Zypher's eyes widened slightly, though he didn't talk, sitting straighter in the chair. He waited, listening intently for her to continue speaking.
"I woke up in this body on November 28th, 1552." Delphia continued.
"Before that, I was... someone else. Someone from a different world; I died in an accident," She paused, searching his face for a reaction to see if he would press, but Zypher remained silent, his expression unreadable.
"Immediately upon dying, I found myself here; In Delphia Vosswell's body. I didn't retain any of Delphia's knowledge—except for muscle memory, but I learned about this world from a book I'd read... called The Rose of Avalon."
"The Rose of Avalon?" Zypher repeated, his voice soft, as if testing the name on his tongue.
"It's what it was titled," Delphia explained.
"A fictional story from my world. And in that story, you, Calista, Alaric—you're all characters. And Delphia... she… was the villainess in the love story." Zypher's expression darkened, and for a moment, Delphia worried how'd he react to learning all of this, but he nodded slowly as if piecing it together.
"Then you know what happens," he said quietly. "You've seen how it plays out."
"I've seen one version of it," Delphia corrected quickly. "But it's biased. The novel is told from Calista's perspective, and it paints her as the innocent heroine while Delphia the 'villain.' But the more I observe since being here—being her, the more I realize... Things aren't exactly as the book portrayed."
Zypher leaned back, his maroon eyes gleaming with new understanding, "That explains a lot." It sounded like he was musing aloud to himself.
Delphia nodded, continuing.
"It does. Everyone's personalities are completely different from how they were described in the book, but it seems like certain events are still playing out the same from what I can remember." A silence fell between them, heavy with the weight of their shared revelations. For the first time since Delphia had woken up in this world, she felt like she wasn't alone in her secret.
Zypher, too, was walking a path that diverged from the original story.
"I've been trying to change things," Zypher said after a long pause. "To avoid the same mistakes that led to my death. But every time I make a move, something happens—something pushes back, as if the world is trying to keep things on track."
Delphia frowned, leaning forward, "I've noticed it too. There are moments when it feels like events are resistant to change. Like the story is trying to correct itself."
Zypher's gaze sharpened, "Which means there's something—or someone—controlling it. Manipulating the events, keeping the story on its original path."
Delphia agreed, "Now that we're both here and know different versions of events, if we work together, we can find overlapping points and make deviations."
There was a beat of silence, then Zypher's lips curled into a small, dangerous smile. "I knew there was something about you I liked."
Delphia smiled back, feeling the cautious tension between them melt. The game they had been playing for weeks had changed. No longer were they circling each other in suspicion. Now, they were actual allies.
As the room fell silent, a new type of tension filled the air between them. Delphia could feel the intensity growing, sparking and crackling like electricity. Their shared secrets had kindled an un-anticipated intimacy, pulling them into an intoxicating orbit around each other. As their eyes met, Delphia couldn't deny the pull she felt towards him—it was more than just physical, it was a deep emotional connection that left her breathless.
"I trust you," Zypher said quietly, the edge in his voice soft but steady. "And that's not something I give easily." He reinforced this sentiment to the new woman known as 'Delphia.' He himself couldn't deny the fact that Delphia's physical beauty was worth the envy. She was peerless in her looks. It was just… her predecessors personality left little to be desired.
Delphia could hear her own heartbeat as it sped up at his words. The gravity of them sank into her skin, stirring something quiet within her.
"I trustyou too… even though I thought I stopped trusting other people."
Their gazes locked, a wordless exchange unfolding between them and igniting the air with its intensity. Slowly, deliberately, Zypher rose from his chair and crossed to the settee. His movements were animalistic in their graceful control—as he dropped his knee to the right side of Delphia and leaned toward her, caging her in on two sides.
Her breath hitched in her throat as he reached for her face, the weight of his knee pressing against the outside of her thigh, his fingers cool but tender as they nudged her chin upwards. His touch was like liquid fire—burning away any remnants of doubt or hesitation.
"Delphia." Zypher's voice dropped to a low murmur, almost reverent. "I don't know what comes next. But whatever it is… we face it together."
With a movement of a nod she responded in a breathy voice, "Together."
Delphia felt the silence stretch between them again—not heavy this time, but charged, brimming with a new understanding. For the first time since waking in this world, she didn't feel like a stranger clawing for control. Zypher saw her—not as the Delphia from the book, not even as a pawn in someone else's story—but as herself. Something unspoken shifted between them, the air thick with anticipation and something tender, too.
The confession had peeled them open, raw and real, and now they stood on the edge of something neither of them had quite expected. Delphia's heart pounded, not with fear, but with a pull—magnetic and unrelenting—drawing her closer to the only other person who truly understood what it meant to rewrite fate.
Their lips met in a collision of energy, igniting every inch of their bodies.
He leaned into the kiss, gentle at first—searching. His mouth moved with deliberate care, testing the space between them before deepening it, answering the longing that had slowly, quietly grown between them. Her heart raced as his fingers trailed down her jawline, moving from her chin to her throat, eliciting goosebumps on her skin.
He stilled for a moment, forehead resting lightly against hers to break their kiss, as if grounding himself.
"Tell me if this is too much," he said, barely louder than a breath, eyes searching hers. Delphia nodded, her eyes feeling a bit hazy from the sensations hitting her, but she knew what she wanted.
"Keep going." Her tone was soft and encouraging as she leaned closer to press her lips against his, closing her eyes, and giving way to the emotions that she was feeling.
His hands moved down to the tops of her breasts that were showing from the cut of her bodice, teasing her skin with each placid touch. He gently brushed his fingertips over the soft flesh before gripping and squeezing it, causing Delphia to gasp and melt even further into his hands.
With a breathless moan, she arched her back, pressing herself closer to him and resting her hands on his hips, grabbing hold of the belt he had fastened as an anchor. With a gentle push, he guided her downwards on the settee, her upper body resting against the plush bench cushion of the seat—it being wider than an adult torso and accommodating—as Zypher hovered over her, not breaking the kiss.
The sounds of their labored breathing and wet kissing blended together with the sound of her own pulse; Aroused and needy, Delphia pulled Zypher down so that he would be closer—catching him off guard and losing stable footing.
He fell towards her, quickly adjusting his body to the inside of the settee, leaning his weight onto the high back as he straddled her. He was able to feel Delphia's soft, pliant body underneath him, a moan slipping from the back of his throat as his hands moved to her waist to pull her upwards so that he could cover her with his form.
He braced himself on one arm as he resumed and the ferocity of their kiss deepened, drowning out the world around them. Their breaths mingled, heavy and heated, as Zypher's other hand roamed with a fervor that matched the intensity in his kiss. Delphia responded with equal passion, her fingers gripping into his obliques then moving towards his ass and giving it a firm squeeze.
He shifted slightly, tension straining against his trousers, causing Delphia to let out a surprised moan from the movement. After a moment or so more, he broke the kiss.
Zypher rested his forehead against Delphia's before he pulled himself back to look at her, both of them trying to catch their breath and with small smiles on their faces. His eyes searched hers in the dim light—a silent question he was probing.
"We should be careful," he breathed, his voice thick with unresolved desire. She found herself breathless from that make-out session, not expecting to have this sort of response from Zypher.
She had a resigned sort of smile as she looked at him, saying, "We should. I've already been out for so long, I don't think I could get away with staying much longer."
Her hands had moved from his butt to the back of his neck as she pulled him towards her gently, giving him a solid kiss and releasing.
He sat up, helping her into an upright position, then standing, as she tried to adjust her current appearance. She slowly combed through her hair with her fingers as she looked at Zypher, a smile playing at her lips. He moved about the room, stopping among a table of various crystals—large and small—as he started touching a few and speaking into one, his shirt unkempt and collar wider than before.
She stole one last glance at him as he moved through the room—hair slightly mussed, shirt collar skewed, face faintly flushed. The sight tugged at her, both thrilling and strange. This was someone who had once been an idea on a page. And now… he was real. Touching her. Trusting her.
Her lips tingled from their kiss. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to settle the wild, electric feeling humming beneath her skin.
Zypher adjusted his clothing with quiet efficiency, pausing at a table where crystal shards pulsed faintly with light. "They should be ready by the time we get to the bottom," he said, as if nothing unusual had just passed between them.
On instinct, Delphia crossed the room and stood on her toes, brushing a soft kiss against his lips.
He stilled. "What was that for?"
"I just needed to." Her voice was lighter than she expected. Honest. "You look too good like that."
He smiled, warm and a little off balance, before leaning back in and giving her another kiss, slower this time. When they parted, she felt steadier.
"Maybe not tonight," she said softly, answering the question neither of them had dared to ask out loud. "But soon."
Zypher chuckled lowly. "I'll hold you to that." He offered his arm.
She took it without hesitation, their fingers intertwining naturally. As they stepped into the hallway, Delphia felt something shift—quiet but irrevocable. For the first time since arriving in this world, she wasn't just surviving. She was choosing.