41. I’m Cursed… Everyone Close to Me Dies.
Nova was in a bit of a strange condition now. Although he regained consciousness, his body still wasn't functioning well enough to move around or do anything else, let alone move away from the danger.
He comforted Alicia while looking around their surroundings. It was a dark forest with a strange atmosphere. The trees looked twisted and sickly; their trunks had unnatural curves to them.
As for the foliage, it resembled overgrown weeds. It was hard to distinguish anything aside from the occasional clump of bushes that was scattered throughout the area.
And every time the wind blew, strange noises were produced as leaves rustled against each other, making an eerie sound that could give people goosebumps if they listened too long.
Yet, it appeared to be peaceful at first glance since there weren't any signs of wild beasts or anything else attacking them either.
"Mom, how long have I been unconscious?" Nova asked Alicia in a soft voice, snapping her out of her thoughts and back to reality.
"Well... a few hours, maybe? I'm not sure exactly how much time had passed since all of my thoughts were focused on saving you." Alicia answered while trying to recollect herself from crying so much earlier and wiping off her tears with her forearm.
Hearing her words made Nova worry for his mother, who must have used too much of her life force to save him. "And what about you? How much of your life force did you use while saving me? You look pale as paper."
"Don't worry, I'm okay. I haven't used much of my own life force at all, actually." Alicia reassured Nova. "Most of it came from that Thrasher guy I killed earlier; it's just that I used too much at once and exhausted myself. I can feel my energy coming back already."
She then thought of Captain Vaan, who had threatened them before getting killed by Nova, and asked worriedly, "And what about you, Nova? What happened back there? How did you do that to him?"
"I..." Nova began to answer, but he hesitated before continuing, "I'm not sure either. All I remember was feeling threatened and a sudden surge of anger within me before my body just acted on its own."
Alicia raised her eyebrow. "A surge of anger? Do you think you went berserk or something? If so, you shouldn't do that again, or who knows what might happen to you later?"
Nova nodded his head in agreement. "Right. I'll try not to let it happen ever again."
Then he shifted his gaze over to Hilda, who was crying alone. Seeing this scene tugged at Nova's heart and made him want to help her despite his current situation.
Therefore, he reached out his hand towards her and placed it on her shoulder gently to get her attention.
As soon as Hilda felt Nova's hand on her shoulder, she looked up and saw him staring back at her with concern evident in his eyes.
That look caused Hilda's chest to tighten up for a second before she burst out into sobs and buried her face into Nova's chest.
"Why...?" She cried out with a pained expression on her face, "Why do I always have to lose everything precious to me?! First, my parents died from bandits when I was young, and then my husband passed away from an illness and left me all alone. And now, just when I had found someone special to spend the rest of my life with, he was taken away from me, too!"
As soon as those words left her mouth, Hilda broke into another fit of heartbreaking cries that filled the air around them.
It caused Nova to feel terrible inside as he realized how hard life must be for her if she was constantly living through tragedies such as these all the time.
And even though Nova had just met her today, he couldn't bear seeing her suffer like this. Especially since they had gone through so much together so far. So, he didn't hesitate to hold her close against his chest and comfort her as much as possible while rubbing her back gently.
"Shh, it'll be okay. I promise you, Hilda... everything will turn out fine eventually." Nova whispered soothing words to Hilda, hoping to ease her pain somewhat.
However, Hilda shook her head and continued to cry hard without stopping. "No, it won't... I'm cursed. Everyone close to me always dies!"
"That's not true at all." Nova tried to calm her down despite the fact that his energy was still low and his body wasn't functioning well yet. "We have been through quite a bit together already, and despite the danger we faced, we came out alive. And I'll make sure that it stays that way as long as we keep working together and helping each other out."
Nova continued consoling Hilda by telling her reassuring words in a gentle tone that was filled with warmth and sincerity. He hoped it would help ease her pain at least a little bit, if not make it disappear altogether.
Hilda sniffled while wiping away some stray tears before glancing up at Nova. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying so much earlier, but she could tell that he meant every word he said just from his expression alone.
"You shouldn't say those kinds of things." She whispered in a shaky voice, "What if something terrible happens to you later? I'm cursed! No matter what anyone does or says, nothing changes the fact that everyone close to me suffers terrible fates. You should leave with Alicia as soon as possible and stay away from me..."
Her voice trailed off, and she averted her gaze, not wanting Nova to see her face anymore.
"No, I refuse." Nova instantly shot down her request as soon as he heard it, "There's no way I can leave you alone like this. Don't be so hard on yourself; you're not cursed at all. Rather than blaming yourself for all the bad things that have happened so far, you need to live each day with positivity and courage instead. Otherwise, you'll be consumed by those negative thoughts that'll keep getting worse every day, causing you to become a broken shell of what you once were."
Nova gave her a gentle smile while cupping Hilda's face with both of his hands before leaning forward to plant a quick kiss on her forehead.
"Trust me, everything will be alright." Nova whispered, staring deeply into her eyes, "I swear I won't let anyone else hurt you anymore and take away anything precious from you again. That's a promise I intend to keep no matter what."