voice and eyes were steady. "You're lucky I followed you with some clothes on hand. If someone had seen you, you'd probably be in chains right now."

That gave him pause, then he glanced down at himself.

To his horror, he was wearing nothing but his underwear.

"HEY!" he squeaked, curling up into a ball and huddling down, chin in his knees. "Don't look!"

She blinked, doing a double take... then she let out a laugh that startled him and held out the clothes. Clear and light, the sound floated through the air like a melody. He flushed, then snatched the clothes and hastened to put them on.

"My, my, how quaint!" she hiccuped, leaning back on her hands. "You're rather naive, aren't you?"

"As if naivety has to do with common morals," he groused, looking away when she paused. "Being naive is better than having no common sense."

"Common sense?" she snorted, light mood dissolving in an instant. "You nearly got yourself killed by a demon that manifests in people's dreams. Anyone with common sense would have woken themselves up long before then."

His temper flared, but he took a deep breath to reign it back in.

"I didn't even know I was asleep," he muttered, "but I'm glad that it wasn't real."

Ella was silent for a moment.

"Did you care for this Connie woman?" she asked. "Your face... you had a very unusual expression when you spoke to her."