Chapter 13: Matters of the Heart
As the night went on, everybody started settling into their rooms. Luna's house had a number of unused, but well-maintained guest rooms and multipurpose rooms. Not to mention that if needed he had additional housing around the property that was normally reserved for servants.
Within Luna's room. "Sura, I wanted to apologize about last night. It was thoughtless of me to do that in the heat of the moment."
Sura gave him a meaningful look as she gave out a gentle smile and said "It was also my fault. There was no way you'd possibly know of our traditions. I was just surprised, is all. Although, I am curious. Have you ever been with anybody before?"
"Would you believe me if I said that in my more than 27 years of life, I have never been in a relationship?" Luna gave her a self-deprecating smile as he gave his honest reply.
"Forgive me if I say that I find that hard to believe. You're a charismatic guy. So obviously that's not the issue. So I can only assume that it was by choice." Sura furrowed her eyebrows, awaiting Luna's confirmation of her assumption.
He could only laugh bitterly as he replied "Indeed. But don't get me wrong, Sura. You're the first woman I've actually felt warmth from. The so-called 'potential' partners I rejected before, it all seemed fake. It was either "I think you're handsome" or "I like your personality" when they have never even seen who I really am. It's like when people start dating someone they find attractive, they go through 3 months of bliss, and the remaining time after that, they spend picking apart what they like and don't like about a person, trying to change them into something that they deem perfect."
"Or when they try to force upon you a different fighting style because it's more popular when you're perfectly comfortable in the one you've chosen to train in. Mn, I understand." Sura nodded in agreement.
"Uhm.. I gu-- Yes. Absolutely." Luna didn't know whether he wanted to laugh or cry. He was amused a bit but realized that that statement seemed fitting, coming from someone who belonged to the Asuran race. And after thinking about it for a couple more seconds, he thought it was absolutely adorable.
"How about you, Sura? Have you ever been with somebody?" Luna was a bit hesitant at first since Sura was basically the first girl he had ever had any semblance of romantic feelings for. Whether it was her straightforwardness or hypothetically, the fact that their souls were bound, or both.
"None. I've never met anybody worthy. It's always 'Hey Sura, learn this, it's more fitting for girls' ugh... The majority of Asuran men are in the running for the densest and misogynistic out of the myriad races. That's why we've never been united as a race on any large scale. It's always just tribes." Sura seemed very passionate about the discussion, which made her even more adorable in Luna's eyes.
"Sura.. why is it that you'd bind your soul so willingly to mine? Is your tribe in such danger that you'd give up so much just to grow stronger?"
"That.. partly, yes. Before you even summoned me, I already got to feel your soul. I felt comfortable, secure, at peace. The Gods were not lying when they said I would be summoned by somebody worthy. If it was somebody I didn't deem worthy, the spell would have just failed and dissipated." Giving a light giggle as she explained, she looked at Luna with enamored eyes. It had only been less than half a week, and yet it felt as if she had known him for years. Such was the magic of being connected through the soul. There were no secrets. Personality, feelings, almost everything short of actual visuals of past memories, would be felt on a deep level.
She continued describing it "Normally, it would be impossible to have someone be bound to a soul without permission, but the creatures of this Earth, are currently at the weakest, in terms of overall power. I hope you can forgive me for that."
Luna smiled at her, sensing her sincerity through her soul, "Gaining someone I know I can trust with my own life, I don't see how that's anything to apologize for." giving her a rare smile, filled with warmth, Sura couldn't help but blush.
"Then you don't mind if I sleep beside you tonight?"
"Not at all. Besides, I feel as if the closer we are when we sleep, the more effectively Apolaki's and Mayari's blessing integrates with my body, I'm sure it's the same for you."
"Mn..."
Unbeknownst to the two, this was something done by Apolaki. In the past, due to their struggle for power, when the fight had broken out between him and Mayari, he had injured her, leading to her losing one of her eyes. Wracked by guilt because of how foolish the whole fight had been to begin with, Apolaki had never truly forgiven himself. What he wished for, was that the person who inherited their blessings would make sure to never bring harm to the woman closest to him. Whether that be a lover or a family member. While it was unsure if this was done on purpose, or a result of the essence of his very being, with Luna and Sura both inheriting it and with their current situation of being fond of one another, it could only benefit them both.
While the two were laying in bed together, Luna leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. She didn't need to ask what he meant by that. She felt it within her very being, that this time around, he knew exactly what he was doing, and he meant it.
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Meanwhile, sitting by the pool, outside Elise was dipping her feet into the water, seemingly in deep thought, with her weapons by her side. Hearing someone walking towards her from behind, she quickly turned around after grabbing both the blades by her side.
"It's just me! I'm sorry I startled you." Boni quickly raised his arms as if he was surrendering.
"Oh, my bad, I'm just a bit on edge, you know? After everything that's happened with the zombie apocalypse, then scumbags trying to rape me." letting her guard down and staring at the water, Elise was taking this time before the next day to collect herself.
"It's fine, I understand. I guess that's something similar we both have." Boni stated.
"What? You almost got raped too?" Elise asked with quite a surprised expression.
"Pft! No no no!" Boni couldn't help but facepalm, "I meant being saved by Luna."
The two continued to converse with each other through the night before Elise decided to find a room to sleep in. Yu-jin and Sang-Hwa were sharing a room, so were So-hee and Seo-Hyeon. Hana was passed out on the couch. Elise didn't feel too comfortable sleeping alone, so after hesitating for a bit, she asked if Boni could sleep in the same room as her.
Sharing a room together would definitely give both of them an equal feeling of security. This made Elise even more fond of Boni, a straightforward guy, with no ill intentions. Offering his bed to her while situating himself on the couch, she felt a tug on his shirt.
"I actually meant.. in the same bed. If that's okay." Elise was completely red at this point, and Boni felt like he just got hit in the head with his own mace. He was already fond of Elise's bubbly personality since earlier, and with how open she was towards him, so to say that Boni didn't look forward to being in the same bed with such a girl, would be a lie.
As much as he tried to be smooth about it, all he could do was lay down on the bed, straight and stiff as an arrow. Elise fell asleep and ended up rolling towards him, using him as a body pillow. He didn't want to make her think he was taking advantage of her, but after seeing her comfortable expression, Boni finally relaxed and fell asleep as well.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone