- her old hair tie,
- the empty bottle she once drank from,
- a piece of napkin on which she had drawn a flower,
- dozens of drawings of her face.
,
Hallownest was brighter then. Not safe—but alive.
Nika ran along the stone paths with a hair tie tucked onto her wrist. She laughed softly so as not to wake the sleeping creatures underground. And beside her was always Aerin.
Always weaker. Always coughing. Always looking at her as if she were the world.
“Don’t run so fast,” he said, catching his breath. “I’ll catch up,” she replied, and… didn’t slow down.
Aerin drew her on everything: on stones, on old pages, on the walls of ruins. He drew her eyes as she slept. He drew her back as she walked away.
He wanted to tell her something that day.
“Niko, I…” he began, coughing.
But she was already afraid.
Love. Attachment. Weakness.
She fled.
Not just from him. She fled to another world.
Hallownest began to sicken the same time Aerin was left alone.
Aerin didn't stop waiting.
A kingdom rots when no one loves it—and he loved too much.
The cough became part of his voice.
His body weakened. Thoughts revolved only around her.
He made room.
A small sanctuary, hidden in the wall. An altar of memories.
He placed there:
"You will return," he whispered to the stone. "I know you will."
And then… a flower grew.
White. Delicate. Impossible.
A symbol of unrequited love.
It fed on his pain.
Aerin gave him everything.
In time, he was no longer just a boy.
The wall began to accept him. A green mass grew over his shoulders. Roots burrowed into his back.
"No... not yet..." he whispered, but the kingdom took.
He became part of Hallownest. A despair that couldn't let go.
The bush bounced nervously as he led Nika down the green path. His orange eyes glowed brighter than usual.
"What is it?" she asked quietly.
The bush made a short, warning sound.
"All right... all right."
She saw the doorway. The altar. The flower.
And then... him.
Aerin was part of the wall. A green sculpture, entwined with plants that breathed for him. His eyes were still alive.
“Niko…” he whispered. “You came.”
He was afraid. So much so that the leaves trembled.
“I thought… you hated me,” he added quietly. “That you ran away because you were afraid of me.”
“I was afraid of feelings,” she replied, sitting closer. “Not of you.”
The bush stopped to the side and watched. Carefully.
Aerin looked at her with something sharp. Possessive. Like someone who has already lost everything.
“You won’t leave again,” he said quietly. It wasn’t a question.
Nika pulled out her bag.
“I brought you something.
A thermos. Fruit.”
“I… I haven’t eaten in a long time,” he whispered. “The plants… they sustain me.”
“But now I’m me.”
He smiled. Weakly. Happily.
“Will you stay?” he asked. “Even if… I’m no longer whole?”
She touched his hand. Warm. Green.
"I will stay. And I will try to save you."
His thoughts were already racing.
She saw it in his eyes.
The green house.
The leaves.
She beside him.
The bush as their little guardian.
"I will protect you," he said quietly. "Even from the world. Even from yourself."
Hallownest trembled.
The flower blossomed wider.