Noelle abandoned Faust’s body and ran.
Noct continued plummeting from the sky, his transformation having disappeared completely. There were no currents slowing his descent, all having but abandoned him.
Noelle reached the edge of the frozen port, which had now turned into a large crater, before throwing herself into the air.
For a few seconds, there was nothing underneath her. But all that mattered was that she managed to catch him safely.
Noelle wrapped both arms around his waist and pulled him against her chest, but gravity continued dragging them toward the ice below.
"Lady Lenia!"
"I see you!"
A frozen surface of the port rose toward them, curving up like the petals of an enormous flower, before softening into slush the moment they met the floor.
CRASH—!
Noelle rolled across the surface with Noct held against her body, so close that it was akin to a child refusing to let go of their favorite toy once their parent had decided to throw it out.
Pain ripped through her body, and without the adrenaline keeping her awake, she was starting to feel the exhaustion kicking in.
But that didn’t matter to her. All that mattered now was the motionless person in front of her, the Young Master, who was now sickly pale and as thin as a tree branch.
"Young Master!" she yelled, trying to shake him awake. "Young Master! Please wake up!"
When he didn’t, she quickly pressed her ear against his chest.
Ba-dump...ba-dump...
His heartbeat was there, but so weak that anyone else could’ve mistaken him for being dead. Noelle had almost mistook it for her own imagination if not for her desperate searching.
"Lady Lenia!"
The witch landed beside them. Her usual carelessness had disappeared as she dropped onto one knee and placed a hand over Noct’s chest.
Water gathered around her fingers before gradually flowing into his body. Noelle watched the expert spellwork of a 7-Star Magus.
Wounds across his skin closed, broken bones realigned beneath his flesh, and the blood running from his right eye gradually closed. Yet, his breathing did not strengthen, and his complexion didn’t look any better than it was before.
"What’s wrong?" Noelle demanded. "Why isn’t he waking up?!"
"His injuries aren’t the problem."
Lenia pressed another hand against his forehead. Her expression changed as her mana passed through him.
"His body is almost completely devoid of life force."
"Then restore it."
"I can’t."
"You’re the renowed witch! Do something!"
"And that doesn’t make me the Goddess Aion!" Lenia snapped. "I can repair his body, but I can’t create life from nothing!"
Noelle fell into a state of despair.
Noct de Arcadia, the Young Master who trusted no one with the full extent of his plans, had placed the last remnants of his life in her hands. Yet, she sat by his motionless body now, having no idea how to save him.
Then, particles of wind gathered before him, struggling to form the tiny silhouette of a girl. Most of her body remained transparent, and even the rain passed through her without resistance.
"You’re that fairy—!"
"You have to act quickly!" Sylph pleaded. "He only has one minute left!"
Noelle’s brain started working on overdrive. She had accompanied him through everything. From the moment she helped him enter the Spiral Pool, until now, where they barely managed to stop a Disaster Spirit...
Why were they in Altaire in the first place? Why did he have to seek out the Witch of Black Ice? Why did he risk so much...?
Only a singular answer came forward, one that Noct never explicitly told her. But from his actions, all the clues pointed to one thing.
"Mana crystals..."
"What?" Lenia looked toward her with a confused expression. "What does that have anything to do with—"
But Noelle wasn’t processing her words anymore. She pulled the sling bag from underneath him and emptied all the contents inside.
"Where are they?!"
A soaked spellbook fell out, followed by several broken vials, a wet bundle of documents, and finally...three blue mana crystals.
Noelle seized the largest one and pressed it into Noct’s hand.
"Take it."
Nothing happened.
"Take it!"
His fingers remained motionless around the crystal. Noelle put her hands on his, forcing his fingers shut around the crystal.
"Why isn’t it working?!"
"He activated the conversion himself before," Lenia said. "If the ability requires conscious intent, then his body can no longer draw the mana out."
"Then wake him."
"I’m trying!"
Lenia seized the crystal from his hand, a realization dawning on her. "If he cannot extract the mana himself, then I’ll do it for him."
Water gathered around her fingers and enveloped the crystal. Its blue surface began dissolving, releasing streams of pure mana in the form of a liquid.
"Make him drink this."
Noelle supported Noct’s head and brought the sphere toward his lips. The liquid entered his mouth, but then spilled from the corner.
"His body is already shutting down," Lenia said grimly. "We need to introduce the mana directly before—"
"How long?"
Sylph’s transparent body flickered. "Five seconds! Once the mana enters his body, I can force the conversion through our contract!"
Noelle looked at the glowing liquid still hovering above Lenia’s palm. And right then and there, she knew there was only one way to save her Young Master.
She pulled the liquid into her own mouth.
"Wait...what are you—?"
Noelle leaned down and pressed her lips against Noct’s.
Her hand supported the back of his neck while the other pressed against his chest. She forced the concentrated mana down his throat.
Lenia recovered from her shock, managing to manipulate the mana inside the liquid and guiding it through Noct’s body to quickly spread mana through his system.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then—
...
...
...
THUMP—!
Noct’s body convulsed under her.
Noelle pulled away as he dragged in a broken breath. He coughed violently, water and blood spilling from his lips, but the sound was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard.
She remained above him, their faces still only separated by a few inches. Noct remained unconscious, but his complexion eased and his body seemed to have something more to cling onto.
"You idiot!"
Noelle pulled him in tightly, arms refusing to let go for even just a second—as if letting go would put him on death’s door again.
"You trusted me to save you—"
She closed her eyes and pressed her head against his chest, listening to his returning heartbeat with a soft sob.
"So don’t even make me do that again..."