Against the Tide - A New Elysium Story [Complete]

16. Chains and Kisses

"Or... we could pick her clean and sell the pieces..."

She closed her eyes.

Lars, she said inside their mind, I am very sorry.

For what?

It seems like this will end like it began. And even in the same place.

What are you talking about?

He stirred inside her, distraught, in an attempt to gain control over the body to help her. But she  pulled him into the black space, the timeless space, to talk to him.

I am so glad I got to meet you, Lars, and be with you.

Null, stop it, we have to get back out there, we have to do something, come up with a plan.

There is nothing we can do any longer, it's over. At her words, she seemed to grow heavier, her energy turning into gravity that seemed to pull on the darkness surrounding them.

But I won't let them have you, Lars. You've still got a chance, she said.

What? No, Null, stop this! There is always a way! We can still fight! He wanted to scream at her, but there was no air in this space, and he had no voice.

No, we can't. We're in no shape to fight after what I did on Hestia. But I can still save you. You will be fine... you have a chance at surviving this, inside this space that was once yours.

He came to understand it then – what this was, this space. This darkness in the farthest corner of her mind. It was the place that he had come from. Where he had slept before he had awoken with her.

Null, this is insane, you can't just-

I have to, Lars. I'm sorry. We've suffered enough. They're either going to shoot us, or...

She paused for a moment.

I will make sure that they can't do anything worse. And if I don't manage, then... well at least you won't have to see it.

No, Null, I -

He wanted to protest, he wanted to grab her and yell at her, but he was just energy in this space. And she became even heavier, and he felt his own energy, his self, being pulled into the center of the dark space. One last time, he felt her as her energy seemed to reverberate and resonate with his, and then she disappeared, leaving him behind, alone in the darkness.

Back on the beach, Null snapped out of the vision he had shown her and recoiled in horror.

"It took me forever to get out of there and find you here!" he hissed at her. "Can you imagine what that felt like?"

"I... just did..." she whispered, averting her eyes.

"We could have fought back! I could have taken over! I could have helped you! Why didn't you let me help you?"

She covered her mouth with her hands, and then buried her whole face in them.

"I don't know..." she muttered, trembling from the cold and the lingering emotions of his memory. "I just... I just thought... I thought I could save you..."

Next to her, Lars sighed.

"You're a colossal idiot Null," he said. His voice was still strained, but softer now. "You're... like a Leviathan class idiot."

She wanted to laugh at his joke, she really did – but instead she just burst into uncontrollable sobbing. She didn't look up, but she felt how he pulled her into his lap and close to his chest, and wrapped his arms around her. His warmth stopped her from shivering.