For a long time, a large number of emotions had been suppressed in Raze. Ever since he had fully taken on the name Dark Magus, his emotions were numb, with nothing left but mainly anger on his mind.
Almost daily, he would replay in his head what had happened, so he wouldn't forget the revenge he needed to complete. He had to numb his other emotions because it was the only way he could allow his Dark Magic to grow, and in turn, its growth gave him more power to face his enemies.
There were things the old Raze had never imagined himself doing. Things that he wouldn't have been proud of, but in Alterian, in order to progress, he had to continue that way, suppressing his other emotions.
He had brought this with him when he entered Pagna. Only caring about his goal to get stronger—or at least he thought he did—as the first one to pry his heart open slightly was Safa.
An action of a sister that wasn't even his own family. As time went on, there were more and more that were weaving its way into his heart, yet he wished to shut them out. Why?
Because he never wanted to go through those emotions again. If he let someone into his heart, and he lost them again, what would the result be?
Could he go through that pain once more, the same pain he had gone through before? Maybe this was why he was unwilling to let others in his heart again, and before he realized it, he already had.
Seeing Safa standing by the door, he felt a sense of relief. All of his tensed-up muscles relaxed, and a flood of strange and overwhelming feelings entered him.
"I'm happy, Raze," Safa said as she wiped the tears away from her face but continued to sniffle away. "I'm so happy that I get to see you again."
Safa started to walk forward, and naturally, the others stood aside.
She came closer and closer, and not even the two brothers got in the way of Safa as she approached the edge of the bed. When she was close enough, she leapt in, holding him tight, and continued to sob out loud.
"WAHHH!" Safa said, as she continued to hold Raze tight.
Everyone watching who knew Raze was a bit stunned. At first, they were even worried about what would happen, but nothing did happen. Instead, Raze embraced the hug and even lifted his hands back and pulled her in.
"It's okay… I'll protect you," Raze said. "I'll make sure you're okay. I won't go missing because I will do everything in my power to make sure you're okay."
When Raze said those words, he wasn't just directing them at Safa, it was a promise made to himself, and one that was made to the annoying Bloody woman that wouldn't get out of his head.
In his heart now, he had opened a space for Safa. Accepting this fact, he could even embrace her, but also, accepting this fact, he knew he had to accept his duty to protect her.
He hadn't done well to protect those he cared about in his old life, but this was a fresh start, and Safa was part of this body's family and, in a way, felt like she was part of Raze's.
"I guess this might be the closest thing I'll have to a granddaughter," Raze mumbled under his breath, which was picked up by Anna and Liam. They thought it was a strange comment for him to make, oddly strange, especially after seeing his form from before.
"How did you manage to survive?" Raze said as he pulled away. Although he had allowed her in, the hug was getting a little much for him.
Safa pulled away and wiped her tears again.
"I'm not sure, honestly. I was hoping that maybe you would have the answer to that." Reaching behind her, Safa pulled the Lux Spear out and held it on its side. "But I think it might have something to do with this."
Raze's eyes widened as he reached out and grabbed hold of the spear.
'Right, I almost forgot about that, one of the conditions of the sword. Upon death, the user will be given a second chance.'
Knowing that it really was the spear that had managed to save Safa, it didn't make him feel any better. In a way, it proved that the Bloody woman was right, and Raze had failed to protect her.
The second-chance effect of the weapon had been activated, but now it would never be activated again.
"From here on out," Raze said as he pulled his hand away, "there will be no second chances. The spear won't be able to save you again, so don't go and do something stupid like that… or I'll have to lock you away, and put you somewhere you will never be able to get hurt again."
Although Raze's words might have been meant to come off as sweet, the others weren't so sure they were. It was almost going a step too far, but Raze had said everything with a smile on his face.
Sniffling away, the tears started to fade from Safa. She had confirmed that her spear was the one that saved her, and there wouldn't be a second chance.
She needed to get stronger, but the main reason wasn't to save herself. As she looked at Raze on the bed, images kept appearing in her head of the old man she had seen.
It wasn't that the old man scared her or his image, it was the eyes she saw at the time. Although she hadn't been conscious for that long, she never wanted to see such darkness in those eyes again.
"Raze, I want to ask you a favor. You told us some of your story before, and about yourself… but can you tell us everything… what exactly happened to you, in Alterian?" Safa asked.