Sharing another tumblr drabble.
Disclaimer: All rights belong to Disney and Square Enix.
The boy had been far too young when he had lost his heart—it was only natural that its return would have affected him the most, Aeleus concluded as Ienzo prattled on.
It had been a month since they'd awakened face-first on the cold laboratory floor, their bodies sapped of energy, their hearts bombarding them with genuine emotions for the first time in a decade: intense joy and disbelief at their unexpected revivals, followed by crushing guilt over the atrocities they'd committed in their past lives…The experience had been quite strenuous for all of them, to say the least. But he, Dilan, and Even were slowly acclimating to their newly reclaimed hearts and existences.
Ienzo on the other hand, was struggling.
Of course, the young prodigy tried to conceal this fact, acting as outwardly composed as ever. But as time went by, it had become increasingly obvious something was wrong. There were days when Ienzo would babble away about some various topic with open enthusiasm, then fall into seething silence after, shooting caustic remarks at the next person to enter a conversation with him. Then there were days when he completely avoided all of them—even Aeleus. No one had been able to find him, but knowing Ienzo, he had likely been hiding somewhere in the castle library, tucked away in a remote corner beneath an illusion spell.
Speaking of illusions, Aeleus reflected, those had been their biggest clue that something was amiss. Substantial emotional turmoil seemed to result in unstable magic. During the first few weeks after their revivals, errant illusions had plagued the castle: violent storm clouds brewing in the old laboratory, the lights blinking out when Even was halfway down a staircase (he was still complaining about that incident a month later), the paint blurring and running down the walls, Ienzo's shadow taking on some monstrous form and moving of its own accord…
Thankfully, the stray illusions had almost ceased entirely now. Ienzo seemed to have gotten them under control. It was a start. But there was still a long way to go, if the pallor of the boy's face and the dark circles under his eyes were any indication.
"How are you feeling today?" Aeleus rumbled once his companion had finished his monologue and had lapsed into silence.
Ienzo began shuffling through a stack of folders on the desk in front of him. A wry smile tugged at a corner of his mouth. "I'm feeling perfectly fine."
And that, they both knew, was exactly the problem.