Giovanni rolled across the floor of a ruined bedroom, holding tightly to a familiar silhouette as they tumbled together.
Two groans rang out as Sofia rubbed her nose and Giovanni pressed his stomach. Dazed, neither moved for several seconds.
"Urgh…"
Propping himself up, Giovanni met his friend's eyes. Surprise replaced her anger and confusion when she saw him.
"…Gigi!"
She exclaimed, reaching out to poke her friend with one finger, checking whether he was truly there or an illusion.
'I'm going to throw up…' He gently held her hands, stopping her from continuing.
It was hard to recognize Sofia at first.
She looked like a mummy, wrapped in bandages from the neck down. Her hair was completely disheveled. No glasses framed her face. The image was completely different.
"It's good to see you too…"
He gave a shaky thumbs-up, glancing around.
"Hey, Sofi… is it safe here? Just asking…"
"Well, y-yes? Maybe… but that doesn't matter! I mean… I need—"
Giovanni did not stay awake to hear the rest. After days of fighting with little rest, all he wanted was a safe point.
A muffled scream echoed in the distance, probably from the girl, but it was nothing to worry about.
He just wanted to rest a little…
***
When Giovanni opened his eyes again, the soft sensation of something supporting his back felt strange. His body had grown used exclusively to dirt and rocks as a bed ever since he arrived in the Dream Realm.
'Is this… another room?'
He observed the surroundings with curiosity. For now, he let his laziness win. The size was still respectable; it was considerably larger than what the academy offered.
Everywhere he looked, he found ornate furniture and colorful rugs patterned like rainbows. What caught his eye was the crest on the bed.
A metallic, bluish serpentine being, worthy of being called a dragon, coiled around a circular crystal that contained every imaginable color within it.
'Where is she?'
His mind cleared as he remembered why he had come there. He was about to get up to look for his friend, but he did not need to go far.
Looking to the right, the girl also lay on the bed, her face buried in a pillow, leaning against the wall.
'Did we really leave no one on watch? What a blunder.'
Giovanni sighed and struggled to his feet, walking over to a peculiar desk.
A large mirror awaited him there. It reflected his tired, worn-down face. He had always taken some care with his appearance, but recent battles had marked him more than he would have liked.
A wound that had yet to heal stretched from one cheek to the other, passing over his nose. The desolate land's earth golem had really done a number on him.
'I'm a complete wreck.'
Undoing his tunic, he saw more bruises and open wounds, less severe thanks to transcendent memory.
When he spoke to Beako about his training not being enough, he still had faith that things would be simple.
Look how things turned out.
"How long was I out?" he murmured, without any hope of gauging the time.
He created water, mopped up with a torn blanket, and wiped his face and body.
His wounds did not heal cleanly because they were stuck to the tunic, so the experience was certainly unpleasant.
He transmuted air into stone, shaped it into a comb, and brushed his hair. Being a little vain would not kill anyone.
For a few minutes, the room remained quiet, dimly lit by the crimson light entering through the window. That was when Sofia began to show signs of waking up in bed.
She seemed sluggish at first, but when she noticed the boy's absence, she sat up in alarm, thinking she was alone again.
"Giovanni?!"
"Here."
Her eyes followed the voice to a cushioned chair in front of a mirror.
He looked at her over his shoulder, smiling.
That was when she noticed the absence of anything covering his upper body and closed her eyes in embarrassment.
"Put something on!" she exclaimed, not knowing how to react. Giovanni complied and summoned his tunic again, completely pristine.
"There… you can open your eyes." He stood up from where he was and walked over to face Sofia on the bed. She slowly opened her eyes, staring at him in silence.
Neither of them spoke or moved at first, but then the girl acted, reaching out to pull Giovanni into a tight hug.
After so long fighting for his life alongside strangers, he felt he deserved that moment. He savored the seconds of contact and smiled warmly.
"You stink."
He received a kick to the stomach, which made him stumble back a few shaky steps.
"And you smell like death, you nitwit!" Her embarrassed glare faded quickly. They had plenty to discuss.
"Sorry it took me so long… the path here was more troubled than I imagined." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
"It's okay! Really. But where are the others? Are they still out there?" Worry and anxiety resurged, reminding her of the experience with the flying creature and that vile music.
"Yes… But we chose the safest route we could, and they're well-equipped. Both of them will be here soon."
Giovanni tried to ease her fears, even though he shared her anxiety.
It was so strange talking to his classmate after days of writing messages in a diary, and he genuinely would not miss that awful method. He should create something better than a knife to write with.
Sofia patted the space beside her, inviting him to sit. Giovanni did not refuse. She seemed to be chewing on something inside herself, gathering the courage to speak.
"I need to confess…" she whispered, anxious.
"Uh… sure, but did you commit a crime? I can't absolve sins, so that you know." He joked, a little confused.
"No… It's just that… I peeked at your runes, sorry!" She looked like she had been dwelling on that until now.
Giovanni had accepted that Sofia might see his information, especially since he could see hers, so he had let go of that worry.
"In that case… I should also apologize, because I think I saw yours first. We're even?"
She had already guessed he wouldn't be upset, but hearing it directly reassured her.
Sofia raised her hand, pinky extended, silently offering a pinky swear for reconciliation. Giovanni laughed and linked his little finger with hers in response.
"So you're not a prince, then?" Sofia's question was so sincere and genuine that the boy froze, trying to find an answer.
"N-No? Why would I be a prince? Better yet, did you think I was one?" A disbelieving smile appeared on his face.
"…Maybe," she murmured, flustered by the question.
"Yes or no?" he pressed, trying to force a direct answer, now wanting to hear more.
Realizing she had gotten herself into trouble, Sofia looked around, trying to avoid answering, but Giovanni only moved closer, staring at her without blinking.
"Okay, okay! Yes… I was the one who saw your aspect first when we met… and you had super fancy clothes! I thought you were one of the legacies in disguise, so I got scared that I'd be executed or something if I said the wrong thing."
That was a worrying case of an overactive imagination.
"But then we talked more and more, and you were kind of dumb and super kind, so I started getting confused!"
'Damn…'
Giovanni felt a pang in his heart. Where had the kind words gone?
"Then when we got here, I found out you're poor too, so nothing makes sense!"
For a few moments, the boy rested his face in his clenched hands, contemplative. Could she read his runes even before they formed a connection? How convenient. But far more important than that…
"I see… now it makes sense… you're an idiot."
Giovanni held it in as long as he could, but imagining that, for six months, his friend had treated him that way because she genuinely believed he was a noble was too hilarious. He burst into laughter, rolling on the mattress.
Sofia's face turned red from ear to ear, and she snatched the nearest pillow. Gripping it with determination, she began smacking Giovanni repeatedly in irritation, but her efforts only made him laugh harder.
"S-Stop laughing! It was a real and completely reasonable possibility, and I acted strategically! Are you even listening?!"
"Ouch! Ouch! I am sorry It's just that..."
He stopped laughing, using the same serene mask he always wore at the academy to look Sofia in the eyes.
"Now that you've discovered my secret, I'll have to execute you, Sofia. Guards… where is the guillotine?"
He said it, dead serious, before laughing at her expression again.
Sofia lunged at him, choking the boy.
***
Sofia stared at the bedroom wall, far calmer than before. After Giovanni's laughing fit, they ended up opting for a necessary truce.
The mansion was, at the moment, practically free of threats, the result of her work, but there were still nightmare creatures in the surrounding area. Soon, they would need to go out to clear the path and prepare things for the others' arrival.
She stood still at the bed, feeling her damp hair being brushed, quietly accepting the pampering.
"So where did you come from, then?" she asked, without looking at the boy behind her.
"An orphanage with a grumpy old lady. And you?"
His voice was playful, but carried a melancholic tone. Sofia fell silent, feeling a mix of sadness for the boy and, even more, curiosity about how someone like him ended up there.
"I lived in an apartment complex… nothing special."
She could not say she missed home all that much. Her parents could be quite extreme at times, so the privacy she had at the academy had been very welcome.
Even so, she wanted to leave that place to see them again.
"It's a little strange… seeing you act like that."
The comb stopped mid-motion and, a few moments later, resumed its work.
"I feel relieved, to be honest. When I eventually return to the awakened world, I'll have to be that person again, so having at least someone who knows me… makes me really happy."
Sofia looked at her hands resting in her lap. Even embarrassed, she had to admit it.
That made her happy, too.