Lucifer: Godless Reawakening-Chapter 281: Another memory

"Any idea what the physical assessment will be this year?" Natalie asked as the group of five sat together in the common hall.

Besides the speaker, there was Loid sitting on her left, Gizel on her right, and across from them sat the golden couple of the academy, William and Emma.

"Why do you think we would know about it?" William asked, raising a brow.

Natalie shrugged. "I mean, being a telepath, you must have read a teacher’s mind or something by now, right?"

William let out a mocking laugh. "Do you really think I go around abusing my ability by prying into people’s heads?"

Loid gave a wry smile. "She was just joking, William."

William hummed and rested his chin on his knuckles. "Look at this guy..."

He didn’t need to say anything further. Loid’s face had already begun to turn red.

Natalie coughed and quickly changed the topic. "I heard they sealed off the gymnasium, but no external equipment was brought in. I wonder if they are just bluffing about the whole gym setup."

Gizel nodded. "Could be. Considering what has been happening around the world recently, I have a strong feeling the Great Hall suggested the academy test us more aggressively."

"More aggressively?" Loid tilted his head.

Natalie clarified, "More risky."

Emma hummed. "Maybe. But I doubt they would go as far as the Great Hall did during the training program... and that ridiculous contest."

Loid glanced around and noticed everyone nodding in agreement. It made him wonder just how difficult things must have been for them back then.

Gizel then said, "Well, we will find out in two days."

....

Emma and William walked side by side, enjoying the quiet as they made their way back to the dormitory. They moved deliberately slowly, stretching the moment for as long as they could. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Her arm was wrapped around his, but she couldn’t quite find the right angle to rest her head on his shoulder. With a small grunt, she said, "Why are you so tall? Should I actually buy some heels?"

William chuckled. "Wouldn’t they be uncomfortable? Here, let me help." He used telekinesis to lift her slightly off the ground.

Emma staggered for a moment but steadied herself against his shoulder. Glancing at him, she said, "Is this what it feels like to ride your lover’s back and get spoiled?"

William smiled fondly. "I don’t mind spoiling you, but then you suddenly switch into that big sister mode and take away my share of the fun."

Emma laughed softly. "Don’t worry. During our vacation, you can spoil me as much as you want."

William sighed and simply hummed in response.

Emma tilted her head, her silvery brows drawing together slightly. "When you sound like that... it makes me feel like you aren’t as excited about the holidays as I am."

William shook his head. "You’re reading me wrong... I just don’t want to talk about it much." He rubbed the back of his head, then muttered, as if it might sound silly, "I’ve noticed that our unplanned moments go well. Like the trip to the Tower right after the rescue. But when we plan something and wait for it, it falls apart. Like our first date. That’s why I’d rather not talk about it too much."

Emma could sense it clearly. He was just as excited about the vacation as she was, maybe even more. And that excitement carried a quiet fear that something might go wrong.

She found this side of him incredibly adorable. The urge to kiss him until he was breathless rose within her, but she held herself back, aware of the many onlookers around them.

In the end, Emma simply smiled, leaning her head against his shoulder. With her eyes closed, she murmured, "Alright, I won’t talk about it either."

...

Back in his room, William placed his hands on his waist and let out a long breath.

Emma had returned to her own room, and he was already feeling the emptiness settle in.

"If there were at least one benefit to having a personal room..." What was the point of achieving so much in this academy if the old man couldn’t even grant him a bit of privacy? He couldn’t even bring his fiancée over and had to part from her every single evening.

Shaking his head in quiet frustration, he sat down on the bed and slipped off his shoes.

Then he looked around. Lamb wasn’t in the room.

He took a deep breath and crossed his legs.

What had he seen back then?

A memory that had surfaced when he was fighting the red devil.

Under that guidance, he had shaped the flames, bending them, claiming them, until they moved as if they had always belonged to him.

And in that moment, he saw it. Another memory.

Closing his eyes now, William let himself sink back into it.

This one was different.

There were no torn limbs. No rivers of blood. No echoes of his own hands drenched in death.

It was quiet. Almost gentle and soothing.

His body was confined, yet not in a way that suffocated. He could not move, could not stretch, could not even form the thought of resistance. And yet, there was no panic. No fear clawing at his chest.

Because it was warm.

Not the searing warmth of fire, not the artificial heat of magic, but something deeper. Softer. It wrapped around him like an embrace that had existed long before thought itself. Like a mother holding her child before the world ever had a chance to touch it.

He was not trapped.

He was held.

Cradled in a space that yielded without breaking, that supported without restraining. It adjusted to him, around him, for him. Every inch of that confinement carried a strange reassurance, as if the world beyond it did not matter yet... as if it was not his time.

His eyes were closed.

No, more than that... they did not exist yet.

And still, he could see.

Not with sight, but with something far more intimate. A perception that did not rely on light or form. He felt shapes instead of observing them, understood presence instead of recognizing faces.

And then there were the voices.

Muffled at first. Distant. As though carried through layers of existence itself.

They grew clearer.

Not words, not entirely. Some were spoken, trembling, breaking, filled with emotion he could not yet name. Others were never voiced at all, yet they rang louder than any scream.

Fear.

Hope.

Desperation.

Love.

All of it bled into him without a barrier, without a filter.

A trembling voice, choked with tears.

A whisper filled with fragile joy.

A silence that screamed louder than anything else.

He heard everything.

Even what was never said.

And within that quiet, within that warmth, there was a rhythm.

A heartbeat that was not his own... yet felt more familiar than anything he had ever known.

It echoed around him, through him, as if reminding him of something fundamental.

That he had once been... safe.

But not for long.

Because soon, IT needed him.

Needed him to rework the world balance.

°°°°°°°

A/N:- We are approaching the core. Damn.