Physics The Greatest Magic

"*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*" 

John quickly opened his eyes only to see at the same time as Serena opened hers, and for a moment the two stared at each other. 

"John...? *Cough* Where... Where are we?" Serena asked 

She looked around and then felt a chill go down her spine once she realised the two were in the sky, above the clouds. 

She quickly moved and wrapped her arms around John in fear before asking 

"W-Why are we in the sky!?" 

John could feel the sound of her heart beating faster and faster, he wasn't sure if it was just because she was scared or if it was for another reason. But before he even realised it, he had wrapped his arms around her back as tears flowed down from his eyes. 

With his nose and eyes getting slightly redder, he muttered 

"Thank god... Thank god..." 

Serena was confused, but stayed in that position as she waited for him to finish. 

Seconds past, and eventually minutes before Serena asked 

"J-John...? Are you okay?" 

Hearing this, John moved his face away from Serena and let go of the hug before saying 

"Y-Yeah... Everything's fine." 

His right eye was closed with fresh blood over it and his left eye was opened but seemed lifeless. Serena hadn't noticed this earlier due to how afraid she was, but now that she got a good luck, she felt her heart sink. 

"Your face..." 

She suddenly moved in closer to check on John's eyes but John turned his face away, he didn't want her to see it. 

"...You imagined it..." John muttered 

Serena then grabbed on to his face with both hands, before forcefully turning it so that she could see. 

"Oi... stop!" 

John began pushing back with his neck so that she wouldn't be able to turn it, but for some reason she was overpowering him. 

"J-just let me see...!" 

"No..." 

John continued to try to fight it back, but eventually serena was able to see it. As she looked towards the right side of his face, her eyes widened 

"What happened?" Serena asked 

"Nothing." 

"What do you mean nothing? You're all beaten up! Let me see it." 

Serena got a closer look at John's face which he had desperately been trying to hide, before poking at his right eye. 

"Ow! What are you doing?!" John asked as his eye throbbed in pain 

Serena took in a deep breath before asking once more 

"You're not telling me what happened, where are we, why are we in the sky and who could have possibly..." 

As if realising something, Serena suddenly stopped talking before looking straight at John. 

"The party... Everyone... Where is everyone?!" She asked 

The look of worry and fear filled her face as memories from that night slowly returned. John who saw this, struggled to look her in the eyes, after all, that was the very night which he had left her fight alone. 

"There were a few casualties but mostly everyone was fine, and I dealt with those guys, so don't worry about it." 

That was a lie in it's own way, over half of the nobles who went to the party were killed, the event ended up so badly that the king of Xoleria was apparently making his move, was what John wanted to say. But as he stared at her worried and scared expression, he couldn't bring himself to say it. 

But there was something he had to say, something which he couldn't lie about. 

"Dealt with those guys? Alone?! Are you crazy?!" 

Hearing this, John let out a small snort 

"Pfft." 

"What's so funny!? This isn't the time to be joking around!" 

"Hahaha, W-Wait... Haha-" 

Serena's getting even more annoyed with every passing second, So John decided to stop laughing before it could get any worse 

"Ha... Sorry, it's just, I never thought I'd enjoy your bickering this much." 

"Oi." 

"Hey... I need to tell you something..." John muttered as he formed a more serious expression 

"W-What...? You still haven't answered my-" 

"You were kidnapped and I wasn't able to do anything to stop them... You ended up saving all of these people and yet I-" 

"I know." Serena interrupted 

"What?" 

"I said I know... I remember what happened during the fight, which is also why I remember how many people ended up getting hurt because of it... I also know how dangerous they were, so stop trying to sidetrack it, or I'll just become more curious." 

John was surprised for a moment; he had forgotten how smart this bickering girl was. 

"Y-You knew...?" 

Ignoring the question, Serena asked 

"Where's Ariel and Ms Sylvia? Why are you here alone?" 

Hearing this John looked away and right as he did 

"See! I knew it! You didn't really break into their base alone just to get me, did you?" Serena asked 

"Yeah..." 

Serena was half joking with her question, so when she heard John's reply, for a moment, her face had gotten slightly redder 

"T-That's why you'll always be an idiot... Stop trying to play hero, you always just end up hurting yourself and others!" 

"And do what?! Let them do as they please with you? You think I'll let them kidnap you and just sit back quietly?!" 

"No! But... Why do you always do these things like these... As if fighting bosses head on wasn't bad enough, you're infiltrating bases now... Why...?" 

John wiped the right side of his face which had blood on it before saying 

"Because you're an important-" 

Serena interrupted John as she suddenly said 

"So?! There are many parties in the world, they can know each other for years, but you don't see them sacrificing themselves over a party member... That's just things you see in tales..." 

Serena stared straight at John waiting for an answer, she wanted to know just how he could push himself so far for the sake of others, what motivated him to do so? She tried being like him, but just ended up finding herself being saved by him again, so then why? What was difference between her desire to protect others and his? 

"Do you really want to know?" John asked as he hung his head 

Hearing this, serena slowly nodded before saying 

"Yeah... Just tell m-" 

Serena's eyes opened widely as John suddenly pulled her in and kissed her, interrupting her in the process. 

"Mnn..?" 

He could feel the softness and sweetness of her small and tender lips. Serena tried to pull away and began to struggle, but John wrapped his arms around her back, preventing her from pushing herself away. 

[It's soft...] 

Seconds which felt like hours passed before Serena stopped fighting back, her face was bright red and she could barely keep her eyes opened due to the embarrassment. 

Eventually, John pulled his lips away from hers, parting away from the soft sensation of her lips in the process. As he did so, he looked over at Serena and noticed that she had her head hung. 

He was then reminded of how he had tried to kiss her before at the party but she ended up avoiding him at the last second. 

John carefully held on to Serena's hand despite what had just happened so she wouldn't fall, but she wasn't clinging to him like before, almost as if she had forgotten that she was in the air. 

[Argh... Why did I do that...? She'll hate me...] 

The instant the thought of Serena hating him, came up, John could feel a sharp sting once more near his heart. 

Serena continued to keep her head down as John said 

"S-Sorry... Y-You're more than just a precious party member t-to me... When I thought of them hurting you, I just couldn't stand it... This is probably the last time we'll get to speak for a while so..." 

"Sorry Ariel..." Serena muttered 

John who barely heard that quickly asked 

"Hm? Why did you just-" 

Suddenly, Serena's pulled John in closer before moving their lips closer and closer together. Her eyes were tightly closed while she blushed heavily. 

John felt his heart skip a beat as their lips touched once more. The kiss wasn't anything like the deep French kisses which would use the tongue and lips and all sorts of techniques, it was just a simple lip touching kiss from two inexperienced people. 

Despite that, the thought that Serena actually wanted to kiss him at the moment, caused his heart to start beating faster and faster. 

And in that instant, a golden light which came from Serena, surrounded the two before enveloping them. A golden light which glowed brightly in the sky while the dark Blackhole continued to rampage on the base beneath the ground. 

John however had completely forgotten about that as all the pain which he could feel was wiped away from his body and replaced by the warmth and softness of Serena's light and lips. 

Drowsiness took over his body as the darkness which had clouded his eyes for a week dispersed.. And just like that, he fell asleep.