“I’m ready. I trust you. I know you’ll keep me safe. You’ve proven yourself a time or two already.” Pulling our interlocked fingers into her chest, she whispers, “I know you told me I should close my eyes, but I don’t want to. I want to see everything.”
The intense trust in her eyes and the way her heart races every time she looks at me fucking kills me. She doesn’t look away and it kills me to not be able to do a thing about it. To not be able to hold her against my chest and bury her so deeply within it that she can never again be taken from me. I want to run my fingers through her hair and bring her lips to mine, to let her feel the fire and electricity that ignites every time our mouths meet. Nothing has changed. She is still mine and I am hers whether she believes it yet or not. She will. She has to. No one can escape fate. In the end it will be us who fulfil the divine prophecy of putting an end to darkness.
Together, we will.
Flashing the crooked smile I’ve sensed drives her crazy, I place my palm out in front of us and the portal opens. The swirls of black with shimmering blue and purple invite us home. Each time I pass through the portal, it’s like stepping through a radiant cloud made of starlight, but tonight I don’t notice. Not when I have the brightest star of them all standing next to me. She steps in closer, resting her head on my shoulder and she squeals, her eyebrows lifting as she squeezes my hand tighter. We step through the glowing lights together and the portal closes, engulfing us in a flash of bright white light.
She isn’t scared of any of it, not with me by her side. The wind howls and whips past, the colors fading as the portal gently drops us into the Realm of Darkness. Her explosive laughter echoes into the vastness of the empty field near my house and seeing her this way is contagious. I’m not sure why exactly we’re laughing, but I laugh, too. My ribs ache from laughing so hard, but seeing the joy flood through her, a joy I haven’t seen her experience in so long, is thrilling. We used to laugh together like this often before she was taken from me. The memory of all I’ve lost slices through my heart and soul, but I push it away. I fight against the pain. I will not lose her again.
“This is amazing, Kairos,” she breathes, releasing my hand as she spins in slow circles and then stops and gasps at the towering points and sharp lines of the grey washed city below. “This isn’t at all how I imagined the celestial realm would be. It’s so dark and gloomy.” She frowns for a moment and then her lips curve up. “But god is it beautiful.”
Gentle, kind eyes glance my way, eyes that drift up and down my body and stop at each weapon strapped to my back and thighs. She tenses but her energy doesn’t radiate fear. I sense that she feels safer here with me than she does anywhere else or with anyone else, and a part of her is angry with herself for feeling that way, because of him. Ere. I wonder how long it’ll take for her to no longer miss him, and for me to no longer be stuck feeling the pain of it alongside her. Though, I am thankful for this pain. Her pain means she’s alive. That she’s here with me again. I’ll suffer every day for the rest of my life if it means her heart is beating.
“I’ve learned to appreciate it. I didn’t always,” I admit, stepping up to the edge of the sloping hill, the grass slick beneath my boots.
Gazing out at the city skyline, I admire the sunset as it slowly settles in. From up here the whole place looks like it could have been plucked right out of one of Nora’s beloved gothic fairytales. The dark, thick clouds never allow us any direct sunlight, but at least we do have night and day. The Underworld is a constant pitch-black abyss whereas The Realm of Light was at times too blinding. The Realm of Darkness is somewhere in between, the perfect balance that offers rest for my mind and my eyes.
She steps up beside me and gazes out at the city. “Why didn’t you appreciate it before? What changed?”
“My whole world changed in an instant being sent here. Life wasn’t always like this. I was surrounded by light. Surrounded by sun and beauty.” I sigh. “It was all taken from us in one last battle with Nyx and her demons. But you—your power gave us this place to call home when the gods banished us from the Realm of Light.” I stretch out my fingers before tightening them into fists, forcing the anger away. “You gave us this last gift as you died in my arms. It took a while to get there, but eventually I realized that anything touched or created by your hands deserves to be cherished. Until now it was all I had to remember you by. It became this constant, welcome reminder that you were real. That we were.” I don’t look at her as I smile, but I feel her watching me, feel the energy within her ignite as she catches that smile, wishing she could remember me.
She doesn’t need to admit that she feels that way. She wouldn’t admit it even if I asked her, I’m sure of it, but she can’t hide the truth, that she feels something for me. A part of her does. I’m still angry and bitter about the war, and over the anguish I felt for a century after she was taken from me, but I reign it all in for her. Now is not the time for anger. All that matters is she learns the history of our people and how we’ve managed to heal since she gave us this beautiful gift, one not even she or the gods were aware she possessed the power to give. Not until the moment her anger surged, her flames raged, and the sky cracked open as we were cast down to Earth. It is a power that I still don’t fully understand, but from what I’ve seen, it’s not one any of us want Nyx to have her clawed fingers wrapped around. When she saw Nora’s power rise that day it only made her want her more.
And oh, how the entire world would suffer if the demon queen were to possess or control such a power.
“You have hope for me. You believe I’ll be free of her darkness one day. What do your people believe?” Red streaks glisten in my peripheral vision as she moves in closer, her hair blowing wildly in the breeze.
Adjusting my wings and considering her words, I notice her fidgeting nervously with the golden bands on her fingers. She’s not as relaxed or as fearless as she’s pretending to be. Even being here now, she’s still nervous, understandably. Though, she is handling it much better than I would. I wouldn’t believe a single word anyone said until I remembered the truth for myself. Hopefully it won’t be much longer before the amulet is returned to Nora safe and sound, but I fear Nyx won’t give it over easily, if at all. She stole it for a reason. Getting it back is going to be hell, which is why she’s here now. Nyx expects us to come after it, to come after her, so we did the thing she’d least expect me to do. We ran. I hate it but she’s safe and for now, it’s the only thing that matters.
Taking a seat in the damp grass, I shrug out of my leather jacket and toss it down next to me. I meet her eyes and then offer my hand to help her sit. Her half-smile is followed by a vibrant bloom of pink spreading across her cheeks as she clutches my palm. She keeps her eyes on me, even as she sways and stumbles and I grip her waist, slowly lowering her to the ground next to me. We sit shoulder to shoulder, her looking at me with a dazed smile, and me looking at her like she’s the only thing that matters, just as hundreds of pairs of wings begin to thunder overhead. Her eyes widen as she tips her head back to watch the celestials fly past, and a shocked giggle escapes her lips.
I gaze up at them, the warmth of her shoulder pressed into me, until I can’t stand not looking at her any longer. I fear she’ll vanish for another hundred years if I look away for too long. “They believe in you the way I do, Nora. Not one of them has ever given up hope that you will return and shine light back into the world.”
She looks at me for a moment, her eyes softening as they meet mine, then she leans back on her hands and kicks her legs out in front of her, enjoying the show above us. “Where are they going? God, they’re beautiful.” Her words are a breathless whisper that grips my heart and brings my eyes straight back to her.
“So beautiful,” I whisper, not bothering to avert my gaze as she catches me watching her and not my people, instead smiling in confirmation as realization flashes in her eyes. “When the sun goes down everyone goes home. We never lived in darkness before. There was only light. Ever since that light was taken, people feel uneasy staying out past sunset. I guess it feels wrong in a way, to imagine thriving in darkness. It’s what we’re taught to fear more than anything.”
“They’re terrified of their own home. How sad.” She looks back up and then closes her eyes, crossing one ankle over the other as the celestials make their way out of the city. “But you aren’t afraid, Kairos?” Her chest slowly rises and falls, her shoulders relaxed and unbothered though her heart suddenly races.
I shake my head but my breath catches because denying that I’m afraid is a godsdamned lie. I might not fear darkness the same way the other celestials do, but I’m terrified of it ripping us apart again. Mostly, I fear only what it might do to her.
“I live and breathe to fight darkness. To extinguish it not only here, but everywhere.” I run a hand through my hair to push the tousled waves out of my eyes, but the wind sweeps it right back into my face. “I am the son of the rulers of the celestial realms. The commander of the Dark Legion of Warriors. For my realm, I’ve had to learn to be strong. To show no fear. To be brave no matter what.” Gazing down at the city streets, I focus on my soldiers as they change shifts, some of them preparing for a long night ahead of guarding our people. “If I show fear, the whole realm will. If I panic, so will they. I have no choice but to control my emotions and lock my feelings away,” I admit as the celestial light from the streetlamps below flicker on. “Pain and fear won’t keep a realm from crumbling. Only strength and courage will.”
She turns toward me, her sapphire eyes locking with mine and refusing to let me go. “Kairos, no one should have to always pretend to be strong and fearless. It’s okay to be scared. I’m sure they would understand if you told them you were. That’s a lot of pressure you put on yourself to be perfect, but it’s okay to not be.”
I can’t admit the truth, how every moment is tainted by my fear of what her future might hold.
I huff a laugh, shaking my head. “I am far from perfect, Nora. I spiraled after the war. When you died, I…” Pulling my knees up, I lean my elbows across them, closing my eyes and forcing the pain down deep. “I nearly destroyed cities and realms along with the trust of the Realm of Light because my power raged from all the anger and fear I let consume me. I almost ruined everything. I chose to never let fear rule me again.”
She straightens and her eyebrows slant, her energy swirling with too many emotions to decipher. “What happened after the war with Nyx? Why did I need to create this realm for you? Why can’t everyone just live together in peace?”
I hate talking about this. Thinking about these impossible things. Peace. Unity. It was the reason she was created, a piece of each realm to unite them all, and it all royally went to shit as soon as Nyx set her sights on her power. There’s no hope for unity now, not after what The Queen of The Underworld has done.
“No one truly knows what happened that day. Only that as we fell to Earth, the light faded from our wings.” Clenching my jaw, I pull myself to my feet, helping her up with me. “All I know for sure is the gods turned their backs on us that day and then abandoned us entirely. We can’t even remember their names now. It’s as if they never even existed. Some believe it was destiny, something that was always bound to happen.” I stand and turn my back to the city, then pause, glancing back at her. “I believe it was Nyx who did this to us.”
She shakes her head as she rises and then comes to my side. “Nyx? How could she do that? She isn’t a god. And what would be the purpose of changing your wings?”
I shrug weakly. “We wanted unity more than anything. We wanted the war with darkness to end. She saw it as an opportunity to divide us.” I reach for her hand, and she comes to me, slipping her silky palm into mine. “I believe as her dark power surged that day on the battlefield, it corrupted us. How much it damaged us, I’m unsure of, but I felt something change within myself as darkness wrapped around me. The icy numbness crawled along my skin, and the stench of evil forced its way into my soul, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. That moment is when the Gods cast us out of the Realm of Light. We could never go home. She broke us. Maybe even more than we know.”
