“I don’t know.”
Xia opened her eyes, brow crinkling as she asked, “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I can call the shadows, but this isn’t me. It’s all… him.”
“Him?”
“You’re not the only one living with darkness inside. When I went to sleep, I was Chaos, the Deathless God. When I woke up, I was Brooks. Now… We don’t really understand it, but we’re on the path to figuring it out.”
Xia nodded, her brows still the picture of concentration as she nestled back into the shadows. “I think he likes me.”
If I could live inside of her, I would.
Brooks scoffed. “He definitely likes you, Sunshine. We both do. He’s smitten, actually. Gushes about you like a child with a crush.”
Xia laughed, fingers twirling in the shadows as they brushed against her.
I will make your life miserable.
“You already do, bud,” Brooks mumbled under his breath.
“What did you say?”
He looked up at Xia and smiled. “Nothing.”
The shadows receded as Chaos tucked himself away and slinked back into the corners of Brooks’ mind. “Do you want to take a walk? There’s a river just behind this house and the sound is pretty soothing.”
“I would love that, actually. The water always helps me calm down.”
Brooks stood and offered his palm. The pair walked from the house hand-in-hand in comfortable silence. The closer they got to the steady flow of the river, the quicker her stride became.
The night was full of shadows cast by moonlight and a light breeze shook the tall grass by the water’s edge. The air was dry and smelled of musty decay from the changing season. The chill in the air was cutting, but he didn’t mind the cold. Discomfort was just a reminder that he was alive.
Brooks threw subtle glances toward his Siren to admire how the light fell upon her face. Half was illuminated so perfectly in the light, he could make out the pouty set of her lips and the flutter of her lashes as she watched the water rushing by. He imagined the other side would be swathed in shadow, just like the dark side of the moon.
Brooks recalled the time in the asylum when Xia told the story of the moon and sea.“The moon and the sea were once lovers. The way the waves danced with the pull of the moon was so beautiful that even the stars were jealous. But now they spendtheir lives mourning the loss of a lover’s touch. The tides rise as the sea reaches for the moon but, as she falls to the sun, so too does the tide.”
A pair of star-crossed lovers who found something beautiful among their chaos and were cursed because of it. He remembered the somber tone with which she’d spoken, and by the end he’d known why. Xia was born of the moon and tide. She was a reminder of how painful love and the sacrifices surrounding it could be.
When they stood on the bank, his heart warmed at the brilliant smile gracing her face. Even the stars could have fallen in shame compared to her beauty.
Xia sat and Brooks followed her lead. She nudged his shoulder with a grin and looked down toward the water. Her hands flickered and he watched in awe as Xia pulled small streams of water from the river and wove them in between her fingers like a shimmering necklace.
Xia lifted her other hand and swirled her finger through the water. Beads of water lifted from the surface, the edges rippling as they formed tiny fluttering shapes. Xia guided one forward into her upturned palm and it pooled to form the beginnings of a butterfly. She manipulated the water almost as if there were strings attached to it. Wings fluttered as the delicate shape flew around her hand and through her fingers. Dozens of tiny iridescent butterflies dotted the water at their feet.
“When it was just my sisters and I on Anthemoessa, we tended a small patch of lilac bushes. The blooms were–” she stopped, her smile widening and head shaking as she tried to find the words. Her eyes were on the crystalline figure fluttering around her fingers, but her gaze was far away as she recalled the memories. “Magnificent. The bursts of purple with subtle pinks and blues hidden in the tiny buds was such a wonder. We would sit in the grass, sometimes for hours, and watch butterflies of allsizes and colors flit around the bushes. I was always so amazed at how something so delicate could carry such beauty and grace. I…” Her voice drifted as her face fell, and the pain radiating from it hit him like a strike to the heart. “I miss them,” Xia whispered. “After the Oneiroi came, the island just died. And so did the butterflies.”
Brooks could do damn near anything. He could create life just as easily as he could take it. He could build a world and paint its night sky with stars. The one thing he couldn’t do was rewind time. Time was a concept that he couldn’t grasp– the one and only power that made him bow.
He couldn’t bring Xia’s sisters back from the past, but he could make sure that her future was full of family and love. He would be her family.
Brooks swallowed and placed his hand beneath hers so that the back of it rested in his palm. He called forth his shadows and bid them to mingle with the butterfly. The darkness bled like ink into the water and formed unique patterns throughout the wings. The contrast of his shadows to the moonlight streaming through the water created an effect that made the insect look more alive than any that could be found among the flowers.
Brooks leaned forward and exhaled the breath of life over the crystalline shape in Xia’s hand. He smiled as the water changed from liquid to solid, its wings still decorated with the watercolor streams of his darkness within. It was a butterfly unlike any other, composed of the purest, shimmering light and deepest, gaping darkness.
“No creature can be made only of light,” he said, his voice low and scratchy. “There is always a flaw, or a taint. Everything is capable of being corrupt. Only those who learn to let their darkness find solace within the light can control their outcome. It’s part of us all, Xia.”
As he spoke, the butterfly lifted from Xia’s palm and flittered to his arm. They both watched as the wings moved steadily up and down.
