Under Sunday's fiery gaze, the bandages that were so carefully wrapped around Val's chest burned away in an instant as if melting into impercievable ash.
A feeling of emptiness suddenly flooded the boy's mind; everything below his neck was now exposed for the man to see.
Valentine had no time to react, barely registering his torso bursting with a wave of familiar white flames that twisted and crackled at the corner of his vision.
Sunday looked down at the boy's stripped body with a frown.
"This one will be a little tricky."
With a complicated expression, he placed his hand on the boy's chest, his fingers sinking into something.
...wait, what?
Val blinked twice, thinking he had misheard him due to being overwhelmed with sensation.
Did he just say... tricky?
Those words made his throat sore.
Is it even worse than my arm?
Of course, he had yet to gather enough courage and look down, holding his chin up for the time being and trying to shift his focus towards something else.
He had no Idea how the rest of his body would look.
When eating or breathing, he hadn't encountered any problems except for an occasional piercing sensation in his throat whenever he swallowed.
What could have possibly happened, for Sunday, who had no problem with touching human flesh, to frown?
Damn, I want to look at it so badly.
But something at the corner of his mind told him that the sight would leave a mark on his psyche, probably even traumatizing him for life.
Crackle!
As the sound of fire became loud enough to hear without focusing on it, a familiar rush of warmth overturned his insides, turning his blood into a boiling river of crimson that flowed within his veins.
Seeing Sunday's carefree smile, Val leaned back and enjoyed the warmth.
***
Watching the boy from above, he put on a tight smile that reached Val's eyes, making him lie down on his pillow with a trusting expression.
Good...
He was glad that, despite being consumed within his blaze, the boy remained calm and endured the heat boiling within him.
It was a rare thing to find someone who could accept them and not turn into a melting amalgamation of human flesh.
What pain must he be feeling under such a blessing? He thought while caressing Val's insides with a gentle touch.
Evaporating the blood with a move of his hand, the boy's brows furrowed.
I haven't done this in a while...
Sunday smiled at the memory of his past flashing before his eyes, reminding him of this moment.
Just a blur for his eyes to see, but enough to remember the familiar warmth of his prominent flames. It was good to let it out once in a while.
Watching the boy's body with an ignited gaze, the sight made his frown deepen.
There was nothing.
His bones were taken out a long time ago, leaving a lump of flesh and organs in their stead that, despite being held within his bandages, functioned as they normally would.
Shifting his comforting gaze, he looked towards where his ribcage was a long time ago.
Connected with multiple veins and nerves he pulled out from his flesh, there were his lungs moving sharply, his liver, under them, and intestines covering the rest of his organs, being scattered without a care.
However, none of these mattered to Sunday.
His hand carefully avoided disturbing the steady rhythm his body had developed and reached for the boy's glowing heart that was hidden away beneath a lump of flesh.
It shone with a faint crimson light, like a delicate flower blooming in the darkness; it beat within his palm every second.
On it, carved into its muscle, were thin threads that circled his heart countless times like a machine.
To grow attached to her blessing in such a short span of time, this boy was truly a devout believer.
Within his palm, a sphere of flames was born, made of tiny snake-like threads that, despite trying to break free from each other, stopped for a moment in the presence of his heart.
Now, come back to me.
Commanding the flames, Valentine's heated heart started to twist itself, changing shape.
Muscles were quietly stripped away from each other, turning the burning heart into two.
Then again, becoming four equal fragments.
It kept splitting every second, turning brilliant with each separation as if growing.
A second later, two balls of flame were floating in the air, one greatly smaller than the other.
They collided with each other; their forms consisting of threads intertwining like two different halves. One seemed to turn cold, while the other stayed warm, with no way to identify which was which.
As the two halves became one, a perfect sphere manifested before the man's eyes, shining with a livelier glow than before.
Haah~
Sunday exhaled a cloud of murky smoke, staring into it for a second before dispersing it with a wave of his hand.
It's good to be back.
Patting himself on the chest, he looked down at the boy, or rather what remained of him.
Val's face was pale.
Ah, I almost forgot about it.
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Chuckling nervously, he spread open his palms, which were as big as a metal press.
Squelch!
Pressing down with his arms once, the boy's organs turned into mush, pushed out from between Sunday's fingers, and covering them in the remainder of the blood left inside the broken insides.
His hands, now dark red, were pressed against each other in a prayer directed towards the sun.
O' goddess...
Crackle!
Flames engulfed the boy's empty body, this time in a tame manner, three times smaller, just barely visible to the naked eye.
But their size wasn't cut down without a reason. It was their depth that increased at the words of his fiery prayer, granting his flames a silver hue that sparkled brilliantly like stardust.
Val's body, with no proper form, had gained an outline made of sparks, showing a body perfectly suited for him.
His head and right arm were complete, perfectly filling in the sparkling veil to its edge.
Closing his eyes, Sunday sensed something stir within the crushed innards.
It has been a long time since doing this.
Submerging his hands inside the boy's innards, his hands slipped through as if there was nothing beneath them, freely reaching for something deeper beyond.
Like swimming through the sea's bottom, his hands were under pressure of being the ones crushed.
More...
Pushing through the resisting sea, his forearms disappeared beneath the pile of crushed organs, letting out sounds that it should have broken his bones.
But it didn't, and it couldn't.
A gentle hum responded to his desperate call, sending steady beats for Sunday to greet.
His face wore a warm smile and within his flames, a caring heat had nestled.
You wanted to know what a blessing is.
So I will let you feel it instead.
It seemed as if he were trying to speak to Valentine, but no words were uttered by his lips, reserved for the sacred prayer to end.
Holding onto something within the hum, he pulled out his thick arms unhurriedly, with no signs of them being crushed or submerged into liquid.
He looked down at his hands, where a heart was now resting, beating weakly without a body or a host.
Do not worry, little one. You shall be brought back to see her light once more.
What was once whole will remain itself until the clock-hands of time have been shattered under their own weight.
Her forgiving grace, which will be yours to bear. Is a gift sent down to mortals like us.
So please, even if it hurts, bear with it a little longer, young believer.
Because the goddess's light does not fade, only grows and takes you in.
The boys' organs had vanished, turning into swirling dust that rose and fell onto the sparkling outline, filling it in.
May the one who has fallen from above and risen to the top share the weight of this blessing within your heart.
For such is a duty we must uphold.
Opening his lips, Sunday spoke to the ones above in the language of flames, uttering prayers only for them to hear. His tone, even as a flame, was gentle like candlelight.
His will, transferred to the beating heart, filled it with translucent light.
Within his flaming gaze, a torso appeared, surrounding the beating heart, connecting itself to the boy's neck like a puzzle piece.
With little to no effort, his body started becoming as bright as the sun, waiting for Sunday to mark it with his words.
When he placed his palm atop the scorching frame, flesh started to grow within the blaze, restoring itself to match the outline surrounding it.
"Thank you..."
His voice, carrying gratitude, resounded in the room like cold coal, trailing off.
As the blessing accepted his sincere words and became whole, something stirred inside his vision, moving faintly within the sacred flames surrounding the heart. As if a tiny snake made of starlight were trying to break through the sunny flames.
What in the Victoria is this...?
However, the moment he blinked, everything returned to normal, the blazing heart began to lose its heat, and flesh started growing, covering it entirely.
Must have been an eye floater.
With a dismissive grunt, he sat back on the wooden stool, looking down at his hands and knees, now burnt and red, perhaps swollen, but it was hard to tell since they were already pretty big.
A fair price to save a life.
He was satisfied with it.
Smiling at himself, he looked back at Valentine, the ritual coming to an end.
His upper body has been restored to its top condition, alongside his arms and the healed skull.
He hadn't expected it to go so well, and in a matter of just one week at that.
Taking a deep breath, he felt the smell of life exuded by the boy's body, now moving faintly with a stable heart.
Due to losing his life for a moment, he won't wake up any time soon, at most tomorrow.
It was enough time to regain his strength and recuperate.
Sunday stood up from his stool, looking at the boy whose heart now beat without his help, and walked out soundlessly without a word, looking at the ashen clouds outside...