"...You should've told me about this…" A deep frown marred Cassius's features as he finally let go of the shy bunny-like girl.
As she only now got a breather, Grace took a second to steady herself. It was also at this point that she noticed that all the blood on her hands had disappeared. More importantly, however, was the contemplative expression Cassius was making.
'...Has he somehow figured out about my illness…? That can't possibly be the case… Even the most well-renowned of Spiritual Doctors in the world were unable to identify my illness. Only those of my kind were able to discern it and… tell me how long I had left…'
"How long?" asked Cassius.
"How long?" Grace parroted, confused. 'It can't be…'
"How long do you have left to live? A year? Two years? Longer?"
Grace's face drooped as her eyelashes quivered. She found it grueling to even so much as match his gaze. Though, when she realized that there was no point in hiding it anymore, she mumbled without turning her head toward him, "3… 3 and a half months…"
"3 months…? This…" Even Cassius's usually inexpressive face cracked and crumbled when he registered this number in his mind.
It took a couple of seconds for him to take a deep breath and harden his expression. "You know what your illness is, don't you? Tell me what it is and how to acquire the cure."
Grace went to respond, yet held her tongue at the last possible moment. With long locks of brown hair covering her face, she mumbled, "...There's no point… The cure… It's impossible to obtain—"
"Just tell me!" Cassius demanded in a low growl, scaring Grace a little. Though, realizing what he had done, he sincerely apologized, "Sorry… But I'll need you to tell me what you know. Time is running out, and you didn't give me very much of a heads-up…"
Grace cycled through a few inexplicable expressions, but ultimately told him what he wanted to know.
After listening to a short explanation, Cassius understood the general rundown of the situation. For as long as Grace could recall, she had a frail constitution, making her prone to injury. According to her parents, she had an extraordinarily rare illness called 'Δεκαεννέα Death Disease' or 'Dakaennèa Death Disease' in simple English, which meant 'Nineteen Death Disease' in Greek. This name was fitting, for those contracting this disease would die before they turned 19.
It was also because of this illness that Grace had such a frail body. Many of her hardships stemmed from the illness, even including how overprotective her parents were. Just like all the other times she left, she had to sneak out, and would surely be punished quite severely this time around as she had been gone more than just a few hours.
However, the oddest part about this illness did not exist in any documented health records… This meant the illness did not originate from Earth. Also meaning that…
"You're not human…?" Cassius couldn't tell from his superficial scan from earlier, but there was no other explanation. And when he saw the look Grace was making, his suspicions were confirmed.
"H-How did you… Just how powerful are you, Cassius? How much do you know…?" Grace stuttered in disbelief.
She had figured that he was likely an Awakened, but she never got the opportunity to accurately gauge his strength; she only knew he was strong. But if he knew about other intelligent races, then it was very likely that he was far stronger than she had originally assumed. Far, far… stronger…
Cassius gently laid his warm right hand against her increasingly terrified expression. She flinched in fear but was surprised to feel him do nothing more than affectionately rub his thumb up and down her cheek. She slowly opened her shaky eyes, only to see the same warm smile as always—the smile she fell in love with.
"You don't have to fear me, Grace. I don't care if you're of a different race, but you must finish telling me what the cure is and where to find it. I don't even care which exact race you are, I just have to know how to save you."
Grace's eyes misted over. 'Even now… Even now, he's still thinking about how to help me…' She felt incredibly warm inside, but her smile was quickly dampened when she recalled the lethality rate of her illness. '...I like that he cares for me… But it came all too late… He'll lose me…'
She should be sadder, but for some reason, holding a large enough place in his heart to make him fear loss filled her heart with joy. Nonetheless, she explained everything she knew to the person who now seemed so special to her, only leaving out the parts concerning her race.
When Grace finished the explanation, Cassius was left momentarily breathless. "...The home of the World Tree Yggdrasil… The World Tree's Sanctuary… The highest quality Tear of Yggdrasil… A competition between Dimensions…"
To sum up what he learned, two months from now, the World Tree's Sanctuary, which was a mystical place that presided at the top of the Ascension Towers, would be hosting a competition. In this competition held in a sentient tree as ancient as time itself and as large as the cosmos, races from every area of all Seven Dimensions would receive the opportunity to participate.
Everyone in existence, as long as they were part of an intelligent race, would be asked to put their lives on the line to obtain various legendary rewards. One of those rewards was the 'Tear of Yggdrasil'—a mythical item that was said to be capable of curing any illness, injury, or disease. As long as they weren't dead, the Tear of Yggdrasil would fully heal them.
This Tear of Yggdrasil was also the only known way to cure the Δεκαεννέα Death Disease…
The way Cassius looked at Grace changed, as the worst-case scenario flashed through his mind in the form of terrible premonitions of the future. Yet, before the images could overwhelm him, he forced himself out of his stupor and steeled his resolve.