Mirror Sky. Part 1 - Blissful Nemesis

28 - Reunion

He found her.

Anna smiled and half-walked, half-ran towards him. He felt his legs going weak.

The ghosts touched the Veil from the other side. Anna and Artur's hands connected. Separated by death, they have reunited. Artur could see Anna's beautiful smiling face through the dense mist. He could almost feel the warmth and softness of her hand. He could almost lock his fingers with hers.

He wanted to embrace her. He needed it more than breathing. However, the border between life and death would not allow it. He wanted to hear her voice, scolding remarks, and laughter, but the meeting would remain silent. The living and the dead could not speak to each other. It was not the time for the living to know what awaited them beyond. The dead had no business in the world of the living.

In silence, Artur and Anna were left to relive the times gone – happiness and sorrow, hardship and bonding, the little moments neither knew were so important when they had happened. They were left to dream of the future they did not get a chance to build and share: the wedding they would never have, the kids they would never know, the places they would never see together.

Nostalgia was pushed away by pain that was too much to take. Artur removed his shaking hand from the Veil. His legs were so weak that. If not for Sonya's aid, he would have collapsed on the floor.

Anna removed her hand from the Veil too. The figures around her departed back into the mist, but Anna lingered. There was a concern on her face, sorrow. The world of the living held her. It disturbed her peace and infected her with the pain of life again.

However, the pain did not last. Her face cleared. She gave Sonya a nod and a smile. Then she sent Artur a graceful air kiss in which she put all her love and best wishes.

Anna then stepped back onto the mist, leaving him once more.

In shambles, Artur spent five minutes looking at his reflection in Aeon Veil, thinking about the day he would be on the other side of it. He put himself back together enough to walk away with his friends.

On their way out, they met Symon, who arrived on the levitating platform next, to see his daughter. They made a gap in their ranks and allowed Symon to pass. He did, without saying a word or looking at them.

Today was a special day. None of them wanted to fight.

Artur wished Symon would not hurt Anna like he did.

***

Shortly after they left the Aeon Veil, Tom and his friends were walking through the dark streets of Libra in silence, driven by a desire to be on the move. Artur looked like a wreck. The meeting with Anna messed him up, and he still needed to be propped up by Sonya.

It was not easy for Tom either. He did not have a lover perish in the battle, but most of his friends did. No bond was stronger than the one of the brothers and sisters in arms. Few things could hurt more than having these bonds severed.

Tom realized that they were walking through Lux District streets. He lived there for years, bouncing from one informal place to another, crashing on people's couches, sleeping in closets, always one step ahead of the Guards, every day giving them more reasons to find him and whoop his ass.

At some point, Artur joined him, clouded with his own bizarre issues, and they both made Lux, the whole district, their home. They made a ruckus during the day and partied through the night. Not one dull day with this guy! Tom considered that period to be the happiest in his short life.

The memories made it hard to stomach the current appearance of Lux: dark, dim, depressing, and empty. All the activities were inside and dialed back to not invite any more Leviathans in.