Volume 1: Path – [Awakening Arc]
Chapter 7: Smile in Blood
It may feel cringy or annoying or anything you may feel, but hang onto it, this is my first time writing this type.
...
When he saw Uriel again, a wave of relief washed over him like a long-held breath finally released. He had been overwhelmed and shaken by what he had just witnessed, unsure if the hallucinations were done tormenting him. The thought that Uriel might also be caught in something terrifying twisted his insides. But seeing her safe, standing just beyond the last turn of mirrors, filled him with a fragile calm.
He lifted his right hand instinctively to wave, only for Uriel to tilt her head and frown slightly. "Cael, you're looking the wrong way. I'm over here," she called out, her voice firm but gently amused.
"Oh—sorry, I couldn't properly hear your voice," Caelus replied with an awkward smile as he turned around. His senses of sight and smell were razor-sharp, but his hearing was permanently dulled after the Park Massacre. The explosion that tore through that place years ago had damaged his ear, and though the rest of him had healed, his hearing never did. That made pinpointing voices a challenge, especially in echo-heavy spaces like the Mirror World. And his thoughts still haunted by that fleeting reflection of an younger version of himself only made it harder to stay grounded.
"It's okay," Uriel said as she stepped closer, wrapping both her hands around his and resting her cheek against his knuckles. Her warmth reminded him that he was still here, still human.
He blinked, then asked softly, "Did you see anyone on your way here?"
"No, why? Was there someone else here?" she asked with a crease forming between her brows. Her expression twisted slightly as she puffed out her cheeks in frustration. "I told them clearly no one should enter while we're inside."
"I thought I saw someone," Caelus murmured, eyes drifting to the mirrors behind her. "But maybe it was just a visual trick, an illusion meant to scare us... or test us."
Suddenly, the lights flickered once. Then everything was swallowed in blackness. A hush fell over the space.
Fwoosh.
The hum of the machinery died, leaving only silence. Caelus tensed, eyes darting around, heart quickening. "Uriel?" he called out uncertainly, but before he could take a step—
Click.
The lights turned back on.
Tiny golden orbs lit up one by one along the ceiling, casting a gentle halo around them. They stood now beneath a ring of soft illumination, the reflections catching the glow like stars blinking into existence.
Uriel stood a few steps ahead, her silvery platinum blonde hair catching the light like flowing silk. She turned slowly toward him, her almond-shaped and glowing with vivid gold irises, glimmering with something unreadable—nervous, hopeful.
Her lips parted. Her fingers clenched at her sides.
Caelus," she said, her voice trembling ever so slightly, "I have something I want to tell you."
Her golden eyes were soft, yet unwavering as they held his gaze like a lifeline.
Seeing her so still and serious, Caelus felt his cheeks flush with warmth. He looked at her, hesitant but quietly flustered, and asked, "What is it, Uriel?"
Uriel took a gentle breath, and her fingers trembled slightly before curling into her skirt. She met his eyes with a quiet intensity.
"Caelus, we've been friends for a long time. I know it's hard for you to remember anything from before you were thirteen… but I do. I remember everything—from the very beginning, every detail, every word."
Her voice quivered with emotion, her lashes fluttering as she continued. "You were the only one who never looked at me for my wealth or my father's power. The only one who made me feel like I mattered just by being me. You didn't want anything. You just made me laugh when I was sad. You gave me peace when everything else was chaos. And that's when it started… I couldn't stop wanting to be near you. I love you, Caelus."
She smiled as her cheeks turned a faint rose pink, her hands clutching the fabric of her dress as if trying to hold herself together.
Seeing all this and hearing Caelus looked at her with a surprised expression, but then he felt an intense sadness. 'I am going to die in ten years, if I say I love her right now and accept her confession she is going to have a hard time if I die, and I don't want that to happen. Rather than her getting hurt, I would rather cancel her confession.
I should just bury my feelings of her deep in my heart. Even if this situation affects our friendship, I am okay with it anyway. Even though I want to be with her at all times, if I can't stay alive for long and die it will only leave me with regrets.
Even if I didn't confess, it will only leave me regrets. I don't know what to choose between these two. I need to sacrifice my selfish desire of being her lover and saying no is the ri—' As he was thinking, Uriel called out to him once again, she noticed his expression shift from surprised to happy to deeply sad.
His heart ached so deeply it felt like it might split in two.
But then Uriel spoke again, breaking the silence between them.
"I know," she said softly. "I know about your condition. I saw the report. I know you only have ten years left to live. And I don't care. I don't care about any of that. As long as you're alive, even for a little while, that's enough. I'll do everything I can to heal you. And even if that's not possible… then I'll die with you. So you won't ever be alone."
Her voice trembled at the end, but her smile never wavered. She gave him a tiny, hopeful wink.
Caelus's breath caught. His vision blurred with tears he hadn't realized were falling. And as he looked at her at the light in her eyes, the strength in her words made his heart beat more louder, a stronger, like it was trying to hold on just a bit longer.
"Uriel, like you I didn't harbor feelings for you until you helped me crawl out of that pit of despair after my parents died. Without you, I wouldn't still be breathing. As the days passed, my feelings changed. Grew. Right now, I feel love toward you. I thought I would live this life numb, that I would die without ever expressing these feelings. Your words make me afraid not of you, but of what you'd lose if you stayed with me. The idea that you'd give your life for me it hurts even more than anything I've faced. I… I don't know what to say anymor—"
Before he could finish, Uriel suddenly stepped forward and closed the distance. Her arms wrapped around him tightly, her chest pressing softly against his, grounding him.
She lifted her face, locking her eyes onto his with her vibrant gold irises seeing the expression of Caelus shimmering with stubborn tears and love.
"Cael," she whispered, her voice shaking with fierce clarity, "I don't care about my life as long as I get to spend it with you. That's enough for me. If you say no… I'll be shattered. Do you want to see me marry someone else? Some stranger? Do you want to see me live each day knowing I had to let go of the only person I've ever truly wanted? I won't survive that. I'd rather end it myself than live a life like that. Do you want that to happen to me?"
"No," Caelus answered without hesitation. The word slipped from his lips like instinct.
"Then take me," she said, voice trembling. "Be my boyfriend. Marry me when we're older."
Caelus hesitated. "But your father… he won't agree to this."
Uriel gave a small, determined nod. "I'll handle him. I'll talk to Mother. I'll do everything I can. Just… just stay with me."
He looked at her, eyes red from emotion. His voice cracked as he whispered, "Okay… then take care of me."
Uriel's smile widened through her tears as she leaned in. Their faces drew closer, noses nearly touching. Her warm breath mingled with his, and for a suspended heartbeat, everything else ceased to exist—the world, the grief, the uncertainty. All that remained was the space between them, so thin it could shatter.
Just as their lips were about to meet—
Flicker.
The lights above dimmed suddenly with a low hum, then blacked out completely.
Click.
Darkness swallowed the moment whole.
Caelus froze. He couldn't see anything now, not even her outline. But he couldn't feel her breath, nor her presence. The kiss never happened.
Then—CRASH!
A deafening shatter echoed across the room. It was as if every mirror in the entire structure exploded at once, the sound slicing through the darkness like glass cutting flesh.
Panicking, Caelus reached out blindly, arms desperate to find Uriel, to hold her, to make sure she was still there and also to protect her. But there was nothing.
No one.
Just cold, empty space.
Slowly, the lights flickered back on. One by one, dim golden bulbs lit the shattered ruins of the Mirror World. The reflections were gone. Only fragments remained.
And that's when he smelled it—
Blood. Metallic. Heavy. Fresh.
He turned toward the source, trembling.
And he saw it.
A corpse.
No. Not just a corpse.
A mangled, horrific shell of what had once been a person.
It lay in a heap, pierced by hundreds of jagged mirror shards. The shards jutted out at sick angles—impaled through the torso, the legs, the arms. Holes were punched through the flesh as if the body had been used for target practice by the gods. Some wounds were so deep they pierced through completely, leaving tunnels of gore from one side to the other.
The abdomen was a lattice of torn muscle and ruptured veins, the internal organs either flattened or half-visible slipping through the gashes like raw, oozing meat. Her arms were twisted behind her, elbows bent the wrong way, bones protruding like cracked porcelain.
Brain matter was spilling from the back of her cracked skull, the bone fragments jagged like broken eggshells. Her lips were torn. Her nose crushed. Blood ran in thick rivers down her neck and pooled beneath her like ink on soaked parchment.
And in the blood there was a harpin made of butterfly in gold color with half blood mixed on it hanging onto the string of hair that is filled with blood.
The face...
It was half intact.
There was a smile on the face with blood on it.
The left eye was missing, replaced by a ragged hole that bore straight into the skull. The other eye, wide open, stared into nothing. And yet—
Caelus recognized it.
That eye. That exact shade.
It was Uriel.
Caelus fell to his knees, the world tilting, spinning.
"No..."
He couldn't breathe.
Everything had turned red.
And her smile was still burned into his memory.
[End of Chapter 7]