you knew him for ages.

he taught you many things, considered you a close friend since you two were young, despite the many, many hardships he experienced as a crysos heir -- unlike you.

but did you live without burdens? of course not. you shared his sorrows, simply because he didn't tell you everything, making you worry about the endless possibilities of what happened, of why he suddenly was so distant after he returned from the grove one day.

but he was still your anaxa, right? he still let you call him that stupid short name, even if he was displeased like it. you wouldn't listen anyway, would you? a stubborn student, a stubborn friend.

your whole world came crashing down when phainon had told you that the man you loved had 15 hours left to live, being executed for being too "blasphemous.".. what a joke, a nightmare. it had to be, right? such a cruel dream.

...

but when you stood in the vortex of genesis as an exception, along with phainon, aglaea and tribbie, you realized this was no joke. you realised this was his plan.

it felt like time, your heart, stopped as he ripped out his coreflame with a foolish grin, not even looking at you one last time before his body disappeared into nothingness.