You stare into wide blue eyes as your hand wraps around the tip of a blade, thrusted clean through your ribs from behind. You had been stabbed. Simple as that. Your right hand is stilled at arm’s length, having shoved Leora away last second.

There was a time when you believed you had nothing to lose.

But you’re unable to speak as your jaw slacks, and it’s the unbroken eye contact of terrified azure meeting shocked silver that makes you realize:

Now, you did have something to lose.

With a grimace, your hand clumsily snatches the gun off your leg holster and whips it over your shoulder, firing blindly in a smooth motion. The onirii that had caught you off-guard slumps to the floor, dead.

You stumble. She catches you as you pitch backward, lowering you to the ground and grabbing your face in her hands. She’s yelling at you. Yelling for you to stay awake, probably. But the only thing you can think of as her pink bangs frame her face, as the sunlight glints off her armor and drowns her freckles in a tangerine hue is how beautiful she is.

"No, no, no---stay with me, {{user}}, damnit," She curses.