The Devil's Cursed Witch

"You finally came to me?" she said in a voice somewhat thick with sleep.

"How could I have left you alone?" Morpheus replied.

"Hmm, I knew you would come back to me."

As she said those words, the smile on her lips widened. Her hand moved towards his face to touch it.

Her words and the way she looked at him-- as if she had been waiting for him all along--made his body freeze. It felt like time had slowed as he watched her hand moving towards his face.

Her fingers brushed against his face ever-so-gently, her caress lighter than a feather, her cold fingers soothing against his warm skin.

"I missed you," she said. A gentle voice, a tender gaze, her actions showing how much she yearned for this person.

For a moment, Morpheus forgot how to breathe.

The man opened his mouth, but his mind was unable to form words.

"...I missed you," she repeated, her fingers on his face seemingly leaving a trail over his warm skin.

After a bout of silence, he put his hand over her hand that was caressing his cheek. "And I miss you with every breath I take that you are not by my side."

His response caused her expression to soften. Her emerald green eyes stared at him with equal joy and longing.

"I want to tell you something," she said.

"I am listening."

"Come closer," she urged him, as her hand guided his face closer to hers.

Morpheus' heart was racing so fast, he felt his heart would jump out of his chest if he went any closer to her. With them staying by themselves inside a small room, her sweet scent was already starting to affect his senses, but unaware of this, she continued to urge him.

"A little more..."

'She is still heavily under the effects of the flower.' Morpheus knew she was not in her right frame of mind, seeing things in front of her that were not real. It was worse than being drunk in strong liquor. 'I wonder, does she know it's me or she is seeing someone else in me?'

"Little closer..."

He heard her urge again, and he found himself gazing deeply into that pair of emerald green eyes. Her long eye lashes looked especially lovely as she stared at him in her half-awake state.

Morpheus gulped and wondered how much closer she wanted him to be. He could already feel her sweet breath touching the warm skin of his face.

She slowly lifted her face, her lips almost touching his ear and in a voice so shy it was barely a whisper, her next words made his world flip.

"I love you."

Each and every nerve of his body tightened, and his mind blanked. Those three words she whispered echoed repeatedly in his ears, and for a moment, he wondered if he too had been exposed to a hallucination.

Seeing Morpheus' eyes widen in absolute disbelief, Ember's head fell back to the pillow, and afterwards, the sound of her  giggling filled the room.

It felt like a long time had elapsed before Morpheus got his bearings back. He found his mouth going dry, and he gulped in an attempt to speak.

'She said...to me...?'

He looked at her and she looked back at him. Her arms moved to circle around his neck and she pulled him closer. The smile on her lips was expectant, and her eyes were speaking silently, waiting for him to say words to reciprocate what she was feeling for him.

'Does she really feel that way towards me?'

A part of Morpheus was overwhelmed with joy, yet a small voice at the back of his head was trying to tell him something else. Yet with the woman in his heart being the one who said them, the hope he had chosen to abandon was akin to a small flame being provided tinder and wood.

His rationality was being wrapped in flames, quickly turning into ashes. His heart was beating wildly inside his chest, happiness spreading warmth all over his body.

His breathing turned heavier with each passing moment.

"Ember...I--"

Everything about her was intoxicatingly beautiful, and he wanted--no, he ached to kiss her, to confess his feelings to her, to shout and let the world know that this little female was the one he would willingly spend his entire lifetime with.

Yet...yet he could not do that.

At the back of his mind, a seed of doubt remained.

'What if...? I should not get ahead of myself. She is not herself. I should not...'

However, his silence caused Ember's eyes to redden. His lack of response caused her mouth to lose its smile, and her lips trembled, as if she was about to cry.

"You don't feel the same?" she asked. "You don't love me?"

Her eyes looked as if she would shed tears any moment. He felt like his heart would burst if he saw her cry because of him, and ended up saying, "I do. I love you..."

With an expression that was both firm yet vulnerable, Morpheus smiled.

"I love you, Ember."

The beautiful smile that blossomed on her face caused his heart to once again race, and as she stared at him for a few moments, her gaze landed on his lips. "Won't you kiss me?"

Morpheus' lips slightly parted, but despite the strong urge to fall into temptation overwhelming his mind, a part of him struggled.

'Will it be fine?'

His gaze lingered between her expectant eyes and those soft and delectable-looking pink lips of hers.

"You don't want to?" she asked, her face once again losing its smile.

The woman he loves had just confessed to him, though it was under the spell induced by those dangerous white flowers. She might not be in her right state of mind and she might even forget this after she regained consciousness.

An illusion, a delusion--it might not be real, but such a beautiful moment, those words he thought he would never get to hear, how could he ruin this moment?

The back of his fingers gently rubbed her cheek as he leaned to meet her lips with his.