Chef in the Apocalypse

Jayce was forced to watch on as he was taken through Lianna’s memories. While the one’s he had experienced in the beginning had been traumatic, her state of mind seemed to improve after the Apocalypse had descended.

Scenes played out in front of him, yet he could still here Lianna’s inner voice in his mind, giving him insights into how she was feeling throughout. The time when he had fainted, being sent to that mysterious realm to meet Rubick for the first time.

He saw the sheer panic and confusion which struck her as his body dropped to the floor. It was such a shock that she almost fully regressed back to her previous frame of mind, ready to retreat into herself once more.

’It’s happening again. I don’t want to be alone.’ She cried inwardly, holding her head in her hands. Jayce of course heard these words and sighed deeply. He couldn’t help but feel that he was intruding on her personal issues by witnessing this.

However, in the next moment she shook her head heavily and slapped her face with both of her hands, startling everyone in the vicinity. Lianna ran over to his fainted body and began to check his vitals before pouring out her healing spells.

’Thank god, he’s still breathing. Did he pass out from fatigue?’ Lianna bit her lip, sending more mana into her hands.

Jayce felt uncomfortable with the current scenario, which was why he was thankful when the room went dark once more. He saw his past self waking up from his earlier episode, returning from the first supporter meeting.

He saw Jackie and Lianna’s eyes light up as he roused from his unconsciousness. A blush of embarrassment crept onto his face as he saw his past self staring deeply at Lianna for far too long. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Damn dude, take a picture." He said aloud, cringing inwardly.

She placed her soft hand on his own, to which he reacted like an embarrassed child. "You’ve been working non-stop Jayce. You must have overexerted yourself." Her face was worried, showing her care.

’His hands do feel like sis. Does that mean he’s a nice person?’ The voice of Lianna interrupted Jayce’s cringing.

"Ah F*ck, I really wish this would end soon... Ah, I guess this is better than the bone deep torture I was receiving." He mused, before adding. "Only just."

Yet this was only the beginning of his walk through memory lane. Due to Lianna being in his party, he was often transported to scenes of their fighting, or just leisurely times where they were all sitting by the fire and chatting.

He was privy to all of Lianna’s thoughts, her worries and her inner turmoil. Yet as the time went on, she began to come out of her shell, opening up to Jackie and the others. This seemed to ease her loneliness and made it feel as if she was needed.

Then the fight with the Bloodfang Wolf appeared. He watched as his defeated frame walked listlessly to the Icy dome and sat against it full of depression.

She watched on with tears in her eyes, ’Please don’t... You’re our pillar, our hope. If you give up then I won’t be able to keep going.’ Lianna’s voice tugged at his heartstrings, he felt all kinds of emotions swirling up within him.

He had not known how much that she depended on him, how much she really cared about everything. Jayce was emotionally exhausted, not sure if he could continue with this experience. He wouldn’t know how to face her in the future.

Yet he had no idea how to stop the skill, it just continued to play scene after scene one after another. He was forced to watch on as Lianna’s feeling began to bloom for him. Her conversations with Jackie were especially revealing, causing him to blush profusely.

It had felt like hours had passed within this dream. Jayce felt like the biggest asshole as he watched himself treat Lianna coldly at the Beast Tide battle. The tears she shed because of him was the worst feeling after knowing how she felt about him and the things she had been through.

This caused him to look inwardly, realizing that while he thought he was doing the right thing, it just might not be. If he had explained everything properly to her, not treating her like a kid, she might not have had to feel this pain.

Jayce sighed, "Man, this really sucks. I have to apologize to her when we get out of this." He said, massaging his glabella.

The scene changed once more, eliciting another sigh from Jayce. He forced open his tired and sore eyes, only to see the scene inside the giant tree. It took all of his willpower not to shout and rejoice.

"This should be the last scene before I can return."

He watched on with rapt attention at the events that took place, reconciling it with the story that Lianna had told to him earlier. He heard the screaming that was in her mind, forcing him to hold his head in pain.

’PUSH HIM! PUSH HIM!’

’PUSH HIM! PUSH HIM!’

’YOU IDIOT, DON’T GO IN THERE!’

Jayce’s head pounded, hearing the shrill screams threatening to break his mind. He saw Lianna’s body shudder for a moment before she pushed him into the tunnel and bowed her head.

"I-I’m sorry Jayce. I know it’s hard, but please forgive me!"

’I’m sorry Jayce. I know it’s hard, but please forgive me’

The two voices intertwined, one was Lianna’s voice and the other was what he now recognized as the Dryad’s within his mind. With that, she ran away.

’HAHAHA’

A wild cackle rang out within Jayce’s mind, as if celebrating its victory. And then the room went dark. He waited a moment for another scene to reappear, however when he opened his eyes he saw the ceiling of the cave.

There was no more pain, no more visions, he was finally back in the real world. He felt a heaviness on his chest, causing him to look down. Once again it was Lianna, nestled on his chest, however she was not asleep this time.

Her eyes locked onto his, and they began to tear up, stoking a great emotion within him. Jayce wrapped his arms around her figure and pulled her into his chest, embracing her tightly before whispering...

"I’m sorry."