Point-of-View: X

———————————————————————————

"Don’t tell me he’s still moping in his room," I sighed in exasperation.

"Well, yeah, he is...but we should leave him alone, he has gotten a bit better lately, so maybe he just needs a little bit more time," Responded Miraliz, trying to calm me down.

"I don’t know about that, to me it seems like he may never move on," I replied with a grimace.

We were talking about Dieter, who had been in a deep depression ever since the battle against Hell. The loss of his sister hit him pretty hard, and I do sympathize with him, but it’s been over half a year since then.

After Harmony was dissolved, I decided to take care of Adelmira, at least until she’s old enough to go off on her own. And I also agreed to take in Dieter, admittedly as a bit of an afterthought.

It’s actually been easier than I thought it would be...I suppose it helps that they’re not, like, small children, they’re young but still old enough to have common sense.

If anything, Miraliz has been super helpful with everything. I have to say, living so peacefully feels a little weird. As far back as my memories stretch, all I remember is fighting and being locked up. So being able to live freely like this, it’s a strange experience...definitely not a bad one though.

Anyway, as for Dieter, while he doesn’t exactly name things harder for us or anything, he’s just been wallowing in remorse for all this time. And yeah, I get that we can’t rush him into getting better, but it honestly feels like he doesn’t want to get better.

"I’ll make sure to keep an eye on him, so don’t worry. Go on, get going, or you’ll be late," Miraliz urged me, pushing me towards the door.

"I don’t need to go out on foot, I’ll just wait here," I sighed in response.

So, yeah, I’ve kinda got a date. With, um...with Neo. He’d been dropping by every now and then to check on Dieter and Miraliz, and we got to talking each time he showed up. And, well, you know, one thing led to another, we were suddenly making out and stuff.

Things then got a bit awkward for a while, we talked it out, made out again, plus a bit more, and he then asked me if I wanted to go see a movie with him. And...I said yes.

Never could’ve imagined this not too long ago. Especially around the time I was under Eden’s control. Yeah, thinking back on it, I used to kinda hate him. Though, to be fair, he did drop me in the middle of the ocean. I still have nightmares about that sometimes.

"Oh, looks like he’s here," Remarked Miraliz, as a portal opened up.

I felt a sense of nervousness rising up inside me as he stepped out of the portal-...huh? Wait, is that him? Oh, never mind, it is...but, uh...

"What’s with the haircut? You look so different," I greeted him as I stared at his head.

Wow...this look kinda suits him. He’d cut down his long hair to a medium length, it makes him look a lot younger. He was wearing a dark blue unbuttoned shirt over a red t-shirt, along with black trousers. Yeah, he looks real good.

"Oh, uh, I just figured it was time for a change, I’ve had long hair for years...my head feels a lot lighter now. Does it look weird though?" He responded with a worried expression, looking self-conscious.

"Huh? No...it looks fine. You look good," I replied, trying to keep my tone casual.

"Oh, thanks...you look really good too," He remarked as he gave me a glance over.

I’ve let my hair down for once, plus Miraliz insisted on applying makeup on me. I managed to compromise by only letting her apply some light makeup instead of going too overboard.

I was also wearing a red dress that went down to around my knees, and kinda exposed a tad bit too much cleavage for comfort. But now that he’s sneaking glances while trying not to stare...I’m feeling a lot better about it.

"Ugh, seriously? You guys can’t come up with anything other than ’good’?" Sighed Miraliz with a shake of her head.

"Let’s get going, shall we?" I suggested to Neo, deciding to ignore her.

"Uh, yeah, sure...sounds good," He nodded, before opening up another portal.

We emerged in front of a movie theater, heading in and getting tickets before going to the screening room for the movie we’d come to watch. It was a romcom, a genre of which I’ve seen very little of.

I’m more into action and darker stories with lots of violence and messed up stuff, but I suppose that’d be the wrong vibe for a date. As we took our seats and the movie began playing, I decided to keep an open mind and try to enjoy the movie.

But...about half an hour in, I was pretty bored. Also, why is going to the movies such a classic date option? I mean, you barely speak to your date at all for the duration of the movie, so that’s like two hours wasted!

Maybe we should’ve-...I was then snapped out of my thoughts as I felt something around my shoulders, glancing over to see Neo putting an arm around me, a hint of nervousness in his eyes.

"I see now, this whole movie thing was just a ruse to make a move on me, eh?" I whispered teasingly.

"Maybe...is it working?" He responded with a wry smile.

"Hm...let me think about it...," I muttered, as I placed my hands on either side of his face and leaned up, pressing my lips against his.

Yeah, this really is a bit weird, considering our history...but it’s certainly not unpleasant. And there’s no doubt about it...I definitely prefer this to how we used to be...

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Don’t forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming Chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP