Chef in the Apocalypse

Jayce embraced Lianna tightly, feeling the warmth of her against his body. He felt a sense of comfort radiating through him, making him not want to let go.

Lianna did not struggle, she merely hugged him back losing herself in his embrace. This was something that she had wanted for a long time, it also did not feel as awkward as she would have expected. It felt... Natural.

When Jayce had said he was sorry, there was so much emotion in his voice that he even surprised himself. He truly was sorry, sorry for the way he had treated her like a child, taken advantage of her and even suspecting her.

But most of all, he was sorry for what she had to go through in her tough life. While he hadn’t experienced the ideal childhood, he at least had parents that cared for him until they passed away.

Yet Lianna only had her sister, and that was taken away from her also. He did not blame her for how she felt, after all humans could only take so much before they would break. He was actually surprised that she could overcome her troubles and move forward with her life after the Apocalypse.

’I guess to her, the Apocalypse really was a new world. One where she wouldn’t be abused by those monsters anymore.’ Jayce thought inwardly

The two continued to embrace, their exhausted bodies eventually finding the sweet escape of sleep. After countless hours of torture, it was a miracle that their minds and spirits had not broken. Perhaps it was because they had each other that they were able to pull through.

After a few hours, Lianna’s eyes fluttered open feeling a little groggy as she looked around only to see an empty cave. Swallowing back her panic, she suddenly noticed a delicious smell entering her nose.

She steadily got to her feet and peaked her head out of the cave, only to see Jayce preparing a meal in the center of the cavern. He had taken off his bloodied chef’s outfit, exposing his wide back and taut muscles.

Feeling her face heat up in embarrassment, she quickly shook her head and decided to come out of the cave. "M-Morning."

"Ah, Morning. I hope you have an appetite, my body feels as if I haven’t eaten in days." Jayce turned around and smiled, gesturing for her to sit down.

Lianna complied, doing her best not to stare at the appealing sight in front of her. "Do you know what happened to us?" although she had an idea, she wanted to hear it from Jayce.

Jayce nodded, continuing to prepare the feast of Draconic Panther meat in front of him. "There was a brand left over from the Dryad which possessed you. That was the thing that caused the horrible torture."

"Why?" She asked, before seeing the confused look on his face. Lianna quickly added on, "Why did you share the pain with me?"

Letting out a small chuckle, Jayce replied earnestly, "Well you would have died if I didn’t share some of your pain."

"But didn’t it hurt?" She asked.

"Hahaha! Of course it hurt." Jayce said, in a good mood. "It would have hurt more to watch you die." He said softly.

Those words made her feel warm inside, causing a small smile to appear on her face. "D-Did you perhaps see any... visions?"

Jayce’s eyes widened in surprise, quickly turning his gaze towards her. He didn’t know why she would ask such a question as soon as waking up. He had planned to tell her a bit later after they had both eaten, after all, he didn’t want to keep secrets anymore.

After a moment of silence, he answered truthfully. "Yes. I saw flashes of your past, from your abusive father and your foster family. They played out like scenes in a movie where I could only watch."

His gaze stayed on her face, waiting to see what kind of reaction she would have. However he was surprised when her face revealed a look of... relief?

Jayce was mystified, wouldn’t the usual reaction be something else? Anger, pain, sorrow? Why did she look so relieved? He suddenly had a bad feeling, rising up from his gut.

Lianna nodded, "I thought as much."

Yet Jayce was not prepared for the next words that came out of her mouth.

"I saw some visions too, but they were weird. You were wielding a sword just like Ben. I saw Colin and Jackie die to Goblins at the shelter, it was like a sick joke." She said with a confused look.

’What the f*ck?’ Jayce’s jaw dropped, not expecting this outcome. ’I thought my skill was one-way, what the hell is going on?’

Lianna saw Jayce’s reaction and took it that he also thought it was silly. Therefore she continued, "I saw flashes of you migrating around the place and eventually finding a party. I saw Heath, but he had a huge beard and looked really depressed. I never saw Macie anywhere though."

"Oh and I saw Bastion, it looked a little different. I think the weirdest thing about it was how weak everyone was." She kept speaking as if the whole thing was just a bad dream, yet Jayce was stunned.

Jayce’s mind raced, trying to figure out what to do. ’Shit, she knows everything...’ If her experience was similar to his, then she would have also heard Jayce’s inner thoughts.

"Ahem." Jayce cleared his throat, interrupting Lianna who was still chattering away. "Did you happen to hear any voices in your mind?" he asked, trying to be casual.

"Ah. Yes, for some reason I would hear your voice in my mind. Almost as if I could hear your thoughts in the dream. But..." Suddenly, Lianna’s face went pale and she shifted her gaze to Jayce.

"D-D-Did you also hear v-v-voices?" She asked, stammering.

Jayce nodded slowly, hoping to not get attacked out of the blue. Lianna’s face fell and she looked like she was about to cry, "Oh my god this is so embarrassing. I swear I’m not like that anymore."

In the next moment she pouted, "Why did you get to see my actual past and all I got was a bogus crappy movie"

Jayce let out a sigh, putting down his utensils and walking over to Lianna slowly. He sat down in front of her and grabbed her shoulders softly.

"What I’m about to tell you needs to stay between us."

Lianna’s eyes widened in question, yet she still nodded, "Of course."

"The visions you saw were real. They were memories from my last life."

"...Huh?"