Forever Lost

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Seventh Star

"Demon of Devils, Dragon Slayer Stoik, Hope Caster," Fix translates the names as we walk past them. "Ah, here we are. Marcam Aquae," we stop in front of his grave.

I stop beside him. "Mark Waters, right?"

He nods, then crouches down, rubbing the mangled dirt between his fingers. "Fresh dirt," he looks up at me. "Someone has been here," he stands. "We better go."

"What? Why?" I complain, though I sound a little eager as well.

"Who ever did this is near, come on, lets go." he takes my arm.

"Wha- okay, we're going!" I point out as he drags me the entire way back to the palace.

~

I slide my way through the door silently. The door clicks closed. I turn around, sighing.

"Where did you go?"

"Gah!" I jump.

Chris sits up in the bed, reading from a small canvas notebook. It's then I realize that he's read from my journal.

"Where did you get that?" I demand, storming over to him.

He's silent for a while, then closes the journal. He looks up at me, concern in his eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, of course, why wouldn't I be?"

He swings his legs around the side of the bed. He takes my hands, standing. "Someone -- or something is out there, Melody."

"Please tell me this isn't one of those people have been disappearing type situations." I groan.

He half smiles. "Not exactly, quite the opposite actually."

"What does-"

He cuts me off, lips warm and soft. I'm somewhat alarmed and confused, but then I relax as the adrenaline begins to run through me.

He finally pulls away after a minute or so.

"Kyle came in while you were out and told me."

"What did he say?" I ask as my hands slide up his arms, curling around his neck.

"He told me about a woman named Aeternam."

"Yeah, and?"

He sighs heavily, his hands traveling down my back, stopping near my hips. "She works in The Fortress," his voice is at a whisper.

I gasp silently. "I remember you telling me about that!"

He nods, kissing my forehead. "Think about it,"

We're silent for a while as I connect what he said four years ago to what has happened recently. I gasp when I finally make the connection. "No,"

He nods, a tight smile on his face. "Sadly, yes."

I look up at him. "When you told me that he escaped The Fortress, you meant Mark, didn't you?" I whisper, reluctant to hear the answer.

He nods, giving me a quick peck. "Kyle believes Aeternam has something to do with it."

I peck him beck. "Why does he think that?"

He's so close that I can feel his heart beat, his lips less than a centimeter away from mine. "Aeternam admitted to Kyle today that she was the one who dug up Mark's grave."

"You know about that?"

"Yeah, Fix-"

"-Ah," I sigh. "Anything else I should know?"