Ripples

Rubies II

Includes mentions of age gap, helplessness, and previous death.

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"You're here again?" Athanasia sighed, sitting up on her bed. Disinterested sapphires glanced at Lucas as he stood in the middle of her room.

Over the past few years, the man had regularly been visiting her under the guise of controlling the magic within her, but Athanasia knew that she had no mana whatsoever. It had been one of her greatest shames, though it didn't matter anymore. Not with Claude being as unattainable as ever before.

"Admit it, you like it when I visit." Lucas smirked, his amused eyes flickering like flames. Since it would have been odd for a full grown man to keep visiting her, not that anybody cared enough for it to matter, he had altered his appearance to seem like a teenager. He'll grow with her, he claimed, as if it would have comforted her.

Still, she couldn't admit that, in a way, she did like it when he visited. Other than Lily, he was the first to go out of his way to remain by her side.

"As if. Why are you here this time?" Athanasia scoffed, leaving her bed and preparing a cup of tea. By this point, Lily knew that her ward had insomnia and never questioned anymore when Athanasia would ask for a pot of tea as company through the nights. The head maid never knew that she did have company through the nights.

"I pitied you for being lonely." An angry frown grew on the princess' face even as she poured a cup for her companion. When she was done, her eyes glared at him, a soft thud resounding in the room as she placed the pot on the tabletop. "Don't test my patience, Lucas. I'm not lonely."

"She's lying to herself," Lucas thought with a wisp of amusement. And when the girl before him, in an eight-year-old body, tried to kick his shin, he deftly avoided it and flicked her forehead. "Okay, fine, I wasn't pitying you. I saw that you were having a nightmare and thought that you might want someone to talk to."

Athanasia nearly dropped her cup from shock, bejeweled oceans staring at the fraudulent child. From the years that they had interacted, they had always spoken with jokes and insults. They would fight, maybe end up with a few bruises, and then laugh about it after a couple more insults.

Never had they ever tried to have deep conversations. How could they, when they were both numb to the core?

She bit her lip, and Lucas only watched patiently in a way that he never thought possible. Both sipped their tea silently after the question, until Athanasia asked another. "Do you think that dreams can be real?"

"If you're going to talk about your past lives, then don't worry about it. I already know about them." She should have felt shocked and maybe even angry, but she could only feel relief. The how's and why's didn't matter. The only thing that did was the fact that the princess could finally have someone to talk to.

"I thought that the purpose of this never ending cycle was to give me my birthright. My father's love, my princess title, and the throne- I thought that, as soon as I could get those, I would live happily ever after." Embittered, the undying maiden bit her lip desperately.

"But I was wrong. Now, whenever I sleep, I see his face filled with anger. That man, who had been by my side, spoiling me as much as he did Jennet, glared and killed me himself."

"I see his face in my sleep again and again and, Lucas, it hurts so much. Why does it hurt so much?" She whispered urgently, her voice frantic as she slammed the cup down loudly. Lucas frowned, unfamiliar with the emotions that she was portraying. He refused the urge to click his tongue in annoyance, knowing that it would not help. And, despite how irritating the clench in his heart was when he first saw her tears, he wouldn't show it on his face.

"I hate crying. I hate caring. Gosh, why am I so pathetic?" "Useless," Athanasia corrected internally, rubbing the tears off of her face vigorously. Suddenly, her head snapped up, eyes focused on the standing figure of Lucas as he gently held her wrists. "Crying doesn't mean that you are pathetic. Don't start blaming yourself now, calling yourself names when it was all because of that emperor. Being cold doesn't mean that he had the right to be heartless. We're both numb, but we don't go around killing innocents."

Bejeweled oceanic eyes moistened once more, glimmering beneath the moonlight as she stood. Sobs reverberated in the room, lasting until dawn as the adults in youthful bodies embraced one another,

one numb and the other broken to the core.