Ulrich held Ceres tight against his chest as his back slammed into the rushing water below.
The icy current instantly engulfed them both. For a disagreeable moment, as the dark water swallowed him whole, a phantom sensation seized Ulrich's body. It was the echoing memory of the Blue Scar. The agony he had endured that day, the sensation of his flesh swelling and nearly every bone in his body snapping like dry twigs, was not easily forgotten. It was an invisible trauma, a phantom pain that immediately flared up, trying to paralyze his limbs beneath the surface.
He refused to let it take hold. Gritting his teeth, Ulrich forcefully shoved the traumatic memory to the back of his mind and kicked his legs, powering through the water until they breached the surface.
