Ayn wakes up in the middle of the night, for some reason he couldn't sleep, it was like something was bothering him so he wouldn't fall asleep. Although he couldn't sleep, he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Where will he go so late at night? Everyone is sleeping, so it is better to stay in his room so as not to disturb others.
He closed his eyes for a moment, then the sudden image of Louis's face flashed through his mind, causing his eyes to widen. Without knowing why, Ayn got up from the bed and hurried out of the room. Louis's room is right next to his, so he only needed to walk a few steps.
He stopped in front of the door, looking at it for a couple of minutes, debating whether to go in or not because he didn't want to disturb Louis's sleep. But he thought about the possibility that perhaps Louis was no longer inside his room, that he went out in search of the source. With that in mind, Ayn quietly opened the door a bit, peered inside, and saw that no one was lying on the bed.
He was right, Louis left without telling anyone, doing the same thing Ayn had done before. He needs to let the others know, to find out what they are going to do. So Ayn decided to wake Yakumo up, better to tell him first than the others.
Ayn walked into Yakumo's room which is right in front of Louis, then walked over to the bed to wake his comrade up. Ayn began to move Yakumo's body, trying to wake him up from his sleep and calling out his name several times. But he was sleeping like a log, no matter how hard Ayn tried to wake him up, it was useless.
There was no choice but to resort to violence, maybe a kick will work to wake Yakumo up, if that doesn't work then Ayn will have to wake up Coco. As he was ready to kick Yakumo off the bed, he felt a hand grab his arm, then yank him onto the bed with great force, landing near Yakumo.
"It's just you," Yakumo said relieved. "What are you doing in the middle of the night inside my room?" He questioned feeling suspicious about Ayn's sudden visit in the middle of the night.
"I think Louis left the base alone." Ayn ignored Yakumo's words and actions, not even caring how close their faces were at the moment.
"He did something unexpected." Yakumo lets go of Ayn's arm and then stands up. "We have to go look for him, he is not in good condition to be alone."
"Just the two of us?"
"Yes, there is no need to disturb the others."
Yakumo thought it was best to leave with the two of them, considering the fact that Murasame would be mad at Louis for leaving without telling anyone. Even when he's the one who always told Ayn not to go alone, but he ended up doing the same thing.
Yakumo understands how Louis feels about finding the source, but there was no need to rush like this, he could have waited until tomorrow. Now they have more manpower than before, with three more allies things would be less difficult so waiting another day was practically nothing.
Still, Louis decided to go alone, not thinking that his actions might worry everyone. Yakumo couldn't help but worry, even though he knew how strong Louis was. The same with Ayn, he is very worried because not long ago Louis was not feeling well. If Louis ends up feeling sick again in the middle of a battle, no one would be there to help him, leading to his demise.
Thinking negatively would not help them, so they decided not to think about anything related to bad things, but to focus on the road ahead. Finding Louis is their top priority right now, they're not allowed to get distracted by other things.
...
I feel like I'm getting thirsty. Every time Louis breathed, he felt his esophagus being scraped, forcing him to open his eyes. He felt as if he was dreaming, but the blurry, spinning vision made him feel sick. He blinked several times in a delirious state and was able to look directly at the distant ceiling.
"....." Louis tried to get up, but his body didn't respond.
"Don't get up yet, rest a little more." A familiar voice caught Louis' attention, he looked to his right and saw the back of a red-haired man.
"Rathion," Louis mumbled feeling tired, his eyes threatening to close once more, but he wanted to stay awake and talk to the revenant before his eyes.
The man gets up and walks over to Louis, then sits down next to him. Louis reached out his hand, trying to grab Rathion, not wanting him to disappear once he opened his eyes again. Rathion grabbed Louis's hand, giving him a blood bead.
"Don't fall asleep and drink the blood bead."
Dizziness prevented Louis from thinking clearly, and his vision suddenly blurred, he could no longer see Rathion clearly. He knows he must drink the blood, but he is so tired, so tired that he couldn't even move his arm. Rathion noticed that Louis was struggling to move, and that his eyes were no longer focused, at any moment he would go back to sleep and this time he would surely become a Lost.
Rathion grabbed the blood bead he had given Louis and then removed his mask. He didn't want to give Louis blood like this, but he has no choice. Rathion drinks the contents of the blood bead, then removes Louis's mask to kiss him so he drinks the blood.
Rathion grabbed the back of Louis's neck, lifting his face slightly, then gave him the blood through a kiss. Some of the blood spilled out, running from Louis's mouth to his chin, reaching his neck. After drinking the blood, Louis felt much better, it seems that he just needed to drink some blood to get better.
Rathion noted how quickly Louis's condition improved, he was relieved, but at the same time angry. If he hadn't found Louis in time, he would have become a Lost, or maybe he'd be dead. He wanted to scold him, tell him to stop being reckless, to treasure his life more.
But those words stuck in his throat, like a curse that forced him to keep silent. It was difficult for him to reproach Louis, because once he did the same thing, he felt that he had no right to say anything.
"You should take better care of yourself." Rathion got up and walked away from Louis.
"I know, I regret the decision I made." Louis said regretfully.
Rathion was glad to hear those words, at least Louis understands what he did wrong and regrets the mistake he made. Not like him, a stubborn man who made so many mistakes, but never regretted it, and now that he truly regrets everything, he can't do anything to change his past.
"If you really regret the decision you made, go back." Rathion didn't dare look back, because he tried so hard to forget Louis's face, if he continued to look at him, all his hard work would go down the drain.
"I can't go back, I still have a lot of things I want to tell you." Louis gets up.
Rathion hears footsteps approaching, he knows that Louis is getting closer to him, so he warns. "Don't come near me, we have nothing to do with each other anymore."
Louis stops in his tracks when he hears Rathion's cold and emotionless voice, it was very clear that Rathion didn't want anything to do with Louis anymore, not even talk to him one last time.
"Are you really not going to let me talk to you?" Louis did his best to hold back the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes, however, he couldn't hold back the sad tone in his voice.
"It's better that we don't talk and we don't see each other again. For the good of both of us." Rathion said as he began to walk.
"Don't say it's for the good of both of us! I know you never cared about yourself, you'll always put me first."
Louis's voice filled with sadness, and the tears he tried to keep from falling suddenly flowed like a river from an ocean that resides within him and effectively drowns him, flooding his life. 'It's okay to cry', Yakumo had told him and he really meant it. But it was still hard for Louis to let out those repressed feelings of sorrow and guilt. If he could express his feelings to Rathion, then maybe one day he could start to change and even begin to move on, because band-aids are meaningless when trying to cover up scars and dry eyes aren't honest when he's crying inside his heart.
Rathion clenched his fists, unable to do anything for Louis, making him feel frustrated and angry with himself. The only thing he has done by being by Louis' side is to cause him pain over and over again to the point of making him believe that he does not deserve to love Louis or be loved.
"Don't cry for someone like me, I don't deserve your tears." Rathion said coldly without looking back or stopping, his resolve to never make contact with Louis is still there and he will not waver. However, getting rid of Louis wasn't going to be that easy, because he can't let go of Rathion.
Louis runs to Rathion, hugs the tall man from behind, preventing him from moving any further. Rathion desperately tried to break free, but Louis's hands didn't move, he couldn't get away no matter how hard he tried.
"Please don't do this Louis, you have to let me go!" Rathion raised his voice, feeling desperate.
"I already let you go once," Louis said quietly, as he buried his face in Rathion's back.
"You are wrong." Rathion shook his head, holding back the pain in his heart. "There was never us to being with."
"What are you talking about?" Louis asked speechless.
Rathion wanted to keep it a secret, but... keeping something as important as this doesn't seem fair to Louis and Ayn. So in order to get Louis to let him go, Rathion is willing to tell him the truth, about how greedy he was.
"I lied and created false memories." Rathion confessed, feeling the guilt flooding his heart.
"False memories?" Louis repeated, releasing Rathion. "Why did you do something like that?"
"You never looked at me, you fell in love with others, but your heart never belonged to me." Rathion felt the weight of his own words, wanting to end this conversation once and for all, even if it meant leaving behind the reason he did such a thing.
"The person you always loved was Ayn, and he is the one who should be in your memories from the time we were human, not me."
Louis didn't know what to say, everything was so confusing, that nothing makes sense anymore. He looked at Rathion's back, not daring to say anything to him, not even getting angry for the things he had done. Rathion wanted Louis to be angry, to blame him and to hate him, because his silence hurts him even more.
"Sorry, this will be the last time I lie to you." Rathion said in a whisper, as tears streamed down his handsome face, unable to control his feelings.
Not wanting Louis to notice anything, he runs away without looking back, covering everything with lies for those he always held close to his heart.
Louis didn't try to go after Rathion, he just stood there, watching Rathion's back grow further and further out of his reach. Louis understood that trying to stop him or go after him would only cause Rathion more pain, letting him go was for the best, not only for Rathion but for him as well.
After seeing Rathion leave, Louis continued to investigate the Cathedral of Secret Blood, despite being told to return. He got this far, so going back is out of the question, no matter what it takes, he'll find the source.