The days that followed blurred into a restless routine of travel and skirmishes. Bandits, beasts, cursed remnants all fell before the unlikely pair.
Caelum fought with the casual laziness of a man swatting flies, yet his power was undeniable. With a flick of his fingers, enemies crumbled. With a whisper, broken limbs mended. Magic curled around him like a second skin dazzling, dangerous, and utterly effortless.
Hinata, meanwhile, was a whirlwind of muscle and fury. Where Caelum danced through battles, she tore through them head-on, sword flashing in brutal, efficient arcs.
They made an odd pair.
And yet, somehow, they fit.
---
One evening, they camped atop a grassy hill overlooking a ruined city drowned by mist.
The fire crackled between them. Hinata polished her sword a nightly ritual while Caelum lay sprawled across a rock, arms behind his head, humming some tuneless, lazy melody.
"Tomorrow we reach Hollowfen," Hinata said without looking up. "They say the spirits there drive men mad."
"Ooooh," Caelum drawled, rolling onto his side to grin at her. "Maybe they'll finally find someone crazier than me."
Hinata snorted. "Impossible. You're in a league of your own."
"I take that as a compliment," Caelum said brightly, tossing a pebble at her. It bounced harmlessly off her boot.
Hinata shook her head, hiding a small smile.
But Caelum's gaze lingered on the ruined city below.
His smile faltered just for a moment.
Beneath his lazy charm, a cold weight pressed against his ribs a loneliness he could never quite outrun.
Another city forgotten. Another place where families probably died screaming. Just like mine.
He sat up slowly, raking a hand through his messy hair.
"Hey, Hinata," he said, voice quieter than usual.
She looked up, surprised by the shift in tone.
He was almost... serious.
"If I go crazy someday," he said, forcing a lopsided grin, "promise you'll kill me first. Make it quick and heroic, yeah? Something with fireworks."
Hinata stared at him.
"Idiot," she muttered, but her voice was oddly tight.
Caelum leaned closer, flashing his usual cocky smile.
"Aw, don't tell me you'd miss me."
"I'd miss the silence," Hinata said flatly, but she turned away too fast.
Caelum laughed genuinely and let the tension slip from his shoulders.
For now, the ghosts could wait.
---
The next morning, Hollowfen greeted them like a corpse's open mouth streets rotting, buildings slumping under their own decay.
Mist coiled around their boots as they walked, swallowing noise and light alike.
Caelum whistled a cheerful tune, hands in his pockets, seemingly unbothered by the oppressive air.
Hinata, however, stayed tense, sword half-drawn.
"Stay close," she warned.
"Aww," Caelum teased, "worried the big bad ghosts will steal your pretty little soul?"
"I'm worried you'll do something stupid," she muttered.
Caelum smirked — but behind the lazy expression, his sharp mind was already working.
There was something wrong here.
Magic thickened the air, clinging to the ruins like mold.
It whispered at the edges of his thoughts — Come closer... tell us your name... give us your soul...
Without thinking, he grabbed Hinata's hand.
She jumped slightly, glaring at him.
"Relax," Caelum said, squeezing her hand lightly. "Just think of me as your very handsome emotional support idiot."
Hinata rolled her eyes but didn't pull away.
For the first time in days, Caelum's grin felt real.
---
Inside the city center, they found it — the source of the curse.
A monolith stood, cracked and bleeding black mist into the sky. Around it, dozens of broken bodies lay frozen in unnatural poses, their mouths stretched in eternal screams.
Hinata's grip tightened on her sword.
But Caelum...
Caelum simply tilted his head, studying the monument like a lazy cat sizing up a sleeping dragon.
"I could fix this," he mused aloud. "Easy peasy."
Hinata shot him a sharp look. "Don't."
But the whispers grew louder, gnawing at Caelum's mind.
You could have saved them... You could have saved your family... You're still weak...
The mist clawed into his chest, dragging old memories to the surface — blood, fire, betrayal.
Something snapped.
For a moment, the mask slipped.
The boy who lounged and teased and flirted vanished — replaced by something cold, calculating, furious.
Magic roared around him like a living thing, his aura flaring black and gold.
Hinata flinched back instinctively.
Caelum's hand rose — fingers crackling with raw power.
"I could erase this place," he said softly. "Wipe it clean. Rewrite it. Easy."
Hinata stepped forward, slapping his hand down.
"Don't," she said again, firmly. "You're not a god."
Caelum blinked, the madness draining from his eyes.
Slowly, the tension bled from his body. He chuckled under his breath, raking a hand through his hair again.
"Yeah," he said lightly. "Guess I'm not."
He turned away from the monolith, leaving the cursed thing to rot.
Hinata watched him carefully — realizing, maybe for the first time, that the smiling fool she'd been traveling with was far more dangerous than he ever let on.
And far lonelier, too.
---
That night, camped on the outskirts of Hollowfen, Caelum lay awake staring at the stars again.
Hinata sat nearby, pretending to clean her sword but glancing at him every few minutes.
Finally, she spoke.
"You okay?"
Caelum stretched lazily, grinning up at the sky.
"Peachy," he lied.
Hinata snorted.
They sat in silence for a while longer.
Then, almost too soft to hear, Caelum said:
"Thanks. For stopping me."
Hinata said nothing — but she moved her bedroll closer to his, just slightly, so their shoulders brushed.
Caelum closed his eyes, the smallest, saddest smile ghosting across his lips.
Maybe tomorrow he'd be crazy again.
Maybe tomorrow the hollow inside him would win.
But tonight...
Tonight, he wasn't alone.
And sometimes, that was enough.