When Aethera Michaelson entered the Academy, she knew someone like her could never fit in with the elite crowd of rich and entitled students. So, after the quarantine begins, she blends herself into the corners of the library, unaware that she would...
AETHERA smiled at the papers in her hands. She closed her eyes, trying to wrap her head around the fact that her life had come to this. The wine glass in her hand swirled as she took a sip, standing against the door frame that had recently been renovated before stepping out into the scorching, but rare sun.
As she witnessed the upkeep of the garden, her wine glass continuing to accompany her in one hand, while she held her summer dress in another, she breathed in every petal of the flower that soothed her. She smiled as a rose, as beautiful as the one she had seen in the snow, on that fateful morning, six months ago appeared on a barren patch of her backyard.
Persephone had joined the group of Gods who had subtly thanked and wished Aethera and Art's union and win.
Art was quick to wrap his hands around her waist, pulling her away from her daily activity of checking each flower's petal and touching them.
"I'm still trying to understand how to get these tiles fixed, love," he whined, as she scattered the manual around the picnic table which stood in a shaded corner of their new garden.
"Are...you serious?" she chuckled in disbelief. "A whole God and yet you can't figure out DIY tiles?"
"Hey! That's rude," Art smirked, tickling her sides and chasing her as she ran into the house, the wine glass long forgotten somewhere in the garden.
Soon enough, he caught up with her as they fell on the new carpet, leaning against the loveseat.
"I want to leave the library untouched," Art said, diving right back into the renovation mood.
"A couple more shelves will really help me organise better..." Aethera trailed, her eyes begging him.
"You're cruel," he laughed, holding her in his arms.
A comfortable silence fell between them as they laid in each other's arms at a place from where their new house was visible. Art's eyes gazed at the door of the library where he had stood, half a year ago, distraught in feelings and unable to understand what he had witnessed or what he had felt with Aethera. When she had walked up to what was now their shared room, Art remembered the hurt in his heart and kissed Aethera's forehead.
Never again, he vowed to himself. In these seven months, six of the latter had been an absolute bliss. The immortals had accepted them as new Gods and chosen to accept their resolve to travel the world for a few years until they were needed in a different realm. Art and Aethera had also realised what had happened to them on that day when they had faced Hades, even though they knew that what had transpired was a doing of their souls and many Gods which had come before them.
A marriage is what they had witnessed, of their souls and their lives. And in that same sacred way, they had chosen to live each passing moment in each other's presence. Melinoe had helped them understand many other things and over the next few weeks, they remained in the house, surrounded by snow, to train harder in order to control their powers.
When the day arrived and Melinoe was scheduled to leave, she asked them to stay in the house for as long as possible. But Art and Aethera were ready to begin their journey.
The first stop of it, Aethera had thought, would be London. Art had craved to be back home. But when he suggested that they move back to Seattle, she didn't understand why he wanted to return the city. The same city that he had tried to stay away from in his mortal life.
But when two months ago, she heard Art speak to the owner of the house she had loved for years before, she knew exactly what Art had wanted. It seemed unbelievable, even though she knew that anything they wanted was reachable. But something about the change in seven months felt surreal.
In these moments, Aethera's mind always went to the night before the change had happened. The lonely nights in her room were such a fading memory, as was her mortal life but this was a small part of it that she remembered. She had imagined herself in this house, waiting to jump the fence and be back in its warm and wild garden after having escaped the orphan home. Everything was perfect in her little garden.
But soon after wishing for the house of her dreams that night, she had been standing at the porch of it, beside a man she knew nothing about. She remembered the night they had argued and how leaving him behind had felt like the world would come crashing down, how she had needed him the first second of the morning after the painful dream; and how a little over six months after that night, she was in his arms, planning a house that they would call their home for a few years.
Their journey was about to begin from the house they had unknowingly fallen in love in.
And for Aethera, there couldn't have been a better start of all the tomorrows they would live to witness.
━━ αθάνατοι ━━
As this work is now complete, I am planning to make a discussion page for the readers right after this section.
If you have any questions for the author regarding this work or otherwise, please comment/post them there!
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
