Her request shocked the others in the room. "Are you crazy?!" Astrid imdiately blurted out with wide eyes. Even seeing those scenes as a spectator gave her the chills. Who would want to rember that? "I an, I appreciate the grit it takes to even say that, but why?!"
Emma and Emily had their own expression of confusion and worry, while Erik raised an eyebrow and Elora raised both.
Before anyone else could respond, Naeku was pouting at Astrid and crossed her arms in front of her chest defensively. "I'm not crazy! I have my reasons!"
Elora coughed awkwardly. "I think what Astrid tried to ask, is… are you sure? I understand it might feel weird to have so mories locked away, but…" She shrugged helplessly.
Next to her, Erik nodded with a worried frown. He, too, wasn't sure why she'd want this, but he didn't doubt Naeku had her reasons.
Naeku glanced at the people around her and knew she'd have to give an explanation, so she sighed and did exactly that. "Look, the knowledge that part of my mories are locked away is definitely part of it, but that's not the main reason."
First, she shrugged. "First of all, I think everything a person goes through is important, and you can't just lock part of your experience away just because it's a bad one."
"Second of all," she continued, now turning to glance at Erik with a strange expression. "It seems I was forced to leave behind everyone I love because an overwhelming enemy invaded my ho, and I want to know what that feels like… so I can understand my future husband better."
Erik's eyes widened, as did those of the others. "Naeku, that's…" Erik started, feeling a little strange. He took a step closer and frowned with worry. "I appreciate the thought, but it's definitely not necessary."
"Hmpf, that's nice," Naeku grumbled, narrowing her eyes. "But I'm not doing it for you!" she continued, pointing at him. "It's for ," she finished, now thumbing at herself with a determined gaze.
"Even if I love you," she explained, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "There's still a small divide between us because you would choose your family over our people in a heartbeat, while I… Well, if that trial was any indication, I would clearly try to find so middle ground."
According to Elora's earlier explanation, Naeku had passed the trial because the sigil judged her emotions to be strong enough when she made her final decision. After all, the trial was never about choosing Erik above everything else, but rather, to ensure her feelings were genuine and lasting.
During the trial, Naeku made the only logical choice that gave both her family and people the greatest chance of survival, and that was a valid choice. Even if Emily, Emma, Astrid, and probably even Elora might have chosen to die together with him, choosing to live on instead to protect her people didn't make her love any less valid or true.
Seeing Erik nod in wry agreent, Naeku continued with a confident smile. "That divide may never be crossed, but… I think this is a perfect chance to understand your perspective better."
Erik appeared sombre as he looked into Naeku's determined, yellow, cat-like eyes. "I get it," he finally muttered, a little unwillingly. "I don't like it, but I won't try to stand in your way."
Smiling sincerely and with pride, Naeku nodded. "Good! You wouldn't have been able to stop , anyway!"
At that point, Elora suddenly chuckled mischievously. "Oh…? And how would you remove the seal without …?"
"Urk," Naeku flinched and glanced at Elora with narrowed eyes. "Would you have removed the seal, even if he didn't agree…?"
Glancing at Erik, Elora giggled. "Of course, I would have! I just don't like being forgotten. Actually, I think your effort is admirable." The fairy raised a curious eyebrow, as well as her hand, middle finger pressed against her thumb. "Ready…?"
Sombrely, Naeku nodded and closed her eyes. Expecting the next sensation to be a stream of miserable mories, she flinched a little when Erik's arms wrapped themselves around her instead… imdiately followed by the mories of her trial.
Of course, she'd already seen all these events on screen, but experiencing them, emotions and all, was truly a very different matter. She gasped and imdiately clung to Erik with both arms, trembling heavily. She felt the helplessness, rage, and anguish from her trial and nearly collapsed when she chose to leave her family behind.
Fortunately, Erik held her up, and she imdiately felt better. Tears stread down her cheeks, but she knew it was all fake, and feeling Erik's body against hers was a great comfort in this mont.
The mont lasted a few minutes as everyone stared at the couple with complicated expressions. So of them even felt a hint of jealousy at Naeku for being able to increase her understanding of their husband… even though they knew the anguish Naeku had to suffer for it.
Of course, Erik knew very well how she felt. He couldn't help but think back to his own similar mont. At the ti, he didn't flee to preserve his people, but to bring back revenge in the future. Yet, the principle of leaving your loved ones behind, fully expecting them to die, remained the sa.
Then, after her mories had fully returned, Naeku stayed in Erik's arms for a while longer, enjoying his touch as she slowly integrated those mories.
Finally, they separated, and Naeku sighed. "Well… that was terrible," she chuckled self-deprecatingly, before smirking wryly at the people around her. "Let's make sure such a future doesn't co to pass, alright…?"
Everyone could see a slight change had taken place in Naeku's eyes despite her seemingly lackadaisical attitude to it. But that was only to be expected after an event like that.
So, no one comnted on it. Instead, everyone nodded solemnly.
After a mont of silence, Naeku sighed and smiled. "Anyway, I think I'm going to take a rest." She turned to Erik with an excited grin. "Co to my room tomorrow, alright…? We need to start discussing the wedding!"
***
A few monts later, Naeku left his dinsion, and most of Erik's family went their separate ways… except for Emily and Astrid.
The vampire and human stared at Erik greedily and grinned wide with lust. "You still owe us a reward!"
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