"Eh?" Cirrus said in a daze.
The world began to spin around him. One from blood loss, two from trauma to the head, and three from unbelievable words that made his mind go silent.
"N-no!! That can’t be!! Nox you-"
‘I'M SORRY!!!!’ She shouts in anger and sorrow. ‘I-I FAILED YOU CIRRUS!!!!’
"!" Circe could tell from her voice that she was crying rivers of tears.
But what of Cirrus?
She turned to see how he was, and he was absentminded. She could see his eyes slowly going hollow.
"Cirrus!! Are you-"
He doesn't hear anything. Only the drowned-out words of Circe and the crying of Nox.
‘She…she…she can’t…no….no…please no-‘
"This is what you deserve."
The voice of a child.
"You don’t deserve to have happiness."
The voice of another child
He has heard these voices before. Long ago as the Golden-Horned Demon.
"…Shut up." he softly mumbles.
"Cirrus, can you hear me!!"
"…Yes." He said, walking wobbly to the hole he was blasted through.
"C-Cirrus?" Circe said, a bit worried.
"I'm... going to see with my own eyes." He walks to the hole and falls down it.
"Cirrus!!!" Circe went after him.
Falling down, the voices of his past guilt began to resurface. They began to gnaw at him, telling him he deserved it. That she died because of him. Cirrus refused to believe their words.
As he falls to the floor, his heart gets heavier and heavier with fear and anticipation.
When he reached the 18th floor, he quickly darted his eyes, looking for her white hair. He looked at him before Circe hit him.
Bam!!
"??" he was confused at first, but he found that she had hit him out of the way of the Nightmare’s blast.
‘You big idiot!! Do you wanna die!!’
He noticed a small patch of white. He didn't care what was happening around him, only she did.
"Ai." He focused on it. "(Exousía, Adorn: Stymphalian)!!!"
He quickly sored to it, arriving to find Nox covering her. Around her were some of the Hermes Familia, Astraea, and her Familia, along with a blood-covered Alfia and Erebus, the god who caused all this.
A sense of tension grew in front of them as he landed before them. His armor faded.
"…Nox. Show me."
Many could see Nox in her owl form looking incredibly scared. She does not want to show him, but he is her contractor. Bound till eternity to do as he says.
She slowly shrinks and as more of Ai is shown, they can feel the tension grow and grow. Finally, before his eyes, he saw her.
She was covered in blood. It dyed her white hair and clothes red. A puncture through her heart, a pool of blood had formed around her. Some of her blood even began to stain the ends of Nox’s wings.
Cirrus approaches slowly and kneels. He gently strokes her cheeks and parts her hair. He places his head against hers.
She no longer drew breath. Her body's warmth slowly began to fade.
"Ai…" he softly said to her. "Ai…get up." His tone was slightly louder.
"She is dead." Said Erebus in a taunting tone of voice. "Tell me now, Cirrus, am I evil to you? How does this affect your justice?"
"Ai get up." His voice began to gain some fear. "Get up!!" and becomes more distraught.
"Seems he’s broken," Erebus said. "I figured he would be more mentally strong, but I guess the death of a lover can do that to a hero."
"…" Alfia watched as Cirrus progressively went deeper and deeper into despair.
"Get up!! Get up!! Get!! Get up!!" Tears began to fall from his face. Snot began to drip from his nose.
"I am sorry. She was not strong enough."
"Get up--" he suddenly stops.
Everyone suddenly feels a bloodlust. A wave of anger that slowly begins to grow and grow more intense from him.
"Dead!!" "You deserve it!!" "Murderer!!" "You deserve it!!" "No happiness for you!!" "Dead!!" "Murderer!!" "Dead!!" "You deserve it!!" "Murderer!!" "You deserve it!!" "No happiness for you!!" "Dead!!" "Murderer!!" "Dead!!" "You deserve it!!" "Murderer!!" "You deserve it!!" "No happiness for you!!" "Dead!!" "Murderer!!" "Dead!!" "You deserve it!!" "Murderer!!" "You deserve it!!" "No happiness for you!!" "Dead!!" "Murderer!!"
That black fire ignited once more inside him, and he wailed, howled towards the heavens.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
They could feel his heartbreak. They can feel the fury and grief spew out in overwhelming amounts.
...wow. look this seems entertaining, but good thing you changed it. Ai is really fun character, and Cirrus already deals with enough traumatic stuff.
Anyway, at least hopefully, there may be some silver lining. And I'm hoping the title is suggesting that Erebus plans will be completely f*ck, cause we demand JUSTICE for Ai!
Yeah the more I wrote Ai the more I grew attached to her and I really couldn't do it to her.
Yeah, especially after this arc, Ai has had many great moments (Some of her best) with Cirrus, Artemis and others. Now I think about it,
Did you always plan for Artemis to get with Cirrus? Cause I can see her trying comfort him during this time after the fighting, while she still isn't 100% sure on her feelings
@Bobple
Yeah to be honest one of the scrapped idea's I had for Cirrus was that he would wander the land in a drunken stupor just walking aimlessly singing sad songs making everyone who heard him just cry on the spot.
Artemis would find him as a drunken mess and take him in, helping him through his grief. That would lead to him returning to Orario as a very, very jaded person who was just emotionally distant and cold.
From there I planned on having him join Hestia and with her and Bell's help he would find a reason to love again and around that time Artemis would understand her feeling and confess. From there the story would have come to a conclusion with Cirrus and Artemis living together away from the world . Then in a epilogue I would have Bell find him now a fully realized hero.
Ooh... intresting
Damn. That was pretty intense.