An hour before sunrise, Lux slowly opened his eyes. After finding himself in an unfamiliar room, his gaze landed on the old lady that was resting on a chair beside him.
"Grandma," Lux muttered.
Vera, who was half-asleep, and half-awake, opened her eyes to look at her Grandson.
"Good morning, Lux," Vera said before placing her hand over the Half-Elf's forehead, and neck. "It seems that you have developed the Abyss Fever. You should rest for a while longer."
Lux shook his head. "Grandma, if I close my eyes now to sleep, I will sleep for a long time. Please, help me stand up."
Vera frowned but after seeing Lux's determined gaze, she had no choice but to help him stand up.
"What are you planning to do?" Vera inquired. "In your current state, it will be hard for you to fight in the tournament."
"It's fine, Grandma," Lux answered. "I can do it. I will win for sure."
"Maybe Iris is right. I should have cooked pork stew last night."
"Pork stew? That sounds delicious. Let's eat it with Iris after I win the tournament."
Vera shook her head helplessly and gave her grandson a bitter smile. Seeing that the red-headed teenager had no intention of backing down, the old lady made a few hand seals, and summoned a wooden doll to carry Lux in a princess carry.
"This brings back memories, Grandma," Lux said softly as he allowed himself to be carried by the wooden doll. "Back then, Woody would pick me up whenever I fainted. It was like yesterday…"
Lux looked up at the wooden doll with nostalgia. He had many sad, yet fond memories, with the doll he had nicknamed Woody, who had been one of his guardians while he was growing up.
"Now, you're already so big and strong," Vera commented as she walked beside the wooden doll in the hallway of the infirmary. "Perhaps this will be the last time that Woody will carry you like this."
"I hope so," Lux chuckled. "It has been a while since I felt this helpless."
The two then walked in silence for several minutes until they reached the Coliseum. When the wooden doll stepped on the arena, it was still dark.
In truth, Lux was doing his best to fight off sleep because he knew that the moment he closed his eyes to rest for a bit, he would fall into deep sleep, unable to wake up for several days. By then, the tournament would be over, making him lose by default in the Final Match.
Eriol told him that if he didn't wake up now, he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon because his body was truly exhausted and needed to rest badly. However, since he made a deal with Lux, he had forcefully awakened his consciousness, to make him open his eyes a few hours before the match began.
"Thank you, Grandma."
"Mmm."
Vera stared at his grandson long and hard before sighing. She knew that the Half-Elf would not back down once he had made a decision, and as his grandma, she wanted to support him as well.
"At least, drink this," Vera said as he gave Lux a vial with a purple serum inside it. "This will help with the Abyss Fever. You need to drink it every four hours."
Lux obediently drank the Serum, which made him feel so comfortable that he almost fell asleep then and there. Fortunately, he managed to catch himself just in time and gave himself a pinch on the waist, waking him up instantly.
Seeing his antics, Vera couldn't help but chuckle. It reminded her of the days when Lux was still young and did silly things around the house.
"You've come so far, Lux," Vera stated. "Just hang on for a little while longer."
"I know, Grandma," Lux replied. "How many hours are left before the match begins?"
"Mmm… around three to five more hours."
"That long?"
Lux yawned before rubbing his eyes. He really wanted to sleep so badly, but doing so would just waste everything that he had accomplished.
"I wish morning would come faster," Lux complained. "Waiting will tire me out."
"That's just how it is." Vera patted her grandson's shoulders before summoning a blanket to cover his fever-infested body. "A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world."
Lux allowed himself to be pampered by his Grandma because it had truly been a while since Vera had tucked him in for the night.
"Grandma, when was the last time we watched the sunrise together?" Lux inquired when Vera had finished wrapping him up with the blanket.
"More than a year ago if I remember correctly," Vera answered. "You were too busy with your training, and when you gained the opportunity to go to Elysium, you just stayed home for a few days before going back."
Lux remained silent because his grandma was right. After he gained access to Elysium, he would go back for only a few days before returning. He didn't have the opportunity to do things with his grandma, like watching the sunrise like they did more than a year ago.
"I'm sorry, Grandma," Lux said softly. "I have been too busy as of late. One of these days, let's take Eiko and Iris to have a picnic somewhere together."
"Sounds good," Vera commented. "It has been a while since we went to a picnic together."
Lux gazed at the sky which was still dark. Vera, on the other hand, waved her hand, from time to time, sending a silvery string across the opposing ends of the Coliseum. This continued for a few minutes before Woody suddenly started to walk towards the old lady who seemed to have finished her preparations.
A moment later, she, along with the wooden doll carrying Lux, slowly floated towards the sky. At least, this was what those who were observing the two would think.
Lux, on the other hand, knew what was going on. Vera's ability was similar to Vall, whom he had fought. Both of them had the ability to conjure and manipulate strings.
A minute later, the two hovered above the Coliseum, while looking at the East, where the sky was slowly brightening.
"Lux, I don't really care even if we don't view the sunrise together like we did when you were younger," Vera said firmly. "What I care about is that you keep yourself safe and return to me on a regular basis. For me, you and Iris are the sun in my life. Without both of you, my world is just filled with darkness, never hoping to see a sunrise ever again."
Lux smiled before nodding his head in understanding.
"I understand, Grandma," Lux replied. "I will do my best to survive both in Elysium and Solais."
"You do that," Vera said as she continued to gaze at the East. "We can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in the darkness."
As soon as Vera finished talking, the first rays of the sun peeked beyond the horizon, bathing the world with the promise of a new day.
Lux sighed as he pulled the blankets closer to him. A new day has finally begun, and the Final Match that would decide his step-sister's fate, was only a few hours away.
He just hoped that, when it was time for the match to officially start, he would still be awake, so he could fulfill the promise he made in his heart.
This would allow the beautiful blue-haired lady, who was hailed as the Princess of Barbatos Academy, to regain her freedom, and live her life the way she wanted to live it, without being used as a political tool by her father.
