Trying to Save my Favorite Character from His Tragic Fate

Ian huffs in disbelief and wonders how Kyrie can be so bold. He gets hold of Kyrie's wrists, deciding to pull them off from his shocked buttcheeks. However, he meets resistance, and his buttcheeks get squeezed even harder. 

Ian flinches again, and he almost lets his voice out. But he holds it in, allowing an annoyed smile spread. Flushing and astounded, he forcefully pulls Kyrie's hands off his butt and puts them on his back, placing them in the correct place. 

He has underestimated Kyrie. Soon, he finds his back getting navigated by Kyrie's fingertips like a dog sniffing on the ground in search of treasure. The fingertips manage to send electricity all over his body as Kyrie navigates the back muscles, tracing through the muscle lines.

Out of any other normal options, Ian yanks Kyrie off his body. Preparing himself to give Kyrie a good scolding, he meets with Kyrie's teary eyes. However, Kyrie soon masks them with a smile, trying to divert Ian's attention. Knowing that Kyrie's words always seem to have a deeper meaning, he lets go of Kyrie's perverted acts and ends up squeezing Kyrie's cheeks till Kyrie whimpers.

"Hewt! Hurt… hwet!" Kyrie whines, "Fewgive we, Ian… I wel not squeeze your butt hard next tiwe!" 

"Okay… Let's get ready to go to sleep now," Ian blushes, watching Kyrie whine while getting his cheeks pinched.

Ian turns around and gets back in. 

Kyrie rubs his cheeks with both of his hands as if he tries to mold them back to their original position. 

Kyrie murmurs, "I only said I am not going to squeeze them hard!" He chuckles at his own words, but his heart is still not as calm. 

Now that the black mana stone is in Ian's possession, the events that lead to the start of the novel will begin when he awakens his magic of darkness. He will regain his memories and travel with Imogen.

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Ian walks into the bedroom, dressed lightly for bed. He wears a dark brown loose blouse and pants. He sits on a circular desk next to the bed and organizes his items back to a pouch that he has been carrying throughout this journey. He picks up the black mana stone pendant that Kyrie handed to him just some time ago. 

Recalling Kyrie's words, he ponders what Kyrie means by remembering. He does not feel like he has anything in need of recalling. Although his childhood is a blur and most of his youth is like a flash before his eyes, he knows that all his memories still connect. He has not lost any memories for him to recall.

'Something that Kyrie could have done to make me angry… Aside from his perverted acts, there is nothing that really makes me so angry that it could potentially make Kyrie scared.'

The sound of the doorknob twisting and the door creaking grabs Ian's attention away from his thoughts.

Closing the door, Kyrie walks towards the bedroom dressed in white. He tousles his hair with a towel to dry his hair faster. Ian stands up from his seat and walks towards the bed to join Kyrie, who has already sat down.

The door opens again in a bang where the doorknob hits the wall and bounces back to close itself. A flash moves towards them and launches in. Maya's head lands on Kyrie's chest, knocking the air out of him. He lands flat on the bed, breathing back in a deep breath. 

"MAYA!" Kyrie lifts himself up, letting Maya slip to the side, and starts tickling her, taking revenge childishly for the blow Maya landed on him with her head.

Maya laughs to the point tears start to pour out. Soon, her laughs get distorted into crackles, gasps, and whimpers. Tears of painful joy flow down from the tickle torture.

"I am sorry!!! Hahahaha.. Sor… hahaha… sorry….HAHAHAHA!" 

Kyrie finally stops, giving Maya time to catch her breaths. She exhaustedly slumps on the bed, coughing from the extreme tickling. She looks at Ian completely unharmed, so she gathers back energy and launches towards him. Ready to pass on the torture, she, unfortunately, meets a pillow to her face. 

She grabs one herself to start a pillow fight! Unintentionally, when she swings her pillow, she misses Ian and ends up hitting Kyrie on his face when the pillow swings back. Her face immediately pales at Kyrie's evil grin. 

The pillow fight becomes worse than one between cats and dogs. Cotton and feathers from the pillows scatter throughout the room, and some of them have yet to set to the floor. 

They all get to test each other's level of strength like some kind of boxing arcade machine. In the end, Maya and Kyrie raise their half-empty pillow bags like they put out a white flag to surrender. They underestimate Ian's strength because they are sure that they did not get hit by something fluffy, but metal and concrete. 

However, Maya starts to laugh like the pain is funny. Seeing everyone's appearance disheveled is enough to send her into a spree of laughs. She collapses onto the bed like she has finished using all her strength. Kyrie and Ian follow her and land beside her, one on each side. Feeling the warm comfort of the bed and the stability of her own heart, Maya slowly closes her eyes and falls asleep. Kyrie smiles at the kid and gives her light pats on her tummy until her breath deepens.

Ian turns to the side to notice Kyrie's eyelids open and close slower and slower, like he is falling asleep as well. Ian looks down at his hand that is slowly patting Maya, and he lifts his hands towards it. Then, he lets his fingers slip into Kyrie's hand, holding it. 

The corner of Kyrie's lips lifts while he adjusts his hand to fit more comfortably. His thumb touches Ian's skin gently. 

"Kyrie," Kyrie sleepily opens his eyes, looking at Ian, "Thank you…" Ian whispers.

Kyrie blinks, feeling the warmth surge his heart, although he is unsure what Ian is thanking for. His eyelids continue to feel heavier, and without even noticing, he falls into a deep sleep. Ian also closes his eyes as well and lets his soul rest for the night.

After a couple of hours, Maya's eyes open to first see Kyrie on her side. Then she turns to the other side to look at Ian.

'Home. Home is not a place, but someone.'

As she looks at the street lights that manage to slip through the gaps of the blinds projected on the ceiling, she feels like floating. Inside the embrace of these two people, she has found the meaning of what a home is.

'They are each other's home, and I want to be part of this home. I will protect it well...'

She smiles softly as she continues to look at the twinkling lights. Suddenly, her thoughts go to the souls that are inside the pit. 

'Those souls… Do they also have a home?'

Her heart suddenly weighs heavily. 

'What if they have a home, but I have restrained them from going to their homes?'

She sits up slowly, avoiding waking anyone up. She puts on her shoes and walks away from the room. 

In the empty streets where the buildings are mostly covered by mist, she walks towards the direction of the pit. Slowly, her figure gets engulfed into the depths of the night, as if she entered into the mouth of a beast.

Hours later, the earth shakes violently, waking everyone up from their deep slumber. 

Kyrie's hand runs over a cold spot on the bed, and he immediately looks around for Maya. The fluctuations of essence send Kyrie the chills. 

Kyrie watches the space surrounding them start to distort, and the illusions of the city slowly start to crumble once again.

"Maya?!?" 

No answer. Looking at Ian with deep concern, they both bolt through the door after putting on their shoes and take a coat to put on as they run. They encounter the gods walking out of their rooms.

"Maya is gone!" Kyrie utters at the gods, who exchange a concerned look with each other.