My Soul card is a Reaper-Chapter 874: Azzy and Zion’s talk about love

A sterile stillness clung to the air of the healing ward in the Grand Arena's first floor.

Pale sunlight streamed through enchanted glass panes, casting dappled shadows across the two occupied beds.

Fiona lay unmoving in one, her expression calm but pale.

Tubes of glowing essence connected to her arms and temples, slowly replenishing her life force.

Despite the external healing, a faint crackled ripple pulsed from her chest, where her Soul Orb rested, fractured and unstable.

On the other side of the ward, Orion slept soundly. His body, though battered during the clash, was now fully healed. Yet his spirit… remained dormant.

A chair creaked softly.

Azrael sat beside Fiona, his arms folded, legs crossed, watching over his son and his sister.

The door opened with a soft whoosh.

Zion stepped in.

For a moment, he lingered silently, eyes moving between both beds before settling on Azrael.

Then, respectfully, he bowed. "Father."

Azzy looked up and raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to be formal, Zion. Be casual."

Zion straightened and hesitated. "Da—dad…" He frowned slightly, then defaulted. "Father. Sorry, it's a bit hard for me…"

Azzy chuckled. "It's fine. We have all the time in the world."

Zion walked over to Fiona's bed and gazed at her. "How is she?"

Azzy didn't turn to look. His voice was soft. "Externally? Stable. Internally, as you can sense, her Soul Orb is still damaged."

Zion's eyes narrowed. "She won't fight tomorrow, then?"

"No," Azzy said. "I'm afraid she'll have to sit out of the finals. You can say the finals will be canceled, and you will be declared the winner."

A pause followed. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Zion clenched his fists. "I heard that a demigod can repair a Soul Orb."

Azzy nodded. "Yes, that's true.

Zion asked. "Then why won't you do it? If not you, I can ask my mother."

Azzy looked at him now. Calm. Unyielding. "It's not that I can't," he said, "It's that I won't do it or won't let your mother do it either."

Zion blinked. "Why?"

"Because she chose this," Azzy continued. "Fiona knew the damage the titan form could cause to her soul orb and overextended herself to win a battle that wasn't required of her. She awakened Chione's Titan form and used too much power. You see, unlike you two, she didn't inherit any divinity. She had only had a fragmented divine essence of Chione. Now, if I help her before the final and let her fight again, her win would be meaningless.

He leaned back, hands on the armrest. "Don't worry, I'll heal her. But after the finals."

Zion looked down, lips pressed into a thin line. He stared at Fiona, her silver hair now limp against the pillow. "There's no meaning to this tournament if I can't fight her."

Azzy glanced at him.

Zion raised his head in resolve. "Father, I will my Soul Energy to make it fair then," he said. "I would place the Decarune Seal on myself. I'll fight with pure martial ability. This fight… is important to me."

Azzy chuckled lowly. "You know her better than I do," he said. "That girl… she's a proud one. Even if you seal your strength, she'd never accept a fight she can't meet at full power. Her pride wouldn't allow it."

Zion opened his mouth, but Azzy raised a hand.

"And besides," Azzy said gently, "You're both only eighteen. You'll have many, many years ahead to clash. You don't need to fight tomorrow to prove anything."

He stood and walked toward the door, leaving Zion alone with his thoughts.

But just before stepping out, Azzy paused.

"You should go see Orion," he said. "He'll wake up soon."

Zion didn't reply. He only looked at Fiona, then slowly turned his head toward the other bed, where his cousin, his rival, and perhaps someday… his equal, still lay motionless.

Azzy hadn't moved from the doorway yet.

Behind him, Zion stood silent for a long moment, as if turning over stones in his mind.

Then, finally, he spoke.

"I understand," he murmured, referring to Fiona's healing. "Thank you for explaining it."

Azzy nodded but didn't reply.

"But I have something else I want to ask you. I know this isn't the right time to talk about such things, but we seldom get any time to talk about personal things."

Azzy turned slightly, just enough to show he was listening.

Zion's voice dropped a li ttle, like he wasn't sure he wanted to be heard. "I heard from Mother…" he said slowly, "that for the sake of love, you traveled across worlds. That the woman you fell in love with was… twenty-seven years older than you."

Azzy remained quiet.

Zion continued. "And my mother… she was twenty-eight years older than you. Yet, you still agreed to be the father of her child. I wonder…"

He looked up, searching Azzy's face.

"Were you really never afraid of what others would think? Of social norms? Of being… judged?"

For a brief instant, Azzy's expression shifted—but only slightly. He didn't speak of Claire, nor of Leah, nor the truths that neither Zion nor the world were ready to know.

Instead, he gave a quiet smile.

"Love," Azzy said, "doesn't come with boundaries, Zion. Not the real kind. Not the kind that matters."

He walked a few steps closer to the window, the moonlight soft against his silver-black hair.

"Older, younger… richer, poorer… different status, different world, different race. None of that matters when you meet someone who changes how your heart beats."

Zion remained still.

"What does matter," Azzy continued, "is whether you're willing to stand against the world for that love. Whether you're willing to endure ridicule, isolation, and judgment… just to protect someone else's smile."

He turned, his gaze steady. "That is what defines love. Yes, due to some unforeseen circumstances, my love story ended up in tragedy, but it didn't. I may have married someone else and had a child. I love them just as much as I love my parents and sister. But, there's a part of me that still loves my first love."

"I see…" Zion nodded, his expression unreadable. "It's not me, by the way," he added quickly, clearing his throat. "I'm good."

Azzy arched a brow, amused, wondering what he was talking about.

Zion scratched the back of his neck. "It's… my cousin, actually. He told me he was in love with our second cousin. I tried to tell him that it was wrong. That was… weird. But then he snapped back at me and asked what was wrong with loving someone. Until I heard those words from you earlier, I thought it was too weird. But he said that he and his lover aren't directly related. So, what seems to be the problem?"

Azzy raised his brow but said nothing.

Zion sighed. "He even pointed at me and asked, What if I fell in love with Fiona Garcia… or worse, Affea. I told him it was ridiculous. But…"

He hesitated again.

"Sometimes I think, what if something like that did happen? What if love shows up in places we don't expect? What if morality and social rules are just… ideas?"

He looked at Azzy, almost pleadingly.

"I've just been thinking lately. About where the lines really are. So… I wanted to ask you."

Azzy arched an eyebrow, folding his arms as he regarded Zion with quiet amusement.

"You're really thinking a lot lately, aren't you?" he said softly.