Sniffing at the bottom of the door of his room, he clawed open the door, wanting to find her in his bed, but found nothing. Shoving his head under it, as if she might be hiding, he didn’t find her there either.

He also didn’t find her in the tub, a place where it was difficult to smell her if she was covered in water.

The garden? She wasn’t usually in the garden at this time of day, but he went there anyway, being careful not to damage the plants she would eat.

Orpheus circled their home, hoping she would appear, but she never did. He had no idea where she could be.

He sat, digging his claws into his back and chest when his insides felt as though they were squirming. The cold trickling sensation on his skull never ceased, and his body felt wrong. Nothing felt right. His heart felt as though it was going to burst on every pump, so filled with loss and pain. It ached so deeply. Every breath was a wheezing cry, and he gouged his claws over himself.

He felt lost.

I didn’t protect her. Orpheus had failed her. She was hurt because of me. Because of Katerina and for whatever Orpheus had done to her to make her hate him so much.

What did I do wrong? Why wasn’t Orpheus allowed to have Reia, to live, in Katerina’s mind?

He had wanted to make her as happy as she had made him.

Where is Reia? His feet started moving. He headed towards the forest, crossing the salt circle so he could check behind shrubs and trees, under large stones as if she could hide under them.

Orpheus felt... broken. His mind was filled with only thoughts of her, his body and heart feeling utterly and completely lonely.

That singular bell hanging from his horn jingled and it caught his attention each time. It was a like a ringing of madness to him. A single bell without its pair.

One. Alone. Mismatched. Just like him without Reia.

His body started moving quicker as he looked. I have to find her. He would search to the ends of the world, would

cross the Veil, the surface if he had to, until he found her. He would be a lost creature searching, never stopping. Forever.

He wouldn’t sleep, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t stop. He would search all the way to the void of the afterlife if he needed to.

He started sprinting, sniffing the air for just a hint of elderberries and red roses. Reia...

He paid no mind to the Demons he ran past.

“Orpheus.” He heard her voice, but it sounded distant –

like it was far away in his memories.

He shook his head with a whine, the jingle he heard making him sprint faster. I need her.

Orpheus didn’t just want her, he needed her. He needed her to chase away the darkness he’d always felt by brightening his life.

His sight was so dark that he could barely see, but he would look until she was with him again.

“Orpheus.”

He heard her voice louder this time, but it pained him so acutely he let out a bellowing roar to the forest in response.

It hurts...

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Reia started as she regained consciousness, her eyes snapping open.

She felt no pain, like her wound was gone, as she looked up into darkness. Where am I? She thought she might be dead, but she realised that it wasn’t empty darkness she was staring into, but a quick movement of tress as she passed under their branches.

Am I in the forest? She turned her head to the right to see the shadows of dark tree trunks passing her vision.

Seeing she was moving as she lay down on her back, she expected to feel the bite of wind, perhaps the cold of it. She couldn’t feel it. Actually, she felt nothing at all.

Not the air, not her own heartbeat, or even her own breaths.

She tilted her head forward as she lifted her arms, only to go wide-eyed. I’m transparent. She could see the shape of her hands like a white glow, but she could see through it, see her body and the forest behind it.

Am I a ghost? She touched her face to feel it, knowing she felt pressure, but not the actual touch of either. Not her face upon her hands, or her hands upon her face.

It felt as though her body was floating and she looked down to see what she was lying on. Except she wasn’t lying

on anything but floating above it.

“Orpheus?” she asked, seeing him below her and somehow dragging her along.

His only answer was a whine and she frowned at the suffering she heard in it. She turned over and tried to touch him. Her hand went through him!

She recoiled and brought it back. I can’t touch him.

There was a flame between his horns, tied to them by inky, goopy, black string. She felt the warmth of it when she tried to touch it, but her hand went through it as well. It did flicker brighter, though.

“Orpheus,” she tried to yell, wanting him to stop running so she could figure out what was going on.

His heart-aching roar made her shrink.

Shit, he can’t hear me properly.

She wanted to stop floating with him and show that she was here. Is he searching for me?

Looking down to her palms, her eyes crinkled in confusion.

If she was a ghost, she would be able to be with him forever, but what point was there in this? She couldn’t touch him, he couldn’t hold her, and it would be meaningless.

This wasn’t what she wanted. I want my body back!

She started sinking through him like a heavy weight in her gut was pressing her down.

They separated when she touched the ground, and she felt it. The coldness, the dirt, the hard stick that poked her in the arse. Thankfully, she was still wearing the dress she had been wearing before she died, otherwise that may have truly hurt.