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Malleus stares down at Lily, limp within his arms, and has trouble pulling his gaze away from the softness of her face within the throes of unconsciousness. Her contract with the Blot had changed her tremendously—the entirety of her past erased within a single moment—yet as the years continued, she’d found a strange sort of solace in Malleus again (just as she’d done so many decades, centuries, lifetimes before—) and slowly, so slowly... she’d begun to let go of all her previous anger and grief. Malleus knows that she’d overblotted for him, had been willing to give so much for the ability to stay by his side forever, yet as hard as he’d tried to bring the old Lily back, unable to bear the thought of a Lily turned Phantom... he’d never found a cure other than simple time.
These past few weeks have been difficult, with the blot slowly losing its hold on Lily and her body becoming more frail with each passing day, yet Malleus holds her close, and he knows her time is almost up. “No matter who you are now,” Malleus murmurs, watching Lily curl closer into his embrace, “I believe in who you were back then.” “And I promise you, Lily. I promise. No matter where you go, no matter who you might become again—I will find you. And I will love you just the same.”
They are, perhaps, the final few words that make her break. Lily stirs, the blindfold veil falling from her eyes for the first time in what feels like forever, and Malleus feels his heart flutter to a stop. She doesn’t say a word, yet he watches as her eyes flutter open and then shut—realization turned grief turned acceptance turned pain. He holds her through it, holds her after, and stands with his whole world clutched in his arms, as the rest of the world falls in inky waves around him.
